Promoted

c h a p t e r s i x

"WHAT?!" I exclaim, almost swerving into the next lane.

"Your father died, Jenny. He's dead. Gone. Passed away. Are you getting the memo?" My mom explains through sobs.

"Yeah mom, I get it. I just wanna know why? When?"

"About a few weeks-"

"Mom are you kidding?! My dad has been dead for weeks and you're just now telling me? Are you sick?"

"Well actually, I have been experiencing some symptoms of a cold..."

"I honestly can't believe you. When's the funeral?"

"Two days from now."

"MOM!" I screech, pulling into a random parking lot.

"Jenny, don't speak to me-"

"No; I can say whatever I want. You shouldn't even qualify as a mother. For the past fourteen years I had to deal with your torment and you wouldn't even let me see my own father. Now look. He's dead. And I'm just finding out. How could you be so heartless? Not to mention extremely inconsiderate. I have things to do, and now I'm supposed to fly to where?"

"Florida."

"Florida to attend my father's funeral. I have to pack, give notice to my job-"

"Oh, you have a job? What do you do?" She asks sweetly, and I gape at her.

"That's it, I'm done. I'll see you in Florida." I growl, cutting the line. I scream in frustration, sadness, and anger towards my mother. She has always been fairly rude, but I thought she would've matured and grown out of it. I storm out of my car, entering the first store I see. Inside, I look around and realize that I'm in a wine shop. I grab the first thing I lay my hands on and stomp towards the register.

"I'll take this," I say, slamming the bottle and thirty bucks on the counter.

"Ma'am this bottle is 43 dollars." The cashier mentions and I groan, fishing out another twenty.

"Keep the change," I mumble, and the cashier glances at me, concerned.

"Rough day?" He asks, and I do what I've been doing for the past few days.

I cry.

"Yes!" I exclaim, preparing for my rant. "My dad is dead, and my mom is being a... a... a JERK! She only cares about herself. My dad has been dead for weeks Theo. WEEKS! His funeral is in two days and I'm just finding out that I have to fly to Florida for it. When I was seventeen I got pregnant, right? And then my parents divorced and I ran away to my best friend's house because my mom was verbally abusing me for a year and dad sent money to help but never visited me and then I got mad but he told me that he was scared and thought he failed as a dad and I forgave him and we hung out a bit and Mia, my daughter, kinda grew up with him but then he had to move so we distanced and even though I visited him a bit I never knew he was sick. Actually, I don't even know why he died! So now I have to go to pack everything up, including my kids, and fly out. Well, I'm not literally packing my kids, I'm bringing them with me. At least Mia. I have to bring her. Did I tell you I have 2 kids? I have a three-year-old boy named Asher, and, you know Mia; she's fourteen. But yeah. Sorry. I'll take my wine and go."

"Hold up, you need to chill. Wanna sit?"

"Thanks, but I should-"

"I don't think it's safe for you to drive when you're all... emotional." He states awkwardly, and I sigh.

"I'm such a mess. Do you have any water?"

"Sure. Just sit down and I'll get you some..."

"Jenny."

"Okay, I'll be back." Theo walks off, and I make my way to the red couches by the window. I scroll through my phone mindlessly, waiting for Theo's return. After a minute or so, he sits down beside me, handing me a bottle of water and keeping one for himself.

"Hey... I'm really sorry about your dad," he apologizes, taking a few gulps of water.

"Yeah, thanks. It's pretty upsetting, but I should be fine," I respond, playing with the bottle in my hands.

"So, what do you do?" He asks, and I smile at his attempt to take my mind off things.

"Well; I recently got promoted... twice. From two different companies actually."

"Oh, which ones?"

"Well," I sip my water. "Rellek Corp and Blu Technologies."

"Both of them?! Wow, you must be really smart or something."

"Thanks," I smile at him. "But honestly, it's hard choosing between the two. To outsiders, it seems obvious which choice I should make, like, secretary or owner of a company? But something's stopping me from choosing Rellek Corp." I say honestly and he shifts his body towards me.

"Like what?"

"I'm not sure, something internal."

"Oh, like when there's that though you're thinking and you don't know what you're thinking but you're following that thought?"

"Um, sort of. I have a month to figure it all out, though, which takes a lot of stress off my shoulders," I take another sip of water, just as a customer walks in.

"You should probably-"

"Yeah. Well, I hope you feel better. Um, here's a fortune cookie. It's a couple days old, but it should be fine," he hands the cookie to me, and I chuckle softly.

"Thanks, Theo, you're a good kid."

He shrugs, standing up. "I try."

I stand up as well. "I should be going, have fun!"

"As if," he rolls his eyes. "This place is boring as heck." I laugh, making my way to the door.

Inside my car, I break open the cookie to reveal the fortune. The slip of paper says: Everything will turn out right in the end, and I snort.

I sure hope so.

--x--

Woohoo! Another filler chapter. This one is pretty important for future events though, you'll see why. I already have the whole book planned out (well, most of it), who Jenny's gonna end up with, which job she's going to choose, secret relationships that will be revealed...

Anyway, the next chapter will be longer, I PROMISE.

K bye.