Page 70 of Jake Forever
Chapter 25
Standing in the stairwell, I pulled out my phone and studied the display. Once again, I didn't recognize the number.
Surprise, surprise.
But Ihadto get it. If I were, by some miracle, keeping my job, I was scheduled to work tomorrow. So I couldn't exactly put this off.
With grim resignation, I hit the answer-button and placed the phone next to my ear, not bothering with the usual hello. Instead, I waited, letting the caller speak first.
If it was Rango, I had a plan. It wasn't a great one, but it was the only one I had. I'd just keep blocking all of his numbers until he finally ran out of phones – or until I crushed my own phone in a Rango-induced rage, whichever came first.
Already, I was gripping my phone so tight that my fingers ached. I was still listening, but all I heard was silence, except for the faint sounds of dance music somewhere in the background.
Yup, it was Rango, alright.
With an irritated sigh, I said, "Go ahead. Get it over with."
A male voice, and unfortunately, not Rango's, replied with, "Uh, Luna? Is that you?"
I froze.Oh, crap.It was my boss. Still clutching the phone, I wanted to kick myself. It's not like I hadn't been expecting his call. It's just that, well, I'd been expecting it like seven calls ago – from a D.J. who loved dance music.
Stupid Rango.
Stupider me.
On a cheerier note, at least I hadn't answered with a string of profanity.
Trying for a recovery, I managed to say, "Um, yeah. Sorry about that. I was just—"
"Waiting to be fired?"
I hesitated, unsure what to say. In truth, Iwasexpecting to be fired, even as I hoped against hope for another chance.
Before I could come up with a decent response, my boss spoke again. "Forget that. Bad joke. Hey, I've got some good news."
Goodnews? My shoulders sagged in relief. Aside from the mind-blowing elevator sex, most of my day had been a giant crap-fest. Trying not to sound pathetic, I said, "Really? How good?"
"Let me cut to the chase." With a smile in his voice, he continued. "I worked it out with corporate, and they're gonna give you another shot."
I let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh wow, thatisgood news." I gave a weak laugh. "A lot better than I was expecting, actually."
"You and me, both," he said. "You know corporate."
Actually, Ididn'tknow corporate. I'd been to the corporate offices exactly once, and that was for my orientation. It was ironic, really, because I was hoping to work there someday. I just prayed I hadn't ruined my chances.
My boss cleared his throat. "There's just one condition."
"Sure. Anything."
"You'll need to apologize."
"Oh."
Yeah, it was a lame response, but I wasn't quite following. Already, I'd apologized to the customers, several times, in fact, not that it had done much good. The guy had been a decent sport about it, but the woman had gone totally berserk.
And the more I apologized, the crazier she got. In the end, she'd told me to stick my apologies where the sun didn't shine, because in her words, "Apologies were for failures who didn't get it right the first time."
I tried to think. Who else would need an apology? My co-workers? Management? Someone at corporate? I wasn't sure, and I hated the thought of asking.
