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“I think we have to go into full-on defensive mode,” Hazel continues.
I hate how afraid she sounds. This is my fault. I was the one who put the pressure on during those last few hours on the beach.
I didn’t think it would come to this, though.
“How?” I ask.
“Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out right now. I mean, as we speak. And honestly, thinking on the fly is not easy for me. Hang on.” I hear dishes clink together, then the sound of her sipping something.
If I know Hazel, it’s probably coffee.
“This is about red tape,” she says, her tone now hushed. “I guess… I guess we’re going to have to play their game… Not that I want to, but if we don’t, we might lose our jobs.”
“Okay…” I tug the brim of my trucker hat side to side, just for something to do with my hands.
I want to leap into action. Save the day, somehow.
But how am I supposed to do that when I barely know what’s going on?
“Hang on.” I rap my knuckles restlessly against the truck door. “You’re saying Devina, like, tattled on us? That is so lame.”
“Lame, but strategic. She’s in the last throes of her life with Buzzy, you know, that fight-or-flight stage. And she’s choosing to fight. I don’t like the idea of just letting it unfold without at least trying to fight back. I’ve worked really hard to get where I am, and so have you.”
“We’re not going to let some dumb photo cost us our jobs,” I assure her. It comes out sounding a lot more sure than I feel.
Man, that was stupid of me.
I left that photo up on Instagram for too long.
I stopped keeping track of who I’m ‘friends’ with on that platform long ago. I don’t take note of every single person who reacts or comments on my photographs. But maybe if I’d paid a little more attention, we could’ve avoided this.
I don’t really care if I lose this job. In the big picture, it’s just a job. A way to pay the bills so I can live my life doing the things I actually care about.
If I lose it, I’ll get another.
But Hazel…
Hazel cares about her work. That was one of the first things she said to me last week. I can still remember how she looked at me, with so much concern in her pretty eyes. “You’re the fast-lane type. Living big, taking chances. But that’s not me. I am a careful person… and I care about work.”
She said that.
A vague sense of anxiety creeps into my chest.
I can’t let her lose her job over this.
“We’ll get through this,” I promise her. “Whatever it takes. You’re right… Devina’s desperate ’cause she’s on her way out. She’s stoking the flames, getting her last round of drama going before she takes her final bow.”
“I know… that’s all this is, right? Her last big hurrah?”
“That’s all this is.” I clench my jaw and fight down a wave of anger. How can Devina put Hazel through this? All Hazel’s trying to do is perform well at work.
“Look,” I say, “if the issue is this ridiculous dating policy, let’s just spin it so we’re coloring inside the lines. We’ll say we’re not dating. All they have is one photo, right?”
She hesitates.
For a long time.
I hear her sip coffee again.
