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Catie nodded, before blurting, “Oh, I like your hair by the way.”
Pleasure and joy—it appeared Catie was being genuine, Gwen realized. She hadn’t taken into account the ability to sense emotions as a way to gain insight on her coworkers’ moods, but Gwen wasn’t going to knock it. In fact, it could be something she could use to her advantage…
“Thanks,” Gwen smiled. “I like it, too.”
The trip to Mary’s office was shorter than Gwen would have liked. Before she knew it, Gwen was standing in front of the door. She felt warm, palms slightly damp as Gwen leaned her head toward the door to listen. It was quiet, with only the sounds of the light fixtures buzzing. Gwen pulled back, shaking her head. She was being ridiculous; it was just Mary. Worst case, Gwen could tap into her feelings—somehow—and pivot, right?
Gwen knocked.
Here goes … something.
“Come in!”
Gwen opened the door, spying Mary seated behind an outdated desk stacked with paperwork. She was all smiles—which wasn’t unusual for Mary, but Gwen had learned quickly that a smile was just a more socially acceptable mask in comparison to a frown.
“Gwendolyn, hello! Take a seat!” Mary gestured to the single chair across from her desk.
The chair was old, the vinyl having split into a jagged looking streak of lightning. A lot of the furniture in the back of house was of similar quality, but Gwen had justpassed it off as budget cuts. Still, Gwen proceeded with caution as she carefully sat.
“Catie said you wanted to see me,” Gwen volunteered.
“Yes!” Mary perked up as she pushed a small stack of beige folders to the side. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while now. Y’know, holidays always makes the store so busy, I hardly get a chance to catch up with everyone.”
Gwen nodded.
It wasn’t unlike Mary to be the kind of boss who insisted everyone was family. Gwen had heard it often enough at Christmas parties. Mary was always the first to wish an employee a happy birthday. The woman even brought in birthday cupcakes from home, where she lived with her two cats, Knit and Purl. She was nice overall, if not severely out of touch when it came to liberal opinions.
“But now that the Fourth is over, I thought I’d take a ten with everyone and kind of get a feel,” Mary explained. “Things have been a little … well,interestingthis quarter, to say the least.”
Gwen’s nose scrunched up. Mary was doing that thing that Gwen pretended to understand, but really didn’t. She didn’t know why Mary—or anyone, for that matter—beat around the bush like this. Was it really that hard for people to say what they meant?
An image of Ambrosius’ smirking face flashed across her vision. A small thorn of irritation prickled Gwen’s nerves, souring her mood.
“Is this about my hair?” Gwen asked. “Because I’ve got the employee handbook in my purse, and I read it, like, five times.”
Mary looked surprised, and once again, Gwen felt like she was speaking a different language. What on earth was Marythinking?
No, not thinking,Gwen realized.What’s she feeling? And why can’t I find it?
“Oh, no! Not at all,” Mary laughed. “It’s too young of a look for me, but you know Iadorepink, Gwen. You aren’t in trouble for that—though it would be a completely different story if you’d come to work with neon green hair!”
Gwen hated not knowing how her weird power worked. Naturally, it couldn’t be as easy as blinking her eyes or snapping her fingers. Gwen had noticed the lack of emotions from several people now. She couldn’t tell if it was simply the nature of her abilities or the complexity of the emotion. Just like Dr. Monday, Gwen was having difficulty feeling any emotion from Mary.
Are people just emotionally constipated? What the fuck is up with that?
Whatever it was, it made Mary looked haggard, and her sunny smile was suddenly slipping. Gwen used to be a bleeding heart when she was a teenager. She would have reached out and hugged Mary in an instant, but now Gwen only wanted to know what the hell was going on.
“You … okay, Mary?” Gwen asked.
Mary paused, before standing. She raised a finger to Gwen as she walked toward the door and gently closed it. Gwen eyed her boss as she sat back down in her chair. She had an odd look in her eyes, one Gwen wasn’t sure she had seen before.
“Gwendolyn, I’m going to be completely transparent with you. Outside of Jake and Mike, you’ve been here the longest. You’re practically family—”
More estranged family, wonderful.
“—so I feel comfortable telling you this first.” Mary sighed as she stared into Gwen’s eyes. “You see, Gwen … the store’s in trouble.”
Gwen dropped her hand onto the edge of the desk in surprise. “What?”