Unscripted (Lauren/You)

IX

I walked into the coffee shop with Reagan, hearing the bell ring above us as the door opened. The car ride was completely silent as I let the newly found information settle in my brain. No matter how much I thought about the situation, I couldn't find a reason as to why Asher would hit his own mother. Who the fuck would do that?

"Look who decided to grace me with her presence."

The sarcastic words of my boss brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him and saw his arms crossed over his big belly and his stern frown, showing how upset he was with me. After a second of thinking, I realized I haven't been to work in a couple days because of everything that was happening.

Putting a wide smile on my face, I nervously spoke, "Hey Jack. How ya been?" I heard Reagan chuckle at me from the side, then went to the back to get ready for her shift.

"How have I been?" Jack repeated incredulously. Instead of yelling at me like I expected him to, he firmly ordered, "Come with me." He turned to head to the back of the shop and I followed, knowing that he was going to fire me.

We walked through the back where we stocked more material, then reached the door to his small office. He went straight for his chair, but didn't sit in it. Once I had closed the door, he sternly said, "Sit down." Not saying anything, I took a seat in the dinky chair in the corner of his room. Looking him straight in the eyes, I shot him a big smile despite the angry look on his face. Ignoring my gesture, he calmly questioned, "Do you want to tell me where you've been?"

A nervous chuckle escaped my lips before I answered, "Yeah, about that, it's...a long story." 

That was a real dumb answer because Jack's face contorted into one of fury. "A long story?" he asked mockingly. "You miss work, and don't even call ahead to warn me, because it's a long story?" Jack changed his angry demeanor into a casual one, saying, "Oh yeah, that's alright, great excuse, Y/N. I totally understand, go ahead and get back to work."

"Really?" I ask hopefully.

"No, not really!" he shouted angrily.

Trying to keep everything calm, I begged, "Jack, I can explain, it'll just take a minute so please just hear me out."

He looks at me skeptically, still folding his arms to appear intimidating. After a couple seconds, his hard exterior broke and he sighed, "Fine." Jack plopped down in his chair as he said, "Go ahead and explain.

I smiled in relief and then started explaining everything to him. I barely took a breath in so he wouldn't cut me off before I could get to the good part. Jack sat still and quiet in his chair, keeping up with everything I said and taking it all in.

"...And this morning he told me I was going on tour with them," I finished, then took in a huge gulp of air. Jack silently sat in front of me, hand on his chin as he comprehended all of the newly found information.

I don't know what I was expecting to hear, but it definitely wasn't, "Congratulations." I connected my eyebrows in confusion, prompting him to continue explaining. He went on, "For the job. You've been working really hard for this, and you finally got it. I'm proud of you, Y/N," he smiled softly at me.

As relief flooded over me, I smiled back, "Thank you, Jack."

Jack stood up from his chair and went to fiddle with some things on his desk as he told me, "You can work here until you leave for tour. I'll just need to know when that is."

"It's next Saturday," I informed him, smiling sheepishly at him.

He chuckled, "That's alright. So I have you for eight more days."