In All Things

By C.M. Berndt

Life in Clear Lake, Iowa was pretty boring until Vienna Jansen met Sullivan Martin at the tender age of fifteen when she got her first job at the cleaners in town. He was older, handsome, and wild, and he had Vienna hooked from the moment they met.

The beginning of their story spans almost three years of tangled, messy heartbreaks as Sullivan tries to fight not only his feelings for Vienna, but also against the alcohol that has consumed his life. Finally, unable to handle the rollercoaster of loving an alcoholic any longer, Vienna flees to California to live with her uncle.

Four years later, Vienna returns to Clear Lake with a changed heart and a secret.

After a chance encounter at the cleaners, Vienna discovers that Sullivan has apparently overcome his battle with alcohol and made something out of his life.

When Vienna's secret comes to light and turns Sullivan's world upside-down, it sets them on a path filled with surprises, memories, and unexpected second chances.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781304988126

Book preview

In All Things

By C.M. Berndt

Copyright Information

Copyright © 2023 Christina Berndt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-1-312-03731-1 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-304-98812-6 (E-Book)

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.

Front cover image by Christina Berndt.

Printed by Lulu Press, Inc. in the United States of America.

First printing edition 2023.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to everyone fighting battles against addiction.  May you find the strength to conquer what tries to own you.

They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity – for people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.

2 Peter 2:19

Introduction

Vienna Jansen stared at the battered door in front of her, unchanged by time even though four years had passed since she’d walked through it last. She reached her hand out to open the knob, but faltered, no longer convinced that coming here had been a good idea. It wasn’t too late to turn around. Surely nobody had seen her yet, so she could still turn back and go on with her life the way it was, without inviting in the repercussions sure to follow if she walked through that door.

But the sense of nostalgia she had felt when she walked up to the building after being away for so long ultimately won over any sense of trepidation she might have felt from finally coming back here after the way she had left four years ago, and she entered the Clear Lake Cleaners.

A bell tinkled to signal her arrival, and she just barely picked out the sound of the buzzer going off in the plant. She looked around the lobby, marveling at how it looked just the same as she remembered. There was an eleven-foot-tall Christmas tree jammed into the small space, loaded with silver and gold tinsel; and probably the same ornamental bulbs she had used to hang up on similar trees when she had worked here.

She heard the familiar sound of the sliding door opening to the plant and turned to greet whoever answered the bell these days. If things were anything like they were when she had worked here, she expected it would probably be a high school student.

Vienna?

The word was spoken disbelievingly, the voice unmistakable. She blanched at the sight of him, never having expected he would be the one she would run into here just before closing time.

Hello, Sullivan, she said softly, and looked at him for the first time in four years. It was enough to make her feel like she’d just taken a direct hit to the chest, like the breath had been stolen right out of her. His eyes were so green, so familiar and… wary.

What are you doing here? he asked, looking just as surprised as she felt. I thought you were living out of state.

She nodded. I live in California, she confirmed. I’m just home for a visit. She gave a little laugh. You don’t have to look so shocked. My family still lives here, and I did tell you I’d come back someday when I quit four years ago.

She didn’t say that she had been back to Clear Lake to visit a few times since then, but that she had been unable to enter this door until now. She didn’t say that even now she wished she hadn’t come inside. Maybe this had been a big mistake.

You were so angry that day, when you left, he said, having the grace to look uncomfortable. I guess after so much time went by I figured you were never coming back.

Never is a long time, she said. It was a long time ago. I didn’t know if you still worked here or not, and I figured that even if you did, you would never be here this late. I just couldn’t resist stopping in to see if anyone was still here that I used to work with, and I was hoping to see Mitch.

I’ve taken on a little more responsibility in the last few years, Sullivan said, straightening.

Worry grabbed hold of her, and she asked, Is Mitch doing okay? Is your grandpa well?

He looked at her, meeting her eyes fully for the first time since he’d walked into the lobby.

He’s okay. Just finally slowing down some. He is semi-retired now. I bought out half of the business, and I’m part owner of the Clear Lake Cleaners.

Sullivan pushed open the swinging gate that led to the back to let her in, feeling a sense of pride at the shocked expression that had crossed her face at his statement.

He’s here now. He’ll be happy to see you after all this time. Come in.

