AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know, Mom.”
“How could you have just... lost your job?” She sighs heavily. The perpetual sign of parental disappointment. “Why can’t you be more like your sisters?”
There it is. She jumped straight there this time. It usually takes her a few more admonishments to get to the sibling comparisons. It’s not even muttered under her breath anymore, it’s just out there for anyone to hear.
Always such a screw up, Addison.
What did you do this time, Addison?
Why can’t you be more like your sisters, Addison?
Because we aren’t all suck-up, high achieving doctors, with fancy husbands, two-point-four kids and white picket fences.
I have another three rejection emails in my inbox. I’d held out hope that if I’d gone further afield than the top fashion designers, I’d have better luck. But it turns out my old boss’s pervy tentacles reach every corner of the industry. I probably couldn’t even get a job as a janitor in any fashion house in the whole wide world. Not even exaggerating.
A tiny voice at the back of my mind says it’s a sign for me to branch out and start my own clothing line. I’ve toyed with it for years. When my niece Kitty was a toddler, my sister used to have the most epic meltdowns about how there were so few clothing lines for kids with special needs. After doing some digging, I found out that it wasn’t limited to just ASD kids either. Kids with trachs, and g-tubes, and various other pieces of medical equipment need their clothes to be adaptable, and while it’s a growing niche in the market, they’re still not well provided for.
At the time, I did extensive research, I scribbled down some ideas on a notebook, and I came dangerously close to asking my parents to bankroll the idea. But I landed my previous job instead. And now I’ve been dismissed from that role, I’m too much of a screw up for them to ever trust me with their beloved hard earned cash.
As Mom berates me in one ear, another new rejection pings in my emails, and suddenly Thor’s offer to pay me to sit with Matthew overnight while he sleeps, sounds pretty enticing. I should have applied for the barista job that was advertised in the window of Brew’d Awakening two days ago when we had lunch. That would have at least been some kind of income.
I’m so glad he offered to pay for the food. I argued, sure. And I could have made it work, but the more rejections that pop up into my inbox, the more aware I am that I’m staring down the barrel of homelessness. I can’t afford the lease on the new apartment.
What a fucking mess.
“We won’t bail you out this time, Addison. You’re a grown woman. You need to face your mistakes yourself and figure something out.”
“But Mom, I didn’t—”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses, Addison Juniper. Your father and I are tired of helping you out of holes you get yourself into. It’s time to be an adult and stand on your own two feet.”
That’s exactly what I was trying to do! “But—”
“I have to go, your sister’s here.”
If she’d just let me get out the fact that my boss was inappropriate with me, she’d understand the why. Then she’d help. Right? She’d see it wasn’t my fault, and she’d offer to help me.
She turns her attention to somewhere else in the house. “I’m in here darling. Where are my beautiful grandbabies?” she coos. She doesn’t even say goodbye before hanging up the phone.
I’m on my own this time.
I say that like they bail me out of hot water often. I bail myself out. Damn near every time I face adversity I am my own fucking hero. But sometimes I need my parents—is that such a crime?
Apparently so. I guess because my two older, adultier, more stable sisters never need the help of their parents that makes me the worst, the weakest, the problem child.
Staring at my phone, I pull up Thor’s contact information. Despite the consuming fear crawling over my body, I need the job, I need Thor’s money.
Plus, Matthew is an older kid.
I learned my lesson.
I’ve grown up.
I won’t hurt Thor’s son.
I can be more responsible. I can.
Rationalizing takes the edge off the fear crushing against my chest. It’s not my only option, and despite the anxiety over taking care of a child, it’s a right-now solution to a right-now problem.
