Chapter 2

He had also set up an affordable, personal website where he promoted items from various brands on the side. He knew he had a loyal following, and the counter on his website stated he had thousands of visitors per day. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a huge social media influencer yet. The money and free products he received were great, though. He wasn’t earning a lot from those gigs, but every penny helped to reduce the stress of worrying about the cost of living in New York.

“Kyle!”

Kyle was startled out of his reverie. “Ollie, what’s up?”

Oliver Hall, one of Kyle’s nicer colleagues, worked at the men’s section in the department store. Kyle knew Oliver had a crush on him. He liked Oliver, but it wasn’t in a romantic way. He was glad Oliver didn’t avoid him after he rejected the man’s offer to go out on a date a few weeks ago.

“Have you heard the rumor about the guest?”

Kyle rolled his eyes as he mimicked Mr. Finlay’s voice. “We have an important guest coming on Christmas Eve.”

Oliver snickered. “Finlay is a snobbish asshole, isn’t he?”

“That’s the grossest understatement ever. The son of a bitch practically drools whenever he’s talking to some of the senior managers from the local corporate office.”

“Or the ones from the other branches.”

Kyle chuckled. “Yeah. Anyway, who’s the important guest?”

Oliver shrugged. “No one knows. I bet Finlay has no clue either. The man is a pompous bastard who thinks he’s way more important than he really is.”

Kyle laughed. “True. Where did you come from earlier?”

“The stockroom. I had to grab something for a customer,” Oliver replied while holding up a couple of shirts still inside their packaging. “Speaking of an unknown guest, don’t you find it strange none of the employees has ever met the owner of this department store? At least nobody from our location. The only thing we know about the owner is that he or she is a citizen from this tiny country called Oswington.”

“Not really surprised, to be honest,” Kyle replied. “Beaumont Department Store has more than ten thousand locations all over the world. The owner is probably off gallivanting somewhere warm at the moment, having the time of his or her life. Meanwhile, we’re all slaving away in one of the coldest winter months in New York in years.”

Oliver sighed. “You’re right. At least we’re employed. That should count as a blessing.”

Kyle nodded while grinning at Oliver. “Yeah. Anyway, I need to go into the locker room and change into my uniform. My dress shoes are also inside the locker. I better get a move on before Finlay screams at me. Again.”

Oliver guffawed. “True.”

“All right then. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, man. Take it easy.”

“You, too.”

Less than twenty minutes later, Kyle had donned his uniform and logged in by scanning his fingerprint before heading toward the counter in one corner of the first floor of the department store. There were two other personal shoppers there, Jessica and Landon, but he wasn’t close to them. He greeted them, but that was the extent of his interactions with them. The department store was bustling with a sea of frantic shoppers. Christmas was three weeks away, so Kyle knew, based on past experiences, his service wouldn’t be in a high demand. Yet.

Besides, the customers who utilized his service as a personal shopper had to spend a minimum of two thousand dollars in the department store. He would usually succeed in persuading them to spend a lot more than that prerequisite amount. After all, he would receive a nice three-percent commission from the department store if the customers spent between two thousand and five thousand dollars. Anything more than five thousand dollars, and his rate would increase to five percent, but the majority of the customers would never go above the minimum amount. He was getting a little bored less than five minutes later when the intercom right in front of him beeped loudly. He picked it up in a hurry.

“Kyle speaking.”

“Kyle, this is Lydia from counter number six. Your service is required. Thank you.”

“All right. I’ll be right there. Thanks, Lydia.”

Kyle exited from behind the counter and crossed the crowded floor of the department store toward the customer service area before approaching counter number six. He grinned and waved at Lydia, but he was a little confused. There was nobody sitting on the chair across the counter from Lydia.

“Hey, Kyle. The customer’s name is Clement. He’s right over there,” Lydia said while pointing at the display of ties about fifteen feet away.

Then Kyle glanced at the male customer standing next to the display. The man had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, fully displayed thanks to the fitted, red turtleneck sweater. Kyle gulped when he noticed the obviously perky ass, which was, unfortunately, hidden by a pair of tight, black jeans. The man’s thighs were definitely huge and muscled, judging by the stretch of those damn jeans around them.