After a moment of hesitation, she walked through the swinging gate, pushed open the door to the office and walked into the place that had once been her second home. It looked as if no time had passed since the last time she had been back there. There was the same clutter everywhere, the same hodgepodge of random items of clothing. The same deep, layered piles of papers covering a giant desk, even taller than before. And the man sitting in the oversized brown leather chair was the same too, aged a couple of years but still just how she remembered.

He hung up the phone and Sullivan cleared his throat.

Grandpa, he said loudly. There’s somebody here to see you.

The man turned around in his chair, and a huge grin lit his face.

Well, if it isn’t my honorary granddaughter! Mitch said, and stood up, if a bit shakily. He gave her a long hug, then directed her to sit near him.

Sullivan lingered in the doorway of the office, unable to tear himself away from her just yet.

Now Vienna, I’ve heard about your life in California. Betty has been keeping me posted. But you must tell me how your grandfather is doing, Mitch said.

She settled down next to her old boss, a man as dear to her as the grandfather he was referring to.

He’s holding his own, she said simply. I’ve been able to see him since getting here and he seems to be as comfortable as he can be.

What’s happened to your grandpa? Sullivan asked from the doorway.

Cancer, she said softly. End stages.

He grimaced. I’m sorry to hear that, he said, and his voice was sincere. Then he turned away. If I wait another minute to tell Betty you’re here, she’ll have my hide, he muttered, and just like that he walked through the swinging door into the plant.

His grandfather gave Vienna a wry smile. He never was one for serious topics, he said.

She just nodded. Nobody needed to remind her of that fact.

Now tell me about everything that’s happened since you left Clear Lake. I’ve heard things from Betty, but now I want to hear every detail! Mitch said.

She winced slightly, thinking of the pandemonium that would reign if she actually went into every little detail. But that’s why she was here, wasn’t it?

Of course she’d come back to Clear Lake, Iowa for her grandpa. But coming to the Clear Lake Cleaners had been brought on by a completely different reason.

Betty came in and rushed over to hug her with a little squeal of delight, and Vienna got lost with the two of them, reminiscing and catching up.

Sullivan left the office, angry after he’d hesitated and heard his grandpa saying he couldn’t handle serious topics. Let them think what they wanted.

He was angry, just plain angry. Of all the days to get stuck working late, he had to be here on the day Vienna Jansen waltzed back in here like it hadn’t been four long years since the day she left.

It had hurt a little more than he’d cared to admit, seeing her standing inside the entrance to the cleaners, staring up at that Christmas tree with her big blue eyes full of memories. Then, to have her look and talk to him so coolly, like they hadn’t shared… what? He wondered, then told himself to get a grip.

Just because she was still the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, just because the sound of her voice made him think back to places he hadn’t let himself think back to for years, didn’t mean he had to fall down that rabbit hole. She had left once and surely, she would be gone again soon enough.

He had worked too hard to pull himself to his feet after she’d left the last time to dwell on any of it now.

He looked through the glass into his grandpa’s office and watched Vienna speak animatedly to Mitch and Betty. It was like he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. She still looked so much the same, but she also had this sophisticated look about her, and a way of carrying herself that she didn’t have four years ago. But, four years was a long time, he reminded himself. She’d be what, twenty-two now? He frowned when he remembered the date. She’d be twenty-two today. Today was her birthday.

Enough was enough, he thought firmly, tearing his eyes off her and walking further back into the plant. It was hot, even at this time of year since the boiler hadn’t been shut off for the day all that long ago.

He flipped the radio on at his old workstation, and it was set to the same loud, steady rock station he had always preferred, but it only reminded him of when Vienna first came to work at the cleaners.

Music had always seemed to fill her as she worked, Sullivan remembered. He started lining up the delivery route he was covering the next day, organizing by names and stops, and tried to will himself not to keep remembering her as she was then.

Too beautiful, too trusting, and young, so young.

He looked at the bagging station where she’d worked when she’d first gotten the job here at the age of fifteen, and had a flashback of her standing there, chatting with the friend who’d convinced her to come work at the cleaners in the first place. He glanced up to the cardboard box on one of the shelves above his old station. It had used to be sort of a desk at her station, where she’d doodled all kinds of notes and song lyrics and such. After she’d left for good, he just couldn’t stand looking at it anymore, but he couldn’t seem to throw it away either, so it had been shoved up on the shelf.

It was you and I, but mostly me. Song lyrics she had written there, along with notes and reminders to herself, and silly, nonsense things they had written back and forth to each other.

He was lost in thought when he noticed that she stood there watching him.

Same music, she said with a smile.

Well, it is the only good kind, he replied.

