She's The Wild West

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

The next day took forever to come. In fact, I was highly suspicious that it took longer to come than it normally did, despite the impossibility of that.

I ended up deciding to study, desperate to occupy my mind even though, admittedly, it just consisted of me rereading the same paragraph over and over and over until the words were dancing across the page. I read myself silly until I was finally able to fall asleep. Then, I was awoken at 7:36am by a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Samantha Agnes Thurwood, cloudy glasses over her eyes and two coffees occupying her hands.

Sam was my best friend, had been since the first day of our freshman year, and it was routine for one of us to bring the other a cup of coffee in the morning before we headed off to class. Three days out of the week we had the same lecture in the morning and on the other days I would walk her to her class before heading off to a shift at the cafe.

I was grateful it wasn't a cafe day.

During our walk, Sammy expressed how sorry she felt about what happened with my job and, though I appreciated every word, it was still hard to hear. However, it renewed my focus and determination to meet with the Student Employment Advisor and figure out my next move. The day seemed to drag on until finally, finally, I found myself standing outside the unlocked door of the Student Services building. I still felt a bit anxious, but I shrugged the feeling off, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Inside I was greeted by very dim lighting and the strange smell of stale donuts and lemon air freshener. When Mr. Ramone first hired me, he did it on the spot as opposed to doing it through the college's employment program, therefore it was my first time in the building. Truthfully, the inside had a stale, somewhat sad air to it, but I wouldn't let myself be deterred and instead I marched forward, straight up to the receptionist.

Behind the tall desk sat an elderly woman with straight white hair pulled into a loose bun and a name tag that read "Beverly Mavis". She had all kinds of funky hair clips in her hair, some pink and blue, zebra print, polka dots and more. None of them matched and yet somehow they suited her perfectly.

"Hello ma'am, I like your hair clips!"

She glanced up from her computer, looking slightly taken aback by the sight of me, and I realized I should've made my presence known more gently. Still a warm smile overtook her face and she leaned forward in her chair.

"What was that sweetheart?"

"Oh, I said that I like your hairclips. I think they're really fun." I repeated.

I leaned down and rested my elbows against the counter to bring myself closer to her level.

"Oh wow, thank you very much dear! My husband used to buy me all sorts of clips before he passed and so I like to wear a lot of them. Sometimes I fear I'll run out of room on my head!" she joked, letting out a small laugh as she ran her hand over some of the clips fondly.

I laughed along with her and couldn't help but think she was too bright and warm of a person to be in such a dull room. After she settled down, she clicked something on her computer before turning back to me.

"So what can I do for you dearie?"

"My name is West Monroe and I was an employee at Cafe Moon. I'm not sure if you heard but there was a fire there and-"

"Oh yes I did hear! A real shame what happened. I know Mr. Ramone and I was so sad to hear about his place." she offered, placing her small hand over her heart.

"Yeah, I feel bad too knowing how much he cares about the cafe. It's everyone's favorite one on campus. He mentioned he plans to try and enjoy his time off though, so I hope he'll be alright."