Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Greer kissed me on the cheek as she took it. “You and your lucky sea glass. I’ll see you at home later. If it’s slow, lock up at seven thirty. You don’t have to wait until eight.” She grabbed two bottles of wine from a display. “We’re going to need these to continue our conversation about what an idiot Simon is when I get in. Ben has to go back to work after we’re done, so it will be just us girls.”
“I feel like he’s never home lately.”
“His company needs twenty-four-hour IT support since they’re global. Both the night-shift guys quit the same week, so he’s basically been working nonstop. It’s a good thing we’re getting help with our fertility because we’re never in the same room long enough to conceive.”
I smiled halfheartedly. “Love you. Good luck.”
“Thanks. Love you, too.”
For the next hour and a half, I helped a few customers, washed the front windows, and stalked my phone for unhealthy fast food within a three-block radius. When seven thirty rolled around and no one had called or come in for forty-five minutes, I decided to do as my sister said and close early. I needed to feed my soul to make myself feel better—literally, not figuratively. So I turned off the neon OPEN sign, locked the door, and walked one block over to Gray’s Papaya for the best hot dogs in the city. It had been a long time since I’d had one. Lord knows I’d been watching everything I ate earlier this year so I could look my best in my wedding dress. And I hadn’t had anything but coffee all day today, since I’d lost my appetite after my appointment this morning. I actually salivated as I watched the cashier add chili and cheese to my order. When she was done, I was so anxious to dig in that I grabbed the bag and started to walk away.
“Excuse me. That’ll be nine sixty-two, please.”
I turned around and shook my head. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I got so excited, I forgot to pay.” I pulled out my credit card, as I’d used the last of my cash earlier today to buy coffee from a street vendor.
“Here you go.”
The woman swiped and then frowned. “The card was declined.”
“That can’t be. I have plenty of credit available.” I motioned to the credit card machine. “Can you try it again?”
She did, and the same thing happened.
“Shoot. Alright. I’m not sure what the problem is.” I pulled another card from my wallet. “Use this one.”
The cashier swiped and then sighed. “This one’s not working either.”
“What do you mean it’s not working?”
She pointed to the screen. “It just says declined.”
“But that’s impossible. Your machine must be broken.” I looked around and noticed the woman next to me paying. Her card seemed to go through without a hitch. I pointed. “Can you try that register?”
The teenage cashier barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. “Sure.”
But the same thing happened at the other register. And now a line was forming since I was preventing two rows of people from paying.
“Ummm… I’m sorry. I’m not sure what’s going on. Can you hold my order aside, and I’ll call my credit card company? There must be some sort of mix up.”
Since the store was loud, I stepped out front. After way too many prompts and pushing zero angrily five times, I finally got a human on the phone.
“Hi. My credit card was just declined, but it shouldn’t have been. I have plenty of available credit.”
“Account number?”
After I read the number to her and went through a few verification questions, the woman put me on hold for a moment. When she came back, I was hungry and frustrated.
“Hi, Ms. Vaughn?”
“Yes.”
“It seems your card has been closed.”
“What do you mean it’s been closed? I didn’t close it.”
“It’s a joint account. The joint account holder closed it.”
“What joint account…” Oh my God. I felt my face turn redder than the delicious hot dog I should’ve been eating. Christian. I’d forgotten that we’d applied for this card together. They’d offered it to us when we opened our joint bank account, even though I’d been the only one to ever use it.
I shut my eyes. The joint bank account that I now used as my personal account. I guess that explained why my ATM card wasn’t working either. I was seriously going to kill that man.
I took a deep breath. “Can I reopen it under my own name?”
“Of course. I can take the application over the phone for you, if you’d like. And if everything gets approved, we can have your new cards shipped to you in three to five business days.”
No Gray’s Papaya. So no point to this call right now.
“I’ll call back tomorrow and do that.”
“Okay. Is there anything else I can help you with this evening?”