The news took a moment to settle over me. Janice had been here for far longer than I had. It was almost difficult to imagine the office without her. “Well, congratulations,” I said. She hadn’t mentioned what this had to do with me, but I had a feeling I was starting to understand. “Um… did you want me to apply for the role?”
“You don’t need to apply for it, Mr. Rowe,” Janice said. “As a matter of fact, you’ve got it – if you want it.”
I stared at her for a second. The timing was awful. I was already leaving. It was too late. Not that I would have been able to stay, anyway. I imagined there was no way that the pay boost would be enough to both keep my apartment and pay Daisy’s bills. Although, just out of curiosity… “What’s the salary?” I asked.
Janice wrote down a number on a piece of paper and passed it over the desk to me. I felt like I was in a shady crime movie, but that was Janice all over – always managing to make the simplest, most innocent thing seem high-tension. I picked it up and read it, chewing the inside of my mouth.
“This is monthly?” I muttered out loud, more to think it out than actually expecting an answer. It was barely more than I made now. It wouldn’t be enough. I’d have to keep working here, probably for longer hours, and also keep up with my other jobs – and I was so exhausted. At least when I moved away from here, I’d get a chance to catch my breath.
“No, that’s weekly,” Janice said.
My eyes flew up to her face. There was a light smirk there, but I didn’t think she was joking. It was more the smirk of someone who knows you just realized how much more money than you they’ve been earning all this time. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” I asked.
“That’s the weekly salary,” she said. “With optional overtime at time and a half, up to eight hours a month, if you need it.”
I stared down at the piece of paper in my hand and then back up at her. This was more than four times my current salary. “Is this serious?” I asked, barely daring to breathe.
“Serious as a heart attack,” Janice said, always a breath of sunshine and rainbows. “Normally you’d have to do a few more years on the floor and get a deputy role first, but your hard work has been noticed and we wanted to reward that.”
“We?” I asked. I dragged my eyes up from the number on the paper, the number that had the power to change my life.
Janice shrugged with a smug expression. “I put you forward for it,” she said. “When you handed in your notice, I told them we couldn’t afford to lose a hard worker like Colton Rowe.”
I couldn’t help the grin that stole onto my face. “Thank you,” I told her, meaning it from the bottom of my heart, in ways that I couldn’t express.
This much money… I could quit all but my weekend jobs and still have money for Daisy. I could live again. Have time to sleep and relax, and just go home after work instead of having to run around all over the town finding work where I could get it. I might even have a tiny bit of a social life – although all I could really see myself doing for the next six months at least was getting my sleeping pattern back to normal and enjoying the chance to simply do nothing at night.
But there was one big problem.
“Does that mean I can call head office and tell them you accept?” Janice asked. Her hand was already hovering over the phone on her desk.
“No,” I said, making her stop and frown. “Um, sorry. Not yet. I – I want to accept. I’ve just got to figure out a few things first about staying here.”
Janice’s expression changed, grumpiness and sourness overcoming her face. “Well, you’ll have to let us know by the end of the day tomorrow. I stuck my neck out for you, you know.”
I nodded, trying to express gratitude even as I reached for my cane and scrambled to get up. “I do really appreciate that, of course,” I said.
“Go on, then,” Janice said with a flick of her hand. “You’re still responsible for finishing your current projects until you take the promotion. Don’t fall behind.”
I nodded again, feeling like one of those nodding figurines people put in their cars, fumbling for the door handle behind me and then stumbling out into the office beyond.
Where absolutely everyone was staring at me, wondering why I had been called in and whether I was getting my marching orders.
I couldn’t face their stares – not with so much weighing down my mind already.
I had to get away, even if it was only going to be for a few moments.
I turned away from the path back to my desk, hurried along the side of the room instead, and ducked out into the hall. There was one saving grace out here that would give me a reason to hide away legitimately, and a good excuse if I was caught.
The supply closet.
I walked inside, glancing around and grabbing a box of staples off one of the nearest shelves. Staples – I could just say I was running low on staples. I closed the door behind me and stood in the dark, closing my eyes.
What was I supposed to do?
It was a matter of seconds before the door handle rattled and I cursed inside my head, wishing I could have at least had a few minutes before someone came to interrupt me. I quickly adopted a pose of looking down at the staples thoughtfully, as if I was considering how many I needed – and as the door swung open, I held it for a beat before looking up to see who was there.
And looked right into Xavi’s face.