She raised an eyebrow. I seem to remember some country music in there, she said, calling him out.

He smiled sheepishly, trying to keep his mind from going back there again.

Also, I bet you have a rap CD in the player of your truck right now, she challenged him, her tone teasing.

Somehow, she had gotten another smile out of him. Guilty as charged, he said softly. You know me so well.

She sobered quickly. Sometimes I wonder if I ever knew you at all, she replied.

He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing, and the silence got long.

I didn’t think you’d be here this late, she said finally, echoing what she’d said when he’d first gone out into the lobby to see who’d come in.

I’m covering a route tomorrow for one of our drivers whose kid is having a birthday party. I stayed late to line up the route, so I have as little Saturday work as possible, Sullivan explained.

Another silence stretched out between them, until Sullivan was tempted to tell her everything that had happened since she left. Finally, he found himself breaking it with words he hadn’t expected to come out of his mouth.

Do you want to go to dinner with me tonight?

Her face paled and he fully expected her to say no, until after some silent battle with herself, she accepted the offer wordlessly, with a simple nod.

I just have to finish up a few things and I can be ready. Grandpa and Betty were going to run the deposit to the bank, so the office is empty, or you could wait in the break room for a bit. I’ll be ready soon. I could pick you up at your parent’s house, too, if you would rather wait there.

He knew he was rambling, but he was so surprised that she had said yes that he couldn’t help it.

Vienna just stared at him for a moment, like she had something she wanted to say, but then she turned, walked back up the aisle towards the office, and she was gone, going upstairs to the break room.

What had she been thinking, saying yes to dinner like that? There was no way that she could stare into those green eyes of his over dinner that night without spilling everything.

That’s why you came, her conscience reminded her ruthlessly.

But she couldn’t just blurt it out over dinner the first time she had seen him in four years, could she? Maybe she should wait, find out what sort of person he was now… See if he had changed.

Vienna sent a text to her mom, letting her know she would be late tonight, and that she would be out with Sullivan. Her mom replied easily for Vienna to have a good time and that everything was fine at their house and with her grandpa.

Vienna sank onto the couch in the break room and let the memories just wash over her, starting with the day she had first met Sullivan Martin.

Part One

Chapter One

VIENNA

I can’t believe I let you talk me into this job, Vienna complained to her best friend Linnea. It’s like a sweatshop back here.

Linnea smiled. You’ll get used to it after a while. It’s not so bad.

Vienna shook her head dubiously. I don’t know, Linnea. Maybe this job isn’t right for me.

She’d only been working at the Clear Lake Cleaners for a few days, and it was not her dream job. Sure, her best friend Linnea worked there, but it was just so hot. Unfortunately, she didn’t have too many options for employment within walking distance of her house. Her parents had been against her getting a steady job at fifteen and a half, and they had made it clear that they weren’t going to be transporting her all over town to do it.

And honestly... This was Clear Lake, Iowa. Dream job wasn’t really a phrase that would describe anything a high schooler was going to find in this town.

Linnea shook her head quickly. Whatever, Vienna. But you needed something to do besides moping around your house and pining for Jace, she said, rolling her eyes. Then she walked over to her bagging station, leaving Vienna to fend for herself with the job and the blow that the reminder about Jace had been.

Jace. Her ex. Dreamy, always on and off again Jace. Currently their relationship was at a definite off. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest at the very mention of his name, and she felt a moment of anger towards Linnea.

But after a few more minutes, she realized her best friend was right. She had been moping around for a few weeks, she conceded.

Not pining, though. She was not going to admit to pining for that jerk.

Bagging was a mindless job really, and Vienna found it a bit boring. Grab a clean order of shirts, pull the bag over it, staple the tag to the bag. Then file it on the line corresponding to which route it was for. Sometimes there were buttons missing or broken in the cleaning process, so she learned to sew new ones on at the little desk filled with sewing supplies in the middle of the bagging area.

It was usually quiet in the plant. By the time she, Linnea and the other two high school employees came in, all the full timers had usually finished for the day and left. There was usually only the owner, an old man named Mitch, a few truck drivers coming in with the trucks after their routes finished, and a woman named Betty who seemed to manage overall plant operations and the high schooler’s duties.

Today, there was a radio still on at the workstation near hers that usually sat empty. The light was on as well, but nobody was around.

Vienna was intrigued, because according to Linnea, that workstation belonged to Sullivan Martin, the grandson of the owner. Linnea had plenty of interesting things to say about him, many of them involving how incredibly good-looking, funny, and charming he was, but so far Vienna hadn’t even caught a glimpse of him.

