“Your beauty marks,” Dominque’s voice, on the other hand, was enhanced and mellow as he turned his left palm. He had the marks placed in the same areas, “do you know what they say?”

Kaede slid her gaze to one side, attempting to portray annoyance while trying to hold up her legs, “no, I don’t, but you’re going to tell me, right?”

Internally she howled no man held her hand since Marco, of course, Dominque’s grip affected her.

Dominque’s deep maroon eyes bored into hers, “there’s a legend that says a lover placed his beauty marks on their soul mates hands. They’re a localization tag.”

Joseph’s daily pep talk came to mind. Kaede snatched her hand back.

Andrea cashed in the customers on the second till to slow down the queue that started mount on Kaede’s side.

“Ah books, Masters of doom, Jacked by Davis Kushner, you’re a gamer, ” Kaede said in a tone of a cat who had its tail stepped on. She cleared her throat, tilted her head to the side, “you read?”

Dominque cocked an eyebrow, “first; you think I’m a discount beggar, now you believe I’m illiterate.”

Kaede lowered her gaze, “don’t get on a defensive mode, I did not say that nor was it my intent to insinuate that. Even so, why? Don’t tell me a guy like you cares about what some random chick thinks of him.”

Dominque remained silent, while Kaede lifted her head to display a toothpaste advert smile, thinking she nailed his mouth shut while the man reflected on his comeback. Kaede was right Dominque usually did not care what women thought of him why did he feel the need to justify petty details.

He released a chuckle, beckoned Kaede to lean over the till as he did to whisper, “if I follow what our palms tell me, you are anything but a random chick.”

The man wished he could photograph the priceless expression of Kaede’s face if not to say meme-worthy under the hashtag blasted into space.

“See you tomorrow.” Dominque gave her a wink, the type where the eye remained open, and the lashes did the work and left. The man hoped his intentions came through loud and clear. Even though Dominque still had to put the finger on his motivations, at least Kaede knew he put an option on her.

Kaede’s mind imploded as it tried to assess the situation and the fact he would also be there the next day.

Supporting Marco’s freshness and swooning fans was one thing. Dominque was another type of nuisance that demanded great efforts to refute the man’s advances, which were more subtle than she imagined.

The thought that the situation might be one where resistance was futile scared the woman.

Kaede lifted her eyes to the ceiling, “please, God, anything but that, I beg you.”

The playlist of her life appeared to deviate from Kaede’s beats and shuffle to a song the woman desired to skip.

“Joseph, is there some belief that people with matching beauty marks areㅡforget it.

Kaede hurried to the door, why did she want to know. Dominque was not her type; also, he was that man’s friend and mentor.

“Kaedeㅡ.”

“No, Joseph, it was a stupid thought.”

The older man beamed, “even if it’s stupid, the answer is yes. There is such a belief for people who study Palmistry, but lots of factors should be taken into account also your desires count.

Kaede sighed, “ㅡsee you in a bit,” she held the clipboard to her chest and went down.

As she approached, Kaede heard the staff laughing. Between the crack of the door, she saw Marco speak,” guys, you all know I don’t dictate the rules here.”

Kaede did not wait to hear more she knew how the team perceived her; she entered. The meeting room was cramped as the whole team was present for the big brief before the party the next day.

“Morning guys, thank you all for being here and on time. How are you all feeling?”

“Good.”

“I’m on fire,” Chris replied.

Some smiled, while others tried to find a comfortable position to snooze. The team chose the time slot for the meeting whether they were glad to be there or not Kaede estimated it was not her fault.

“I’ll start with the sales we running on plus twenty percent transactions on the sneakers which are driving us. Apparel’s progression is stagnating, but I guess people are waiting for sales. I am glad to see books and other accessories have a little but none negligible progress of five percent.”

Dominque popped into Kaede’s mind with his books, and she remembered the image of him touching her hands. The picture somehow managed to keep her up all night, and now it played like an interlude. Kaede shuddered as she recalled the sensation of his hands and fingers gliding on each dot of her palm while he told his tale.

Did the man honestly believe in such things?

For Kaede, it made Dominque reassemble women who drooled over Korean dramas or Harlequin romance novels.

Nah, the man could not be the dreamer type.

“Kaede,” Marco whispered.

The woman did not realize she stopped speaking.

Kaede stared down at the clipboard and resumed, “sorry, I was saying, yes, the launches we have two sneakers this week and also The Peeps Mo collab. Before I get to the party guidelines, I would just like to say a word about customers and the store.

“We’ve noticed a lot of you like to remain in the store when your shift is over. What bothers me is some of you distract the colleagues still working. You even come to the store to use the toilets when in the area, don’t you think there’s a little abuse, guys?

“Also, we’re seeing a lot of your friends just here to chill on the sofas, flicking through the books for hours. Now don’t get me wrong; we’re a shop. We can’t force people to purchase, but we are not a playground where people hang out. Guy’s we’re not at the car wash.”

“Excuse me, Kaede.”

“Yes, Tara.”

Kaede knew the girl would object as her boyfriend spent his time trying on clothes that Tara put aside and brought with her discount throughout the week.

“I’m just speaking for the collective; there’s someone who has been hanging around all week long and well like he has a special treatment or something,” Tara said with her cheek piercings sinking in like dimples.

Kaede gave Marco a side look and pursued,” this applies to everyone. I’m not saying they are not allowed to come, but customers are the priority. Your acquaintances should not distract or consume your attention.

“Now on the lighter note, as you all know, the business is growing. We have a store opening in London and another here in Paris St Honoré. Anyone who wants to apply has to send their application to Cynthia by June 18th,” Kaede handed the clipboard to Marco, “Marco, will go through the party guidelines.”