(Edited)

Chapter 4 - KMCF

"Look at him, he's soaking wet." I looked over my shoulder to see Hunter dripping wet from the rain and drying himself with the towel Miranda gave him. "We have clients and customers coming in soon, they won't take us seriously if they see him like that."

I knew Miranda was upset, but I also knew she would later ask me personal questions about Hunter and me. So, I stood there hearing Miranda's lecture, too bad I only heard and not listened.

"Miranda, I'm sorry. But, being mad at me won't help the situation, let's just set up." Her eyes wandered all over my face trying to find a something to say.

Miranda sighed. "What about.." her voice trailed off as she pointed at Hunter, who didn't mind the situation.

"We own a clothing store. We'll just lend him some of our apparels. It'll be like dressing up a living mannequin." I did my best to try making the situation at hand less tense. I think it worked because I could tell Miranda was trying to hide the excitement in her. "And when Natalie comes in.." I purposely drifted off, waiting for her to finish off my sentence.

"She can judge for herself!" This time she didn't hide her excitement. We both laughed simultaneously.

Minutes after we asked Hunter about his clothing size, Miranda and I were able to piece together the perfect outfit for him. Though it took us a while, we were best friends with different senses of style. I threw the clothes at him and ushered him into one of the changing stalls. We waited patiently as Hunter changed and that's when it was the perfect timing for Natalie to drift inside.

"The rain came out of nowhere!" Natalie exclaimed, putting away her umbrella. "What's going on?" She asked, watching how our eyes were glued onto a changing stall. Miranda and I wanted the keep the atmosphere suspenseful, so we decided not to say anything. Natalie obediently stood beside us and watched the changing stall too.

Hunter stepped out with his hands in his pocket, looking like a model. No one spoke, astonishment choked us all. Hunter wore colored cutoff shorts, a graphic tee, and a bomber jacket. He was absolutely divine. Luckily, Natalie was first to guide the conversation. "You hired a model?!"

Her dropped jaw earned a light chuckle from the model himself.

"No, this is Jen's-" Miranda cut off her own sentence and looked at me. "I've been meaning to ask. Who is he?"

I looked at Miranda and then at Hunter. He put on a fascinated face that attached a devilish grin "This is Hunter, he's my-"

"Boyfriend." Hunter cut in while he hooked his arm around my neck.

"Jen, you should've told me he was your boyfriend!" Natalie grinned. "When did you get a boyfriend and why didn't we know sooner?"

I pushed Hunter away and glared at him as Natalie and Miranda were smiling and giggling. I shook my head repeatedly. "He's not my boyfriend, he's just an extremely annoying childhood friend."

"Okay, Jen, we believe you." Miranda said, air quoting.

"Yeah, he's definitely your childhood friend," Natalie added.

I took a deep breath and ignored their comments. And tried focusing on other things. The store was just about to open soon and we hardly got the display window set.

"Okay, let's put my oh-so interesting love life off to the side," I remarked sarcastically. "And let's focus on something more important. Anders. We open in less than a half hour and we've barely done anything to prepare for our morning rush hour." I complained.

"Look, we have now four people to help out, so it'll be much faster." All eyes were on Hunter except for mine. The idea of having Hunter hang around my store was helpful, but distracting. He only showed up yesterday, but he still had a great affect on me. "Hunter, will you help out for today?" Natalie desperately asked.

Hunter shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not?"

Surprisingly, everything was done much faster than if it had just been us three. Anders looked amazing. The floors were swept, the clothes were racked or folded neatly, the music track was prepared and even the display window looked better than usual. I really had to thank Hunter for everything. He really helped out a lot, especially when it came to height and strength.

Unusually, there was no morning rush hour, only a few people came in and that really struck me. Out of all the successful days, this Wednesday had to be the saddest. I guess, people weren't favorable towards Wednesday. The day that was supposed to prove to Hunter how promising my boutique was.

Since no one was really showing up, we stirred up an early lunch break. It was really sunny outside, which was good considering the intense rain shower. It was probably why the amount of customers we had were minimal. Miranda and Natalie proposed that Hunter should join us for lunch no matter how much I disagreed to the idea, but lucky for me Hunter had a phone call that needed to be taken care of, so he went outside.

As soon as he left, it was time for our gossip updates.

"Wedding rehearsal tomorrow. Also, we're trying out bridesmaid dresses on Saturday." Miranda read from her phone.

