Hidden Love by MINK

1

Layla

Irub my eyes to make sure I’m not imagining things. I worked last night and was back here bright and early to open the shop today. When I drop my hand from my eyes, I see that I'm not imagining anything.

It almost looks like pretty snow is coating everything in the store, but I know it’s not snow, it’s cotton. My mind is still a little foggy from the lack of sleep so I’m having trouble catching up today.

My eyes finally go to the giant contraption that’s used to fill each animal with stuffing. It’s completely empty. Bingo. I’ve solved the mystery.

Crap. The whole thing shakes as it still tries to pump more cotton out, but there’s nothing left. It rattles, the filling wand banging against the side where the little stuffie hearts are kept.

It’s way too early for this.

I run toward it, wanting to shut it off before it explodes or catches fire. As soon as I have that thought, it lets out a loud groan followed by a grinding sound. I bet the motor inside it died. My shoulders drop as I hit the off button on the machine anyway. This is not how I wanted this day to begin.

“What the fuuuuck?” Gia’s voice bursts through the store. “Did you murder all the dog stuffed animals or something? I knew you didn’t love this job but damn, you didn’t have to gut them all Mortal Kombat style.”

“No!” I rush to defend myself. “I didn't touch one stuffed dog, I swear.” I couldn’t hurt anything. It’s not in my nature. I won’t even step on a spider, because it makes me feel guilty. Now, if they accidentally get sucked into the vacuum cleaner, that’s not really my fault. That’s how I see it anyway.

She gives me a skeptical look paired with a smile. Her dark hair piled on top of her head, she’s in a pair of jeans and our normal uniform shirt. She always wears heels, and today is no different. I’ve never seen her in regular shoes or sneakers. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, she always has heels on her feet. I don’t know how she runs around in those things all day.

“I’m no rat, Layla. If you murdered them, it’s fine. I’ll help you get rid of the bodies.” She motions to the cotton stuffing that’s spread across the store. Now that I take a good look at it, I see how much of a disaster it really is in here.

“I’m getting fired.” I walk over to one of the tables meant for children to sit down at. The chairs are so tiny. This is where they make their little buddies from start to finish. Crafting them exactly how they’ve imagined them. And now it’s ruined. I sigh, knowing that I’m probably at fault here.

“We can clean this up. Don’t be dramatic.” She walks over and takes the seat across from me. She pushes a cup of coffee at me. “I’m not working in this hellhole without you.”

“I hate coffee,” I remind her.

She’s obsessed with finding a coffee that I’ll like. “This is Italian roast with a splash of my mom’s secret cream. I’d tell you what the secret is but...” She shrugs with a half-smile.

“You’d have to kill me?” I take the cup.

“I never said nothing about killing anyone.” She points at the coffee I’m holding. “Try it.”

I give in, taking a sip. It’s warm and bitter with a hint of cocoa.

“Hmm,” I say with a giant smile on my face. “It’s wonderful.”

“You’re so full of shit. You’ve got to work on your lying. Your poker face is the worst. What if one day you do kill something more than a stuffed dog? They’re going to nail you to the wall with that guilty look on your face.” Gia sounds extra Italian today. I can always tell when she’s spent the weekend at her parents' place.

“I’m not worried about the fuzz.” I have bigger issues at the moment. “Now, Carmen I’m scared of.” She’s got these freaky long nails that she points at you. Her whole face scrunches and turns a few shades of crimson when she’s mad.

“Not for nothing, but that bitch is all talk.” Gia rolls her eyes, not the least bit scared of our boss. “What don't you like about the coffee?”

“Bitter.”

“Gah!” She stands and snatches the coffee back for herself. She's taking this me not liking coffee thing very seriously. It’s never going to happen.

“Why don’t you take your anger out on that machine?” I point my thumb to the cotton machine. “I think I left it on last night and killed the engine. I was just in a rush to get home and work on my custom orders.”

“So it wasn't a stuffed dog you killed last night but an entire machine?”

“You got me. Call the fuzz police.” I drop my forehead to the tiny table. “I should go on the run.” That never ends well for people. We had a high-speed chase start here a few months ago. I heard they got the guy, but not until he took out a bunch of cop cars.

“You don’t run.” Gia laughs. “I’ll call my brother Tony. He’ll fix it before Satan Carmen gets here.” I pop my head up and look over to the clock. Carmen never shows up until after we open and is always gone long before we close.

“You think he can do something?” Hope fills me. I can’t have another incident, or I’ll for sure be fired.

“He can fix anything. Just came back from two years at the vineyards where the family put him to work.” She pulls out her cell phone. “Don’t take his number when he tries to give it to you. He’s going to hit on you and he’s a pig.”

“Your brother?” Why would she call her brother a pig? Not that I can keep her brothers straight. I’ve never met any, but I swear she’s got a handful of them. I can’t keep up with all of their names.

“Okay. Maybe he’s not a pig, but he is a dog,” she rephrases, knowing my dislike for dogs. Okay, it’s not a dislike for them, I just don’t see how you can pass up a cute kitty cat to get a dog. It’s baffling to me.

I listen as Gia switches over and starts speaking Italian. She talks so fast I can’t make anything out, then ends the call a few seconds later.

“He’ll be here in ten.”

I jump up from the chair sending it toppling over. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.” She looks around the store. “Let’s get this cleaned up. First step, get the cotton back in the machine.” She chugs back the coffee as I look around the store. I’m not even sure where to start.

A tingle runs up my spine. I turn to look out the front windows of the store, swearing I feel eyes on me. The streets are still empty this early in the morning. No one is there. I shake the feeling off. I’m a little on edge from everything that happened today is all.

“What are we looking at?” Gia whispers next to my ear, making me jump and scaring the crap out of me.

“I thought I saw something.” I turn away from the window. Gia starts picking up armfuls of cotton and taking them over to the machine and shoving the white fluff back inside. She moves faster in her heels than I do in my sneakers. I bend over and scoop up an armful of cotton myself while praying for a small miracle.