25. Todd

25

TODD

I pull in to work at half past nine. With any luck, I can finish a few more pebble necklace chains before tomorrow, when Pebble Gifting Season starts. I’m not looking forward to the long hours and Gentoo trying to convince me to make a fidelity necklace.

Sometimes I wish we could just stop making the necklaces altogether.

I unlock the shop and get on my welding gear. There’s something therapeutic about heating up the forge and getting all my tools in place. I see a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye. I turn around to find Heller looking at one of the pegs in the corner of the shop with the most expensive chains. He’s wearing all black, including a black headband lined with rhinestones.

“Hey, how are you?”

He freezes and peers over his shoulder. What I assumed was a black beanie from behind is an eye mask with rhinestones. He doesn’t respond to me. Instead, he grabs a handful of the most expensive pebble necklace chains and drops them into a plastic garbage bag.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

He grabs the chains from the next peg and puts them in his bag. Then the next.

“Did Sergey send you over here to borrow a few chains?” I guess, but he isn’t listening. He’s just stuffing chains into his bag. That’s when I notice his tell-tale rounded belly.

Oh no. He’s nesting.

“Heller, wait!” I call out, sprinting toward the other side of the room. His hands move faster, sweeping whole rows of chains into his bag all at once. By the time I reach him, he has half my inventory for Pebble Gifting Season in his bag, and I know whatever he leaves this store with, I won’t be able to get back for two weeks. That’s how long Pebble Gifting Season lasts.

I grab for his bag, but he yanks it away from me. I expect him to run off, but instead he pulls something out of his pocket and jams it in between my ribs.

“Oof!”

“Take it!” he says.

It’s a credit card.

“Wait. Are you stealing those chains from me or trying to buy them?” I ask.

“They belong in my room,” he says.

Of course they do. He starts grabbing for more chains.

I catch his wrist. “How about you take what you have and come back for the rest?” I will conveniently hide the rest of them so that won’t be possible, but he doesn’t know that.

He wriggles his hand out of my grasp. “I have too much to do to come back.”

“Heller, I need these chains!” I say, even though it’s useless. I try to catch him again, but he bounds around with the agility of a cat, even though he’s pregnant. I trip over his foot and topple onto the ground.

He uses my clumsiness as an opportunity to grab the last of my chains and throw his garbage sack of jewelry over his shoulder like Santa Clause.

He darts around me, picking up the chains that dropped to the floor. Just as I get up and am about to grab for him, he reaches down one last time and takes the credit card.

“I didn’t charge you, Heller,” I say. But it’s too late. He running out the door of my shop, his bag of chains clinking with every step.

Goddamn it. There goes Pebble Gifting Season. Maybe I can call around and see if anyone has any extra chains. I highly doubt it, though. The other jewelry shops in the area will want to save their chains for their own customers.

I pull out my phone and call Cyrano, just in case Heller isn’t done with stealing/buying pebble necklaces.