Jane |18+| ✔️

35. The time when I began to Unravel

Jane

This day is getting more bizarre with every passing moment. I don't bother calling out to see if Dan, Dana or Darrel are still in the building—I could care less. I've worked with these individuals for two years and spent countless hours within their company, and I feel it meant nothing to any of them—beyond being a basic employee and just someone to swap shifts with.

I suppose that is how it is in the big city. Everyone looking out for themselves? It's not how I roll; it takes this latest lesson to realize—this is not my fit. With a slam of the locker door, I hoist my purse over my shoulder and bid farewell to the staff room.

With the click of my heels, I walk my ass out and see all the lights are shut, with Dan standing awkwardly on the sidewalk looking ashen. "Got everything?" he asks once I push the door, only for him to pull it from his side.

"Yeah. I think so," I offer a tiny grin as the sidewalk floods with bypassers coming and going in the mid-afternoon bustle. Pineton, in my opinion, is overly populated. Perhaps every human zone is the same, I wouldn't know, but today I feel a sense of suffocation, needing a desperate escape. The locks being clicked have me turning back to my ex-boss. "Thanks for everything," I hold out my hand to shake his. He eyes it and shrugs to his left.

"No worries, kid." He smiles while shoving his hands in his pantsuit pockets. "You're a goodhearted person, Jane. Meant to do incredible, wonderous things with your life and for many others." Blushing from the odd comment, I huff with a wide grin. "Take care, Janey!" His lingering smile has my mood somewhat inflated as I watch him walk away, disappearing within the masses.

—————

After what I thought would be a quick conversation with Mr. Grover, I head home to face Bob. No sense in delaying the enviable. It's just before closing when I pop my head into the open bay. I spot the overly tattooed man in his back office on the telephone. Not wanting to interrupt, I hang somewhat back but wave when he looks up and spots me. With a thick, stout digit indicating to give him a moment, I nod, looking away.

My eyes automatically move to the vacant spot where I swore that blue Volvo sat for the two years I lived here. Stepping closer, my sights trail around the grease-scented area that is exceptionally well-kept and organized before they land on the calendar of scandalously dressed women holding a tool somewhat subjectively. "Janey, came to pay me, did you?" Turning, his easy grin falters. "What's wrong?"

"Is that..." I point to the poster holding the dates of the month. "Is that old?" His eyes dart to the calendar and back to mine with a hint of alarm. "What's today's date?" I ask, on the verge of fucking losing it. How could I have worked all day and not once realized the date? The season? The fucking clues have been swarming around me all goddamn day! "Answer, please."

"September 2nd, Jane." Erratically nodding, I feel like my knees will give out at any moment. My throat tightens, and my heart begins to race. Then I start to laugh wildly, trying to rationalize the fucking mental breakdown I'm indeed having. "Jane, you're scaring me," my badass landlord mumbles from a few feet away.

"I'm scaring you?" I giggle in an uncontrollable matter. "I woke up thinking it was late May, Bob. Fucking May!" I wipe my eyes and steady myself against an old pickup. "Unless you're trying to punk me, which I'm sure you're not, I've just concluded I've lost over three months of my life—three fucking months, Bob," I spit, completely losing my shit.

"Jane, I need you to—"

"I spoke to several people about activities I supposedly had done over the weekend, but I don't remember doing them. I caught the guy with whom I thought I was involved with fucking my friend, but I feel no devastation whatsoever, yet he's scared shitless for some unbeknown reason for hurting me, but he actually hasn't!" I utter, not feeling a whit of sorrow for his loss. "And I swore you owned a blue. Fucking. Volvo. That was parked in that spot for the past two years since I've lived here!" I stab my finger toward it as I burst with perplexity.