Vampire World (VAMPIRE WORLD #1)

Part 32 Big Day At Work

Chapter 31: Big Day at Work

            The next morning I prepared for my big day by dressing in some sexy work pants and a hip button down shirt imprinted with twisted vampire bones. Passing through the Supermarket entrance, I had no idea what to expect. But I was sure of one thing: Brett was now far from my mind, and that was fine with me.

            Mrs. FangCut greeted me at the door, along with two rather tall female vampires with beautiful hairstyles and 3-D tattoos splattered across their flawless bodies.

            “Good morning, Janice,” Mrs. FangCut said. “I hope you slept well last night because today you will get your first stab at manager training. Debra and Susan are from the co-operate office. You will train under them. Though it will be difficult, I wouldn’t have selected you if I knew you couldn’t do it. Good luck.”

            I said goodbye to the best boss in Vampire World and hello to Debra and Susan. On first impression they seemed surprisingly nice, though a little stern when they went on to let me know of their expectations within the training program.

            “Have you been studying the manual?” Susan asked.

            “Yes,” I assured her, worried that they might be expecting me to know the whole damn thing. Which I certainly did not.

            I was put to the test right away and asked to locate three items, all of them in the men’s department. The first two, blood-red jeans with vampire fangs injected into them, and then skeleton belts made out of pure vampire bones, were not a problem. I knew exactly where both of them were. But as for the third item, a spiked leather jacket that changed colors from black to maroon, I hadn’t a clue where to find it.

            Wasting no time, I clambered up the ladders into unfamiliar territory to collect the belt and jeans, at the same time hoping to get lucky and stumble on the jacket along the way. But that didn’t happen, and I felt lost in a store that used to feel like home.

            With the belt and jeans in hand, there was no point in faking it. I trotted back to Debra and Susan feeling embarrassed, even though I'd found two of the items thanks to some late night studying. But that was not good enough. I wanted to be perfect!

            “The spiked jacket is found in section 7-E-F5,” Debra instructed.

            For the remainder of the morning I was required to find more items in the men’s section. Though I tried my best to remember their various locations, I missed a bunch of them. Shame on me. At the same time, I felt exhausted, kind of like the first few days at work.

            “We are impressed with your speed and hustle, Janice,” Debra told me at lunchtime. “However, you clearly have not spent enough time learning the manual. If you want to be a manager, you will need to study it for at least thirty degrees every night. Well, go enjoy your break now. After lunch, we’ll go over forms and inventory.”

            I stumbled to the lunch room, feeling low, yet at the same time determined to do better. If I wanted to be the best, I had to start studying that manual more. Not to mention step up my fireball and weapons practice.

            But you can do it, I told myself. I’d already overcome a whole bunch of challenges, so this should be a piece of blood cake. Besides, I liked what I was doing. And when you enjoyed something in this perplexing life, you were usually rewarded with an answer that made it seem less perplexing.

            I wanted to start studying right now in the break room, but I couldn’t…I didn’t have a manual.

            Mira came in holding a scrumptious tray of blood cookies. The intoxicating smell drew me right to them. “Looks like someone is thinking about you,” she said.

            There was a note attached to the cookies. It read: 'I heard you’re a manager now, Janice. Congrats. Well, just remember I’m always thinking of you. It would be great to spend some time together. I’m available anytime. Yours truly, Michael.'

            While licking the enticing blood from my lips, I appreciated what he had sent me. Michael was sweet, though also cocky. And I was absolutely one hundred percent not into him. As friends it was okay, as long as he’d stop smothering me with the irritating flirts. I had no interest in a serious relationship right now – the only person I needed was myself. And I felt great about that.

            Even so, as I finished off the last cookie, Brett popped up in my thoughts. It had been a while since I’d talked to him. Did he ever think to call me? Did he ever want to kiss me again? Did he even think of me at all?

            Luckily, as these thoughts popped up, break time was over. I didn’t want to get dragged back down into the sorrows of the past.

            The next two weeks were work, work, work. Every night I hit the fireball squares and improved my skill by learning how to combat the jolting, dizzying effects of the squares, while at the same time avoiding the computerized monster attacks. One night I won eight battles straight. I must admit it felt damn good to be up there alone on the playing square.

            Each time after a long, rigorous fireball practice, I then headed off to the weapons cache and practiced my aim with the distance-attacker gun, finally succeeding in driving a stake directly through the heart of the vampire dummy. I loaded a few empty bottles into the top of the gun as well, hitting the dummy smack dab in the face several times. To finish off, I practiced handling and tossing the numerous blades, vampire stars and other stuff.

            Finally, after arriving home, I skipped out on sleeping and studied the manual until I could literally absorb no more.

            This off-the-job manual training paid off, with Debra and Susan giving me good reports for finding clothes in a timely manner. I also tackled paperwork and finance, something else that required a lot of studying. I don't know how I managed to do so well, what with getting such little sleep, but I was kicking ass at everything and loving every degree of it.

            During this hectic period I didn’t hear a word from Brett, although Michael asked me out just about every day.

            One morning I woke up feeling like I was missing out on something. My social life was now pretty much non-existent, and that lingered on my mind. Though I was proud of my recent accomplishments, I was overworked and needed a break.

            I checked my phone and noticed all the missed calls from Michael. On the spur of the moment I decided to call him back, just for a fun night out. I hoped he would understand that we were nothing more than friends, and I told him so point blank. He said he was cool with that and remained particularly excited about us meeting up.

            I knew Michael was lying about the friends part, so decided to hide a few stakes under the pretty red dress I was wearing that evening. He was picking me up in his sporty ride, and that made me think for a moment. I’d already had my fair share of bad memories in the back seat of a nice car. However, I was pretty sure Michael would never dare lay a finger on me without my permission.

            If he did, I'd lay a stake right in his heart.