Vienna threw herself into her work, losing herself in the rock music blaring out of the radio behind her.

Just then a young man came walking up from the front office. Vienna recognized him mostly by the description Linnea had given her. Tall, dark hair, fair skin, amazing green eyes. Pierced ears, black shirt, and jeans. Giving him a quick glance over, Vienna wasn’t sure drop dead gorgeous fit this guy. But he did have a look about him, something a bit interesting. Vienna decided she liked it.

Hello, Vienna said to him. He looked at her, nodded, and then left.

Linnea turned at her bagging station to look at Vienna. Isn’t he dreamy? she asked, her eyes full of stars.

Vienna scoffed. I don’t know Lin; he strikes me as a bit of a jerk, she said, and then they went back to work.

SULLIVAN

Sullivan had seen the new girl from a distance a few times before officially meeting her. From what he could tell, she looked pretty but ordinary. She was tall and skinny, with light brown hair that fell in waves around her shoulders.

Usually he was done by three in the afternoon and out of there before the high school crew arrived, but the day he met her, he’d fallen behind just a bit, and when he’d finally clocked out and headed back to his workstation to grab his things, she was there. Her shirt bagging station was right next to the desk where his workstation was.

Hello, she had said, looking at him with definite interest in her eyes.

He’d been momentarily stunned. Her eyes were so blue, so bright, and so inquisitive. They made her beautiful in a way he never could have imagined from a distance, and it was immediately clear to him that there was nothing ordinary about her.

He didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded at her and practically ran out the side door of the cleaners.

Smooth, he thought to himself. Real smooth. Then, he shrugged it off. What did he care what some high school kid thought of him? She was in high school. He was twenty-one years old. High school hadn’t been great, and it had been behind him for a while.

He’d come off a bad breakup a few months before and since then he’d avoided women like the plague. He’d been with his ex, Carissa, for three and a half years, so it had been almost four years that he had been out of the game.

Just out of practice, he thought to himself, thinking of the way he had practically run from her after she’d spoken to him.

Her eyes flashed through his mind again. And not interested, he reminded himself. Definitely not interested.

VIENNA

Linnea, you were right. This job isn’t so bad after all, Vienna said. She’d worked at the cleaners for almost two weeks, and she had to admit that it wasn’t as bad as she had originally thought. At first, she had thought that whether her best friend was working here or not, this job was probably not going to work out.

But before she had realized it, the place had grown on her. Bagging the clean shirts in preparation for them to be sent back on the routes came as naturally as breathing, and she had started to develop a definite fondness for some of the other workers. There were two other high school kids besides her and Linnea, and then there were the few full timers that she actually came into contact with.

There was always laughter, always joking around. It had brought a liveliness into her life that had been lacking since she and Jace had broken up the last time.

Linnea grinned. I told you so, she said with a laugh, then went back to her station.

Vienna smiled to herself. She was especially glad she had held onto the job, since her breakup with Jace, over for weeks now, had suddenly taken another bad turn. He’d wanted to get back together, and she had said no, citing all the constant making up and breaking up.

I’m done with it, Jace, she’d said.

He hadn’t taken it well, and now he was making her life miserable at school, telling everyone how much she’d hurt him and how all their relationship issues had always been her fault. His poor me attitude was really starting to wear on her, especially since she knew the opposite was true. He was always the one calling things off.

Sullivan started singing along with the radio.

Vienna’s c-c-calling but I can’t hear her... he sang, changing the lyrics to add her name in and favoring her with a grin.

Vienna smiled back, with a laugh, and he winked at her.

Can you help me fold these blankets? he asked with another grin, referring to the giant packing blankets they frequently cleaned for a local moving business.

It was becoming a daily routine. They folded the blankets together quickly, then Sullivan thanked her, and she went back to bagging shirts again.

Since the day that she had first seen him last week, he’d stayed late a few more times, and she’d had the chance to study him.

The next time she’d seen him, she had looked at him curiously again.

Hello, she’d said, a repeat of the week before, adding, I’m Vienna.

Sullivan, he had said, holding her gaze for a moment too long, then looking away.

It had taken him another few days to warm up to her, but now he had become a regular charmer, singing along with the radio, adding her name to songs, teasing her mercilessly about her sorely lacking sewing skills and even flirting with her.

