“Yeah, we honestly just throw away a lot of the stuff we find. If you give us your address, we don’t mind bringing some stuff by. It might not be the best, but it’ll be free.” Jett nodded quickly.
Maria gave us her address and we had one last round of hugs before she left. Even in the face of absolute ruination she seemed to be cheerful and just happy to be alive. It really put things in perspective for me. We complained about the shift because it was long and we were exhausted by the end of it, but it was worth every se
cond. Maria reminded me a lot of our Mom. She wouldn’t have taken charity unless someone dumped it all on her doorstep. We already donated some of the stuff we couldn’t sell to the Salvation Army, so giving some of it to Maria didn’t bother me at all. It would be nice to know that it was going to someone who truly needed it. Some of the clothes we found at the locker we just finished were probably her size, and the next locker had a few pieces of furniture.
“I think we should go see Mom tomorrow.” Jett looked over at me after Maria left.
“Yeah, I’m missing her more than ever right now.” I sighed and a half-smile formed on my lips.
Chapter Nine
Brylee
I spent Sunday frustrated over what happened on Saturday night. It had been such a great day, and I didn’t want it to end on a bad note, but that was exactly what happened. Waking up on Monday morning wasn’t any better. I had been able to forget the troubles from the office while I was with Jett and Rand, but when the alarm clock went off, they all came flooding back. I definitely had to talk to Dana. She had left me with so much uncertainty and then called in the day she was supposed to meet with Mr. Dunkirk. My resume was touched up, but I was hesitant to send it off until I knew things were truly going downhill at Dunkirk Accounting. After dwelling on it all day Friday and over the weekend, I was ready to know one way or the other which direction my career needed to take.
They aren’t off work yet, so at least I won’t have to worry about seeing them in the hallway.
I left a little earlier than usual, just to be sure I wouldn’t run into Jett or Rand. When I came home Friday evening, I was worried about the prospect of losing my job and my apartment. After the way Saturday night ended, I wasn’t sure that I was as attached to Atlanta as I thought. I finally met two hot, attractive guys that seemed to be genuinely awesome, and I ruined things before the even began. If I had known there were issues from their past that would get in the way, I wouldn’t have let my thoughts get so twisted over which one I liked. Either one of them would have been an amazing catch, but I decided to be greedy and indecisive. I couldn’t hide my feelings—or the growing attraction to both of them—but I could have handled it better. It would have been a lot easier if one of them would have just asked me out on a date.
“Hey, Paul?” I walked up to one of the guys in the office when I didn’t see Dana at her desk. “Do you know if Dana called in sick again?”
“Come here.” Paul grabbed my arm and started walking away from the work area.
“What’s going on?” I stared at him in confusion once we finally stopped.
“Dana got fired.” He had a look of concern on his face.
“Fired?” My eyes opened wide in shock. “Why?”
Or do I even want to know? I might be applying for a new job before the end of the day.
“I don’t know.” Paul shrugged. “The boss was in a really pissed off mood when he got in this morning, and I heard him yelling at Mr. Dunkirk on the phone. I don’t think he’s happy about it, which makes me think it came from much higher up.”
“He was yelling? I’ve never heard him even raise his voice.” I blinked in surprise.
“You haven’t been here long enough, but it does happen sometimes.” Paul tilted his head to the side. “I don’t think we have anything to worry about, but I wouldn’t bring up her name anytime soon, especially if the boss is pissed.”
We might have more to worry about than you think.
“Okay.” I nodded and looked over at my desk. “I guess I better get to work.”
“Yeah, me too.” Paul nodded quickly and started walking towards his desk.
I was in stunned silence, but I didn’t know what else to do but start working. I still had a job to do, regardless of what happened to Dana. The sick feeling from the previous week was back, and I didn’t even want to be there. I just wanted to quit on the spot and start looking for a new job. By lunchtime, I was actually considering it. The only thing that kept me back was the prospect of losing my lease. Even if I was unhappy over what happened with Jett and Rand, I really didn’t want to have to move back to Cedar Grove as a failure. I spent the day going through my accounts, making sure my work was impeccable, and when the end of the day came, I rushed home to review my resume again.
I’ll just apply to a few firms. If something comes along, I’ll consider it a blessing. If it doesn’t, I’ll do my best to forget what Dana showed me.
The next day
I was so caught up with my own worries that I didn’t even think about Jett and Rand until I opened my door and walked into the hallway the next morning. Both of them were probably home, and on any other day, Jett might have been in the hallway—conveniently leaving his apartment at the same time as me. Those days were likely over. He didn’t have to pretend that we were casually meeting in the hallway anymore. If he did want to see me, he could have knocked on my door at any point the previous evening. I walked a little slower, keeping a little hope alive until I passed their door. No matter how much I wanted to try and talk to him, I wasn’t going to push things. If I had managed to ruin things with my ignorance, then I would just have to accept it. I had things to worry about that was more important at the moment anyway, no matter how much I liked them.
“Brylee, can you come into my office please?” My boss opened his door and motioned to me before I even got to my desk.
“Yes, sir.” I nodded and saw the concern on Paul’s face when I walked past his desk.
“Close the door.” He walked around and took a seat behind his desk.
“What’s going on, Mr. Smith?” I pushed the door closed and felt my stomach doing flips as I turned around.