An Igniting Attraction (To Protect and Serve, Heroes in Uniform Series, Book 1) by Stef Ann Holm

Author:Stef Ann Holm [Holm, Stef Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2014-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Performance Anxiety

Iris stocked the color-cast, two-quart oval roasters. She loved the new color. She had the same roaster in red and blue in a four-and-a-half quart. She'd have to put this one aside, feeling the need for the green, too. Not that she could cook with two at a time, but the roaster was so pretty she just couldn't resist.

Each month, probably forty percent of her pay check went right back into Target's coffers via the cash register as there were just too many temptations for her to resist. This store was her world, her little niche that she loved to explore and she loved to see what new goodies came in each week.

She liked wearing her red smock, the bright red carts, was smitten by the Target mascot—Bullseye, the white English bull terrier with the red circle painted around its left eye. Whenever she got a gift card, she always picked the one with the dog.

The roasters were showing nicely, a colorful splash against the plain ivory-colored shelf. Her impending evaluation was put out of her mind as she performed the job she enjoyed so much.

Who would have thought she'd end up in retail? She'd started out her career as a court clerk back in the seventies, lasting for fifteen years before making a job change. Her husband at the time said she was crazy to start over so late in life. No wonder she'd divorced her son's father.

The man had never believed in her, not for one day, so God only knows why she fell in love with him. He was Mr. Negative. Doom and Gloom. Xavier now lived in Portland and she never spoke to him, never had to run into him in Boise—thank goodness. She knew from her son that he talked with his dad on occasion, but they weren't close. That made her sad sometimes. A boy should be the apple of his father's eye, but it wasn't to be and there was nothing Iris could do.

She finished aligning the roasters, making sure to save one for herself, then rolled her stock cart to the small appliances-and-gadgets area and took inventory of basic equipment—ladles, pancake turners, hand can openers, measuring spoons, etcetera.

Biannual personnel reviews always put her out of sorts. She didn't know why. She did a good job, always got a great performance review. Raises were given each year and she was due. She'd worked for the company coming up on three years and had rarely missed a workday. She had done her "goal setting," and felt that she had set realistic results.

Gazing at her distorted reflection in the large chrome soupspoon hanging off the pegboard wall, she brushed aside her reddish-brown bangs. She'd been thinking about growing them out. Maybe bangs made her look older. She wasn't all that old—at least she didn't feel old. She looked younger than her fifty-four, which was nice at times. Not so nice at others.

Men her age didn't ask her out. It was usually younger men, and she just didn't have a lot in common with them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.