“Sorry Ms. Kennedy. We don’t have any product left in stock. If you want me to be honest with you, we had no idea that Jamie Ray Cosmetics was going to take off like it did. We only bought a couple hundred thousand units. They sold out on the website in minutes not to mention what we sent to the other department stores.”
The woman over the phone held her tone steady despite Devyn’s voice raising.
Devyn squeezed her eyes shut. Other stores. No wonder her boss was on her ass about stocking Maxi’s with it. She knew it was in other stores, but what made her think Devyn could get it in theirs? They were a new company. Yeah, they were performing above average for a store their size, but they were not a household name yet.
But getting Jamie Ray in their store could put them there. It could make them a household name.
“What other stores? I was told no one got Jamie Ray.”
“There were only a few. The big ones, you know? Macy’s, Sephora and Dillards...”
Devyn’s heart sank.
“Are you positive there aren’t anymore? We are a new store. We just added ten new branches to our company and we need these products for our holiday shoppers. We are willing to pay more.”
Devyn knew Mrs. Girlder was not willing to pay more, but she would pay the extra out of her own pocket if it could let her keep her job.
She could imagine the woman’s cool expression across the phone, her head shaking back and forth. “Sorry ma’am. There aren’t any extra units.”
Devyn sighed, letting her head fall into the palm of her hand.
“Okay,” she said defeated. “Thank you anyway.”
“I’m really sorry miss,” the woman on the other end said. “Have a nice holiday.”
“You too,” Devyn muttered back into the phone, and the director at Jamie Ray Cosmetics ended their call.
Everyone wanted that line in their stores, and just like Maxi’s, no one was getting a shipment in. Devyn had hoped they could get at least enough product to fill one of their stores.
Even that had been wishful thinking.
Devyn pressed the intercom button on her phone and dialed Penelope’s number.
It took one ring before she heard the familiar cheery voice on the other end.
“Can you come in here?” Devyn forced her voice to be level. “I have something important I want to talk to you about.”
“Of course, Boss. Be there in a sec.” The call clicked, dead air hanging in her office.
Penelope opened her door without knocking. Her cherry lips matched the Christmas stockings she had on under her dress.
“Did you ever find my card?”
“Yes,” Devyn sighed, pushing herself to sit up straight in her chair. She opened the drawer and pulled out the crisp green card stock.
Penelope looked away, nudging her foot against the wood leg of the desk.
“Did you look for it?”
“No.” Devyn folded her arms across her desk and leaned onto them.
“Why not?” she huffed in Devyn’s direction. Penelope’s face flushed.
“You know I hate Christmas. I’ve had a lot going on, so I haven’t really had time to play along.” Devyn shrugged.
“Just because you hate Christmas doesn't mean you couldn’t have looked for your gift,” Penelope’s voice raised slightly. It wasn’t enough for the entire office to hear her, but Devyn noticed the way her voice spiked.
“Pen, I don’t need a gift. I need a miracle.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “I guess I’m not a miracle worker.”
Her words were drenched in sarcasm.
“Listen, I know you’re upset—”
“No you don’t. You can’t fathom why I'm upset because you didn’t bother to look for something I hid in here for you. All you can think about is how much you hate Christmas and how you don’t want to put up with my silly games.”
“Jesus Christ, Pen. Chad shoved me up against a wall and slid his tongue in my mouth right before I had a chance to look for it, okay? It’s not that I don’t care and don’t want to put up with you. I’ve literally been dealing with more than just not liking Christmas.”
Penelope stood stunned. “He what?”
Devyn recapped the last few days for her, sharing every detail down to their encounter the day before. The way her body reacted to his touch and the way his skin smelled against hers.
“So you can see I haven’t had much time to think between him and this impossible order of makeup. Jamie Ray doesn't have any products, but they were able to ship a small amount out to the department stores. That’s why Alex is on my case.”
Devyn pushed off the desk and walked to the window showing the view of the city. The flurries weren’t falling fast, but at this rate her sister's car would be snowed in by the end of the work day.
“Alex saw the products in the department stores, but why is she on your case so hard? We aren’t a big department store.” Penelope crossed the room closing the space between them.
“She wants us to be. I’ve figured that much out. Getting Jamie Ray in even one of our stores could put us on the map and make us a household name because we will be one of the only stores carrying the Christmas Collection. I don’t know if she thinks I’m lying or if she just doesn’t care if they are sold out. It’s either we get this line or I'm fired. She made that pretty clear on the phone yesterday.”
“She can’t expect you to stock the store with a product that isn’t available.” Penelope’s face fell flat.
“I can’t change what she wants, but I’ll try to figure something out. I’m going to get some lunch.” Devyn leaned against the cold glass. “Can you try to see any of the stores would be willing to sell a part of their shipment? Or if they could tell you how much they got from Jamie Ray?”
Penelope nodded, pulling her notepad closer to her chest before she walked out of the room. The
