SO I kinda lied when I said we were done with that maggie\grey stuff for the mo. Kinda lied-- what I meant was we were done at the bistro for the present. There is one more piece I have written that sort-of goes with it, compliments it, so that's what I'm posting today.
The return of a fan fave, lol.
Enjoy!
“Hey!” Nolan’s smile was genuine “What’re you doing here?” He liked Maggie. She was a great girl and one of the best employees he’d ever had. Lately he’d been toying with the idea of asking her if she’d like to train to be an assistant manager. But he knew she had obligations at Los Tres and with school and everything...
She smiled back. “I’m not allowed to stop by on my days off?” she teased.
He nodded. “I just figured you’d have had enough of the place that you wouldn’t need to come loiter around here to have a good time.” They shared a laugh. He threw a glance over his shoulder where a pretentious couple was perusing the Australian wines. They’d told him they didn’t need any help, that they wanted to browse on their own so he’d left them to their own devices.
He turned back to Maggie. She looked nice. He supposed she always looked nice, she was a very pretty girl, afterall, but something was different today. She was dressed up. She had some make-up on. Nolan tried to remember if there was some event scheduled today that maybe he’s forgotten about. But Nolan Delaney wasn’t in the habit of forgetting town events, and he made a point of remembering important dates in the lives of his family, friends and employees.
“You look nice.” He finally said, unhappy about having to go at this blind. He’d kick himself if it was something he should know about.
She looked a little embarrassed by the compliment but accepted it. “Thank you.” There was a small silence between them as the pretentious couple chuckled to themselves about some inside joke they’d heard at a recent art gallery event. “I borrowed the dress, actually” Maggie confessed “It’s not mine.”
Nolan laughed and moved toward the counter. He could tell without looking that the pretentious couple were just about done impressing eachother with their tidbits of wine knowledge and had settled on some over-priced selection for their poetry picnic.
“Maybe you should keep it, it looks like it was made for you.” He said conspiratorially.
“Oh maybe,” she laughed “but if my boss found out I was a thief I might lose my job.”
He grinned. “Everyone has little secrets—we’ll keep this one between us.” He turned to the couple as they approached the register and Maggie wandered toward the champagnes. “What did you decide on?”
He could have predicted it. He might have saved them a lot of time if they’d been secure enough to allow the wine merchant to offer his advice. He shrugged slightly. “Great selection” he tried not to sound snarky. They looked self-satisfied and nodded to him in acknowledgement of his well justified compliment.
Nolan Delaney loved the wine business, save for moments like this.
“You know, “ he said conversationally “If you enjoy this you might also enjoy some of our Spanish wines.” They exchanged glances, checking to see how the other felt about this suggestion.
“Really?” said the man, incredulous. “I’ve never heard that.”
Nolan smiled placidly as he placed their selection in a tall, slim brown paper bag. “Maggie?” He asked, over their shoulders, but she was already moving toward the counter with a bottle. She handed it to the woman with a smile.
The woman took it from Maggie with a small “oh”, and swiveled to examine the bottle with her mate. Nolan winked his appreciation at Maggie who shrugged as if to say ‘don’t mention it’ before walking idly toward the German reislings.
Nolan watched them read the back label, the man’s lips moving silently over the words and the woman’s brow scrunched.
Then, just as predictable as everything else this couple did, they spun the bottle around and checked the price sticker. It wasn’t an expensive wine. They exchanged a look.
“Maybe we’ll try that sometime.” Said the woman flatly and placed it on the counter. Nolan wanted to laugh. What a snob.
He knew this selection to be equal to the Australian wine they’d chosen, but knew they wouldn’t think so unless it cost them more.
“How about this—“ Nolan said, taking a razor blade and scraping off the price. “This one’s on me; try it, serve it at a dinner with friends, and let me know how it goes over.” He bagged the Spanish wine, the couple paid for their $45.00 Australian wine and left, thanking him but still irritatingly skeptical.
“It’s bad business to give away bottles just to prove a point.” Maggie said when they’d gone.
Nolan ran a hand through his hair. “Especially when their taste buds are ruled by their wallets.” He acknowledged.
“Should’ve taken the price off before I handed it over.”
Nolan laughed appreciatively. She would be a fantastic merchant. She was clever and warm and hard-working.
“Listen, Maggie—I’ve been meaning to ask you something—“
The mild electronic ding-dong drew their attention to the door.
“Oh, Hey!” It was his nephew. Nolan felt a little awkward. Grey had been dating Maggie a month or so ago and it hadn’t ended well. He remembered how nervous and down Maggie had been afterward. She’d been overly formal, tense, and rigid around Nolan suddenly, and the change made him feel uncomfortable and clumsy and wrong-footed around her. He’d given her a week or so, but when her behavior around him didn’t seem to be improving he finally sat her down and asked her what was going on.
She’d been afraid that he would fire her. Because Grey was a Delaney and she was just some shopgirl.
In the back office of the wine store she’d begun to cry and he’d felt angry enough to punch his bastard of a nephew.
