Chapter Two
“You look like someone stole your puppy,” Clare said as she walked into the living room, stopping in front of Sunny and raising an eyebrow.
He’d flopped down on the couch when he’d come in and not bothered to move since. He’d spent the whole time playing with his phone.
Sunny realized now that he’d been sitting there for over an hour and a half, moping. His phone battery was nearly dead. The shape of his butt was probably imprinted on the couch cushions.
“The agency said they’re unlikely to find anything for me before the new year. Which is, like, six weeks away. I don’t think I have enough savings for six weeks, which means I have to find a holiday job, and I just… I thought I’d left that crap behind. I thought I was getting somewhere.”
Clare sighed, sitting down beside him. “Got any leads?”
Sunny snorted. “If I had leads I’d already have emailed them. I was thinking about applying to be one of Santa’s elves.”
“How’s the pay?”
“Not nearly good enough for the number of screaming children who throw up on you over the course of the season, but it’d probably pay my rent.”
“I can cover you if you’re short. I know you’ll pay me back,” Clare said.
“Thanks, but I’ll go nuts with nothing to do until next year, anyway.”
“Youcouldtake a break,” Clare pointed out.
They’d had this conversation before. Sunny got restless if he went more than three days between temp jobs. He wasn’t good at taking time off.
“I think we both know that I’m not cut out for breaks,” Sunny said. “But I do really appreciate the offer.”
“Okay, well,Imight have a job lead, but it’s a full-time position.”
Sunny’s eyes lit up.
He’d started out as an admin temp because he’d told himself it’d be nice to have the freedom and not have to deal with long-term office politics, but he was just old enough now to crave stability and predictability.
He’d been ready to make the leap to full-time next time one of the companies he worked at made the offer, as long as it seemed like a nice place to work.
Now that he had nowhere else to go, though, it sounded like a good idea.
“Please tell me it’s a nice, quiet mailroom job.”
Clare chuckled. “It’s as a PA to one of the upper management guys. But, uh, word is that a cute young man would have the best shot at getting it, if you know what I mean.”
“He’s gay,” Sunny said. “You can just say he’s gay.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Clare asked. “No one’s entirely sure, he’s kinda new. New-ish, anyway. And he doesn’t have a PA yet.”
“I’ve never worked as a PA,” Sunny said.
“You did once. I remember. To that terrifying lady with the white skirt suit.”
Sunny shuddered at the memory. No one had ever made him feel less like a competent adult than her. He’d almost blocked it out entirely.
He wasn’t cut out to be a PA if that was what it was like.
“I don’t have any real experience. I… file paperwork. Organize things. Bartend, occasionally. And I have experience being an elf.”
“You have experienced the joy of having strangers’ children throw up on you,” Clare said. “Working with an adult has to be better than that. At least let me forward your resume?”
“They’re not gonna hire me,” Sunny said, sinking further into the couch.
