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I could text Stephanie back, let her take care of it. But it’s not what I want. So instead, I put away my phone and jump in the shower. Icy water should do the trick. I need to snap out of it.
seven
Sterling
“Ican’tbelieveyoudid that!” I shout at Sara. She’s standing on her bed and I’m on the floor chasing her around with a pillow. She jumps up and avoids my swats.This little brat.
“Why are you blushing?” she questions, almost excitedly. I can tell she’s having fun with this. “Do you have a crush on your boss?” She jumps again as I swat the pillow at her feet, her voice small and playful as she mocks me.
“No, you sicko. That would be against like, so many rules.” I jump onto the bed next to her and tackle her down to the sheets. I should be mad; she could have lost me my job. But Callan’s response calmed me down a bit. It wasn’t angry or upset, he even joked back. Maybe Sara is right, but at the end of the day Callan is my boss.
“It would be hot,” she says under laughs as I tickle her armpits.
“What would be hot?” A voice comes from the door frame, Sara and I freeze to see her mom standing there.
“Oh, nothing mom. You wouldn’t understand.” Sara laughs as she gets up from the bed.
We both laugh at each other and make our way downstairs, into the kitchen.
“Don’t do that again,” I whisper to Sara, and she chuckles under her breath.
“Thank you so much, again, for coming to hang out with her for a couple of hours.” Mrs. Chen sets her purse on the countertop and digs through it for cash. She hands me a couple of twenties and a fifty. It’s a lot of money for the short amount of time I’ve been here today, but I’m grateful to have enough to cover groceries, my electric bill, and maybe even some clothes for my new job.
“No problem. I like watching her.” And I do, Sara is the actual closest thing I have to a constant these days. So, I really do love every minute I spend with her even when she irritates my soul.
“I won’t need you again for a couple of weeks, Sterling. I hope that’s okay. I’ll be taking some time off work to stay with Sara over her spring break, while Mr. Chen is on his business trip,” she says, but the wordsbusiness tripare layered with a hint of cynicism.
“Oh, sure, that’s fine,” I respond trying not to sound too disappointed. A few weeks without Sara? That kind of stings.
Obviously, the lack of extra money will suck too, but I’m more bummed to go more than a few days without seeing Sara. She’s like a little sister to me, and with the strained relationship I have with my blood family, every minute with her is precious to me. Thankfully, I’ll have the job at the dealership to hopefully keep me busy.
“Have any plans for the weekend?” she asks as we walk to the front door.
“Not really, just preparing for my new job.”
“A new job?”
“Yeah, I, uh, kinda got fired from the café. Now I’m going to be working as an assistant at a car dealership.”
“That sounds nice.” She tries to sound excited, but it comes out exhausted. Mrs. Chen seems tired tonight, more than usual. She works a lot and so does her husband, but they’re always very well put together. Tonight, she doesn’t look so… rich. Maybe she just needs a break.
“I start on Monday, and I already have a business social to plan for next weekend!” I’m excited because this is all something new.
“I’m so happy for you, Sterling, congratulations! I hope it’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of.” She walks out of the kitchen, and I collect my things. I give Sara a big hug goodbye before licking my finger and trying to shove it in her ear. When I miss, she chases me out of the house and I laugh so hard, I have to stop and catch my breath before walking down the road to wait for the bus home.
It’s Sunday morning and Dakota and I finally have a day off together, so we make plans to go to brunch. She’s been working long days at the hospital, and even though we live together, we barely see one another. It doesn’t help that she spends a ton of time at her boyfriend's house, too.
“So, tell me about your new job?” I ask her as we take our drinks to a table.
“It’s boring nurse shit.” She waves off my curiosity.
“I thought it was your dream job,” I press.
“You ever think something is going to be the greatest idea ever, then a few weeks later wonder what kind of drugs you were on to think those things? Let’s just say it’s like that,” she jokes as we settle into our seats. “Years of school I’ll never get back, but it pays well so there’s that. Tell me about your job.” She smiles.
“Well, you know I don’t start until tomorrow,” I say.
“Right, but how did this even happen?” She leans into her cup of coffee, and I tell her the story.
