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“Not exactly.” Her head tilts, and a ball of tension rolls down my back.
“Then what?”
“Some hoodlums ransacked the place, and I guess Richey decided it wasn’t worth it to make the repairs. He’s just going to sell the building and cut his losses,” she shrugs, looking anywhere but at me.
“Wait, so I don’t have a job?” My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. Beth slowly shakes her head, finally turning to face me.
“But I thought you said I wasn’t fired,” I say.
“Well, not technically.”
“Great. So, I come back to unemployment. This year is really fucking shaping up.”
After such a great night, both with the guys and then with my best friend, I’ve fallen right back in the ditch of bad luck. I don’t even know why I thought things could really get better.
“Don’t act like that, Mags. This is a new year, and you’re a new you. That job had run its course anyway. My dad said he’ll send over some prospects for you, and since I’m out until this ankle heals up, I can help you look for a job!” Beth is always optimistic, and I love that about her, but now isn’t the time for her cheery spirit.
“Yeah, you’re right.” The words are even weaker out loud than they sounded in my head. No part of me believes what my best friend has said, but I know fighting her about positivity is as useless as arguing with her about her mother’s obsessive nature.
“Seriously, Maggie. You can stay the night, and we’ll get right to it in the morning.”
Nodding, I wipe the counter, the last of our tasks to finish cleaning the kitchen before heading upstairs. Thankfully, she doesn’t push it any further, allowing me to go to her guest bedroom in peace.
Chapter Nine
Beth stays true to her word, waking me up just after sunrise for breakfast followed by a job hunt in her home office.
“I think we should start with a list of career fields you want to pursue.” Beth stands at her dry erase board, marker in hand as she looks over to me with determination.
“Seriously? My only requirement is a paycheck.” I wish I was as serious about my career as Beth, and I’d promised to get better at it this year. For now, I just want to make sure I’m not evicted next month.
My savings are practically non-existent and I don’t see this as a good time to be picky. I can think about all of this once I have a job. As my dad always says, ‘it’s easier to find a new job when you still have an old one.’
“Maggie, I mean it. Since we’re going to find you a job, we should at least look in the field you want to work in.” Her urging is annoying, even when she’s right.
“I’d like to work in an office. Maybe doing administrative work.” Shrugging, I think of how much I hated being on my feet all day at the cookie shop, wishing I worked in an office instead. I’d love to have a desk, answering phones or something like that.
“That’s a good start. So, you take this.” Beth hands me her silver MacBook Pro before sitting in the oversized brown leather chair behind her desk. Clicking away on her keyboard, she works from her desktop, sending me links for online job postings.
“Email me your resume,” she calls out after we’ve both been searching for a few minutes.
“Did you find something?” I wonder aloud, curious at how good she is at this job hunting thing.
“Yep! And they’re not too far from your apartment, so it would be a good fit.” She winks at me when an alert sounds from her computer.
“I think I found a good one too. It’s a law firm. Maybe they’ll need a sassy receptionist,” I say before going through the annoying steps to complete the application.
A few minutes later, my phone vibrates with an unknown number. Knowing it’s probably a bill collector for my student loans, I send it to voicemail, but they immediately call right back.
“Hello?”
“Hi! Is this, uh, Maggie?” The woman on the other end sounds too nervous to be a debt collector.
“Yes?”
“Oh great! I saw you applied for the receptionist position, and I was wondering if you’d be available for an interview.”
Wow. That was fast. I didn’t see myself working in a law firm, but I can’t deny how cool it would feel to say I work in a fancy office building.
