BBUGirl: Or do I have to climb a million stairs
SoloSurfer: It’s more deck-ish than balcony
SoloSurfer: But it’s off the living room.
SoloSurfer: Just open the slider
BBUGirl: Got it. *thumbs up emoji*
BBUGirl: Two more days
BBUGirl: Eek
A smile brightens my face. Only two more days.
Chapter Seven
Ella
I’m humming at work while cleaning the deep fryer.
“You okay over there?” Faye asks, lowering her glasses down her face to get a better look at me.
It’s almost nine in the evening, which means only a few more minutes until closing time tonight, and I’m off to my first college party ever.
Hey! I’ve only been in college for less than two months, and I’ve been quite busy!
“Fine!” I say with extra pep in my step, and Faye tosses me a knowing grin in return.
I couldn’t help but share my excitement with her. Yes, she is triple my age, but I had to tellsomebody.
Plus, Faye is cool. I’ve known her for as long as I can remember. She’s worked for my dad from almost the beginning. She was an ice-skating coach when she was younger, but Vienna moved her to the snack bar when she took over to make room for some more unique coaching changes.
The switch worked well for me, though, because Faye is great and easy to work with when the snack bar gets a crowd. Plus, she doesn’t tolerate Vienna’s crap as much as most do.
Speaking of crap, the devil herself bursts through the entrance and marches over to me. “You need to stay late,” she states with a firm face.
“Excuse me?” She has my full attention now.
“You need to mop the floors. They are absolutely filthy,” she says, spitting the last word out, despite the fact that I already mopped yesterday.
“I can’t tonight. I have plans.”
Vienna snickers. “Oh yeah, what would that be? A Halloween party? I found your little cat costume and fed it to our actual cat for dinner.”
“What?” I rub my temple. “Is that a thing? He ate it?”
“Well, he just ripped it apart.” Vienna pulls out my shredded black Halloween costume from her tote and tosses it on the ground. “You’ll also need to sweep again, and I need you to organize the storage closet out back. It better be organized by the time I get back.”
“You’re coming back?” I ask, bewildered.
“Of course, I’m coming back!” She says it like it’s the craziest thing, despite her sporadic visits. “I’ll be back at midnight.”
“Okay,” I respond as my shoulders slump. I head over to the closet to grab the supplies as Vienna disappears out the front door.
Faye follows closely behind me. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m mopping.” I pull out the mop and point it at her.
