Living the Dream

Chapter One             She opened her eyes to the pleasant burbling sound coming from the small kitchenette, the warm smell of the Arabica hitting her nostrils helping her wake so much better than the blaring of the alarm on her cell phone on the nightstand. Stretching with a deep groan, Charmaine rises and wanders towards the small bathroom while scrubbing the sleep from her eyes with her fists. Her “morning” routine doesn’t last long before she finds herself back out in the kitchenette pouring herself the first cup of coffee for the day, meanwhile, the noises outside indicate that her neighbors are arriving home from their busy days.             Charmaine never was a morning person, always preferring to live her life in the evening and nighttime hours. She smiles to herself knowing that she comes alive with the setting of the sun and the rising of Mother Moon. While most of the world dreams, she is most productive. Placing her empty mug in the sink for washing later and gathering her lunch and keys, she heads for the door to grab the bus to her new overnight cashiering position.             While nothing glamorous, her job allows her to socialize and earn money but still gives her plenty of time to “play with her crafts” as her family constantly reminds her. Crafting makes her happy and she is actually beginning to get some orders for commission pieces, offering her opportunity to earn extra money doing what she loves. No one ever thought she would be able to turn a profit with glue guns, yarn, needles, and her other “childish” hobby supplies.             These thoughts along with images of her new boss keep her grinning on her hour bus ride into work. Her boss, damn, should any man be allowed to look that good, be that intelligent, and that thoughtful, AND be single? Charmaine Simon did not think so. In fact, Charmaine didn’t believe that Kahoni Kim was even remotely fair to her 43-year-old single self. Being around that man alone was testament to how well behaved she could be. The interview with him was an exquisite torture she had replayed in her head at least twice daily since, and that was a week ago.             Disembarking the bus, Charmaine walks into the bodega and greets Kahoni, “Evening, Mr. Kim!”             “Charmaine, I believe I told you at the end of the interview that you should call me Kahoni. I don’t really care for formalities; it doesn’t allow for enough honesty to breed a successful work environment.”             “Yes, sir, I will do my best to remember that from now on. Since we already have my paperwork complete and I am familiar with the computer system you use, is there anything else I need to know coming out of the gate?”             “Just make sure you ask any questions that you may have and have fun with it! We will be building some sales displays today of some new products that need to be advertised, you said you were familiar with doing so?”             “Oh, yes! Just show me the way to the products and where you were thinking of putting them, or what the required specs are from the manufacturers.”             Kahoni takes the lead, Charmaine falling in behind him takes a deep breath attempting to calm her nerves and hormones only to be inundated with the mouth watering scents of coconut and eucalyptus. Squeezing her thighs together, Charmaine can’t help but think to herself, “Dammit, being around this man is going to be an extreme exercise in self-restraint!”             Once in the stock room, Kahoni shows her the stacks of pallets that need to go out onto the floor. Charmaine’s eyes grow, there must be at least four pallets of three distinct products here that have to go out and be organized, stacked, and correctly labeled and organized! “s**t! He must want me to hit the ground running!”             “Mr…I mean, Kahoni, you want all of these to go out tonight?”             His impish grin showing a slight dimple in his right cheek, Kahoni chuckles as he answers, “Charmaine, relax, you won’t be working alone, I will be helping of course and one of my best friends, Cyrus will be in to help, especially with the heavy lifting. I certainly didn’t expect you to do all if this by yourself!”             Charmaine sighs with relief as she blushes slightly, “My apologies, I am just not used to my bosses jumping into help with the so-called dirty work.”             “Nothing is too dirty for me to take care of if I feel it’s a worthwhile endeavor.” He chuckles with a slight wink.             The tinkling of the bell above the store front door rings alerting them to a presence shortly before the throaty voice shouting, “Yo, Ka! Where are you, asshole?” does.             Kahoni responds with a jovial, “Back here, dickhead!”             Charmaine turns her head to greet the tall, dark, and very obviously Greek male that walks into the stock room, “Hello! You must be the great and mighty Cyrus I heard so much about!”             Without responding to her, Cyrus looks at Kahoni and states, “I thought you were hiring someone to work the register, not to model new product!”             “Slapping Cy is completely encouraged, ya know?” Kahoni asks Charmaine.             She looks back and forth between the two men, not certain how she wants to respond to such obvious camaraderie and affection between them. Also, not clear how she is going to get through this shift without completely and utterly ruining any fantasies she’s already had thus far. Charmaine hasn’t gotten this far in life by allowing men shock her into silence so decides to dive right in headfirst, “Well, if he is even a fraction of the pain in the ass he’s already behaving as, I assure you the slapping will be an hourly occurrence at least!”             Both men stare at her wide eyed and then bust into full fledged belly laughter. Cyrus only responding with, “This is going to be an interesting night, to say the least.”