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Chapter five
Laurel
A couple of days later, I sat at the desk in the hotel room. My résumé had been polished, and I’d been sending it out to everything I could find online. As sweet as it was of Bailey to get me an interview at the fishing lodge, I decided that there was little chance I would actually get the job. If Mr. Delaney was in that much of a rush to get a chef out there, I didn’t think he’d be willing to wait for me to fly out to Idaho and get out to Waterfront.
So far, I’d had no luck getting any responses back. Most of the jobs that I was interested in had been posted so long ago that I wondered if they had been filled and forgotten about online, or if these places were just continually hiring and never took their ads down because the culture was just that bad at the company.
After hitting a wall sending three résumés out this afternoon, and not finding any other jobs that sounded like a good fit for my skills, I decided that it was time for a break.
I shut my laptop off and flopped on the bed. My shoulders hurt from typing up my cover letter and experience a million times. Why did online job applications always insist on making me fill out the same information that was in my résumé as part of the application – such as previous experience, previous employer, and all of that? Was it too hard to read my résumé as attached? Or was this to make sure that if the file didn’t open, they still had all the information I would have shared in the résumé?
As I took in what my options at this point were, I slowly realized that I only had two more days in the hotel. I’d only been able to pay for that much, and my parents were quietly encouraging me to return to Nebraska with them. As much as I didn’t want to do that, there was some value in returning home. That is where some of the jobs that had been most recently posted were, and one had been in a restaurant that had opened shortly after I started in high school.
It was actually the restaurant where I learned that I wanted to be a chef.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
It took me a moment to recognize the buzzing of my phone as a phone call and not multiple texts coming in a row from one or multiple people because I was so rarely called these days. Everyone preferred text. Honestly, I preferred it too.
It was the same Idaho number that had called me for the phone interview. I quickly picked up the call, hoping that I hadn’t let it ring too many times.
“Laurel Pennington?”
“This is she. Mr. Delaney, a pleasure to hear back from you,” I said.
My heart thumped in my chest. If he was calling me, either he had found a chef out of a few applicants, or he was about to offer me the job. Honestly, I wasn’t sure which was the better answer right now.
“When can you get out here to Waterfront, Idaho?” Mr. Delaney’s voice came over the phone somewhat gruffly. “You’re the best candidate out of the people I’ve interviewed so far, and I need a cook before the start of the season.”
“As soon as I get a flight into the nearest airport,” I replied. “Hopefully, by the end of tomorrow. Is that soon enough for you?”
“If you can make that work, I would appreciate it.”
With that, the line went dead. I made sure the call had hung up properly before letting out a squeal. Idaho had been my preferred job out of the ones I had applied to, and hearing that I had gotten the job only made the day better. I could make a clean break from everything holding me to Chicago, and it would allow me to get away from what I believed was the problem interfering with my ability to get a new job right now.
While my manager may not have wanted any trouble, I was well aware that Janelle had been spreading rumors about me being a coward and being a witch because I quit my job rather than have to hear about her getting the guy instead of me. From what I had heard from the coworkers I still talked to, Janelle and Mark were going to take most of the plans for the wedding I’d wanted with Mark and have their wedding late next year so that they could raise the money that I had ‘cost’ them.
Maybe if Mark didn’t sleep with every woman he saw, he would have been getting married tomorrow, I thought bitterly as I started to look for flights into an airport near Waterfront.
Then, I realized it might be easier to call Bailey and see where she flew in and out of to get around.
“Hey girl. I don’t have long to chat, Laurel,” Bailey said when she picked up. “I’m in the car, and I’m about to pick up a friend.”
“I’ll be quick. What airport do you fly in and out of?”
Bailey squealed as she realized what that meant.
“You got the job! I fly in and out of Spokane, Washington. It’s a bit of a drive, but it’s the nearest airport that has decent flight prices,” Bailey said. “Oh… looks like there’s an accident blocking traffic up ahead. Do you need me to ready my guest room?”
“…that’s a good question. How about you ready it, and I’ll let you know when I know because right now, better safe than sorry?” I pressed my lips together as I realized I hadn’t asked if I’d be staying on site at the lodge.
“Of course,” Bailey said. “I’ll talk to you later.”
With that, she hung up.
I was about to call my mother to tell her the news when Mr. Delaney sent me a text asking for my email address to send all the orientation paperwork. It didn’t take long to send the email address. While waiting for that email, I booked myself a flight out to Idaho from the O’Hare airport into Spokane. I texted Bailey when I’d arrive, hoping she’d be able to make it work.
Then, I called my parents to let them know what was going on. They weren’t happy to hear that I wouldn’t be coming home, but they at least understood that I needed to get away from Chicago.
