Page 13 of The Homecoming

“Now, this is where you will sit,” he said, leading her back to the front desk. “Your job is to answer the phone, schedule appointments, and fetch coffee for me.” She sat in the chair and he leaned up against her back while showing her the computer system, smelling of stale cigarettes mixed with breath mints. Thankfully, the computer was not as old as the rest of the place. Although, it still wasn’t new and it ran very slowly.

Thus began the longest morning of Autumn’s life. She tried to familiarize herself with the computer scheduling system for appointments by seeing if any of his clients were booked for anything soon. He didn’t seem to have any current clients going anywhere, but at least she would be paid through the employment agency. The phone didn’t ring and she quietly sat in front of the computer, doing absolutely nothing.

“Autumn,” Randal called from his office.

Autumn walked to his office door. “Yes, Mr. Winters?”

“Fetch my midmorning cup of coffee.”

Autumn went to the kitchen and poured the coffee, adding the sugar and creamer to his specifications before returning to his office.

“Perfect,” he said after tasting it. “You catch on quick. And I’m glad they sent a pretty girl this time. Nothing worse than walking in and finding an ugly one in the front. We have an image.” He stared directly at her chest, then dismissed her with the wave of his hand.

Autumn returned to her seat and put her head down on the desk.

***

A few doors down from the travel agency, Autumn met up with Dan at Ellis Diner. Rebecca, with her culinary degree, was somehow stuck there, cooking southern style meat and three vegetable plates and sandwiches. Today it was filled to the brim with workers from nearby businesses on their lunch break and people visiting the courthouse across the street. Across from him in a two-person booth, Autumn held her head in her hands over the top of her untouched sandwich. “I work for a clichéd character come to life,” she said. “He’s awful. He had me print and fold brochures for the front table that looked like they’re from the 80s.”

“So quit,” he replied.

“Four hours into my very first assignment?”

He chewed his sandwich for a minute. “It’s a shit assignment and they know it.”

“I’m trying to become a productive member of society and eventually pay my student loans. And besides, if I quit, they’re not giving me a better position.”

“I’d rather be somewhere they don’t torture test the new employees.”

“Really,” she replied. “So what was boot camp and Special Forces training?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Fine. I meant for you.” He reached across the table for her hand. “I don’t want you to be unhappy. You’ll find the right thing.” He pointed at her food. “Eat.”

“I’m going to need to keep up my strength for an afternoon of sitting there, doing nothing. I don’t think Randal Winters, travel agent extraordinaire, has any business coming in.”

***

Autumn spent the afternoon surfing the internet on her phone for a new job. Randal Winters had gone out prospecting for clients, whatever that meant, so she enjoyed being left alone. He’d handed her the key, telling her boobs to lock up at five and not a moment earlier. One time, she’d picked up the phone to see if it even had a dial tone; sadly, it did. Engrossed in the description for an administrative assistant that looked promising, she glanced up and out the front window and across the street, she caught a glimpse of someone who resembled Mark. She stood up and went to the window, but whoever it was had moved on down the road with a group.

It had probably been her imagination. Surely he’d moved on by now. As instructed, she waited until five to lock up, not that anyone had been in all afternoon. She glanced up and down the street for any sign of someone watching, pocketed the key, and walked faster than usual back to her car.

6.

Friday afternoon, Autumn sat with her feet soaking in the whirlpool basin at a nail salon. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Hannah had convinced her to go along with her, Rebecca, and Brandon for a mani-pedi to celebrate making it through the first week of her job.

“It might suck,” Hannah said, “but at least you’re getting paid for sitting around.”

“But the day goes by so slow. And the old perv makes my skin crawl.”

“Did you tell Dan about it?”

“Not about the pervy stuff. I’m afraid he’d break the old man in half, literally.” The others laughed, but Autumn wasn’t amused. “Maybe I should just go work at the daycare with my cousin.”

“You realize that would be actual work,” Hannah reminded her.

“And you’d actually have to tend to little kids,” Brandon said. “Do you like kids?”

“Not really.”

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