I’m not sure what I’m getting myself into. I don’t even know what a billing clerk does. Billing, I guess. It’s insane how easy it is to lie on a résumé and get away with it.
My phone vibrates in my purse. I dig it out as if it’s ticking bomb, only to see a text wishing me good luck from my friends Nora and Greer.
I was hoping it was a text from Beck, finally caving and agreeing to free me from my latest bad choice.
God, that man infuriates me.
I glance at the building in front of me and close my eyes.
Nothing against the job, but I have more pressing issues to deal with today. I need to hunt Beck down and get him to agree to a divorce.
Vegas was a mistake, and we need to erase it.
Sadly, as it turns out, I married the most stubborn man in Wyoming.
I fix my hair and straighten my navy pencil skirt before heading inside.
The entire room is in chaos before the door has even closed behind me.
People are rushing around, and someone is speed walking past me, crying and carrying a box. More people follow with boxes of their own but fewer tears. Others, without boxes, look like a deer in the headlights.
Well, this should be fun.
Suddenly, someone is yelling, and I’m not sure where to look first: toward the noise, the group of criers, or the receptionist desk.
“Can I help you?”
I snap my attention to the man behind the reception desk. Thank god someone made that choice for me. He’s got dark hair combed over to the left, thin glasses, and a white button-down shirt. There’s a crease between his brows—he isn’t too excited to help me.
“Yes, I’m Calla Stone. I’m here for my first day as a billing clerk.” I grab the stack of magazines to my left and straighten them, and then I swap the hand sanitizer and the Kleenex. There, those placements look much better.
The guy’s face wrinkles instantly, and he closes his eyes.
“No one called you?”
“Called me for what?”
“The billing department was absorbed as of closing time yesterday.”
“Absorbed?”
He nods. “Absorbed.”
Now, I have a hunch that means I don’t have a job, but for clarification purposes, I need him to say the actual words.
“So that means…”
“There is no job for you here,” he says with the most sincerity I think he can muster.
“Ah.”
“Sorry.”
I beam. This is fine. I have time to gather myself and find a new job. Luckily for me, I’ve already planned to stay with my brother a few months and won’t have to pay rent or bills aside from groceries for myself. I have money saved up. In Melody, I worked for my parents at their bookstore, and they paid me better than they should have.
Still…
This is why you don’t make rash choices, Calla. Do your research next time.
