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Chapter 79

You got control of everyone's eyes
Including mine

– Arctic Monkeys, Still Take You Home

. . . .

I never realized how difficult it is to find a decent job. I've been searching in retail and Harry's been desperately scouring for educational positions opening up. All the ones that I've come across in retail were men's clothing stores or selling furniture in a dingy outlet off the highway. 

I wouldn't be surprised if he started sprouting gray hairs from the stress he's under trying to find an opening. As each day, even minute, that goes by of him not having a job I see that he's breaking and it's killing him. He hasn't had any panic attacks, but in all honesty, it's only a matter of time till another one strikes.

It's a bright, sunny day. No clouds or anything, yet we're cooped up in the house on our laptops with the windows open and the breeze blowing in. Lilly's out with Gemma on a shopping trip for the day.

He slams the lid of his laptop down and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. "There are no fucking job offers around here."

"Maybe you should apply for a summer job until you can find a steady teaching position," I suggest.

"With the way my luck has been, I'll be working that damn summer job for the rest of my life."

"I have faith that you'll find something."

"I hope so," he replies solemnly. "Have you found anything?"

I bite my lip because I did–twenty minutes ago. I didn't want to say anything or act like I was gloating because I found something and he didn't. I'd rather have him find something than me.

"Yeah..."

"Really? Where?"

"It's at the mall. It'll just be stocking shelves and working at the cash register. I didn't want to say anything to make you feel bad."

His settled frown turns upwards into a light, fragile smile and squeezes my hand from across the table. "Apply for it."

I pull up the link to the application and Harry moves to my side of the table to help me fill it out. We finish it in no time and since it's only a quarter past three, I decide to take it over to drop it off then swing around my dad's to pick up some paperwork he needed me to have. Harry comes along with me to get away from the house and the pressure of job hunting.

After walking through half the shopping center, we turn into the store hand in hand. Mothers with daughters, friends, and girlfriends dragging their boyfriends around litter the store. We wait in line behind teenage girls staring down at their phones. Meanwhile, Harry doesn't seem interested in this store as he's also invested in staring at a news article on his phone.

The girl at the register is around my age—maybe older—and smiles as I tug Harry along by the hem of his shirt. She has a large flower tattoo on her shoulder and collar bone that's visible through her cold-shoulder top. She has dark hair and tan skin, rich caramel-hued eyes stare back at me.

"Hi, uh, I have my application for the open position here. Do I turn it into you or do I need to talk to a manager?"

Harry can sense the nerves shining through and presses his hand against the bottom of my back. It circles around and around to provide some comfort as I talk to this stranger.

"I'll take it. I'm the assistant manager. Not many people have turned in their applications. Do you shop here often?" She scoops up a handful of the security tags and drops them into a small box off to the side as she looks back at me to answer her question.