Back in the Saddle (Jessica Brodie Diaries #1)(46)

Gladis laughed. She was about to settle back and watch Gladiator with me, but then said, “I almost forgot to tell you—Tom Davies said he would call your boss to let him know you wouldn’t be in tomorrow.”

Geez, Tom was really putting his nose in it. Not that I wasn’t grateful, but still! The man apparently thought money meant he ruled the world.

I shook my head. “I am not missing Monday. I have only been there a short while and I am not missing a day already. Not a chance. I don’t want to be labeled as that girl.”

“What girl?”

“The one that has worked less than a month and already calls in sick.”

“But you have a legitimate excuse. You can’t go in looking like that, with your face ‘n all.”

“I have make-up. Ugly people look worse than this all the time, and they still have to go to work.”

Gladis and I both laughed at the absurdity of my statement. She shrugged like I had done a minute ago, and settled down with me to watch Russell Crowe get dirty.

Chapter Ten

The next couple weeks was a shit storm. Everyone at work wanted to know what happened to my face, my throat, etc., but no one wanted to come out and ask. I was the center of attention everywhere. I kept my mouth shut about the whole thing, and so did Candace, but that just made it worse.

Lump and all the girls were in contact non-stop. I got an email or call or text from each at least once a day. I had long talks in the evenings, usually curled up in bed. Except for Lump and Claire, who were both in Australia. They emailed mostly, since the time difference was so different. I felt loved. And connected.

I missed all of them, but was glad I was exploring the world in my own way. The one thing I always left out of my stories was Apollo. I didn’t want to hear the collective, “Go for it!” I was tired of ending up squished by hot men. This time I would heed Gladis’s advise and just stick to dreaming about him. He had as many suitors as stars in the sky, so I made myself a black hole.

Gladis thought that analogy was just terrible…

By the end of a two weeks I looked mostly normal again. By the end of a month I was seeing Gladis’s friend George regularly. It was helping, but I never admitted it. No one needed to know my crazy could be fixed. It kept me unpredictable.

By the end of two months, I had a date. With a guy from the I.T. department. He was fairly good looking, nice enough body, seemed really nice if not a little dry, was smart, and seemed mature and put together. He was exactly my speed.

As I was closing everything down, Candace popped her head in my cube.

“Hey Jessica. You want to come to happy hour with Ty and I?” Candace asked, leaning against my flimsy cube wall.

“You guys bump uglies yet?” I asked with a leer.

As expected, she giggled. “No! I am being good.”

“Until when? He obviously likes you! The guy freaking sent roses to your work.”

Her face was red. “I’m just…” She angled her head and picked at her nail. “Waiting a while.”

“Making him work for the goods?” I waggled my eyebrows.

“At least two months.”

“And how long has it been?”

“Officially?” She waited for my nod. “A month and a half.”

“Prude. Anyway, can’t tonight. Going out with Randall.”

“Oh right. Shoot. Sorry, I forgot. He’s a nice guy. Kinda quiet, though.”

Juniper leaned out of her cube and said, “That man is as useless as teats on a bull! My computer is still on the blink!”

Candace matched my eye roll.

“Juniper, he works on servers. Not your computer. That’s Don you want,” I hollered. You couldn’t just talk to Juniper, you had to holler. It was something I learned in the second week.

“Him, too! They’re so dumb, if you shoot them through the head, they’ll heal.”

Candace and I were quiet for a moment, hoping she’d go away.

“Anyway,” I said, giving another tiny pause in case Juniper was still actively listening, “Randall is picking me up at 6:30 so I have to run home and change.”

“Poop. Well, fine. But it was supposed to be really fun. Oh well. But, if you change your mind, Ty and I are going to Ester’s. Or if you get stood up.” She smiled and headed away.

That wasn’t a nice thing to say. Now I probably would get stood up!

At 6:15 there was a knock on the door. I was mostly ready, mostly looking glamorous in new clothes, and mostly nervous.

I opened the door to Gladis and a bottle of champagne.

“Hey Glads, what’s up?”

“Hello dear. My, you look lovely!”

“Oh thanks. I have the date tonight with the IT guy.”

She nodded and pushed past me. The ol’ broad had manners, but she chose when they suited her. At present, they obviously didn’t.

“I remember. That’s why I brought the bubbly," she said, moving to the kitchen. “You have to have someone here to answer the door and usher him in for a drink while you finish getting ready.”

“But...I’m ready.”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s how it’s done, dear.”

“Uh, okay. But what if he knocks on your door?”

“I left instructions at the house.”