Page 107 of Save Me

Bobby called out to him again, and this time he knew it was Patrick’s order. Walking back to the kitchen, he said a quick thanks and bagged up the food. His brother was still sitting at the bar chatting with their uncle, and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that they were talking about him.

Pfft…let them talk. I’ve got this.

Handing the bag to Patrick, he was about to make a snarky comment about how qualified he was for this job when Sadie—one of their servers—walked over looking nervous.

“Jamie,” she said in a hushed tone. “The people at table four want to know if we can cater a luncheon for them on Thursday.”

“Of course!” he replied. It was a no-brainer.

“It’s for a hundred people,” she explained. “It’s short notice and I know your mom usually requires at least two weeks' advanced notice…”

“Hang on. Let me talk to Bobby and see what he thinks we can handle and then I’ll go talk to your party, okay?”

She nodded. “Thanks, Jamie.”

Smiling smugly at his brother and uncle, he said, “If we can make this work, think of how thrilled mom and dad will be. It looks like maybe Idoknow what I’m doing.”

And with a confident smile, he went back to the kitchen and talked things through with Bobby. Then he made some calls to see about bringing in extra kitchen staff to help. Once that was all squared away, he walked out to table four with his tablet and worked through all the details. Before he knew it, they were paying him a deposit and making arrangements for the food to be picked up at eleven on Thursday. Feeling confident and more than a little proud of himself for making this work, Jamie thanked them and wished them a great day before heading back toward the office.

Yeah. He totally had everything under control and it was possibly the best freaking day ever.

“I am the best,” he told himself before closing the office door and mentally high-fiving himself.

* * *

“You’re fired.”

For a moment, Fallon Murphy was certain she was hearing things. “Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry, Fallon, but there have been some complaints and we’re terminating your employment effective immediately.”

This cannot be happening…

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” she began with a nervous laugh. “Complaints?”

Angela Silver, the head of human services, gave her a slightly sympathetic smile. “You missed several deadlines to apply for those grants we needed, the proposal you submitted last week for a new curriculum wasn’t very well researched, and…you’re not really connecting with the rest of the team. I’m sorry.”

She let out a shaky breath because she was both shocked and…not.

This was the second job she was being let go from in the last four months.

Ugh…I am the worst…

It was pointless to argue because Angela was familiar with reasons Fallon was released from her previous position. Instead, she forced herself to smile as she stood.

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out and I appreciate you taking a chance on me,” she said, hating the slight tremble in her voice. Holding out her hand, she added, “I’ll just go and clear out my office.”

Angela stood and shook her hand. “Fallon, you’re a smart and wonderful person. You just need to get better at being part of a team. Reaching out to your co-workers and asking questions isn’t a sign of weakness. I think if you can remember that, you’ll be more successful with your next endeavor.”

“Thanks.” With a curt nod, she willed herself not to cry as she left the office.

Walking down the hall, no one made eye contact with her and that told her that pretty much everyone knew she was being let go.

And no one cared.

She might have only been with the regional education service center for six weeks, but Fallon truly believed things were going well. Sure, she’d missed the deadlines for a couple of grants, but…there had been others she was preparing applications for to make up for it. Most people got a bit of a learning curve in their new jobs and somehow she had managed to blow hers.

Twice.

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