For the first time in a long time, Stephanie woke up early eager to go to work. She'd gone on a quick shopping spree the night before so that she would have some fashionable business attire. A smartly tailored suit jacket with a pencil skirt, two interchangeable pairs of slacks and two new blouses. And a pair of low heels because she would be on her feet most of the day. More would come later, after her first paycheck was deposited.
She couldn't believe how excited she was. She wanted to call everyone, but she was afraid she would jinx it all. She knew her family would be happy for her. And Connie and Lula would be happy too, though they would give her a hard time about quitting Vinnie's. Joe didn't matter because… he didn't matter.
Then there was Ranger. Now that she was no longer a bounty hunter, would Ranger even be in her life anymore? They really only saw each other because of that. They had never dated, though they had been intimate. Oh yeah, they had been intimate. Earlier this week Ranger had asked her out. Or had he? Maybe it was just to ask her to help out with something at RangeMan. It was complicated. They were complicated. She would see him this Saturday and hopefully clear up that question. She decided to wait until they were together to tell him about the changes in her life. Who was she kidding? Ranger seemed to be plugged into her life. He knew what was happening to her before she knew.
When Steph walked into the Tastykakes Outlet store Thursday morning, she got a little thrill. This was going to be her responsibility, her domain. The store walls had been freshly painted a warm white and the floors were a wide expanse of luxury vinyl planks. The large windows in the front part of the store had their own areas for product displays. The rest of the store had rows and rows of empty shelving and display cases, a front counter and a cashier area.
Steph spent the first hour with Luca Barone, the general manager, signing papers and getting a fast introduction to the Tastykakes business. Then she was turned over to the floor manager from the Philadelphia outlet store, who was here to set up the soon to be opened Trenton outlet store.
"Stephanie? Hi, I'm Ashley." Her new mentor greeted her with a firm handshake and a smile. "I'm glad you could come in early. We have a lot to do in very little time if we want to whip this place into shape before the grand opening Monday. As floor manager, you will have a lot of leeway to set up the store as you wish, but there are some company rules everyone has to follow. One main rule is no personal phones allowed on the floor. For now, you can just turn off your phone until the back office furniture is delivered."
Stephanie turned off her phone and slipped it back into her suit pocket. Ashley went over a few other rules and answered Steph's immediate questions. And then she led her protege toward the back of the store.
"I hope you are prepared for a busy day. We have to get everything that's in those boxes," Ashley gestured toward the wall of cartons of Tastykakes that lined the back wall of the store, "on these shelves. Are you familiar with our product line?"
"I can name every kind of cake in the Tastykakes line and describe what's unique about each flavor," Stephanie smacked her lips.
Ashley smiled. "That's good. But selling is different than eating. There's a science involved in which products go where in the store. We are introducing our public to our family-sized cakes, so they should go on the shelves closest to the front. And, of course, the displays next to the front counter are reserved for impulse buys." The rest of the day was spent emptying the cases and cases of product onto the shelves and display cases.
Steph was tired but satisfied as she drove home. But her day wasn't over yet. She filled her little car with as much bed linen, towels, toiletries and clothes as it could hold and went over to her new apartment. By the time she put all her belongings away, she truly was exhausted and fell into her new bed and immediately went to sleep.
Friday went about the same. Steph went directly from her new home to her new place of work. Friday night, she grabbed some fast food and slept in her new place again. Saturday morning, she went back to her old apartment and, with Dillon's help, cleaned out the last of her stuff. It came as no surprise that she did not get her security deposit back. She took one last look at the place she'd called home for several years, but admittedly was able to leave without shedding a tear. She had just enough time to return to her new apartment, get ready for her evening with Ranger and get back to the old place and wait for him in the parking lot.
Tank tapped his phone off and laid it on his desk, exhaling slowly. He knew he had to tell Ranger, but he had no idea how his best friend would react to the news. Ranger had been in such a good mood lately and Tank thought he knew why. Maybe he already knew what Tank had just learned. Only one way to find out. Tank rose out of his chair and made his way down the hall.
"Got a minute?" Tank asked as he entered Ranger's office. Ranger gave a slight nod. Tank dropped into a chair across from his friend. "When was the last time you talked to Stephanie?" he asked.
"The night before last," Ranger replied. "Why?"
"I just learned something…" Tank paused, and Ranger spread his hands, the classic 'get on with it' gesture. "Word is that Stephanie quit Vinnie's yesterday."
Ranger frowned. He knew how angry she'd been after the stench fiasco. Angry enough to quit her job? Because of the way she had taken charge of the date he had suggested, he thought he would give her some space and hadn't planned on talking to her until Saturday night. But in light of this news. "Do you have the details?"
"Not much. I just got off the phone with Connie and she said Steph brought in the skip Vinnie had been hassling her about, got her check, stormed into Vinnie's and quit. She hasn't heard from her since yesterday morning." Tank shifted in his seat. "You knew she dumped the cop…"
Ranger dipped his head once, his fingers steepled in front of his face.
"Are you going to call her?"
Ranger glared at Tank and then glanced at the door. Tank got the hint and left the room. Ranger pulled out his phone and called Stephanie. It went immediately to voice mail. He left a terse 'call me.' He started to pull up her tracker location on his computer and then remembered it had stopped working. She was probably at home cooling off. Her quitting may have just been a reaction to a lousy week and she would be back on the job after she spent her recovery check. Given her take charge attitude with him on Tuesday, he'd wait until she called him back.
She hadn't called him by the time he left his office Thursday evening, so he drove by her apartment. Her latest POS car wasn't in the parking lot and her apartment was dark. He swung by her parents' house, but there was no sign of her car. Reluctantly, he drove by the cop's house and was relieved she wasn't there either. Maybe she was out celebrating with Lula. Maybe she had escaped to her favorite 'go to' place, Point Pleasant.
The way he read what he did know about her current situation, he didn't think she was in trouble. He made the decision to give her some space and let her call him.