Chapter 1
"I'm going to be late." Olivia mumbled to herself as she raced through the mall.
"Amanda is going to kill me." She continued as she weaved past shoppers. She looked down at her watch. "Great 4:00." She muttered. This was the third time she was going to be late this week. Her manager would not be pleased. She rounded the corner and smacked into something hard. Olivia suddenly realized she collided with a person.
"Walk much?" she asked sarcastically as she headed into the White Candle Barn. "People seriously need to learn to walk." She said as she headed to the back of the store.
"Olivia!" Amanda yelled.
'Here we go.' Olivia thought to herself.
"Hi Amanda. Sorry I'm late." She said.
"Sorry?! This is the third time this week. I have half a mind to fire you." Amanda said.
"Amanda, I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Olivia replied tying her apron on. Amanda sighed. "Like I haven't heard that one before. Just get to work, we were very busy this afternoon."
"Right." Olivia said looking around the empty store. Olivia settled onto a stool behind the register and began ruffling through her backpack. This was going to be a long afternoon. During the month of June there wasn't exactly a rush on candles.
"Excuse me?" a voice asked. Olivia was startled and looked up quickly.
"Sorry. I didn't realize someone was here." She said. He shrugged. "No problem. I just wanted to see if you were okay." Olivia looked puzzled. "If I'm okay?"
"Yeah, I kinda bumped into you earlier." He said.
"Oh, that was you? Yeah, I'm fine." She replied.
"Good. I wasn't looking where I was going so...sorry." He said.
"Don't worry about it. I was in a hurry to get here so I wasn't looking either." She told him. He looked around. "Sure looks like they needed you."
"Tell me about it." She said "Summer isn't exactly prime time for buying candles."
"Obviously." He replied.
"So can I help you with anything else?" Olivia asked. He shook his head. "Guess I'll be on my way." Olivia nodded. "Okay, bye."
"See you around." He said leaving the store.