So I heard that Jace was talking bad about you again today, Linnea said loudly, over the noise of the radio.

Vienna shook her head. That doesn’t surprise me, she muttered bitterly.

Trying to immerse herself in her work so she wouldn’t think about it, Vienna didn’t notice Sullivan getting ready to leave, until he asked her if she wanted him to leave the radio on.

Yes, please, she said absently. Then he gave her a wave and left.

Linnea gave Vienna a look. Wow, he’s never asked any of us that before, she teased. And he never stayed past three until you started working here. Now he’s been here late almost every day this week. Sullivan must like you.

Vienna didn’t even smile as she doodled on her box. Vienna+Jace... RIP. IF WE ONLY HAD LOVE. She felt more than saw Linnea looking over her shoulder.

What’s that, Vienna? her friend asked her, frowning.

My goodbye to Jace, Vienna whispered.

The next day when she got to work, Call me baby, had been scribbled onto the box next to her cryptic goodbye. She hesitated for a few seconds, then picked up her pen.

Number? she wrote.

SULLIVAN

Sullivan knew it was stupid. He knew that he was asking for trouble from the start. But he just couldn’t seem to help himself. From the moment he’d first seen Vienna, he’d wanted to be around her.

Suddenly he had been at work late almost every day for a week, and he’d enjoyed every moment of it.

It wasn’t just that she was easy to look at, although that was a huge plus. She had a nice body, and a great smile. Her laugh was wonderful too, although he caught glimpses in quiet moments of some pretty serious emotions that she seemed to be covering up with the laughter. But it was her eyes that had totally and completely sucked him in, from the first moment he’d met her.

Of course he’d overheard Linnea talking about Vienna’s ex, and all his high school drama. Sullivan frowned just thinking of it. Who could have a girl like Vienna care about him and not feel like the luckiest guy alive? If she was a few years older… he didn’t think he would have cast her aside as easily as this Jace idiot seemed to be able to.

He knew he couldn’t have her, but that didn’t stop him from wishing a little bit. She was just too much younger than him. It wasn’t just the age gap, because even that could have worked if she had just been a bit older. But fifteen…

It had gotten even harder to remember she was so young because she acted so much older than any of the other high school kids who had come through here. She had the presence of an older girl around her, and it was easy to forget.

But if he couldn’t have her, he could still make her smile, right? He could help her get over that loser, give her something to laugh about.

So he stayed a little late, just to see her. Just to make her laugh a bit. He invented reasons to talk to her, asked her to help him with some of his duties, added her name into songs when he sang along with the radio.

Somewhere along the way, it made him feel a bit better about his breakup too. So his ex hadn’t wanted him, so what? He could tell by the looks Vienna sometimes threw at him from those dangerous blue eyes that he was somebody that could be interesting, someone who could be intriguing to the fairer sex.

He felt another moment of true remorse at her age.

Why couldn’t she have just been a few years older?

His grandpa had caught him staring at her more than once, with a knowing look. Finally, he’d said something to Sullivan about it.

She’s really something, isn’t she? Mitch said to Sullivan with a wink. Beauty and a brain. Not something that comes around every day.

Sullivan had stammered, cheeks turning pink. Jeez Gramps, she’s only a kid. Not even sixteen yet.

Mitch just laughed. She won’t be young forever, he said to Sullivan, more seriously now. And you can bet there will be others who won’t be content to just look at her from a distance.

What did Gramps know, Sullivan scoffed to himself as the old man lumbered off heavily. When he was of dating age it was perfectly acceptable for older men to take up with much younger ladies.  Things were different now.

Just then Vienna looked up from the desk, where he had been watching her sew on a button, and her gaze met his. He gave her a wink and a smile, and enjoyed the blush that rose in her cheeks for a moment before he ducked out the side door to leave.

Sullivan hopped up into his big blue lifted pickup and fired it up, music blaring, and a dopey smile on his face.

As he caught himself, he again had a moment where he knew it was stupid to spend any extra time around her. If Gramps had noticed his attention to her, it wouldn’t be long before others would too, including Vienna. But Sullivan couldn’t seem to help it.

VIENNA

Before she knew what happened, Vienna had almost forgotten about her latest high school heartbreak with always on and off again Jace. Sullivan snuck under her skin so subtly that she hadn’t stood a chance. She knew it was just harmless flirting, and couldn’t be more, but it still put a smile on her face that had been missing for a long time.

Sullivan, you spelled Staind wrong, Vienna teased.

