the other side of us | ✓

1.13 | remember the first day

It was Mason's first official day at Poppy's, and Charlotte was nervous.

It's not that she was worried about him coming in. She knew that he would be fine; he'd done well the two other times that he'd filled in.

No, Charlotte was worried because Ash and Devin would be around him at the same time. What if Mason didn't like her friends? Not that it mattered. Charlotte just wanted her employees to get along.

Yeah, that was it.

And yet, when she saw Mason walk in the door at exactly three-fifteen in the afternoon, Charlotte felt her heart speed up a little bit.

"I'm not late, am I?" he asked, walking towards her.

"No," Charlotte said, ignoring the rapid beating of her heart. "Ready for some paperwork?"

"Charlotte, there is nothing that I would love to do more."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay."

"No, seriously. I love filling out paperwork."

"Shut up and follow me."

Mason grinned and followed Charlotte into her office.

"Alright, these are for you."

Charlotte pulled a manila folder from her desk and set it on the desk.

"Okay, so these are just standard W-2 forms. And these are the guidelines for working here."

"There are guidelines?"

"Mostly stuff about dress code. No open-toed shoes or hats. No PDA on the floor—"

"Is that a common problem?"

"That's mostly for Ash and her boyfriend," Charlotte admitted. "There's also some stuff in there about flirting with customers, too."

"And that's not allowed?"

"It is if it makes a sale," Charlotte said jokingly. Mason smiled.

"Alright. When do you need these by?"

"Today would be great," Charlotte said. "You can fill them out back here. Take your time—we aren't very busy today."

"Will do, boss," Mason saluted Charlotte with a goofy grin. Charlotte handed him a pen and watched as he sat down and carefully started filling out the forms.

"I'll be on the floor if you need me," she told him, backing out of the room.

*

"Is he here yet?" Devin asked, shaking her coat out and placing it on the rack.

"In the back," Charlotte mumbled, tightening her ponytail.

"Ash?" Devin asked, training her eyes on the wall that separated the office from the rest of the shop as if she could see through it.

"On her way. She texted me a few minutes ago."

"I can't wait until she gets a good look at him. Then she'll understand."

"She's seen him before, Dev," Charlotte reminded her.

Devin rolled her eyes. "Yes, but that was in the middle of the night, and I doubt she took the time to stare at him properly."

"Devin!"

"What? She needs to have the opportunity to examine the beauty that God has blessed us with."

"You're ridiculous."

"Charlie," Devin said, her face becoming serious. "Please tell me that we're getting a delivery today and that Mason can help with it."