“He wants us to submit another proposal. He told us what he and his board were looking for. It was as if he had the key for the exam, and he was giving us all the answers. So, we absolutely had to take advantage of that.”
“Yeah—for sure. You’d be stupid not to,” I say in agreement.
“Fuck,” he groans, rubbing his face with both hands. “I’ve gotta get you to the airport. I’m so sorry for such a shitty weekend.”
“No…really, this was out of your control. You couldn’t have planned for any of this.” As I rub on his muscular arms to reassure him, I say a silent prayer.
If he just opens his mouth and tells me he wants me to stay, I will.
All he needs to do is just say the word.
“After I drop you off, I’ll be heading back to the office. We’ll be working around the clock until we seal this deal.”
Well, so much for asking me to stay.
“Sure…you’ve gotta do what you gotta do.”
After the words come tumbling out of my mouth in an insincere tone, I hastily wish them back. Waverly, don’t you dare let him think you’re a brat. He’s got a real job with real responsibilities. The least you can do is understand that his business comes first. He just fucking met you.
“Thank you so much for understanding. Once we nail this deal, I’ll make the weekend up to you, okay?” he vows.
Once again, famous last words.
I’ve been having a difficult time these past two weeks. On top of working tirelessly at Lenny’s and being hounded there on the regular by Jake, my job hunt at various marketing agencies has come up empty. On top of all that, I’m having a tough time with my emotions. I’m back to feeling shitty like I was before taking that road trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea.
I have no idea where I stand with Drew. He hasn’t called since I left San Francisco. I’ve gotten a “good morning” text or two since then, but we haven’t actually spoken. He’s been working around the clock on this Gillen Tech deal.
I began my shift at Lenny’s two hours ago. The showroom floor is jumping with customers taking advantage of today’s Labor Day sale. Ever since I returned to work after spending time at Blair’s Dad’s beach house, I’ve been on alert.
Jake the Fake Shopper has tried a number of hilarious techniques in order to have time with me. To his credit, he doesn’t always leave Lenny’s empty handed. In the past five weeks, he’s purchased a television, a microwave, a wireless speaker, a couple of video games, and one of those new Apple watches. And because he requested me each time, I got commission on all those purchases.
As I assist one customer after the next, I think to myself, there is no way in hell Jake will come to this zoo today. He’s promised that he won’t stop coming here until I finally say yes to going out with him. After five weeks, I have yet to tell him what he wants to hear.
But as my bummer of a trip to San Francisco two weeks ago falls more into the distance, so has my resolve that Drew is my Charlie. If Jake does show up today, perhaps that’s the Universe’s way of telling me that Jake is actually my Charlie, while Drew is really Marty, my mother’s love-lazy ex. As I think it, I decide that it’s highly unfair to paint Drew in a corner.
The man is busy, Quen. Give him a break.
Nevertheless, when I woke up this morning, I decided I can’t just sit around and wait for him to have time for me. Dude runs a multi-billion-dollar corporation. He’s never going to have time for me, and I need to accept that. I’ve wasted too much time waiting on some man to choose me.
I’m not fucking waiting anymore.
Finally, I choose me.
I get done ringing up one customer and prepare for the next when my coworker Jill rounds the counter to stop me.
“Hey, I’m getting ready to take the next cust…”
“Your favorite shopper is back.” She winks scandalously.
He really is crazy, I think to myself as I sigh. I look straight ahead where the MacBooks are and a handsome guy in a checkered red and black shirt waves at me with a devilish grin.
Goddammit—why is my stalker so freaking cute?
I thank Jill as she takes over for me, and I head toward Jake.
“You know, I should’ve waited until today’s sale to get that new Apple watch.” He snorts.
“Yep. I tried to give you a hint that it would be on sale, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Oh really?” He arches a brow.
I nod. “I specifically said, ‘You might want to wait to get this’. You didn’t wait.”
“You should’ve used your words. You knew about the sale.”
“I knew about a sale that I legally couldn’t tell you about,” I point at him.
“Ah.” He tilts his head back in realization.
“So, what can I help out with today, Mr. Barker.”
“Well, since you’re super busy today, I’m not going to waste your time over in the DVD movie section. Instead, I’m going to cut straight to the chase and ask you out to dinner Friday night.”
After the words come tumbling out, his expression reeks of nervousness. If he could, he’d probably hide behind the nearest counter until I finally yell out my answer. I’ve never seen Jake Barker so nervous. It’s probably one of the most endearing things I’ve ever seen.
“Tomorrow night?”
Jake closes his eyes, and I can visibly see his chest rise once, then fall. “Tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night won’t work. My dad and I have a movie date.”
“Oh—okay…”
“How about next week on Wednesday? I’m off that day.”
Both of Jake’s brows shoot up to his hairline.
“Ne… Next Wednesday night?” he stutters. “Fuck, yes. I mean, sure!”
I laugh at his adorkable reaction.
Jake Barker is courting me, for real this time.
Quen
Mr. Glass is mad cool. He lets me use his computer in his office during breaks so I can continue on my never ending quest to find a job. I suddenly get butterflies when I check my email. Ironically, the feeling has nothing to do with the fear of being rejected by a potential employer.
The ridiculous kneejerk reaction first began when I emailed Drew before leaving the beach house and has happened ever since. There is no rhyme or reason for it because it isn’t like he’s ever emailed me anyway.
I do come across something that stops my eyes from moving. It’s an email alert from Facebook. A friend request from Bobby Fisher? Curious, I click to open up the actual message. Inside is a picture of Bobby looking just as hot as he was at the Leer County Strawberry Festival. I double click on the image, it launches Facebook in a new tab, and I log on.
Should I or shouldn’t I?
I talk some sense into myself.
It’s just a dumb friend request. Accept it and move on.
I quickly accept the request and click back to the previous tab to check the remainder of my emails. It’s mostly junk.
My job search is turning up goose eggs left and right. I have yet to land a single interview. I follow up on two positions in Portland that I’ve previously applied for. I open up the Word document to copy and paste my standard follow-up letter. In the middle of pasting the text to a new message, I hear a ding and the first tab lights up.