Page 92 of Zimyra

I concentrate on eating this first serving and then, as I’m about to get up to get a second, she takes my plate and says, “I’ll get it for you.”

I dive in right away when she returns with another plate.

“Do you eat like this all the time?” she inquires.

“I do. I have a very high metabolism. It’s the muscles. I’m sure you’ve seen them.”

“Seen them and felt them. You have a nice physique. You live in the gym, I take it.”

“Not necessarily. I like to work out at home. I have dumbbells and things.”

“You work out every day?”

“I do.”

“I used to work out frequently, but when I started working more hours, I focused more on eating healthy since I don’t have the time to work out like I want to.”

“Mmm…” I say as I eat another spoonful of this chicken. “Your mama taught you how to cook like this?”

“She did. More specifically, she taught me how to read a recipe. That’s how she makes those delicious pies. You’ll have to try a slice one day.”

“Already had a slice.”

“When?”

I shrug. “Thursday, I think—whatever day that was when I came to your brother’s house to see you.”

“How was it?”

“It was delicious. I’ll be back up there for sure.”

A smile settles in the corner of her mouth. I figure now is as good of a time as any to inquire about work. Peter told me he fulfilled my requests. I want to make sure they went through.

I ask, “Have you heard anything from the job since the incident?”

“Uh…yeah, I have. For some reason, they decided to give me a bonus. And then they did something that really shocked me.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you remember that system update I told you about?”

“The one to make the maintenance request process run a bit smoother?”

“Yes, that’s it. All of a sudden, they want to implement it. Zander says they’re probably scared I’m going to sue over the incident, but how could they possibly be the blame for that? And, the email came through before the incident happened.”

She continues, “Then I got another email with them telling me they were going to hire another worker to be in the office with me, and that I can take off however much time I want to deal with the situation. It all just seems a little too convenient. I’ve never been treated right by these people and now I get catered to. It just shows how conniving these companies are. I promise you if it wasn’t for my tenants, I would’ve quit already.”

I take a sip of lemonade and process this, then say, “I understand your frustration, but you should probably consider taking some time off.”

“I probably should, but I’m not. I was already off three days last week. Time off only makes me lose my mind. Plus, I’m not going to be there on Tuesday, anyway. I have my test.”

“Oh. Does that mean I’m off as well?”

“Nope. I will give you and Mauricio a report on Monday that will cover Tuesday as well.”

“Alright. How are you feeling about the test?”

She shrugs. “Not sure. It’s been difficult for me to concentrate.”

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