He laughed. Well, I was in a hurry! he defended himself jokingly.

It was four thirty and he had just finished washing his pickup truck in one of the truck bays in the back of the plant, when Vienna had pointed out that he’d spelled the name of his band of the day wrong on his bulletin board.

Isn’t it a bit late for you to still be here? Vienna teased.

Sullivan looked at his phone and pretended to be amazed at how late it was. Within five minutes he was gone.

He stays here later and later every day, Linnea remarked. In the three weeks that you’ve worked here, he’s gone from leaving religiously at three to staying late almost every night!

Vienna blushed, glancing down at her workstation box. Where she’d written number? It now said 715-5??9. She thought it was Garrett, this weird full-timer, who was doing it. But one of the other high schoolers, her friend Hannah, thought it was Sullivan, along with Linnea.

Come on Vienna, you two flirt like crazy, Hannah teased. It’s obvious that he likes you, and you like him too, don’t deny it!

Vienna laughed. Yeah, you guys, she said, trying to hold a straight face. We fold blankets together almost every day. I think it’s getting pretty serious! Then she started to laugh. The other girls wandered away to where they’d been working, and Vienna kept on smiling to herself. She’d noticed that it was a lot easier to laugh now. She wasn’t always sad and missing Jace.

And yeah, Sullivan was fun and a good distraction, but it’s not like there was actually anything there, she thought wistfully. He’d never really consider being with a high schooler like her.

She heard the telltale loud engine and thumping bass that meant Sullivan was back. For someone who claimed to only like the rock music he played at work, she’d noticed he favored rap when he drove. He came in the side door and walked over to where he’d left his long-sleeve shirt.

I knew you couldn’t live without me, Vienna said seriously, then smiled.

He grinned back. You know it, babe, he replied, and with a wink he was gone again.

Vienna pointedly ignored the looks from the other girls and kept bagging shirts. When she tuned into Linnea and Hannah’s conversation a few minutes later, they were talking about Homecoming.

I can’t believe it’s only two weeks away! Hannah was exclaiming. September has gone by so fast.

As Linnea and Hannah talked back and forth about dates and dresses and such, Vienna tuned them back out and started humming along with the radio that Sullivan had left on for her again.

So she had planned to go to Homecoming with Jace, so what?  Nothing was going to steal away the fluttery feeling she had gotten when Sullivan had sent that little wink her way just then.

It had been just fun and games for both of them, until just like that, it wasn’t anymore.

On the last day of September, when the high schoolers got to work, things changed between Vienna and Sullivan. He was sitting in his grandfather’s chair in the office, and he ordered them around with a teasing smile. Vienna was bagging in back when he strolled down the long aisle of the plant, telling them all how Mitch and Betty were gone on a route until five, so he was in charge.

It was a fun time. The radio blared, except when Sullivan had to answer the phone. Vienna couldn’t stop herself from smiling each time she heard him pick up the phone and say, Good afternoon, Clear Lake Cleaners. He sounded so professional... and adorable.

He’d been teasing her a lot more than usual, and when she was sewing a button on a shirt that had lost one during cleaning, she heard him call out to her.

Hey Vienna, do you want to go on a date tonight?

Vienna, who thought he’d said, Are you going on a date tonight? retorted with a snotty no.

He paused, then said, Oh.

She turned to look at him slowly. Wait, did you just ask me if I wanted to go on a date tonight? she asked disbelievingly.

He was quiet, and then she heard him say, Yeah.

Vienna grinned. Oh baby, you know it Sully, she said, only half kidding.

Call me then, he said, and then, Can you help me fold these blankets?

As she helped him, she pointed out that she didn’t have his phone number. He seemed thoughtful as they folded the blankets, and then Mitch and Betty got back. Vienna went back to bagging, but found another broken button right away. While she was sewing a new one on, Sullivan called out his goodbyes and left.

Oh well, she thought to herself. We were only joking anyway.

Then Vienna walked back to her bagging station. On her box was a piece of paper. 715-5339. She picked up the note in disbelief. Was this really happening? Sullivan Martin was really asking her out on a date and had left his phone number for her?

Just then she turned to find Sullivan sneaking in the back door. He grabbed his hat, then realized he’d been caught. He glanced at the note in her hand and blushed. Then he grinned.

Call me, he said quickly, and he was gone again.

Vienna hadn’t stopped smiling for the rest of the afternoon.

But by the end of the night, when she had gotten home and was staring at the number on the piece of paper he’d left her, she