It Started With a Partnership (discontinued)

four: the job

Unfortunately, when I left the tent, I bumped into a girl. And whatever she was holding in her hands spilled all over her outfit, I think it was lemonade.

"Oh my God!" She shrieked. "What is wrong with you? Do you know how much this outfit cost me?"

I winced at her loud tone. "I'm so sorry! It was a total accident, I didn't mean to bump into you."

"All that aside," she looked at me, her eyes flashing with something I'd seen before, I just couldn't place it. "I don't recognize you, new servant?"

"What?" I demanded. "A servant? No!"

"Well, I don't see the Gleeful resemblance." She continued, "you know, the brown hair, blue eyes, incredibly angelic faces."

I gulped. So, these were the Gleefuls that Gideon had previously mentioned and warned me about.

"So, why are you here?" She took a threatening step closer to me.

"I, uh, um," I started thinking of excuses as fast as I could. "I work here." I lied with yet another wince.

However, it got the girl to back off. "Really?" She raised a pencil-thin eyebrow. "Thank goodness they've hired some new staff members. You must be new, aren't you?"

"Yup." I lied. "Absolutely, er. . ?"

"Mabel." She stated. "But the help calls me Miss Mabel, so you might as well, too."

"Right. Miss Mabel." Even as I said it, it sounded weird. This girl could barely be older than I was. Why did she have higher authority? "Yeah, the golf course owners hired me for the summer at least."

"Well, that's good. In my opinion, they should have done it ages ago." Mabel laughed. "But, honestly, what were they thinking when they hired someone at the age of. . .how old are you?"

"I'm fifteen." I admitted. "I should've mentioned that it is my first day, and I dunno if they'll keep me around and—"

"Well then, you sure like to ramble a lot, don't you?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to give you some advice if you want to keep your job. Talk less, smile more. Only do what the visitors ask you to do, only speak when spoken to. Never give a long explanation if a short sentence will do. Got it yet?"

I nodded, all the new information filling up my head. "Yeah, I think I got it."

Mabel rolled her eyes once more. "No. You say, yes, I understand miss."

"Yes. I understand, miss." I repeated. This was intolerable.

"Very good." She said with a clap of her hands, but then seemed to remember what happened. "Eek, I have got to change my clothes! Lemonade isn't very kind on imported silk."

And like that, she was off. I started to walk away, but then she darted back and dragged me by the arm. "What are you doing?" I demanded.

"You're the help, you will assist me. Especially since you made this mess."

Oh brother.

* * *

After the disastrous event, I was finally able to leave the course. I'd helped Mabel with everything she asked me for, waited on her hand and foot practically, and I was now even helping the rest of the crew.

When I made it home to the Mystery Shack, Gideon leapt up and asked me what happened.

"I almost got in trouble." I explained. "But I managed to convince one of the Gleefuls that I worked at the golf course."

"And?" He pressed.

"And now I have to go there tomorrow." I groaned. "It was just supposed to be a cover and now it's going to be a full-time job! I never asked for that."

"Sorry." Gideon shrugged unapologetically. "Your fault in the first place for even wanting to go."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know." I grumbled.

"You're getting paid, right?"

"God, I hope so." I mumbled as I went upstairs. I was so tired from everything I had done today that I just went right to bed.

The next morning, I woke up early to get to the golf course on time. When I got there, I expected the crew to kick me out and demand why the hell I was pretending to have a job there, but instead, they welcomed me and told me how the Gleefuls thanked them for my help.

"I dunno who you are." One of the guys said, "but I'm guessin' you work here. Now, this is a serious business, especially when the Gleefuls are here. Otherwise it's all fun and games. But when they're here, it's all work work work, busy busy busy busy."

I nodded and took the uniform I was handed. "I'm Pacifica." I told him.

"Robbie," he stuck out a hand for me to shake, "Robbie Corduroy."

With all the introductions aside, I was sent to work, cleaning up the golf courses, setting up tents for the Gleefuls. Luckily for me, I was working with Robbie. "So why do we care about the Gleefuls so much?"

"Well, the Gleefuls are like Reverse Falls's celebrities. I'm sure everyone in the U.S. knows who the Gleefuls are. Maybe everyone on earth, too." He shook his head, "so if they leave Reverse Falls, no one will ever hear about this town again."

"I see." I nodded as we set up tables and chairs. "How long have you been working here?"

Robbie thought about it. "Since I was fourteen. So, two years or so."

Wow, a cute guy and he was only a year older than I was. What luck! "I mean, it's pretty cool. You get to eat the leftover food after the Gleefuls leave, and lemme tell ya, they have great taste." He continued while I stared at him. "So, I like that."

"Yeah, I would too." I laughed.

He smiled at me.

Maybe this job wasn't the worst thing in the world.