“Have a nice day,” Veronica smiled and handed the woman her package before turning around to pull the piece of meat from the slicer.
It’d been a slow day at work, everyone was struggling to find something to do. Veronica set the piece of meat back down in the case and then turned, grabbing a rag and starting to wipe the counters and slicers down. She couldn’t wait for the day to be over so she could go home, this was her weekend off and she couldn’t wait to start it. She didn’t have anything planned, but she did have a few things around the house to get done.
“Veronica, do you want to take your last break?”
“Sure.
“Ok, see ya in ten then,” Colette the night manager called.
She set the rag in the bucket of sanitizer and headed out the department. Whipping her phone out, she opened it and listened to her messages, one was from Lynne telling her to call when she got the chance. After finding her number in her phone book, she pressed the button and waited.
“Hello?”
“Hey it’s me, what’s up?”
“Hey, look I was wondering if you wanted to go out to a club tonight?”
“I dunno…”
“Come on Veronica, you and I both know you have nothing planned.”
“Well there are some things around the house that I wanted to do and…”
“Like I said there’s nothing you have planned.”
“Fine, alright.”
“You’re actually giving in so soon?”
“Yeah, I don’t feel like arguing and besides, I kinda wanna go out.”
“Whoa, you feeling alright?”
“Ha ha, very funny.”
“Well great, then I’ll come by to pick you up at about six thirty.”
“Ok, see you then.”
“C-ya, bye.”
“Bye.”
Veronica hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket, she was looking forward to tonight, finally something to do. Deciding to cut her break short, she turned and made her way back to the department.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that evening…
Letting the towel drop to the floor, she started to dress, trying to hurry. Lynne was gonna be there in an hour and she still had to do her hair and makeup. Rushing out the bathroom and into her bedroom, she grabbed her skirt, stepping into it and hiking it up before pulling her blouse on. She grabbed her makeup bag and flat iron and headed into the bathroom. Twenty minutes later she emerged, makeup done and hair styled. Heading back into her bedroom, she grabbed her sandals and pulled them on, her thoughts drifting to Nick.
He was in Germany now and she wondered what he was doing right now, she hoped he was safe and that he’d had a good flight. Shaking her head, she chuckled softly. She still couldn’t believe what she was thinking, let alone who she was thinking of. Things like this weren’t supposed to happen to fans, to her more specifically. She wasn’t rejecting it, but still not believing it fully yet either. Veronica was dying to check her email, knowing full well though, that he hadn’t responded yet. She was still holding to the decision that she wouldn’t do anything else until she heard back from him. The waiting was hard though.
Standing, she grabbed her purse and headed downstairs just as the doorbell rang.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“C’mon Lynne, I don’t want to!!”
Lynne continued to pull her out to the dance floor, Veronica’s complaints falling on deaf ears.
“Now pick some random hot guy and dance!” Lynne yelled over the loud music.
“I don’t want to!”
“You’d love to? Really?” Lynne smiled.
“No!”
“Go for it!” Reaching out, Lynne gave her a gentle shove into the guy behind her.
Stumbling a bit, Veronica whirled around quickly, “Sorry, I’m sorry”.
“No problem,” the guy smiled.
“My friend, she pushed me.”
“Some friend,” the guy laughed. “I’m Calvin.”
She inhaled sharply, giving him a small smile, “Veronica.”
“Nice to meet you Veronica, did you wanna dance?”
No, really she didn’t, she didn’t want to make a fool of herself, but she couldn’t very well turn and walk away.
“Uh, sure.”
Calvin turned to face her fully, reaching out, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her a little closer.
“This ok?” He asked loudly.
She wanted to say yes and mean it, desperately, but it wasn’t ok. Not that he was out of line, but it just felt wrong, it felt wrong to be out here with all these people, acting as if she belonged.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Couldn’t he tell though? Tell how uncomfortable and out of place she felt? Obviously not since he pulled her closer, grinding and rubbing against her suggestively. Veronica looked away, she couldn’t make eye contact, couldn’t let him have that. The song finally ended and he pulled away.
“Thanks Veronica.”
“No problem.”
“See ya.”
She nodded and watched as he turned, making his way through the crowd. Sighing, Veronica turned and quickly made her way through the crowd and over to the table. It didn’t matter, she just didn’t have what it took to make them stay beyond a single dance.
