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This is punishment, don’t forget that.
“You want me to leave with you right now,” I state, asking for confirmation.
“Yes.”
“But you’re on a date too, and I don’t think she’s going to like it very much that you —”
“Why don’t you let me worry about her, and you worry about what’ll happen to you if you don’t leave with me.”
Currents are running up and down my body.
Buzzing, fizzing, crackling.
“And what will happen to me,” I ask, licking my lips, “if I don’t leave with you?”
His eyes darken further. “If you don’t, then let’s just say that you’re looking at a lot of days off in the future.”
I run his words over and over in my head, trying to decipher their meaning. And the moment it hits me, my eyes pop wide. “Are you saying…”
“Yes.”
“You’d fire me?”
“Bingo.”
It’s as if someone has punched me in the gut. Or at least shoved me really hard because I lose all my breaths and, gasping, I attempt to say, “You’d… I… I can’t believe this. I can’t —”
“Why don’t you save it for the car?”
“Save what for the car?”
“Your shocked gasps.”
I gasp again. “That’s —”
“Come on. Let’s move it. I don’t have much time.”
“Youdon’t have much time? You —”
“And whatever time I have, I’d rather not spend standing in this hell hole, arguing with you.”
My shocked gasps turn into angry grinding of my teeth. “So then leave. No one has asked you —”
“Not without you.”
I clench my fists. “My job has nothing to do with this. I’ve been a good employee, Mr. Rivera. I’ve showed up on time. I’ve showed up every day. I’ve never taken a day off outside of my already prescribed off days. I’ve never called in sick or left you hanging. My ability to take care of Sophie has nothing to do with what happened today, for which I’ve apologized multiple times. It definitely does not have anything to do with me being on this date. This is such a gross abuse of power. This is —”
“Your ability to take care of Sophie does have something to do with you being on a date,” he cuts me off with a sharp look.
“What?” I snap. “Whatexactlydoes it have to do with me being on a date?”
“I don’t know if I can trust someone who’s got such bad taste in men to take care of my daughter.”
“Excuse me?”
“So again, if you want to keep your job, you’ll walk out there, you’ll say goodbye to that motherfucker you’re on a date with, and you’ll leave this restaurant with me.” Then, “And if you don’t, I’ll not only fire you but make sure that no one in this town ever hires you after today.”
I think I’ve gone numb.
