Lauren was glad the rain had finally started to let up; the storm had been hell on business, to say nothing of the poor people who'd had to evacuate their homes because of the flooding. But more immediately, Lauren had rent to pay - on her apartment and the shop - and utility bills and any number of things demanding a slice of her cash and not for the first time she wondered what the hell she'd been thinking to take over after Bailey left. For a girl who'd spent most of her post-high school life being able to pick up and leave whenever she wanted, having ties to a place - however tenuous - was sort of strange.
She'd opened a little later than usual, figuring that no one was coming in the morning when it was still storming, but the weather started to let up as it got closer to the afternoon. Lauren had gotten in a good couple hours of administrative crap - bills, ordering supplies, scheduling - and was settling down behind the front counter with a sketchpad to work on some new designs. She bought flash like anyone else, but still preferred to do most of her own designs for the wall displays whenever she could.
When the door chime rang, she glanced up to see a guy around her own age walking in, papers in hand. "Hey," she greeted casually, setting her sketchpad aside and standing to come around the counter. "Welcome to Wildfire. What can I do for you?"