Let Me Be the One

I shakily closed the door to the Staff Only room and turned around to face the aging, brunette woman. Her lips were pulled down in a frown and I could tell that whatever would come from this 'talk' would not be good.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked nervously and my boss, Mrs. Greenwood, nodded.

"Yes, Vera, it has recently come to my attention that you have been skipping work, leaving early because you're sick and coworkers have informed me that you've been more emotional than normal." she was getting increasingly louder at every word. "I'm giving you five minutes to explain before you're fired."

My boss is a witch.

"I'm pregnant!" I blurted out. Okay, add one more person on to the list of people that know. May as well just tell everyone through Twitter.

Mrs. Greenwood stared at me with her jaw slack and her brown eyes wide. "You're what?"

"Uh, pregnant? You know - preggers, knocked up?"

"I know what pregnant is, Vera, I'm not an idiot. I've been pregnant five times before!" she snapped and I couldn't help but glance down at her stomach. Was she pregnant now?

Ew, she's like in her late forties!

"The fact of the matter is, we can't let a pregnant woman walk around selling lingerie. So try to hide it as long as you can and then you're going on maternity leave. It's bad for our image if you don't." Mrs. Greenwood growled at me as if paid vacation was the worst thing in the world.

"Uh...I understand?" What was I supposed to say to that? 'Oh darn, I don't have to do anything for the next few months and just lay in bed shovelling myself full of twinkies.'

I actually hate twinkies with a burning passion so no, I would not say that.

"Now get out of my face and go sell underwear." Mrs. Greenwood snapped and as fast as I could, I raced out of the door. What the fuck was wrong with that lady?

When I got back to the front of the store, Mandy was already standing there, her arms crossed as she waited with an amused grin plastered on her bow shaped lips. "What happened?"

"That woman is a witch!" I whisper shouted because for all I know, she could be hiding behind the rack of thongs, trying to listen in to make sure I was telling the truth about my pregnancy. "I had to tell her about 'the thing' and she told me to hide it as long as I could because apparently being knocked up was bad for the image."

Mandy snorted, "As if having a dragon lady as our boss wasn't bad enough for the reputation." I laughed along as I looked out the open door into the crowded mall. I could see the same girl I saw a few weeks ago who came in the store because her boyfriend wanted something 'red and black.'

The girl was cowering outside American Eagle, holding a cupcake in her hand while a huge - and I mean huge - man stood over her, staring her down with an angry glare. I couldn't help but notice the large yellow and purple bruise on the girls face that was only half hidden by her mousy brown hair and thick glasses.

"What are you looking at?" Mandy asked curiously and I pointed the couple out with my finger. A frown appeared on her face and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"That girl was in here a long time ago and she really didn't look comfortable and ended up not buying anything." I explained. I didn't tell Mandy the whole story but she seemed to work out the missing pieces by herself.

We both flinched back as the girls boyfriend yelled extra loudly and threw his hands in the air. The girl cowered even more and even from inside Victoria Secret, I could see her hands shaking.

"What's going on, bitch?" I looked over to see my oh so lovely, baby daddy walk in holding two Starbucks coffees. "I got you a tall non-caffeinated, non-fat, chai tea latte." he said handing it to me.

"Thank you so much, I needed this!" I grinned and took a sip of the foamy drink. Heaven in my mouth.

Last night, I stayed up late trying to make sure that Frank knew exactly what to order me if he ever did a Starbucks run. He read in the baby books that it wasn't good for me to be drinking caffeine so I settled for non-caffeinated tea. Non-fat of course because I don't want to get any bigger than I will.

"See that couole over there?" Mandy pointed out the girl and boy as Frank turned around and watched as the girl flinched once more. "The girl was in the store a few weeks ago."

"Should I go say something? We have to do something!" I fretted and looked around. My eyes locked with Franks hazel ones and I knew he could see the pleading look I was sending him.

"Fine..." Frank sighed, "But you have to come with me, I'm only like 5'4 of nothing. At least you could pull the pregnant card if things get ugly."

I giggled and rolled my eyes, "it's not a card I play, genius, it's a thing that's actually happening." at my words, a tiny smile traced itself onto Franks lips. "Now let's go over there and sort this shit out."

