It didn’t matter, because I was never talking to him again. And I wouldn’t have to because I was quitting my job. Which meant I didn’t need carpool. I didn’t want anything I didn’t deserve.
Noah and I had always made fun of the way Connecting Hearts promoted those with the right connections, whether it was through nepotism, kissing butt, favors, or just befriending the right people. I hadn’t thought that was ever going to be me. I had been one of the few who got noticed for doing their job well. After enough t-shirts and buttons and #1 employee merch, I’d finally earned a real reward. But I guess that had been fake, too.
Chapter 23 – Noah
My arms were too full of groceries to fish my keys out of my pocket, so I knocked on my apartment door with my head. Which was only appropriate. I should be banging my head against walls. Nobody was as frustrated as I was. Or as stupid.
When Clark didn’t get the door, I eased a couple of the bags down to the ground and dug my keys out of my pocket, only to have the door open the second I had the key in.
But it wasn’t Clark standing there. It was Finn and Phelps grinning at me. They immediately dived down to retrieve my groceries. I would have been more grateful if I thought for one minute they didn’t have plans to eat it all.
“What are you guys doing here again?”
“He’s never happy to see us, is he?” Phelps noted, breaking open the bag of Doritos I bought and helping himself. “Dude, this is a lot of junk food. You never buy junk food.”
I normally didn’t have to. Dan supplied us with plenty on the way to work. Besides, it wasn’t all junk. “There’s a frozen lasagna there. And mashed potatoes.” Comfort foods, now that I thought about it. I’d wandered up and down the aisles of the grocery store waiting for Jenny to respond and tossing anything that looked good into my cart.
Trace got up from the couch and came to inspect for himself. That’s right. He was here too. I grabbed the package of Oreos and held them to my chest before his greedy fingers could reach them. I knew that’s what he’d been going for. But I’d be dunking my feelings in milk later, and I wasn’t sharing.
Unfortunately, just like I knew exactly what Trace had been reaching for without him saying, he also knew me. He knew exactly why I’d bought lasagna and Oreos. “Bad day? You lose your job today? At the travel agency?” He sighed. “I totally should have guessed that.”
“Nope. The job is fine.” I headed to the kitchen with what was left of the groceries and stuck the milk in the fridge. Maybe talking about work was the way to go though. I told them about meeting with the Chief Operating Officer, and how he had sort of offered me a new position. I told them about changing up the script for the call center, and how they wanted me to start rewriting it on Monday and submit my changes to the head of customer service. I got so caught up in talking I didn’t really pay attention to their reactions until I’d run out of things to say.
“You were working in their call center?” Trace folded his arms.
Clark looked at him and then back at me. “Like cold calling people and going by a script?”
Finn and Phelps, who were rarely suspicious, probably because they didn’t care about anything enough to pay that much attention, continued to eat chips and watch the proceedings.
I shrugged. “Clark said I couldn’t move back in here without a job. I didn’t expect it to be permanent.”
“Oh.” Clark nodded, looking mollified. “I did say that.”
“That’s cold, Clark.” Phelps gave him a high five, transferring his Dorito orange finger fuzz to Clark, and that turned into a wrestling match in the kitchen.
Conversation successfully dodged. I moved to the couch and turned on the TV with no intention of paying attention to it. I was worried about Jenny and what she might do now. Emotional people made bad decisions. Like quitting their jobs.
I should know. Although I liked to think my decision to quit had been less about reacting and more about course correcting. I was on a very messy turn around, and I still wasn’t sure which direction I was heading. All I knew for certain was Jenny would regret quitting, and if it was at all possible, I wouldn’t let her do it because of me.
After my brothers left and Clark was totally distracted by Minecraft witches spawning and attacking him or something, I changed into running clothes and stepped outside with my phone. Whenever Clark talked Minecraft, my brain immediately took whatever he said and dumped it in the recycle box. It wasn’t even purposeful. I knew enough to make fun of him, and that was about it.
I jogged down to the parking lot and headed for the canal bank, letting the pounding of my feet and the pounding of my heart clear out everything except what would help me problem-solve. Clearly, Jenny wasn’t going to message me back, and I didn’t dare call her. I was done interfering at Connecting Hearts, not that I wanted to ever go that route again anyway.
But Sadie. Sadie could talk Jenny out of quitting. At least, I hoped. I jogged for another half hour, pushing my lungs and my legs as hard as they would go. The jog back would be long and slow, but I couldn’t seem to get myself to care. Moving forward felt a lot better than standing still.
Once my legs were begging for mercy and I’d reached an area of town I shouldn’t be in after dark, I turned around and began the jog back. Eventually, I slowed to a walk and pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was time to text Sadie.
Noah: No matter what you think of me, don’t let Jenny quit.
Sadie: Quit what?
I should have known Jenny wouldn’t talk to anybody about this, least of all Sadie. Crap. Time for plan B. I had to keep it vague enough that Jenny wouldn’t know I’d talked to Sadie. Jenny had always been very private about her troubles. I didn’t need to give her another reason to be mad at me. She already had so many to choose from.
Noah: Her job.
Sadie: What did that other part mean? What did you do, meatball?
Noah: Jenny will tell you when she’s ready.
