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Once I was done with the personnel files, I went back to my desk to look at how much more I had to accomplish on my to-do list by Friday. If I hadn’t actually read Ms. Clark’s thorough training manual, the tasks would’ve looked insurmountable to me. The department was integrating paper files into a computerized database when most of the work had been done by hand.
Jake’s text displayed on my phone’s screen.
Jake: How’s it going?
Me: First day went well. You?
Jake: I’ll tell Mariska. Doing good. Finished running some errands for Mom. Had a very good time last night =)
Me: No surprise there! LOL. Have you at least taken these girls on second dates?
Jake: Good one. Dates? Nah. Nothing has changed since you left.
Me: There’s gotta be some girl who you like enough to take out.
Jake: They know the score. I only take out three special ladies. One is done working at Luigi’s in ten minutes and the other is crushin’ real hard on Chase 2 hrs away from here.
Me: SMH. Mariska couldn’t wait for me to tell you!
Jake: It came up when I’d asked about you. He just better treat you right, so he’ll have nothing to worry about.
Me: You don’t need to worry about Chase, Jake. I am just feeling him out.
Jake: Don’t wear him out while you’re at it.
Me: I’ll give him a rest here and there. LOL.
I locked my phone and threw it into my satchel.
“Who put that smile on your face?” Chase queried as he stepped into the HR office and stood next to my new desk.
“Now, it’s you.”
As I stood up, I said goodbye to Mrs. Clark. She swung her gaze between Chase and I before she returned to what she was doing at her own desk. My other co-workers swiped their cards at the same time Chase and I were leaving. I cast a brief glance over my shoulder. They quietly walked behind us and their gazes fell on Chase’s rear. Walking past the lobby, we said bye to Brody, who shook his head at my co-workers. When we reached the employee parking lot, they dispersed. Based on my pay rate, I’d definitely earn enough money to get a good used car soon.
Chase’s face broke out into a big smile on our way to the house. “I can drive you to the Paloma and take you home most days. I work four to five days a week. I get Tuesdays off.”
“My schedule is Monday through Friday. I’ll be able to afford a car with my pay rate soon and I won’t have to depend on everyone so much.”
A shadow fell over his features. “You can depend on me to take you wherever you need to go whenever I can do it.”
“You’re very nice, Chase.”
“No, I am really not. You make me wanna be, though.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I know you’d help me out or someone else out if you could.”
I wasn’t altruistic at all. I felt good about myself when I made someone else’s day run smoother. There were people in Franklin Parks, like Mrs. Muldoon, Francine, and Steve, who had been truly been kind to me, especially when it’d been an unpopular decision, and that resonated with me. At my cleaning job, I’d driven my co-workers to the houses, offices, and to their homes when I could. In turn, when Betsy had stopped working, they’d driven me to and from some of my jobs and back on campus.
“And how do you know that, Chase?”
He knitted his brows thoughtfully. “I had a meeting with my coach last week. On my way to the athletics building, I saw you waiting for the bus and you gave this guy back a wad of cash he dropped that you could’ve easily pocketed. You did it because it was the right thing to do. I promised myself that if I came back from my meeting and you were still there, I’d drive you to wherever you needed to go.”
My heart skipped a beat. I hadn’t thought anyone had been aware that the man had dropped his money or that I’d returned it to him. There was no way I was gonna steal that man’s money. He’d been so shocked and thankful that he’d offered me fifty dollars, but I hadn’t wanted his money. Taking what wasn’t mine was a line I hadn’t wanted to cross. A line that I hoped I was never in a position that to give any serious thought.
“I didn’t think anyone saw me. Why didn’t you say anything when you first saw me?”