Frank still didn't look like he really wanted to get in the middle of their business but I think that he's learned by now that when I want something, I'll get it. And right now I really want to stop this argument between two people before shit got any more insane.

I followed the man across the mall to American Eagle and stepped beside the girl as Frank turned the guy to look at him. "Is there a problem?"

"The only problem here is you, now scram!" the guy spat. Douche.

"Something is clearly going on judging by the bruise on your girlfriends face." Franks snapped back, getting annoyed. The girl was still shaking as I pulled her back. She shot me a grateful look and I nodded my head to Victoria Secret.

The girl picked up my message and ran over to where Mandy was waiting. I turned back to Frank and the ultra douchebag to see things had become more heated.

Heated meaning I turned around just in time to see Franks fist connect with the guys face. He recoiled slightly and a scowl appeared on his face. Before I could say anything, the guy had tackled Frank to the ground and was pounding his face in.

Frank is a small man and this guy was at least 6'4. There was no way my baby daddy would be winning in this fight. So I did what any normal person would do.

I kicked that motherfucker where it hurts. Hard.

"Fuck!" He screamed as he rolled away. I pulled Frank to his feet to see that he had a cut lip, a bloody nose, and a nice sized bruise forming on his eye.

I helped Frank limp back to Victoria Secret where Mandy and the girl were watching with wide eyes and their hands over their mouths. They were shocked from seeing the short fight take place and the fact that the fucktard was getting kicked out by mall security behind us.

The two followed us to the store washrooms and I practically shoved Frank on the closed toilet seat and got a damp washcloth. Carefully, I tilted his head up and started pressing the cloth to his bloody nose, soaking in as much crimson as I could.

"Ohmygosh, I'msosorry! Ididntknowhewasgoingtodothat!" the bruised girl shrieked and tugged at her brown locks.

"Calm your tits, child. He's fine." Mandy snapped like the caring, friendly person that she is. "What's your name anyway?"

"Francelia."

"I'm going to call you Fran." Mandy decided, "and who was that moron?"

"Gunnar, my boyfriend. We've been together since high school but the last year or so, things haven't been going to well. We went to this reunion a few months ago, and ever since then, he's been wanting me to be like some of the old cheerleaders there. They're all gorgeous." Fran mumbled sadly and I shot her a sympathetic look.

"Dick." Frank growled out and stood up, looking ready to fight Gunnar again. The second he was standing straight up, I shoved him back down and grabbed the sides of his face, forcing him to look straight at me.

"Stay." I ordered and started wiping the rest of the blood off his face. Once he was clean, I tossed the bloody cloth into the sink and turned on the tap. I looked back at Frank and with one finger, I lightly touched his black eye.

My fingertip grazed from the corner of his eye, around the circular mark until it ended at his eyebrow. My gaze never once broke with Franks and I didn't realized how awkward the situation was for everyone else until Fran coughed uncomfortably.

I blushed and pulled my hand away, taking a step away from Frank. "Uh... Thanks for the tea and getting beat up." I thanked Frank awkwardly as heat rose to my cheeks. To emphasize my point, I grabbed the Starbucks cup that I had set aside and took a sip of it.

"Please, I totally owned that guy." Frank scoffed and all three of us snorted. Frank pulled a face and I rolled my eyes, opening the bathroom door so Frank could leave. It would be really awkward for anyone watching to see Frak leave, followed by three other girls, all looking slightly frazzled.

Once out of the bathroom, I tugged Fran off to the side and handed her a slip of paper with my number on it. "Call me if you need anything." I smiled and gave her a tight hug. "And don't let that douche back here again. That prick needs to fuck off."

Fran managed a tiny smile and shoved her hands in her pockets, "I'll try." she whispered and I could tell that just by looking at her, there was something that she was holding from me.

"Seriously. You deserve better and I'm here for you. Call me." I gave her my sternest voice. I was not taking no for an answer. She chuckled slightly at my demanding voice and nodded.

From behind her, I saw some movement and a bottle of perfume shattered on the ground but I couldn't see who knocked it down. All I saw was the bottle shatter and someone rush out of the store. It was probably Mrs. Greenwood.

Creepy old fucker.