"I can see my entire week crumbling before my very eyes," I sighed.

"Don't you have to order the bridesmaid dresses months before the wedding?" Natalie asked.

"We did, but apparently Grace hated them and canceled the order." I said. I took a sip of my bottled water at the same time, listening to Miranda speak.

"Before you even ask, Grace is well acquainted with someone who can deliver the bridesmaid dresses in less than three weeks." Miranda said as she stabbed her salad with her fork before placing the pierced pieces into her mouth.

"I'm so glad that I'm not taking part in her wedding," Natalie smiled happily. Natalie couldn't attend the wedding, because she was going to Maine to stay with her family all summer.

"Yeah," I said, sadly. "We have to hire someone else by next week." I frowned slightly.

Natalie enthusiasticlly jumped up from her seat. "My mom has friend who has daughter, I overheard them talking about how she needs a part-time summer job. She's 18, so I figured she'd be qualified."

"She's hired." Miranda and I said in unison. It beats having to go through constant job interviews. The conversation soon grew flat and we silently ate our meals and let our eyes wander. That's when a flush of red covered my cheeks.

"Soo, Jen, what's going on between you and Mr. Handsome?" She winked slyly as she smiled from ear to ear. Natalie shared a smile also, while stiffling a giggle.

I kept calm and collected, but what I couldn't calm were my now rosey red cheeks. "His name is Hunter and there's nothing going on between us. There isn't even an us."

"Maybe you and Grace can have a joined wedding." Miranda said smirking. Her teasing also wanted me to smile, but if I did, they'd actually think Hunter and I were together. Instead I clenched my teeth and continued the conversation.

"It wouldn't make sense, since we're NOT a couple."

Natalie couldn't help but laugh. "Just look at him," her response caused us to turn our heads towards Hunter who seemed to be having a very intense conversation. I speculated that he noticed the dreamy stares we were giving him because he glanced up at us with a heart throbbing smile and a wink in my direction. "He's sexy, Jen! I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up in his bed."

I rolled my eyes, but positioned a sloppy smile on my lips. "We're just--childhood friends."

Natalie looked at Miranda accompanied by a doubtful beam. "Did you hear that, Mira? She was hesitant."

Miranda chuckled lowly. "Oh, I heard. Jen, did you see the way he looked at you today?" He brought her drink close to her lips just as they were forming a crescent shape.

"How exactly did he look at me?" I questioned, my eyebrow pinned higher than the other.

Natalie and Miranda shared a similar grin. "An I-want-to-have-you-right-here-and-right-now-but-I-can't type of look."

I crossed my arms in amusement, did they really think Hunter had a thing for me? "That's not a look."

Natalie reached over and took a bite of my sandwich. "Yes, it is." Her mouth was now filled with bits of my BLT.

Miranda supported Natalie by nodding her head. She then tried to morph her face into the look she described earlier, but unfortunately for her it wasn't working out.

"You look constipated." I burst out laughing, in a few seconds Natalie joined in.

"Shut up," Miranda jokingly muttered.

As I laughed, my eyes caught glimpse of the stain glass windows. There were a lot of people gathering outside crowding a special someone. "What's going on?" I questioned. Natalie and Miranda turned their heads to where my finger was pointing.

We all ran outside wondering why so many people were surrounding the store. Didn't they know we were on a lunch break?

My eyes widened as I set my gaze on what was causing the increase of females.

Hunter?

Who would've known handsome guys don't belong outside because it seemed that nearly twenty to thirty women had him surrounded. They repeatedly asked for his phone number, his adress, relationship status, and if he was some type of celebrity. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling a little jealous. I am not lying, I feel massively jealous. What type of human attracts this type of attention just by standing outside? I managed to pull him inside Anders and of course, the large crowd followed along.

I put my thumb and index finger underneath my tongue and blew, catching the attention of everyone. "If you're in here, I expect you to be buying something, otherwise you'll be kicked out immediately!" I shouted.

I knew none of them would leave, since it would defect their chances with Hunter, so expectedly, everyone started shopping wherever Hunter stood or had stood.

Miranda, Natalie, and I were extremely busy, tending customer needs. Every chance I would get, I'd sneak a peek at Hunter. He seemed really comfortable and wasn't blowing my neck or whispering things in my ear like in the morning. But, it's not like I wanted him to.
I figured it'd be like this the whole day, so might as well enjoy the amount of money I'd be earning.

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