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Izzy
“Hey, do you think you can cover Anna’s shift tomorrow?” my boss, Marie, asked as she handed me the schedule clipboard. I looked it over and frowned, I’d be stuck working the entire day from open to close.
“Can I have overtime pay for those hours?” I pressed.
“Sure,” she shrugged and took the clipboard back to scribble on it. “I’m going with a few of the girls to a bar tonight, want to come?”
“No, I should sit this one out,” I shrugged and continued potting plants.
“Come on, you never do anything outside of work,” she teased.
“I do plenty.”
“Hunting in the forests for rare new plants doesn’t count.” The front bell rang out, and I greeted the customer.
“Why doesn’t it?” I raised my eyebrows at her.
“You need to do more than just surround yourself with plants all the time.”
“You’re the one who owns a plant shop and nursery,” I reminded her.
“Yeah well…family business isn’t it? She twisted the head off of a perfectly healthy petunia. This certainly wasn’t her passion.”
“Then give it to me and I’ll take that pressure off your hands,” I joked.
“Of course, great idea,” her voice dripped with sarcasm until the customer was within earshot. “You’re a nice girl, you’d make friends if you just got out more,” she said.
“I’m happy with where I am in life,” I said looking down at the plants.
She scoffed and sighed like she couldn’t decide if she was annoyed with me or tired of me.
“I adore you, but I want more than this for you.” She shook her head.
“Thank you, that’s sweet,” I murmured.
Packaging up the customer’s order, I hoped she’d let this topic go by the time he left.
The second the door shut; she was back on it.
“Remember when I hired you? You were just some teenage runaway wanting a taste of freedom.
I wasn’t lucky enough to be able to get some freedom from this conversation. Marie leaned on the counter, hand on her hip as if steadying herself for the final strike.
“Alright, so you’ve been through a lot, but since then I feel like you have no life goals. My grandma has a busier social calendar than you and you’re only twenty-six.”
“I get it, I do, but I don’t see the point in ruining a good thing,” I explained.
She sighed and looked at her keys and purse sitting under the counter. She walked over and started to gather her things.
“I guess I can’t fix people.”
Marie would go on these rants here or there. I wasn’t surprised or hurt by them anymore. Since she settled down and got married a few years ago she seemed adamant that I would want the same kind of life, regardless of whether or not I wanted it. I wasn’t ready to push myself into something unpredictable or crazy and once you’re in it there’s not going back.
Unlike her, I didn’t have a cushion to fall back on.
There was some money saved up, but if I went out of work for even a month, I was screwed. I’d be homeless with nobody to count on. Even if I told myself I was independent and my own person, it was only because I had to be. My mom was angry at me for not going to medical school and had cut me off entirely when I said I wanted to go into botany instead.
