Roads That Cross...

... With Delfi and Jazmín (Part 2)

Ámbar's usual table was occupied, so she walked to the one in the far-left corner and sat.

She preferred the other table because it was closer to the bar and thus closer to Simón most times, but she was the one who got there late, so she wasn't about to tell some customers to get out. Also, what would she say? "Hi, I'm sorry, I usually work there, could you move?" It'd just sound very OCD from her part considering there were other tables available. The most honest would be to say "Sorry, would you mind changing seats? I wanna be closer to my boyfriend" but... yeah, she definitely wasn't going to say that.

Ámbar placed her document's folder on top of the table and left the gift bag next to her on her right. Her boyfriend seemed to want to focus on work today anyway, so she suspected there weren't going to be many exchanges of words. As manager of the Roller, she couldn't discourage that behavior; committed workers were exactly what the business needed. But as a person, she felt a little left out. Something in Simón felt weird today. Like distant. Maybe whatever he had been trying on the guitar didn't work out the way he wanted it to. Or maybe she was overthinking things.

She looked at the gift bag and sighed. She had wanted to give it to him right away, but she guessed it could wait. It's not like it was a 'wow' present anyway, it was just a small gesture.

A gesture that wouldn't have even come to be if it wasn't for Sharon.

Enough. She wasn't going to think about that anymore.

Ámbar opened her folder and started sorting through the different documents, mostly listings of expenses, earnings and bills. Running a business was more work than she initially thought, but she was getting the hang of it, falling into a rhythm. To have organized a whole event and pull it off against the clock right after getting the job had definitely not been a sane decision from her part. She had always been an overachiever, but that had been too much. How she survived it, she still didn't know.

She didn't regret her decision though. Something very good had come out of it. Her lips curled at the memory.

Compared to those days of stress, regular paperwork was almost easy. It wasn't, not really. But thankfully, unlike when she began, now she had help.

About two hours later, exactly at the time she said she'd come, Ana arrived and greeted Ámbar with a kind smile. That she took time off her own work to help her every now and then didn't cease to amaze Ámbar. It filled her with gratitude, maybe even affection. It just seemed surreal, that she had offered to help her in the first place when she's not even Nina's friend and that she had continued to do so afterward with the best of dispositions.

Thank god they had arranged Ana would come in the afternoon. She would've hated to cancel for that other woman that never could give her five minutes of her attention, even when she was free.

Ana stayed for an hour, more or less, before calling it a day. She congratulated Ámbar on her work, reminded her to keep the employee's payments in check (the notion that she'd be paying Simón was a little weird, but technically the money came from VIDIA) and warned her that 'with great power comes great responsibility.'

Ámbar laughed and said goodbye to Ana after promising that she'd talk to her before making any great decisions.

As she left, Ámbar wondered for a second how it was for Nina. To grow up with a mother that made pop culture references and listened when you talked.

By that point, the Jam & Roller was quieter. Most people had gone, including the ones that had been occupying her table, but Ámbar stood where she was. Simón had also gone away, probably to the lockers or to the rink to cover for Eric as he took his break.