Pawnshops and Carousels
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Hello there my wonderful readers. I'm sorry this chapter is so late. I will do my best to get the chapter up on time next week, I'm just dealing with a lot of stuff right now. This chapter, however, is super cute, or at least I tried to make it cute. As always don't forget to leave a review or a fav or a follow and I'll see you guys on Sunday, hopefully.
Chapter 31
Ashley: Seth has been working overtime, which is annoying me. But, with Sabrina 4 months pregnant with his second kid and both of them worried about money, I get it. What I don't like is Sabrina's sudden willingness to take over everything. Yes it's because she's worried about money but come on, she can't be the manager of everything. She's Seth's Assistant and his Co-Manager for the Internet side. That should be enough.
But now that she's pregnant and worried she's suddenly trying to muscle everyone out of their jobs. She actually covered a shift for one of our front window girls. Seth nearly lost his shit. We had to call an emergency replacement and pay them overtime to come and take her spot cause he wasn't going to leave her there to get shouted abuse by our crazy customers. It was insane.
Recently my dad and I have been arguing about a stainless-steel purchase he made. It's my fault for cancelling the semi worth of TVs he had bought from a wholesaler, because it opened up more of an issue for me, but I've told him repeatedly that I'm not going to sell this stainless-steel. I'm just not. And every time I say that, Sabrina offers her services.
Now that really pisses me off. Because she should have my back instead of undermining me, and what the hell is going to happen when she goes on maternity leave? Huh? What then? Who's it going to fall to in five months when she has this second kid? Me. And I've already said I'm not doing it.
My dad keeps telling me not to worry about it, but I'm telling you, if he gives Sabrina manager of the stainless-steel department, I'm going to fucking lose it.
I'm at my usual post when my cousin Karen comes in and makes a beeline for me. I actually like our cousin Karen. She was close to my age and we always got along. I was a little surprised to see her in our Pawnshop, though, but I wasn't going to complain.
I hug Karen and then ask: "What are you doing here?"
"Your dad didn't tell you? I'm the new manager of the stainless-steel department. I'm gonna be working with you."
That's the thing about Karen. She's always smiling, she's bubbling and happy and while that's great at family functions I know it's gonna get on my nerves here. And what, because I didn't want to deal with my dad and stainless-steel purchase, he's just going take to half my department and give it to this… okay I can't say stranger cause she's technically family.
God now I kinda wish it had gone to Sabrina. At least if it had gone to Sabrina I could bully her into giving it back to me so I could throw all that shit in the garbage.
I turn on my dad quickly. "You brought someone in to run the jewelry department and you didn't even let me know?"
"You didn't wanna do it," he reminds me and I almost slap him across his face. I want to cry, I feel humiliated and I bet Seth and his precious Reenie knew all about it.
"We're gonna be a great team, Ash!" she cries and I can only glare at her. Dear god it's already happening, the annoying perkiness and positivity.
"Don't worry she's got you covered. Come on, let me show you the rest of the place," he said taking Karen as far away from me as he could. And if he was smart he'd kick her out of the store.
Seth comes up to hug her as my dad leads her away. "Did you know about this?" I hiss my tone conveying my accusation.
Seth just smiles. "Have fun with that Ashley," he taunts walking away from me because I know he doesn't want to deal with me. "Anything else you don't want to run? We'll bring in more people."
I scowl at him as he walks across the store. Oh, I'm gonna make sure that they regret this.
Sabrina: Seth doesn't want to know the sex of our next baby, Sierra was a surprise too, and he wants to keep up the tradition. And that is perfectly fine. Except… I know… and now I'm excited. I know if I let it slip to any of his family, they'll tell him and then he'll be upset and I don't want to do that to him. So when I arrive at the shop I'm expecting to have trouble to keep my secret to myself. Turns out that I don't have to, because Ashley's in such a mood that she can't think or talk about the betrayal of having Karen join the team.
Personally, I don't care. I like Karen and Ashley has been bitching about the stainless-steel for months, now it wasn't her problem, just like she wanted. But it's the distraction I need so I'm going to hold onto it… for as long as I can.
Sabrina has been acting squirrely since she came back from the doctor's office. Like avoiding me squirrely. Like mad at me squirrely and I can't think of why. Yes, she had a check up today and I had wanted to go, but we got busy at work and I couldn't. I asked a million times if she was really okay with going without me but she had said it was fine. Now apparently it wasn't. And I can't apologize because she won't talk to me.
I come back in from negotiating for a hot rod that I didn't end up buying and she's standing with Ashley. Ashley. Whom has been annoying her for weeks now over the stainless-steel purchase. When I left, she was giving Karen a full tour, and throwing in snarky comments, now she's standing with Karen and my wife and I can just tell that something's going on.
Usually Sabrina intervenes, but I can tell that things are getting a little heated over there and she just seems to be watching.
"It looks like… maybe we should bring the frames this way with the watches," Karen says to Ashley.
"Oh, Ashley… did you hear that?" Sabrina asks and she did because she was standing right there.
"I did thank you Sabrina," she says before turning that pissy face back to Karen. "That's a nice opinion, but our customers love frames, that's why they're over here. Don't get too over your heard."
