She wiped her eyes, and even with lids lined with red and her face splotchy, she looked lovely. “I, well, I feel like an absolute loser.”
He just nodded, turning his entire body to face her, and waited.
Justine let out a breath. “God, I’m so sorry. I feel like a pathetic asshole.” The swearing only emphasized how frazzled she must truly be. “I just had my yearly review at work.”
Ah, professional and not personal issues. He felt better about possibly being able to offer comfort without seeming like he was shoving advice at her. The poor woman already had enough on her plate with her sister’s upcoming wedding.
“And?” he prompted.
She let it all out, a deluge of opinions and a recap of her conversation with her pathetic team manager. Her boss sounded like a horse’s ass, using Justine all the time without offering the pay for her hard work.
“And you know, he would have been demoted so many times if I hadn’t helped out. All whenheneeded to take personal time or just schmooze it up with the bosses whileIdid all the work.” She sniffed. “Well, not just me. But a lot of it was me. I had to help my own clients in addition to Frank’s work. And now, not only do I get a subpar raise, which to be honest, is just keeping up with inflation. It’s not what I’m worth at all. Then he has the gall to dump Laura’s job on me without pay! Sure, her gig was part-time, but that’s not the point! I’ll be working two jobs for less than what one of them should be.” She tugged at her hair. “He’s such a fuckhead.”
He nodded. “A dickwad.”
“A real shit for brains.” She added several other insults.
Then a younger voice added, “How about a fart-knocker?”
She and Xavier paused as Sam joined them.
Justine’s face turned bright red.
“Hi, Justine. You look pretty today.” Sam flirted for all he was worth and managed to squeeze between her and Xavier on the bench. “I’m sorry you had a bad day.”
“Sorry I cursed. I didn’t know you were around.”
“It’s okay.” Sam patted her knee. “I hear a lot worse at school.”
“When’s your last day?” Xavier asked, amused at how Sam tried to cut him away from Justine.
The boy turned to him, subtly sliding closer to Justine. “This Friday, actually. Uncle Adam and Rylan and me are going on vacation for a week in Hawaii.”
“Wow. That’s awesome.” Justine gave him a smile. “I bet you’ll have a great time.”
“You should come,” Sam said.
“Ah, that sounds more like a family vacation. Plus, I have work.”
“You should quit. That Frank guy sounds like a real dickass.”
Justine covered her face.
“That’s pretty good,” Xavier said, doing his best not to laugh. “What else you do you have?”
“Douchenoggin is pretty popular at school. Or deadshit. Then there’s assclown.”
“What grade are you in again?”
“Ninth. Almost. In two more days, actually.” Sam puffed up his chest. “If you want, Justine, I can talk to the dickass for you.”
“Um, no, that’s okay.” She patted him on the shoulder, and the kid looked like he’d been knighted by the queen. “For being such a nice guy, how about the next time I go for ice cream, I grab you a cone? Xavier, you too.”
Sam shot him a dirty look but was all smiles at Justine. “Sounds good. I like chocolate with sprinkles.”
“Vanilla with sherbet,” Xavier said. “Though if you wanted to be fancy, rainbow jimmies are the best.”
“What’s a jimmie?” Sam had to know.
