Love Songs Box Set

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction-5

Twenty minutes later, I was back at work, this time manning the pineapple peeling machine for customers who wanted the fruit without the tough outer skin.

Darlene left early so Ry could get more of a handle on doing things on his own. I personally didn’t think he’d have any problems. From what I’d seen so far, he was fair and courteous toward everyone, and firm where necessary. I wondered if he’d stay here long or move on in a year or two. He seemed the type who could make it into senior management without a sweat.

Right before it was time for me to go off shift, a customer approached and cleared his throat to get my attention from where I was bent over a box of avocadoes. “Excuse me,” a deep voice said.

I straightened and said, “How can I help you, sir?” before gaping in shock. “Roger Whitmore?”

Never in a million years would I have expected to see my old roommate from college standing before me, slightly overweight and wearing a Pepsi delivery uniform. He looked handsome and happy.

“How do you…?” he began, then his eyes widened in recognition. “Ohmigosh, Georgie Baldt? f**k!” He pulled me into a tight embrace, something I would have never expected, then stepped back. “How’ve you been, man?”

Still stunned, I tried to give a coherent answer. “I’m, um…okay, I guess. It’s a shock seeing you here and, well…” I gestured to his attire and he laughed.

“I know, right? Guess what. That political science degree didn’t do me any favors, not when I started swimming with the sharks on the hill. I worked there as long as I could stand it, got an ulcer, paid off my student loans, and found something less stressful.” He chuckled. “That’s life. What about you? You were top of the class the whole way through. How come you’re not in management?”

“Not much out there for a Liberal Arts major who’s a bit of an introvert. Unlike you, I’m still paying off my student loans.”

He frowned. “You’re wicked smart, Georgie. That commencement speech you gave is something I’ll never forget. You said there’s no worth in life unless you find the thing that satisfies you, gives you peace. I took that to heart, albeit years later, and here I am. You don’t sound like you believe that anymore.”

I moved around an avocado and briefly caught Ry glowering in my direction. Strange. I continued, “Unlike you, I haven’t had an epiphany. I just need to pay my bills, you know? Anyway, while it’s good to see you, you said you needed something?”

“Oh yeah! My boyfriend likes that field roast loaf stuff. Do you know if there’s any in stock? I walked all over the store and didn’t find it.”

I pushed the half-empty box of avocadoes under the display and gestured for him to follow me. “It can be tricky to locate, depending on how the endcaps are set up.” I led the way to the exact spot and handed him one of the loaves. “So you have a boyfriend? I never pegged you as the settling-down type.”

He smiled, his cheeks reddening. “I didn’t either. College was wild and I enjoyed every minute, but when I left, the real world and responsibilities hit me and I had to grow up fast. I learned what I really wanted and what I was looking for. And then Malik came into my life. We moved here last year for his job, and I was able to find work. He usually does the shopping, but he’s sick today, so I took a break from my route to get the groceries done.”

Sounded romantic, actually. Who knew that underneath all that s*x-crazed attitude had been a nice guy who’d eventually settle down?

“You know,” he continued, “I wanted to do you the whole time we roomed together, but you never seemed interested, no matter how many times I brought guys over to f**k, trying to tempt you.”

As if. Could I admit my crush now, after all this time? “I was interested, but I know I’m not wank material, and the guys you brought over were way out of my league. I used my fist and left it at that.”

Roger seemed confused. “No way you believe that. You were a hot little number, buddy, even with the Goth stuff. Still are. You’re dating someone, right?”

I laughed, the sound almost sad. “Not even.”

“Why not? What about that guy that gave me the stink eye as you led me over here?”

Huh? “Which guy?”

“His nametag said ‘Ry.’”

I could think of no reason why that would be. I brushed it off. “Nah. He’s probably just frowning because of the time I’m spending away from my duties. I need to get back to work.” I held out my hand. “It was great to see you, Roger. All the best, huh?”

He gave me another hug, and a kiss on the cheek this time. “Now I know where you work, maybe you, me, and Malik can get together sometime. In fact,” he said, pausing while he took out a business card and wrote on the back of it, “here’s my mobile. Text me anytime and we’ll hang out, okay? Please.”

Surprising myself, I said, “I’d like that.”

“Great.” A final hand squeeze, and he went to join one of the lines at the front of the store.

As I walked back to the produce section, Ry waylaid me, his facial expression tight. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure,” I said and followed him into the staff break room. No one else was present. “What’s up?”

“You need to keep the amount of time you spend chitchatting with a customer to a minimum. We don’t want people to get upset because our employees are spending more time flirting than doing actual work.” Oh, that stung.

“I beg your pardon? In no way was I flirting. That was someone I hadn’t seen since college, who just so happened to be a customer. What was I supposed to do, be rude? That’s against company policy, isn’t it? The customer is to be pleased at all costs. I thought that was my job description.”

“Well, you don’t have to suck his d**k to do it. You can’t really be that desperate.”