“I’m not firing you, Maggie!” he said, quickly handing her a box of tissues from his desk. She’d accepted the box, hugged it close to her belly and dabbed under her nose with one soft white sheet. Nolan was no good at all around weeping women. The sight of their tears made him tongue-tied and slow-witted and discomforting tingles always assaulted his body. It was especially awkward when he knew the girl or cared for her.
“You’re—Your’re—You’re not?” She hiccupped, trying to get a lid on her emotions. He knew she was embarrassed by her lack of self control.
“Of course I’m not.” He told her, trying hard to replicate that tone of voice his brother Jonah always managed when dealing with weeping women. His brother was much better at this than he was. “Maggie, you’re the best employee I’ve got.” He smiled, but this only seemed to make her weep harder and he looked away, embarrassed.
He wished he’d tried harder to warn the girl. He wished he’d had the forethought or the balls to tell Grey to stay away from this one. She was a good girl. But he’d heard about their involvement later than he should have; Grey’d been very careful about that. By the time Nolan learned of their relationship the girl was already head over heels in love and Nolan knew his warnings and advice would fall upon deaf ears.
He’d had no choice but to hold his tongue and wait.
And, inevitably, Grey discarded her and she was destroyed by it. Poor thing.
As she sat sputtering in his office he knew he should do something more, comfort her in some way, but nothing he could think up seemed at all appropriate. He wasn’t a closed-off man but he’d never touched any of his employees beyond a cordial handshake. The idea of pulling her into a hug and rubbing her back as he might his wife or daughter was simply alarming and he broke into a cold sweat.
But she seemed so lonely, so broken, so shattered. And this was not a young woman Nolan would have imagined to be so fragile—he knew her to be strong, opinionated, feisty and perhaps more than a little bit stubborn.
God Damn Grey Delaney.
“Look, Maggie—“ Nolan began, determinedly looking at his hands to respect her—her privacy?—“I want you to know that nothing that happened between you and my nephew has any bearing whatsoever on your job here.” That had sounded more business-like than he’d wanted. He listened to her sniffles and studied the lines on his palms intently. “And I want you to know that you’ve done nothing wrong.” He finished and almost wished he hadn’t said that. It sounded so paternal, and that wasn’t his place. He just wanted her to understand that he was on her side here, not Grey’s.
She was quiet for a long few moments before he screwed up enough courage to look at her. She was staring at him and he was a bit startled by the peculiarly fierce expression on her face.
“I feel like such a fool.” She said, her words heavy with pain and regret and shame.
“He’s the fool.” Nolan said firmly, refusing to so much as blink.
Her lower lip trembled and he braced himself. He really didn’t know if he could stand sitting through another onslaught of tears.
But she managed a small, fragile smile instead. “Thank you Mr. Delaney.” She said in a small, thick voice. He’d told her countless times that she could call him Nolan. He guessed her upbringing made it difficult for her to address him informally.
He was uncomfortable with the gratitude. He wasn’t clear why, but he felt like a heel. Maybe because he was of the same gender as the ass who’d done this to her? Maybe because he was the prick’s uncle?
“Take as much time as you need.” He said, clearing his throat of emotion and rising slowly. He toyed with the impulse to pat her shoulder but in the end couldn’t manage it. Instead he nodded, gave her as much of a smile as he could muster and quietly departed the office.
She’d taken close to twenty minutes before returning to the sales floor. Every minute that ticked by had felt agonizing to Nolan and he’d wondered if perhaps he hadn’t handled it well enough. Should he go back there and try again?
When she stepped out from the back she looked perfectly composed, as though it were any other day. The relief that flooded over him surprised him and he’d grinned at her. He recognized that he was proud of her. Well, that and, very grateful that she wasn’t crying any more.
Now Grey Delaney had just stepped into the store and Maggie was there too and Nolan didn’t quite know how to respond to the situation. He was prepared to ask Grey to leave, if necessary, but hoped that wouldn’t be necessary. He had barely spoken to the young man since the way he’d treated Maggie, but he doubted very much that Grey was even aware of this fact. The bastard was extremely self-centered and rarely gave two shits about how others might view him.
“Uncle Nolan.” Grey nodded and smiled blandly.
Then he looked at Maggie, expectantly.
She delivered a subtle shake of the head and Grey sighed. “I’ll just look around.” He said and Nolan thought he sounded tired.
Curious, he watched Grey saunter toward the far end of the store before returning his eyes to Maggie.
“You ok?” He asked quietly.
“Oh.” She blushed. “Yes.” She let a hand go absent-mindedly to the smallish silver medallion at her throat.
“D’you want me to ask him to come back another time?” Nolan didn’t like the effect the young man had on her. She was skittish suddenly, and timid.
She shook her head and swallowed rapidly. “No, no.” She forced a bright smile. “I actually want to tell you something.”
And he remembered he’d wanted to ask her about a promotion.
“Ok. Shoot.” He leaned on the tall counter and crossed one ankle over the other. He kept half an eye on where Grey was idly picking up bottles at random, reading a few words on the labels and replacing them disinterestedly. Nolan wondered what the hell his nephew wanted in the South African wine section.
