Page 6 of Drunk Girl

Ashley

“Hey, Mom.”

“How was your night?” she asks, finally waking up after her late night at work.

“Good, just stayed home and got all my things unpacked and put away. How was work?”

“Busy. Lots of calls last night,” she says as she pours a cup of coffee. She’s been a dispatcher for almost twenty years now, and has worked the third shift for the last eight or so.

“Helps the night go by fast,” I muse, drinking my second cup of coffee.

“Sure does,” she confirms. “Got any plans for today?”

“Yeah,” I say, blowing out a breath. “Tiff’s birthday is Monday, so we’re celebrating tonight.”

“What are you girls doing to celebrate?”

“Dinner and hitting up a few bars is the last thing I heard. We’ve got a big group going.”

“Sounds like fun, be safe.”

“Always,” I state. “Do you work tonight?”

“Yep, next three nights.” She takes a seat on the couch and props her feet up on the coffee table. “Any luck with the job search yesterday?”

“Hopefully. I applied at a handful of places around and in the mall. Right now, I’d be happy with pretty much any job. I was also going to apply with a temp agency that had an advertisement at the mall,” I tell her, remembering I snapped a picture of their sign. “I need to look at their website from a computer, so had to wait to do so until I was home, and I forgot about it.”

I grab my laptop from the end table next to me. It takes it a good five minutes to fully load since it’s so old and slow, but it still works for the few things I need a computer for, so I’m in no rush to replace it.

“An office job with normal hours would be nice,” she says.

“Maybe. I’m so used to working evenings and serving that I’m not sure I’ll like an office job long-term, but like I said earlier, I just need a job. I can’t afford not to have an income coming in.”

“I’m sure something will come along next week.”

“I sure hope so.” I know I’ve got a little cushion in my account, but I’d rather not drain my savings account down to nothing. So, after tonight, no more going out until I’m back on my feet. No unnecessary spending, no stops at Starbucks or fast food. Tonight is my last hurrah until I can land a job and have a few paychecks under my belt.

* * *

“Happy birthday!”I call out as I walk into Tiffany and Colton’s house.

“Thank you!” Tiffany squeals from the top of the stairs.

“Are you ready for tonight?” I ask as I climb the stairs and then wrap her in a hug.

“Sure am!” she exclaims. “Are you ready?”

“I was born ready,” I joke.

“We’re going to have so much fun!” The doorbell rings and she yells, “Come in!”

In walk three girls I’ve only met once before, who all work with Tiffany. “Hey, girls!” Tiffany exclaims when she sees who has arrived. “I know y’all have met once before, but just in case you don’t remember, Ashley, this is Holly, Nikki, and Zara. Ladies, this is my best friend, my ride-or-die, Ashley.”

“Nice to see y’all again,” I say as they come up the stairs.

“You too,” they all chime in, smiling.

“I’ve got some snacks and shots ready for us in the kitchen. Figured we could get the party started before we even leave the house,” Tiffany tells everyone.

---