“Thank, you ma’am. Have a great day,” I gave her the usual greeting I’d given all of my customers that day and moved on to the next customer. When my line slowed down, I sneaked my phone out of my pocket and called my best friend, Dana. “Girl, I’m about to lose it. I may need bail money, if I see this bitch again,” I said when she answered.
“What happened?”
“Melinda just came through my line throwing shade at me.”
“Melinda came in there?”
“Yeah, she just left.”
“That shady weasel! Someone had to tell her you were working there. That’s too much of a coincidence that she showed up at that store and went through your line. She lives all the way in Broward County,” Dana said; her usual soothing tone sounded suspicious.
“You know what. I don’t even care. I’m just done with all of this. I feel like walking out right now.” I already felt like I was selling myself short by taking the job as a cashier instead of working to revive my writing career. However, I just couldn’t see myself writing again, not if it was that easy for my hard work to be stolen and my credibility erased like Nina had done.
“I may have something better for you, anyway. Meet me at our spot at seven tonight, so we can have drinks and talk about it,” Dana said.
I was just about to hang up when my boss walked up behind me. That’s also when I noticed my line was so long it was starting to go down one of the food aisles. An elderly gentleman stood in front of me with shaky hands barely hanging on to his walker and waiting to be rang up.
My boss permanently relieved me of my duties before I could say anything, making it four jobs in just over a month that I’d lost. I went home that evening and just thought about giving up on working altogether. Maybe I’d just become a ward of the state and live off government assistance. Hell, there was no use in working. I was only going to get used or get fired anyway.
Maybe I was the problem. Maybe I had done something so vile it was just time for karma to rain down on me and make me atone for my past wrongs, whatever they were. I thought I treated everyone pretty decent, but perhaps the reason I didn’t get credit for my stories I’d written was because there was a bad omen hanging over my head.
Well, I knew that was BS. Nina and Melinda were just threatened by me working in that office. They knew if I were to ever get the writing credits I deserved, I’d run that place and they’d be the ones out of a job. They were probably laughing their asses off knowing I was out of the industry and bouncing around from job to job.
I showered and changed out of my khaki pants and tee-shirt into a comfortable romper and slide-ins and headed to meet Dana at our favorite Cuban restaurant. She was inside waiting for me when I arrived. She was seated close to the back but still in view of the doorway.
“Hey Dana,” I said when I reached our table.
“Hey Tasha, how are you, love?”
“Girl, the most I can say is I need drinks. Lots of them,” I replied, and she laughed as she slid a mojito in front of me.
“I already ordered for you, because I knew you would want one.”
We sipped our drinks, and I made humor out of the past month of my life. “So, here I am. I’ve gone from potential lead writer of a world-famous blog to being unworthy of bagging groceries. Oh, how the mighty fall. Cheers!” I tilted my glass toward Dana and took another drink.
“Girl, I’m still seething about Mel and Nina. Those are some sneaky bitches. They make me want to just suit and boot up and go up in there and kick their asses. That, or sneak them; I know where they live, and I have black masks and gloves. We could roll on them at any time.”
I laughed and waved her off. “Nah, I’m not trying to let them take me down any further. You’re crazy though, and that that’s why I love you.”
“Damn right, I’m crazy when it comes to my family and friends. But, neither of us would look good in orange jumpers, so we’ll just have to settle with knowing that Mel and Nina are going to get what’s coming to them one day, and I just hope we’ll get front row seats, when someone sues their asses for stealing,” she said with a smirk. “I wish you would sue.”
“All I want right now is to be able to make a pay check. I can’t worry about them.”
“Well, the reason you’re not making it in these jobs you’ve been doing is because you’re not supposed to be doing them. You’re a writer, and I hate that they made you feel less than that.”
“That waxes poetic in my mind and all, but unless I start my own freelance business, I’m pretty sure Melinda has blackballed me with every credible employer in the industry. She gets a kick out of rubbing elbows with other editors and gossiping about whatever’s hot that week. Plus, I’m pretty damn sure I can’t use her as a reference. That’s just my reality right now,” I said.
“Well,” Dana said thoughtfully. “I know it’s not a writing gig, but I have an opportunity that could hold you over financially until you get back in the field. I have a new celebrity lawyer client who needs a sitter asap, and the pay is very good at two grand a month for mainly afternoons and some evenings, with a bonus for weekends when he’s out on business.”
“That money does sound good, but a sitter? What for his dog?” I cringed. “You know I don’t like animals like that. I wouldn’t make it a day.”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Dana laughed. “He has custody of his nephew and he’s looking for someone to be there when he’s working or away on business,” Dana said, as she gauged my response to the business card she handed me.
I wrinkled my nose at the card. “Sitter? I don’t have any children, and I don’t know a thing about babysitting. I’ve spent time with my little cousins, but I’ve never actually kept them by myself for any long period of time.”
“You didn’t know anything about photography, coffee, or groceries either, yet you earned a few dollars doing it,” she said.
“Well, we see how well that turned out.”