Is he kidding?“It sounds perfect.”
He chuckles.“Good.You might be asked to do anything from making coffee runs to sketching a foundation, so be prepared.I’ll pay you a base salary with benefits.You’ll get a raise with your CAD qualifications.”
John goes over some figures, and with a few quick calculations on my iPhone back at the car, I realize I can actually survive on the salary he quoted.It’s not as much as I made as a dealer, but once my pay increases with the CAD skills, I’ll make enough to live comfortably.
More important, it’s a job.With health benefits.And I’ll be drawing.I could kiss Gen and Nessa right now.
The company needs someone right away, so I’ll start the day after tomorrow.John said he’d schedule a staff meeting and lay down the law so that his coworkers don’t pull me apart assigning me to projects.He’s actually eager to have me on board, and he never asked for references.My connection to Gen, the few sketches I brought per Gen’s suggestion, and my transcripts from college were enough for him to hire me on the spot.
I’m so excited I’m shaking.I pull up to the chalet and Tyler is sitting on the cement pad that is our front porch.His legs are outstretched in the dirt.He looks up, and the permagrin I drove home with fades.
Something’s wrong.His eyes are fixed and tense, his mouth stiff.I get out of the car and cross over to him.“What happened?Are you okay?”
Tyler picks up a brown pine needle and twists it in his fingers.“I spoke to a friend who ran into Jaeger’s sister.”
My heart thumps heavily inside my chest.
I drop down beside him, dust from the powdery soil smearing my navy interview skirt.“Just say it.”
Tyler bends his legs and props an arm on his knee.“Jaeger’s ex has moved in with him.”
The pain hits me like a bullet, instant and sharp.
I swallow and wobble to my feet, gripping the side of the house.
Tyler looks up.“Cali?”
I open the front door and walk into the bedroom, locking the door behind me.
It’s over.I don’t need to hear the truth from Jaeger and allow things to drag out the way they did with Eric.That would kill me.Right now, I already feel like I’m dying.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Jaeger calls and texts several more times after I return home from my interview.I delete his number from my phone.
Why wouldn’t he tell me what was going on?Didn’t I deserve to know he’d gotten back together with his girlfriend before she moved in?What is wrong with men?
Over the next couple of days, I stay busy in classes and at my new job, but it hurts.It hurts so badly.It’s like the knowledge of Jaeger and Kate together has charred my heart and left an ugly, thick scar in its place.
My first day of work, I met all the guys at Sallee Construction.That’s what my workplace consists of—a bunch of dudes, the middle-aged receptionist, and me.I get lots of attention.And I can’t appreciate any of it because my heart doesn’t feel anymore.
The older men treat me like I’m their daughter, and the younger ones check me out when they think I’m not looking.The architect and civil engineer are among the older pack, and keep me busy on various projects.
I worried I’d be fetching coffee and donuts until I learned CAD, but that hasn’t happened.Bill, the architect, saw my drawings the first day and immediately asked me to produce an artist’s rendition of an upscale strip mall for a project south of the casinos, complete with landscape specifications.I’ve had to look up various regional flora, which has given me ideas for new sketches in my free time.
I’m taking one morning and one evening class and squeezing work in between.I haven’t figured out how I’ll manage to get to and from either place on a regular basis without a car, but between lifts from Gen and Tyler and the bus, I’ve managed so far.
Almost everyone in my morning art class is female, while everyone in my evening CAD class is male.I’ve talked to a couple of people from both courses and find each group vastly different, yet equally nerdy in their own right.I’m the biggest nerd of all, because I’m in both classes.My geekiness spans the spectrum.
The evening CAD course is the most difficult to get to because Gen has to work, and Tyler wants a social life.I asked around on the first day, and one of the guys in my class was willing to carpool.He lives close to the chalet and doesn’t seem to mind picking me up and dropping me off three nights a week.
It’s Wednesday, and Leo, the CAD guy, is driving me home tonight.
“Are you hungry?”he asks on our way to his car after class.
Leo’s been sweet, and I’ve wondered on more than one occasion if he’s looking for more than a carpool buddy.Particularly given that I can offer nothing in the way of reciprocation without a vehicle.
“No, I’d better get home.There’s a project I need to put a few hours into.”It’s really just a sketch of the cascades Jaeger and I hiked to at Fallen Leaf Lake.
