What Happened After

Chapter 25

Chapter 25.

          “Rayn, can you do me a huuuuge favor?” I was asked on the phone by a very frantic Taryn early Saturday morning. I groaned and rolled over onto my back and pulled the phone away from my ear and in front of my face so I could read the time. 8am.

          “I guess,” I mumbled. While it wasn’t actually super early in the morning, it was early for me, and that was enough. 

          “Listen, I know you weren’t scheduled to work today,” he started. I knew where this was going. “But is there any possible way in this entire world that you could maybe possibly come in to work today? You know I wouldn’t ask you this unless it was an actual emergency, so just take a couple seconds to consider that.”

           He waited, and I sighed. “Yeah, that’s fine,” I responded, finally. “What time do you need me?”

          “Uh…I don’t know, let’s say 5:30?”

          I groaned again. “Taryn, are you kidding me? 5:30, as in tonight? Seriously, you could have waited for me to wake up a little before calling to schedule me for work hours in advance.”

          He seemed apologetic as he murmured, “Well I wasn’t sure if you were able to do it or not, and I didn’t want you making plans for this evening without me asking you first.”

          “Who would I have plans with?”

          I was met with a few stimulating seconds of silence before Taryn answered, “I don’t know, that scary limping kid you’re always with?”

          “Ruesso? No, I haven’t spoken to him all week. And I’m not always with him.”

          “Oh, you haven’t?” I wasn't 100% sure, but it sounded as though he was a little relieved. “And whatever, you spend enough time with him. Anyway, sounds good. I’ll see you tonight then.”

          “Yeah, see you later. Oh, and Taryn?”

          “Yes?”

          “Can I ask what the emergency is? Why I need to come in tonight?”

          “Oh, yeah, we’re gonna be really busy and boss-man wants another man on staff.”

          “Why so busy?”

          “I don’t know. I’ll see you tonight!” With that, he hung up before I could get any more information out of him. Something about this was very suspicious.

~~~~~~~~~~

          “Hey Rayn, what are you up to tonight?” Anna asked later that afternoon, walking into our room and setting her things down on her bed. Today she had her backpack and keys, as usual, accompanied by a Snapple and a large blank canvas. For one of her latest class projects, I guessed.

          I put down the book I was reading and marked my place as I turned to look at her. “Taryn called earlier and asked me to come in to work tonight. Boss-man said it’s gonna be really busy, so they need more than one guy working.”

          Anna looked, understandably, confused. “But it’s Saturday. The shop’s never busy on Saturday—there’s no school on weekends.” This was true. The sandwich shop only ever had customers when classes were in session. To be honest, we didn’t make very good sandwiches. But they were cheap and quick, and when you’re rushing from class to class on weekday afternoons, that’s just what you need.

          “Yeah I know, I didn’t get it either,” I said. “But whatever, I can’t question the boss.”

            Anna smirked as she looked out the window, then back at me. “You do realize it’s not your boss asking you to go in tonight, right?”