Page 106 of Run Away Home: Tempered

“I don’t really want to.”

“Kara, forget about work for one day—”

I laugh and look out the window. “Yeah, forget that I’m losing all of my income. Okay. Let me forget that.”

“You would have had today off, anyway, bitch.” She punches my arm playfully, and I glance over.

Does she really think this is helping? It’s not. Great, now I’m thinking about work again. I tried so, so hard. I did everything right! I was the model employee, actually. Why should Lisa get to keep her job? Do they even know she sneaks out the side door fifteen minutes early every day?

“I thought I was doing such good work.”

“You were. They just hired too many people, and you were the newest, right?”

“I had so much hope for this one, Jess.” I’m starting to get emotional. She notices.

“All right, that’s it. Get out of the car.” She opens her door and walks around to the passenger side. She looks in the window and sticks her tongue out.

I laugh but try to hide it. I don’t want to laugh. I want to be miserable. I don’t want to be here, and Jess should know it. I look back at the bar’s entrance.

“This place looks like a dump!” I yell through the closed window.

“What?” She smiles. I know this biatch heard me.

“I said this place looks like a—”

“OKAY, I’M GOING IN NOW. BYE.”

I crack my neck. It helps relieve my anxiety. I decide to get out of the car. When I stand, I pull my mini skirt down. I haven’t even taken one step and these heels hurt my feet already. How did I let her do this to me? I need to learn the word “no.” It’s healthy to say “no.”

I walk as quickly as I can in these shoes, but Jess is already inside. She’s always so fast to get to the liquor. I enter and hear Irish music. This place is full of smoke and gross old men. It’s dimly lit so you can’t see just how gross the old men are, but I can still tell they’re fat, ugly, and bald.

Where the fuck is Jess? I hobble toward the bar.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing here?” some goblin asks.

EW! I don’t answer or acknowledge him at all. I continue to scan the place.

There’s Jess. She’s talking to the bartender. He’s the only guy our age. He’s small...pretty thin, and rather short. His long hair is combed back into a bun, but a few curls have fallen out. He’s got perfectly white teeth and a very nice smile.

I approach and the guy looks at me. His brown eyes are huge. They’re almost too big for his face, and those are some of the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen. Why can’t my eyelashes be that long? He has a familiar, welcoming air about him, but doesn’t any salesman?

Jess is smiling and laughing. She’s completely fallen for him, bending over the bar. I can totally see her panty lines through her leggings.

“Jess, there you are!”

“Kara, this is Peter!”

I look at him again. He’s nice to look at.

“Cool. Can we go? This place is—”

“A shithole?” The bartender smiles. I wasn’t expecting that. Such a nice, innocent face, and one of the first words I hear out of his mouth are “shithole.”

“Uhm, well... I wasn’t—”

“No, come on, it’s a shithole. I’ve been getting my ice from the sushi restaurant for the past week and a half.”

He has a beautiful Irish accent. I won’t tell him that. I’m in no mood to be nice.

---