Page 16 of What's the time, Mr. Wolfe
He umm’d and ahh’d and then handed it back to me. “I’ll do some digging, but if I was offered that contract, I’d be jumping all over it.”
“You think I should take it? That means leaving college.”
“I think you should take it! Jesus, Ruby, no apprentice would get this chance or that salary, normally.”
“That’s what bothers me. What’s the catch?” I asked.
“I have no idea. Perhaps it is simply what he says. He wants to help you. You are worthy of help, you know.”
“I don’t know about that. I’ll call Mike and tell him I’m in,” I said.
Mr. Trent was the one teacher that I wished I’d had all the way through my education. He was kind and encouraging. His attitude was, if you didn’t want to learn, that was fine, but leave the classroom. He wanted to only spend his time with those that did.
I left college, my lectures finished lectures, and punched in Mike’s number, hoping that muscle memory would dial the right numbers since I couldn’t see them.
Thankfully, he answered.
“Hi, I’ve signed the contract. Do you want me to post it back?” I said, after identifying myself.
“You can bring it in when you start. I have my diary open, how about next Monday, which is the beginning of the month, so it suits our payroll.” He laughed when he’d spoken.
“Next Monday is good for me. That gives me a chance to sort out my grandma.”
It didn’t, but I wasn’t sure a delay was on offer.
Isaid goodbye and skipped back home. For the first time since I was a child, I had a sense of happiness bubbling away inside me. Unfortunately, a sense of foreboding swiftly followed.
I was afraid to let myself be happy or content, even. I held back, always wary of when happiness might be snatched away. Monica had said in the past that when I suppressed the happiness, I brought on the depression.
If you think something bad will happen, then it generally will, she’d said.
I tried my hardest to focus on the start of a possible career, and the smile started to return.
I seemed to have gotten home in record time and found Grandma asleep in her chair where I’d left her. Monica would have been, but there was always that worrying period when she was on her own. Since she was fragile, I had no fear of her wandering. She was in little danger, but she would mess herself and my first job was a clean-up.
“Hello, Grandma,” I called out, forgetting the lock worked. I kicked the door so hard it bounced off the wall and back at me.
“What’s that noise?” she shouted.
“It’s just me, Ruby.”
“Come in, my granddaughter will be back shortly,” she said.
I smiled at the familiar greeting. “I’ll make a cup of tea, shall I?”
I headed straight to the kitchen, dumping my rucksack in the hallway, kicking off my trainers so they bounced off the wall, and pulling my hoodie over my head. My hair stood on end with static. It was one thing I loved about having a tumble dryer, the static on clean clothes.
I made Grandma a tea and warmed her some soup. I cut a bread roll into small pieces and filled a plastic tumbler with water. Grandma had all plastic, if she smashed a glass, she wouldn’t realise it was sharp and would cut herself with it.
Once she was fed and settled again, I sat at the kitchen table and signed the contract. I read it again, highlighting areas I wanted to discuss. I had a bank account, but perhaps I needed a second, a savings account. With the salary I was getting, I could afford to put a little away for emergencies.
Although Sebastian had said casual clothing was the normal, I still needed to buy some more. I couldn’t wear my one pair of ripped jeans and dirty Converse all the time.
I was munching on some toast, all I had in for dinner since I didn’t get any money until the following day, when there was a knock on the door. A part of me hoped it was a certain someone.
I tripped over the rucksack on my way to open it. The caller knocked again.
“All right, I’m coming!” I shouted, rubbing my elbow. I opened the front door with a wince.
