Читать книгу Melting Snow - Leora Gonzales - Страница 8

Chapter 2

Winter shivered when the cold Kansas wind cut through her heavy coat as if it wasn’t there. Tucking her body as far into the covered bus stop as she could, she kept her eye open for the large blue bus that normally ran on schedule. She was relieved when she saw its large shadow moving through the flurries that were steadily coming down. Climbing the slick steps quickly, she slid her bus pass into the reader before finding a seat close to the heater.

The late-evening buses were normally fairly empty. This close to Christmas a majority of the students had left for break and emptied the town. The only riders on this particular night were the ones she had gotten used to seeing. She saw one of her favorite ride sharers. Smiling at the old man across from her eating a banana, she giggled when he winked at her.

“You hungry, missy?” he asked in a sweet voice.

“I’m good, Frank. My roommate surprised me with dinner tonight,” Winter answered, waving away his offering of fruit.

“I have apples too if you want,” Frank said as if he hadn’t heard a word she said.

“Frank.” Speaking loudly so he could hear her, Winter waited until he acknowledged her before she spoke again. “I already ate tonight, but thank you.”

He smiled at her, his toothless grin causing her to smile back. Frank was a sweetie. He made his weekly trip to the grocery store Friday evenings and always offered something from his bag to “someone who reminded him of his granddaughter”. He sat quietly going over his grocery receipt and accounting for every cent of his shopping trip.

“Are you visiting family for Christmas, Frank?”

“No, they’re going up north to see the new baby,” he answered as he shuffled his feet.

“Why aren’t you going?” she asked.

“It’s colder there than it is here!” he exclaimed. He shivered dramatically and shook his head. “I can barely handle this cold. Don’t even want to think about it being worse. Plus, it would mean a car ride with the little ones, and I’m honest enough to admit that doesn’t appeal to me at all.”

Winter smirked at his honesty. Frank seemed like a wonderful old man but he did tend to give the skunk eye when anyone had loud conversations on the bus. One time he had even interrupted a college girl who was yelling at her boyfriend on her cell phone.

“Well, this is my stop. You have a good night and be careful on the steps. Okay?” Winter warned as she stood up and braced herself for the bus to slow and stop.

“Get your spray ready, young lady. It’s dark out and there are hoodlums everywhere.”

“I’ll be careful,” she assured him. “See ya later.”

Winter patted his shoulder as she passed his seat, holding on to the overhead handrail with her other hand. Stepping off the bus, she reached into her pocket to make sure she had her pepper spray handy in case she needed it.

The walk to her night job was only a block away and was lit well enough for her to not worry too much as she made her way down the sidewalk. The large parking lot had been plowed enough that she was able to keep her tennis shoes free of snow as she tromped through it. The mall was fairly small, and with the economy being what it was, it had only five stores open daily. There were talks about new stores coming to the mall, but so far it had been quiet. Winter wasn’t going to complain. As long as it stayed open, she liked having less to clean. With Enrique’s help, they were able to knock out their nightly duties in just a few hours.

Reaching the employees entrance, she knocked on the door and hoped someone was close by to hear her. She stomped her feet a few times on the rubber mat. Sure that her shoes were clear of snow, she sighed in relief when Enrique opened the door and smiled widely at her.

“Hey Winter!” his voice boomed.

“Hey, E, how is it tonight?” she asked, hurrying into the heated back hallway.

“Well…it could be worse.” Shrugging, he pointed to a pile of trash bags waiting on the other side of the hall. “We have extra loads to take out to the dumpster, but the food court didn’t seem too bad. I think the day shift must have actually pulled their weight for once.”

Winter breathed out a tired sigh as she stored her coat in the mop closet. She grabbed her music player from the pocket before closing the door.

“What do you want tonight? Trash and windows or vacuuming and tables?” she asked, hoping he’d pick the trash option.

Enrique eyed her knowingly. “I’ll take the trash tonight. It’s pretty heavy and I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself,” he teased.

“Enrique, sometimes I love you.” Her voice came out as grateful as she felt.

“Only sometimes?” he asked, beginning to roll his trash bin down the hall. “I’m pretty sure if I didn’t have Stella waiting for me at home, you would be all over this.” Turning around, he motioned up and down his rounded body.

Winter couldn’t contain her giggles as he shook his hips and snapped his cleaning towel as if he was a stripper.

“Yep, you’re right. Stella is a scary lady.” She pulled out the vacuum and grabbed her own towel and window spray. “How is she by the way?”

“Little Belle is keeping her busy.” He pulled his phone from his pocket to show off pictures of his little girl. “I don’t know how Stella does it, but she keeps up with her.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s worth it.” Winter patted Enrique on the back, loving his pride in his family. “And how are you doing?”

“You know me. I’m tired but you gotta do what you gotta do.”

“How many more credits do you need again?”

“Only one class this spring and then passing the test,” Enrique said proudly.

“Hey, once you’re a certified accountant, I expect you to do my taxes for free,” Winter joked as she started moving down the hall, anxious to get this night finished.

Enrique’s voice faded as he headed in the opposite direction. “I expect payment in cupcakes or other baked goods!”

“I hear ya, E!” Shouting as she opened the door to the main entrance, she wasn’t looking straight ahead and almost ran her cart directly into a box on the floor.

“What the fuck?” Yelling as she stumbled into the handle of her cleaning caddy, Winter tried to maneuver around it.

By the time she arrived at night, the mall was normally cleared out and had been closed for at least half an hour. One lonely security guard and Enrique were usually her only company. Moving the cart aside, Winter turned the box around, searching for a label to identify the owner.

“Ornaments,” she read aloud.

Okay, so apparently they were Christmas decorations. But why was there a random box of Christmas decorations blocking the staff hallway? Checking around the atrium, she spotted a few more boxes scattered around the area but nobody in sight.

Better get Enrique on the walkie-talkie.

“Hey.” Letting go of the button, she waited for a response.

“I’m here,” came the staticky voice of her cleaning buddy.

“What’s with these boxes of Christmas stuff?” Winter asked.

“Sorry, I got distracted earlier. It’s the setup stuff for the Santa display.”

“Are we supposed to set this shit up?”

Winter was hoping the answer was a big fat no. She hated Christmas. It wasn’t because she was an atheist. Instead, the hatred stemmed from childhood teasing. Winter had had the misfortune to be born on Christmas Day. That wasn’t the big problem. The major issue with the holiday was that her mom had decided to take her birthday as a “sign” and name her daughter accordingly. Instead of being named Abigail like her mother had originally planned, Winter had been stuck with a Christmas-themed name. Winter wouldn’t have been all that bad if it hadn’t been combined with her last name of Snow. Every single time someone learned her full name, the strange looks or teasing started. Winter had heard them all. From little kids being mean when she was younger to awful pickup lines from men who thought it would be funny to make a cheesy play on her name. Christmas had become a holiday she tried to avoid as much as humanly possible. Gift-giving was okay, but decorating and watching all the sappy movies was going too far.

“Nah, there’s supposed to be a crew. Larry’s letting them bring the stuff through the front entrance,” came the crackled voice.

“Ten-four, I’ll keep my eyes open,” she answered, glancing around for Larry, the night security guard.

Not seeing anyone, she shrugged and put in her earbuds. Time to get cleaning.

Moving to the food court, she saw that it was indeed fairly tidy with only some of the tables needing a quick wipe-down.

Hips wiggling to the music playing in her ears, spray and rag in hand, she started dancing around the tables as she wiped. Might as well get some cardio in while she had the chance.