AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, not at all. My boss, apparently, left for the day about half an hour ago, but he did make sure to leave a message with his secretary who, for reasons entirely alien to me, was still at her desk.”
“What was the message?”
“‘I’m still your boss,’” she answers. “‘If you try to go around me to push your agenda again, I’m going to fire your ass. I’ll be the one laughing on the other side of the glass when security comes to escort you out of the building.’”
“Shit, what did you do?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it. Are you ready to go see if one of us can figure out how to work the tilt-a-whirl?”
“I think they cut the power to the rides after the park closes,” I tell her.
“You think? I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
I want to ask Grace what she thinks I should do about Melissa’s boss, but to tell you the truth, I’m finding it less and less palatable talking about that whole situation with her. I’m just not sure if it’s a respect thing or if I’m just scared of the fact that she probably has an answer.
There’s something about wallowing that I’ve never quite been able to overcome, so when an opportunity like this comes along where I can justifiably feel like complete shit about something, I tend to hang onto it.
“You’re quiet tonight,” Grace says. “I was hoping you’d get past that by the time I got back.”
“Are we going somewhere local or should I get on the freeway?”
“Nice deflection,” she says. “It is a ball and chain thing?”
“I’d rather not talk about it,” I tell her. “Let’s just focus on finding an amusement park to break into.”
***
“Will you just shut up and grab my ass?” Grace asks in a hushed voice.
Her strength gave out just before she was able to make it over the final fence to get into the Paroxysm Amusement Park.
I take a breath and put my hands on her upper thighs to give her a push.
She asks if I failed anatomy class in med school, but I’m able to help her get over the top of the fence.
“Are you sure you’re up to this?” I ask her. “You should be taking it easy.”
“Well, since you didn’t bother telling me that until I got all the way into the park, I think I’m just going to ignore you, if you don’t mind,” she says. “Now, hurry the fuck up. I really don’t want to get the beat down from some security guard.”
“You know they have cameras in places like this,” I tell her, but still climb over the last fence to join her on the other side.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” she says.
“Why? Do you know one of the owners or something?”
“No, I just wouldn’t worry about it. We’re already in, so we may as well have some fun before we get thrown out or arrested.”
This isn’t exactly the kind of thing I had in mind when I was looking forward to a spontaneous night.
“Come on, you pansy,” she says.
I have no clue where she’s leading me, and I’m even more uncertain exactly how nobody’s come to dive tackle us, stun gun in hand, but I follow right along with Grace.
She’s moving slower than she was when we got out of the car, but that’s to be expected. Tomorrow’s her last day of chemo for the month. The fact that she’s out and moving around, much less breaking into an amusement park, it’s actually kind of inspiring — you know, if you squint.
“I’ve never been here,” I tell her. “I don’t know where everything is.”
“You’ve never been here?”
