FAT and in Love

Chapter 9: Work!

"How many hours are you working?" asks Sandy as she sips her grape juice.

I sip mine in turn and reply, "I'm not even sure of what I'm actually doing."

I recline on her bed as I put my cup on her nightstand. She comes over and sits on the bed next to me. She sighs a long annoying sigh. I look over at her.

"What about you? Any luck with jobs?"

"Meh," she says. "Maybe I'll work with my cousin at a Wawa or something."

"A Wawa?! Sandy! You wouldn't get paid as much as you-"

"-I know Lacie but it's something. At least until I find something better."

I nod in agreement. She turns to look at me, propping herself up on her left elbow. I smile without looking at her. I can feel what's coming. The butterflies in my stomach open their tired eyes, ready for action.

"Stop it," I say smirking.

"Spiiiiill," she says pulling a strand of my hair.

"Ouch!" I slap her playfully.

"Now."

"Okay, okay."

I tell her about my time at the mixer, the ride there, and the ride from. She listens intently, making gasping noises every now and then in response to a juicy piece of news.

"You actually touched him Lacie?! O.M.G though!!!" she shrilled.

"I know!!! I felt so special walking in there arm-in-arm with him. It's hard to believe that all this only happened 4 hours ago."
"Well aside from the mean stupid raccoons, it sounded like you had fun and Arthur and Zane sound cool."
"Yeah they are," I reply remembering with fondness how I caused Arturos to spill his drink. I smile and put my hands over my face.
I look over to see Sandy smiling with me.
"I'm so glad to see you happy. I know that you're going to do awesome Lacie."
"With God's help Sandy," I reply.
Sandy gets up to go check if her dad needs anything and before she returns I fall fast asleep.
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"Bye Sandy!" I yell out to my best friend as I leave through her front door to hop into my car. The prayer I say seems desultory. Feeling shamefaced, I take the time to bow my head and give thanks to God for my job, a car to get there, and just everything I have going for me right now. I did tell Sandy that we should count our blessing, because it's so easy to overlook them due to all the bad occurrences in our lives.
As I park Onyx in one of the most expensive garages in the city, I vow to start taking the train from now on.
Here I am once more in front of the glorious skyscraper. I walk in and greet the woman at the front desk. The two security guards don't seem to notice my presence, but I know that looks can be deceiving. The ginger haired woman seems to be the only genuine person in the entire building. She gives me a wide smile and says,
"You're here for Mr. Boveri?"
"Yes," I answer with a polite nod and smile.

"You can head on up," she says with a constant smile.

I wonder if her face hurts from smiling all day. I know mine does from smiling for a few seconds.

"Have a great day!" I reply as I headed for the elevator.

"You too!" she answers just as a man in a high cut business suit walks in.

"Rhonda," he says stiffly as a formality.

"Mr. Ulner," she says with a smile, though not as warm as the one she gave me.

Ha. Take that Mr. Ulner. Mr. Ulner looks as though he is in his late 30's. He's not bad looking either. We stand side to side waiting for the elevator. I glance at him and smile when I see him make eye contact. He says nothing. Not even a smirk back? Wow. Chilly much? The elevator arrives and three people exit. Mr. Ulner looks at me with impatience. Before I can say he can go ahead, he snips at me barking,