“Does he still print these things on cardstock?” she said, reaching out to feel the corner of the page. She laughed. “I don’t know why he does that. He thinks it makes it more ‘official’ or something.”
Jacob gave her his best manufactured chuckle. He distractedly rubbed his fingers against the page in his hand, now, feeling the thickness of the paper. Keeping his face as smooth as possible to mask his nerves, he clicked the pen open and started filling in the easy stuff.
The further he got down the front of the page, the harder his heart started to beat as he thought about the first question on the back of the paper. He kept glancing up at Jenna to see if she was watching him. Sometimes she was absently watching his pen scrawl across the page, but other times she was back to dipping her fries in her shake or checking out the new items on the dessert menu.
Reaching the last few questions on the front, he prepared himself for what was to come. If he hesitated too long on the question, she might start to get suspicious. But if she happened to be watching him when he flipped the page, she might see him check the “yes” box and question him. What if she thought it was a mistake made in haste and tried to correct him? Then he would have to actually explain, out loud, that it wasn’t, in fact, a mistake, and that he is, in fact, a convicted felon.
By the time he reached the end of the page, he still hadn’t decided on a course of action, so he just stopped, staring blankly at the page for a moment.
“There’s a bit more on the back,” Al said, making Jacob flinch at his sudden presence.
“Oh, okay,” Jacob said, waiting for him to walk away, but he just stood there, waiting.
“Can I get these out of the way for you?” Iris asked, joining the party that was becoming their table.
“Sure, thanks,” Jenna said, stacking up their nearly empty baskets and passing them over.
“Oh! Is your friend gonna start working here?” Iris asked, taking note of the application. “Wouldn’t that be a treat,” she smiled brightly at Jacob.
He tried to smile back through his stiff, clenched jaw.
“Uncle Al told me you guys have been needing a new bookkeeper for a while, so I thought Jacob would be great,” Jenna explained. “He’s really good at math.”
“What a treat!” Iris repeated. “You gonna hire him, Al?”
“Well, we’ll give him a shot, and see how it goes for now,” Al replied.
Jacob’s blood was pumping in his ears, and he stifled an aggravated sigh. He thought that, perhaps, in the midst of the discussion, everyone would be too busy to pay him any attention, but when he flipped to the back page of the application and looked up at Jenna, she was looking right at him as Al and Iris went back and forth about the prospects of Jacob’s employment.
She gave him a smile, and he returned it to the best of his ability.
And then, Jacob did something he had never done before. Something he told himself he would never do, on principle, despite the constant temptation. Generally, it was too risky – after all, an employer might look into these kinds of things, and sometimes being caught in a lie is even worse than the harsh truth – but given that Al had said this was all just a formality, what could be the harm?
He checked the “NO” box.
He looked back at Jenna, but she wasn’t watching him anymore. She had joined the conversation with Al and Iris, and now that everyone’s attention was sufficiently diverted, Jacob felt the sickly sensation of instant regret. He looked down at his application, wishing he had a pencil instead of a pen, so he could fix it. But it was too late, and asking for a fresh application would raise too many questions. So, he quickly filled in the rest of the responses and passed the paper over to Al before he could change his mind.
“Here you go, sir,” he said with more confidence than he thought he would be capable of at the moment.
“Good deal,” Al replied, giving the application a once-over. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow, and we can set up a time for you to get started.”
“Wow,” Jacob said, trying to ignore the twisting in his stomach and focus on the positive. “Thank you for the opportunity, sir.”
“Oh, please, you can call me Al,” his round cheeks pulled up into a grin. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, son,” he gave Jacob a pat on the back. “Good to see ya, darlin,’” he added, kissing Jenna on the head before getting back to work.
Iris cleared a nearby table and headed back to the kitchen with the dishes.
“I hope that wasn’t too forward of me,” Jenna said with a cringe. “The job thing, I mean. It’s just that I knew you were having trouble finding work, and Al’s been looking for someone for ages… plus, I wanted to repay you for helping me out, so I figured –”
“It wasn’t too forward,” Jacob interjected. “I actually really appreciate it. Looking for a job has been…,” his thoughts drifted to his useless P.O. and he shook his head, “frustrating, to say the least. If this works out, it’ll be a life-saver.”
Jenna smiled at that. “Well, good!” she exclaimed, picking up her purse from the floor and slinging it over her shoulder. Apparently, she felt that was an appropriate end to their dinner outing, because she stood up from her chair and tossed some cash on the table.
As they headed toward the door, however, Jacob took a look around him and determined it must be closing time. The other customers had left, and Iris was wiping down empty tables and stacking their chairs atop them.
Jacob followed, and as they waved to Iris on their way to the door, she called out, “See you soon, Mister!”
He tried to smile, but it was stiff as his conscience continued knocking, urging him toward Al’s office to come clean about his application.
He wrestled with himself all the way to the door, through the parking lot, and to Jenna’s car. He told himself it was stupid and pointless to even consider telling the truth. There was no way Al was going to dig into his past and discover he had lied, and if he told the truth, it would be impossible to keep it from Jenna while working for her uncle. No, he absolutely was not going to tell him.
“I think I need to run some errands,” Jacob said, hesitating by the passenger door.
Jenna looked up at him with a raised brow.
“I’ll just catch a bus back to campus,” he shrugged. “But hey, thanks again for dinner, and for the job stuff.”
“Oh. Uh… okay,” Jenna stammered. “Did you want a ride, or…?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks,” he answered with a small smile. “See ya back at campus,” he waved, moseying back toward the restaurant.
“Okay… see ya,” she muttered.
He walked slowly, giving Jenna time to settle into her car, start the engine, and speed off toward campus. Once she was out of sight, he strutted through the restaurant doors.
Iris was halfway to the door herself, car keys in hand.
“You forget something, baby?” she asked him.
“Um,” he muttered, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat and started again. “Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to Al for a second?”
She looked back at the office door, deliberating. “Uh, yeah, sure,” she said. “I gotta get home to my little girl, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”