Page 27 of Let It Be Me

“What time is he getting here again?”

I pick up my fork. “At three. Like I told you.”

“Call me if he’s late. I don’t want you trying to do anything around here.”

“Go. I’m fine. I feel good.”

She kisses me on the cheek, and I catch the scent of her hair, which always reminds me of the beach. “I’ll come by tomorrow.”

“Bring some Pepto.”

My phone beeps again and I look at it, expecting another message from Alli, but it’s Cash. “Shit,” I mutter, reading his text.

Cash: Minor problem. I’m not gonna make it back to campus until tomorrow night. Can Ruby hang for another day? Sorry, man. I’ll explain over the phone.

I sit back, thinking through the next twenty-four hours and whether I can get through them alone. Should be okay except for changing clothes. And getting set up for bed, though I can sleep sitting up on the couch if I need to.

“What is it?” Ruby asks from the doorway. I thought she’d already left.

“Nothing, nothing. Cash is a little delayed, that’s all.” I offer a smile. “Good luck, okay? Call me when your shift is done.”

“How delayed?”

I shrug like it’s no biggie. “A day or so.”

Ruby tips her head back and groans. “What’s his problem?”

“I don’t know. He’ll call me later.”

She walks over to me. “Let me guess, he met a pretty girl with a thing for inconsiderate jocks?”

“It’s fine. Just come by tomorrow like you planned, and I’ll be all good.”

“What? That’s almost a whole day alone. I’m not doing that.” She drops her purse and sits down next to me.

“Ruby, come on. I’m already doing nights alone. I can handle a couple extra hours on either side.”

“Not twenty-four hours.”

I give her a friendly push. “Go. You can’t be late. We’ll figure this out after work.”

She reaches for the remote and turns on the TV. “I actually don’t need to be anywhere until tonight.”

“You work afternoons.”

“Not really,” she says, casually flipping channels.

“Not really?” I grab the remote out of her hand and wait until she looks at me. “Want to explain that?”

“Well,” she says slowly, and I recognize this exact move from the many times I’ve watched her deliver bad news to her parents while trying to pretend it’s not bad at all. “Turns out, your poster really got to me.Top Ten Reasons Why Fish Suck? It was pretty effective.”

“Ruby, you are not seriously about to tell me you quit before you even started.”

“No. I was ... let go.”

“Before you started?”

“Well, the asshole wouldn’t budge on my starting date. He didn’t even care my best friend needed surgery. He said if I couldn’t be there on day one, he’d find someone else who would. So fine. It was a stupid summer job anyway.”

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