for, liar

Chspter 58

"I guess I'm just nervous because it's going to be a whole new work environment and I actually have to put effort into work now."

I laugh and finish off the last bit of my smoothie as we approach her car. "You should be putting effort into work regardless. You'll be fine." I climb in the passenger's seat.

I really am proud of her. She took initiative to apply for jobs in the area and already got an interview. She's doing way better than me. Dammit, I really need to step up.

"I just hope I get it. I'm super nervous now that I'm talking about it."

She taps her fingers on the steering wheel and drives towards the apartment. The closer we get, the more anxious I feel about having to go back to work.

"You'll be great. Just eat a good breakfast, chew a couple of mints, and do what your mom told you." I remind her.

"Only have two buttons fastened?"

"Oh my God, no! She told you to be yourself, remember? Right before you interviewed for the art studio. You did that and Daphne loved you."

She shrugs. "Daphne's kind of unprofessional so it was easy with her. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not all that great at professionalism."

I see her glance down at her phone when a notification pops up on the screen. My nosy ass sneaks a glance too and I see Justin's name.

"No way. You're still talking to that scum?"

She laughs and turns her head towards me for a second. "Scum? He's not that bad, Bree. He's actually really nice if you'd get to know him. Besides, we're not doing anything...just talking."

I throw up air quotes to mock her "just talking" that I've heard so many times before and it ends up being a blatant lie. It's not my business. She can talk to whoever she wants to. I just want her to be careful.

"I'll take your word for it but if I sense anything sketchy then he's catching my hands."

"You? Fighting someone? You can't even hold a plank."

I still would not hesitate to clock him. In college he was an absolute moron who never showed up to class, but when he did he was high as a kite and slept through most of them. I still can't believe he managed to graduate with a marketing degree. I guess being unintelligent and hopeless doesn't mean you can't sell shit well. Granted, with the help of daddy's money, you can get anything.

I rush inside when we get back home so that I can shower and change into my work clothes. I'm kind of hoping Lana is there so I can ask her exactly what happened the other day I had to take her shift. We may not be friends but I still care about her well being because we have that work connection. Mutual hatred for customer service brings people closer together, no matter how different they are.

Maddy is starting on the spaghetti noodles by the time I come out of my room, dressed to leave. I'm unnecessarily excited for cold spaghetti tonight.

"Have a good night at work. Don't forget to grab another bag of coffee. We're almost out." Maddy reminds me.

I grab my keys off the wall hook and nod. "Will do. See you later."

I leave a little early because I always get stuck in traffic when I have to head into work this late. There's just something truly awful about the fact that everyone else is getting off of work by the time I'm about to clock on.

I think Scream Beans shouldn't even be open past three. Who the hell is drinking coffee in the afternoon? It would be different if we sold non caffeinated drinks like other cafés. Maybe I should suggest that. That would only give me more work to do.

When I get there, I'm a little disappointed not seeing Lana's car. I would give her a call but that would only make this awkward. She knows I would never choose to call her.

Jeff is inside at the front register talking to a guest. He looks stressed and doesn't sound like he's trying to be mean at all. He must not be having a good day.

"Bree!" Tiffany yells, striding over to where I'm standing.

She throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly. I lose my breath for a second. I didn't expect her grip to be that strong for her size. I also didn't expect her to show affection towards me. I've only been gone for three days.

"We missed you this weekend! We've been insanely busy, it's crazy! How was the beach?"

She's got so much energy for being at work at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

"It was great! I missed you guys too. Been holding up the fort well?"

She giggles into her hand and nods. "Jeff has! He's been hiring loads of new people since the thing that happened with Lana."

Wait, what? My eyes find Jeff's and I look away as quickly as possible before he could catch my gaze. I grab Tiffany's arm and drag her to the backroom.

"What happened to Lana?" I ask as soon as I'm positive the coast is clear.

"You haven't heard?" She asks.

That's why I'm asking now!

"No, she was being all weird and then asked me to cover that shift the other day but wouldn't tell me why. What's going on?"

She leans up against the wall and lets out a deep breath. "So apparently she has been getting a lot of customer complaints which, obviously we don't take seriously because we are supposed to be rude and all, but the complaints were really bad so Jeff went to go confront her about them and she totally made a huge scene and stormed out saying she's never coming back again unless he gets replaced."

She talks so fast that I almost can't keep up.

"She quit?"

Tiffany over exaggerates a shrug and bites down on the end of her tongue. "That's what I heard. I wasn't here when it all went down though."

"Who did you hear it from?" I ask.

I need a credible source.

"Jesse."

That's not a credible source.

"Okay, but Jesse is the type of person who is known for stretching the truth a bit. Are you sure that's what happened?"

She shakes her head and glances through the window in the door. "I should probably get back on the floor before Jeff realizes I'm gone. I don't want to get written up."

She pushes through the door and rushes back to the espresso machine to start making drinks. There's no way Lana would quit that easily, especially for something so stupid. Lana is a pain in everyones ass but I doubt anyone's complaints could be that bad.

There has to be a way I can find out what happened without asking Jeff. I don't trust Jesse at all and Tiffany wasn't even there to see it so my last resort is to call Lana and ask her myself.

Revised;