"Ohh! Karen! Are you gonna take that disrespect?" Sabrina asks and I can see Karen's eyes narrow. Karen has always been a happy bubbly person, she rarely gets in people's faces, but now it looks like her and Ashley were gonna go at it.
What the hell? Why was my wife instigating an argument? Was this the hormones? Because that was new.
As a customer came up to talk to Ashley I pull Sabrina aside. "What the hell are you doing?"
She turns to be surprised as if she's forgotten I work here. She looks to me, slowly clamps her mouth shut and then turned back to the two girls. "Nothing?"
But now that I've seen her do that, the clamping of her mouth, I know that she's got a secret. I don't know what this secret is about but I know for some reason she doesn't want to tell me, which is hurtful. Usually she couldn't wait to tell me something. Unless it's something to do with me or something that would upset me.
"Okay, what are you hiding from me, spill it, now," I hiss and she gasps at me.
"Hiding something… I'm not…"
"Sabrina Gold, don't you lie to me."
Her face just dropped into a mouth open in shock. "How could you tell?"
"What do you mean how could I tell?" I hiss back. "I've known you since you were a sophomore. I know your faces, and you just made you I don't wanna tell Seth this secret face!"
"Oh it's not fair," she snapped. "It's not fair that you know all my faces."
"I know all your faces cause I love you. And you don't keep secrets for the one you love."
"You do if you're cheating."
That is not a funny joke to be making when she's literally pregnant with my child right now. She takes in my dry glare and I can tell, she's about to tell me what she's actually keeping from me, cause I know she's not cheating when suddenly Karen's voice cuts through our conversation.
"Excuse me guys, I think I can help you over here."
And then we're both watching as she leads the customer to her stainless-steel department. What just happened? Did she just…
But before I can even form the thought Sabrina suddenly says: "Did she just steal those customers from you?"
And just like that I know she's caused a problem. Because Ashley's nostrils flare and then as she's watching her serve the boys that Ashley had riled up. But not only did Karen get them to calm down but she gives them a discount.
"See that, Ashley she calmed them down and kept their business," Les says which just adds fuel to Ashely's fire. Ashley seems far from pleased, in fact she looks downright pissed. "Good job Karen."
Karen hits them with a thanks and then smiles at Ashley as if expecting her to say something back. Instead she says: "You better not do that again."
"Do what?" Karen asks her legitimately confused.
"You know exactly what you did," she snarls before storming away.
We're lucky that's all it was. Ashley would have screamed at me for less, but this is Karen, and she's just a cousin and she no doubt wants to still play somewhat nice with her.
I, on the other hand, go straight to Sabrina. "My office, now."
Though she groans she does at least follow me, and one I get her in the office I shut the door and then turn on her.
"Alright, what did Ashley do or say about me?" I ask her because it's the only think I could think that she'd be hiding from me. It would explain why she's trying to cause a fight between her and Karen, it would explain why she doesn't want me to know, but it had to be bad for her to do this.
"Nothing, honest."
"Then what the hell, Reenie!" I find myself crying. "Are you mad at me? I told you'd I'd go, you said it was fine!"
"No, I'm not mad!"
"Did something happen then?"
And then she cringes and right there I realize that that's the problem. Something happened while she was at the doctor and she doesn't want to tell me.
"What happened?" I ask coming towards her. "Is it you? Is it the baby? Are you okay? Is the baby okay? What's wrong? What happened?"
I'm frantic, and I know that. But I can't help it. If something's wrong I don't know how I'll live with myself and I'm freaking out just thinking about it.
"Nothing's wrong, we're both healthy."
"And there's only one? This isn't like a twins thing?"
"Nope, still only one baby," she says and I let out my breath and stare at her. She fidgets under my stare and then finally says: "I know the sex and I know you don't want to know so I've been trying to keep it a secret and… and…"
"And you're really excited and you want to tell someone but my family's crazy and they'll tell me like instantly, okay."
She nods and I let out the tension with a long sigh. "Okay, well, tell me then."
"No, I don't want to do that to you…"
"Well you got the sex of our baby despite knowing that I wouldn't want to know and you knew you'd have no one to tell…"
"I did not, the doctor slipped up during the ultrasound," she said with a pout and I find myself chuckling, of course the one time I wasn't there the doctor would slip up.
"Well, you're excited and I want to be excited with you, so what is it. Boy or girl?"
She stares at me for a while as if trying to establish if I'm being truthful or not. And then a large smile dawns on her face and she says: "Boy. It's a boy."
I'm immediately smiling with her, because I know she's been hoping it's a boy and if we're going to be honest, I was hoping for a boy too. But again, I knew both of us were going to be happy with whatever we got, it's just nice when things go your way.
I have her in my arms, pressing a kiss to her still smiling lips. "A boy," I echo and she just nods.
"I've already started looking at S names."
"It doesn't have to start with S, Reenie," I remind her, even though so far everyone in our little family unit has an S name.
"Yes, we do, or he'll feel left out."
I know better than to argue so I just wrap an arm around her and pull her to my side so I can kiss her temple. Now we have to decide if we're going to have a gender reveal party or if we just up and tell my parents.
I think we're going to end up doing a party, just to make up for this wedding my parents are never going to get at this point.
