1: Mae
Losing your job is tough.
Losing the job you’ve always dreamed of is even harder.
My manager—or rather, ex-manager—sits behind her desk with a pinched face. I knew something was up the moment she asked me to step into her office.
Thedreaded office. The office where no conversation is ever good. Most employees leave crying or red-faced.
I want to flip the table and tell her she can’t do this, but the harsh reality is that she can. I’ve only been at the veterinary practice for four months, and I’m still on probation.
“Budget cuts,” she’d told me before asking me to hand my in-trainingbadge back over. I’d wanted to jam the pin into her thumb as revenge, but I decided against it. Cindy can be petty, and the last thing I need is her telling every other veterinary practice in the country not to hire me.
The scent of cheap antiseptic lingers in the air, and dog and cat anatomy posters hang wonkily from the walls, the eyes of the cartoon animals feeling like an audience as they judge me. I glower back at them, a chill running down my spine.
It’s freezing in here. But I suppose heating the place costs money—money the company just doesn’t have.
“You’re a good worker, Mae. You really are, but we simply cannot afford to have this many trainees anymore.”
“You’re the only vet practice in the state that offers this kind of training program,” I tell her as if she doesn’t already know. “School is too expensive.”
Joining a vet practice that was part of the Veterinary Training Academy—which means we get to learn on the job while being paid a lower salary—seemed like the only route I could take.
“We appreciate the work you’ve put in.” Cindy shrugs her shoulders, clearly at a loss. “Your contract ends today. I’m sorry.”
I stand, allowing my chair to scrape against the tiled flooring. “Did you not consider this before taking on so many of us?”
It’s a rhetorical question. I don’t want her response. Her words mean little to me. There’s no point in trying to soften the blow when I moved from Montana to Colorado for this opportunity, and I can barely afford my rent as it is. My lease is almost up, and after next month, I’m going to need to either enter another year-long contract with my greedy landlord or find somewhere else to live.
But the cost of moving is steep.
I leave the practice for the final time with hunched shoulders and begin the drive home. My gaze lands on myself in the rearview mirror, and I huff at the sight of my half-lidded, heavy eyes.
Four months wasted.
It feels like a massive kick in the teeth.
“And it’s another win for the Missarali Storks! Montana will be proud!” the radio presenter blasts, making me jump. My stupid car is jacked, and the radio turns on whenever it wants. Getting it fixed is low on my priority list, though. “They’re doing well this season, but I’m not sure they can keep it together with everything going on—”
I groan as I switch it off with twitchy fingers. I’ve never been a sports fan, and I’m certainly not interested in hearing about how the Missarali Storks are doing in the season.
It brings my mother to mind—the coach for their cheerleaders.
She told me moving away was a mistake. That I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Twenty-five is a perfectly normal age to chase your dreams, but she insisted I was too young and wouldn’t survive in such a cut-throat industry.
It only confirmed that she would never change. She cares about one person and one person only: herself.
“So, does that mean you’re coming home?” My best friend, Flo, asks on the other end of the Bluetooth line as I weave in and out of traffic, desperate to get home and throw myself onto the couch so I can eat my feelings. A tub of cinnamon ice cream is screaming my name right now.
I can spend tomorrow searching for new veterinary practices to apply to, but for now, I want to wallow and imagine myself throwing darts at a life-size photo of Cindy’s big head.
“I don’t know. That’s a big decision.”
Not one I want to think about right now.
“So was moving out of state to pursue your dream, but you did that. If Colorado doesn’t have what you need, find somewhere that does. I’m sure other states are in need of a young, hot veterinary nurse.”