I rarely lost my temper, but I suddenly saw red, though beneath it all, he’d just made me feel ten times worse than I already did about myself. “You f*****g hypocrite! Didn’t I see you with Trent”—the name dripped with sarcasm and disgust—”a little while ago? Talk about desperate.”

Ry blushed but didn’t back down. “I’m your supervisor. I’ll do what I feel is necessary to keep things running smoothly.”

“Even if it means belittling and insulting your underlings? Even if you step on toes or overstep your authority? Thanks for that.” I backed away from him. “You know what? You’re right. You’re the man in charge. I don’t matter. I’ll do exactly as you say, sir. Have a pleasant afternoon, sir.”

With that, I left the room, finished my shift, and went home. Asshole.

* * * *

That evening as I picked at my dinner, I thought about that chance meeting with Roger. It was nice to see someone from my past and to find out he’d remembered me fondly. Maybe now I had more than one friend in the world. And after Ry’s ridiculous behavior toward me—the f**k?—I needed something positive to dwell on. Buzz was always saying I should do more, and Roger agreed with him, in his own way. What was I waiting for? I could feel a Sound of Music moment coming on…

I put away the rest of my food for leftovers and made a decision. Instead of dwelling on hurts and disappointments, I should try to make a change in my life. I had to do something, and it was beyond time. And wasn’t that a scary thought?

As I got ready for bed, my eye caught on one of the few books I’d kept from college, gathering dust on the floor of my tiny closet. It was a philosophy text that I’d particularly enjoyed. I wondered…maybe I could go back to school? I’d been wallowing in my malaise for so long I’d forgotten how much I’d loved learning new things. Worrying about bills and constantly dealing with minutia could make you brain-dead.

It was one of the reasons I’d gotten a Liberal Arts degree in the first place, so I could study a bunch of things and get a wider view of the world. Maybe it was time to sharpen the focus a bit, because the way my life was headed, the road ahead seemed endless and dispiriting. And my jerk of a manager had been the icing on the cake and so unlike my expectations of the man, from past experience.

The argument with Ry still rankled. I didn’t know what his beef was, but perhaps that was the necessary push I’d needed to move forward. I got into bed, grabbed my laptop, and went online to check out courses for a variety of master’s degree programs. I looked into financing—ouch—and what would give me the best bang for my buck. Not being a people-person, something that wasn’t people-intensive on a large scale would be preferable. Though, if I could get something for being a teacher’s assistant, I’d take a Valium every day to get over the jitters of dealing with a classroom. Whatever it took.

Library Sciences called to me the most out of all my options. I had no interest in becoming a lawyer or a business manager of any kind, but I could definitely get behind being a librarian in any capacity. I’d been out of school for a while, but already my brain was clamoring for knowledge, and more of it.

* * * *

By the time I headed out to work on Monday morning, I’d sent enquiries to a few colleges and felt more excited than I had about anything in a long time. That talk I’d had with Roger and the argument with Ry had bust something open inside that said, “I can do better.” And so I would.

Belatedly I realized, when I arrived at work, that Ry would be starting full time today, now that Darlene had fully handed over the reins. I was polite with him when we interacted, and he barely met my eyes as he outlined the list of things he needed done. I thanked him and went on my way. No skin off my back.

At break that morning, Buzz related his weekend activities, then asked me if I’d gotten laid.

“Why?” I said while chewing on a bagel slathered with peanut butter and jelly.

“You’re glowing, sweetie. I haven’t seen you look like this since I met you. What’s his name?”

I laughed. “There’s no one, I promise you. I just made some life decisions this weekend that gave me a hopeful outlook. Maybe that’s it.”

“Well good for you, though I’d hoped you’d found the time to bump and grind with hottie manager Mr. Ry.”

I glowered briefly before my face cleared. “I’m sure he’s happy with Trent.”

Buzz snorted. “Everybody’s happy with Trent, for about five minutes, and then they get real. Speaking of which, the hussy is actually scowling today. He’s been growling at everybody. Maybe he didn’t get any this weekend. Which would be odd, knowing how determined our boy is to have his hole plowed.”

“Who the f**k cares? It’s his life, right?”

Buzz stared at me. “Look at you, being all forthright and s**t. Those life decisions must be something.”

I grinned. “They certainly are.”

* * * *

I took great joy in getting all my paperwork together, procuring my transcript, and preparing for my classes to start in the summer. I ended up going with a work-study program as a teacher’s assistant for the liberal arts department at the university I’d be attending. It still wasn’t enough to pay everything, but I could drop one of my jobs. I just had to decide which one.

In the meantime, work continued. I would get very little sleep in the near future, but it would be worth it to be able to move into something less soul-sucking after this was all done.

Ry avoided me unless he needed a task performed on the main floor. Neither of us apologized to each other for the potential human-resources nightmare we’d spawned by our accusations that day. I also noticed that he and Trent rarely talked, and Trent, for his part, had done a complete about-face, not flirting, teasing, or being snarky with anyone. Buzz and I speculated as to why that was, but neither of us had an answer. I gave it little thought otherwise.