“Well.” She swallowed again and put one palm flat on the counter, as if to ground herself. “I was wondering if I could have the week off.”
Nolan blinked, making certain to keep his face passive. It was short notice. “This week?” She nodded. Maggie was usually asking for extra shifts, volunteering to cover for other workers whenever she could swing it. She’d never even called out once.
“Of course.” Nolan put a smile on for her. “Everything ok?” had there been a death in the family, an illness?
She took a deep breath. Took a moment to mull over his question and then nodded. “Yes. Fine. Good.”
Hmm. Nolan squinted slightly. He didn’t want to push or pry but he was concerned.
“Everything ok over at the restaurant?”
“Oh, yes, no nothing’s wrong.” She laughed nervously.
Out of the corner of his eye Nolan noticed that Grey had come to a stop amid the New Zealand selections and was pretending not to be listening to their conversation.
“You need help finding anything Grey?” Nolan called, startling the young man, whose face darkened into a scowl as he roughly returned a Malbec to the rack.
“Got any scotch?” He wore a snide little smirk.
What a wise ass.
“Only the one I keep in my desk.” Nolan smiled a charming smile. “You’re welcome to help yourself.”
He’d won it off Grey the last time they’d played poker anyhow. Grey rarely lost and Nolan liked to gloat on the rare occasion he had anything to hold over the young man. It was a very expensive scotch, he supposed, but Nolan didn’t much care for scotch.
Grey narrowed his eyes but widened his smile. But rather than head toward the back he moved toward the wine accessories. What the hell?
“Mr. Delaney?” No matter how many times he’d told her to feel free to call him Nolan, Maggie insisted upon the formal title.
Shaking his head a little Nolan returned his focus to Maggie.
“Sorry.” He apologized. “Of course, take the week if you need it.”
“Thank you.” She said heartily.
“You’re sure you’re alright?” An uneasy feeling started to squirm in his gut. He was close enough to his brother to know that Grey’d developed a nasty habit of seducing virgins and then persuading them to, well, dispose of any problems that cropped up. Son of a bitch. He uncrossed his ankles and leaned forward earnestly. He spoke so only she could hear him. “Maggie, if you’re in any kind of trouble, you know I’ll do anything to help—“
Maggie cast a nervous glance back in Grey’s general direction before looking Nolan squarely in the eyes.
“Actually I just got married. Today.” She held out her hand in the stunned silence that followed and Nolan stared at the plain gold band. What?
“Married.” Nolan repeated, not exactly sure what emotion he was experiencing.
“Married.” Maggie answered.
“Congratulations.” Nolan said, wishing it had sounded heartier. Grey was walking up the aisle toward where they stood at the register. Oh, fuck no.
“Thank you.” Grey said with a cold smile.
Nolan couldn’t help the frown that stole over his face. She deserved better. He didn’t even feel faintly guilty for thinking it of his only nephew.
“You’re a very lucky man.” Nolan said, his words a warning.
Grey’s smile got right under Nolan’s skin. “The luckiest.” He said with a twist of mocking.
Nolan felt his fingers curl into fists.
“Mr. and Mrs. Delaney insisted on sending us away for the week—“ Maggie rushed, putting her body between the two men. “For a, a, Honeymoon.” She swallowed and blushed. “And I told them I had to work, but they insisted—they wanted to call you but I said I wanted to come and ask you myself.”
Nolan hadn’t taken his eyes off Grey’s.
“Absolutely.” He said, sounding almost chipper. “Take the week, enjoy.” He finally looked down at Maggie, she was quite short and looked so delicate. He was worried sick about this whole thing.
Nolan uncurled his fingers and extended his right hand toward his nephew. “Congratulations.” He repeated and held his hand steady, expectantly.
Grey’s smile faded and he stared at the hand. When he looked back at his uncle his face was unreadable. He took the offered hand and shook it firmly. “Thank you.”
Nolan broke the handshake and then looked at Maggie. Her face was still flushed. He took her hands in his and pecked first one cheek and then the other. “Welcome to the family.” He said, his voice breaking just barely. She looked perfectly stunned.
Just as suddenly as he had taken her hands he let them go, forced a smile and then moved toward the champagnes. He didn’t have to search, he knew precisely which bottle he wanted. He retrieved it and moved toward the register. Together with two flutes emblazoned with the Delaney’s Wine Shoppe logo he handed the bottle to Grey.
“A gift.” He told him.
Nolan had the feeling that Maggie wouldn’t really be able to drink the wine for quite a few more months, but he would play along with the charade if that’s what the kids wanted.
“Thank you Mr. Delaney.” She said in an awed whisper. It was a very good champagne.
His smile was sweet but a little sad. “You can call me Nolan.”
She met his eyes and he was slightly uncomfortable to see tears welling there. “Thank you.” She repeated, and he knew it was for more than the wine.
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2 comments:
i heart maggie!
I wicked heart Nolan.
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