The Art of Starting Over

Chapter 22 - Restored... Or Almost

It's Saturday. Our shift started an hour and a half ago and Sosa and I still haven't said a word to each other. I tried talking to her a hundred times in between customers, but as soon as I open my mouth, she snubs me by turning her head or walking away. The air is heavy with tension, all around us and in my chest.

When the store clears, she storms off to the backroom slamming the door behind her and my eyes inadvertently flicker towards the camera above my head. I wonder if Jeremy is watching us with the same attention he was watching Ipokriti last week.

I walk over to the backroom and press my ear against the door. I hear Sosa sobbing loudly, so I push on the door handle and, unsurprisingly, I confirm that it's locked.

"Sosa, open up."

She doesn't reply.

"Come on Sos, this is ridiculous! Let's talk."

"Leave me alone!" she calls back, her voice breaking mid-sentence.

"I can hear you crying. Please, just open the door," I beg her.

Silence.

Then the door opens abruptly. Sosa storms past me and sits down moodily on one of the stools, arms crossed over her chest. I follow her and sit tentatively on the stool next to her.

Of course, my words are nowhere to be found now that she's finally giving me a chance to speak.

"You didn't have to drag him into this," she blurts out angrily, tears of fury in her eyes.

"Who?"

"Mr Cordina! He called, ordering me to change your roster back to the way it was. I have never been so embarrassed in my life!"

"What? No! I just needed yesterday off-" I start explaining but she interrupts me.

"Mhux it's the same thing?"

Ugh. Really?

"Look," I say, summoning all of my patience. "I really needed yesterday off and the only reason I turned to Jeremy was because you weren't answering my calls. I'm sorry for going to him and I'm sorry about Shaun and I'm really sorry if, for some stupid reason, that upset Derek-"

"He broke up with me!" she cries, tears now flowing down her cheeks.

I stare back at her, momentarily unable to speak. Why the hell would Derek break up with her over something I did?

"And to think I stood up for you!"

"What do you mean you stood up for me? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You made us look like idiots! Derek is right. You are flaky!"

"I'm what? Is that what he told you? The guy dumped you twice in one month! Once for something his ex did and once for something I did. Is he fucking mental?"

I can't believe what I'm hearing. How are we even having this argument? If a guy said these things about my best friend, I'd be dumping his ass in a heartbeat. It would definitely not be the other way round.

"You'd be right if you weren't sleeping with him of all people," Sosa retorts. "Why did you do it? I told you he's trouble and yet you dumped Shaun for him!"

"I'm not sleeping with him! God, nothing even happened," I explain earnestly. "We were watching Dirty Dancing and we fell asleep."

"He was wearing your clothes!"

"Because I dumped his beer on his head the night before."

She opens her mouth to argue but then backtracks as my words seep in. "What?" she asks confused.