Jules
“What’s this?” I held up a plastic basket filled with zucchini.
“Um, Jules, shouldn’t you already know that answer?” John, head of the produce department, looked confused by my question.
“Not the vegetable. I know it’s a zucchini.” Seriously, the man needed to stop taking me so literally. I was the owner of the market; of course, I knew.“Why are these baskets right by the door?”
“Right, well, that’s from Olly, who runs the produce stand.” He shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk away.
“Stop,” I said slowly. “Who approved this?” I walked around the display and loved everything I saw. The market now had local fresh vegetables, which my customers had been begging to have available for about two years. The previous owner of the produce stand was a grumpy old man who had lived in Periwinkle forever. If the baskets were in my market, there was a new owner.
“I thought you did?” He had a tomato in his hand and was just about to place it on a display.
“I feel like we’re talking in circles.” It was better to end the conversation, so I grabbed an apple and walked away.
“Do you want me to leave it?” he yelled.
“Yeah.” I didn’t have the energy to mess with it. Plus, they would probably sell fast.
Curiosity was getting the best of me. Who was the new owner? The Gazette was staring right at me as I stepped into my office. I noticed on the cover was a man. My readers were in the desk drawer, so I quickly sat down, grabbed my glasses, and lifted the paper.
Oh my shit, it was the new owner of the produce stand.
“What has your attention?” Stacy, my best friend and general manager of the local market, walked into the office.
“Did you see this?” I held out the paper for her to take.
“What? Oh, Olly, the new owner.” She smiled and moved her eyebrows up and down.
“Why did you do that? Wait, when did you meet him?” I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest.
“I can’t believe you haven’t met him yet. He’s been here twice to drop off some fresh veggies.”
“Obviously, I haven’t met him yet because I just discovered two seconds ago there’s a new owner.” I wanted to look frustrated but the conversation was too funny.
“Oh, we need to go to the produce stand.” She used her hand to direct me to get up. “Come with me.”
“What? Stac, I’m not sure if you know this, but we have a market to run.” I listened to her command because if I ignored her, she would pick me up and force me out. She’s done it multiple times before.
“It’s slow right now.” She pushed me out of the office. “Plus, you’ll thank me later.”
“Thank you?” I glanced back, but she continued to push me forward.
“Move, woman.”
The local market was in the center of town. Periwinkle didn’t have a commercial grocery store, just the market. Our population was around four thousand, maybe less. The idea of selling local produce had been on my mind for a while. It was a perfect way to give back to the community.
The produce stand was only two blocks away, so of course, we walked. As we got closer, I was excited about the possibilities of a partnership with the new owner.
“We could’ve stopped by tomorrow.” I was looking at Stacy. “I don’t understand what the fuss is all about.”
We stopped in front of the entrance. Stacy turned my chin to face something else. “Look.”
I rolled my eyes and did as she asked. “Wait.” I watched as the man bent down to grab a sack of potatoes and throw them onto a pile. “Is that him?”
“Yuppers.” She burst out laughing. “Now, do you understand why I made you come over immediately?
“He looks better in person.”
“Right?”
“He’s…”
“Gorgeous. Yeah, I know.” She pushed my chin up. “Close your mouth, dear; you’re catching flies.”
“Stacy.” The guy stopped what he was doing and walked over to where we were standing. “Good to see you again.”
“Hey, Olly. My bestie wanted to meet the new owner, so I figured this was the perfect time to pop in.” She wrapped her arm around my bicep and moved me back and forth. “Right, Jules.”
I found myself struggling to focus; his ice-blue eyes were mesmerizing. “Huh?”
She leaned in and whispered, “Say hi.”
I held my hand out. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you, Olly.”
He flashed a heart-stopping smile. “Same. Wait, have we met before?”
AUTHOR NOTE:
Okay, we did discuss whether they knew each other, and I loved that you decided it was a mistaken identity. I'm curious: Do you think Jules is even interested in Olly? Does she have something else going on that is distracting her?