No way. That was definitely my imagination. He didn’t look at me that way. I do not want him to look at me that way. Ever.
Teela cleared her throat, a little too loud. “I thought he was from Philly. I see the billboards for him and his stupid grocery stores when I’m there. I never see them here.”
“I guess because they didn’t pay to advertise here. Anyway, you could have done more good from the inside out. And not everyone quit, right?”
“Yeah,” Teela admitted. She let out an undignified huff. She refused to let her thoughts go back to the poop train that they’d been on. “Not everyone quit. I was so sure they would. I thought we were a family. I thought we’d stick together.”
Amy’s worried frown said it all. “So, what are you going to do? Get a job somewhere else? No one is going to hire you when they find out you’re pregnant.”
“I won’t tell them. I don’t have to disclose that. I’m only two months along. Barely. I can hide it for at least five more months.”
“You’re thin!” Amy scoffed. She didn’t even bother to shut her mouth, which was gaping open in straight up disbelief. “You won’t be able to hide it that long!”
“I’ll wear baggy clothes. It’s in style to dress all bohemian and wear a bunch of layers. I’ll just make sure that I don’t wear anything tight. That would hide it well.”
“Teela, come on!”
“Amy!” Teela squeezed her friend’s hand, which was still way too cold. It wasn’t even cold outside. It was May for shit sakes. “It’s all going to work out. I can always get a job in Philly and sell the condo or commute.”
“You wouldn’t get anything for it. The market is pretty much the same and everything is way more expensive in Philly. It’s the reason that we came out here in the first place. Well that and-”
“Don’t say it.” Teela warned. “I was already thinking about that earlier. We don’t need to say his name out loud.”
“Would you really move?” Amy’s eyes widened and her lips wavered like she was about to cry. “I can’t move. I have a good job here. Bryan has a good job. I’d miss you so much!”
“There are lots of jobs here. Even if I have to take a little bit of a pay cut, it’s going to be okay.”
“Unless Ross put out the word that people shouldn’t hire you because you’ll go off like a firecracker and make unsolicited threats.”
Teela released Amy’s hand. She shifted and sat on her hands instead. “I’m not going to blame it on the pregnancy hormones. It wasn’t that. He had it coming. He basically made it pretty obvious that we didn’t matter as anything other than things. We aren’t even people to him. We’re just numbers. Things. Easy to be replaced. Dora has worked there forever. She really did depend on that job. He looked right through me when I said that to him. Like he couldn’t even be bothered to hear about it. He’s heartless. The actual fucking devil.”
Something was really wrong with Amy’s face. She was doing that lemon pucker thing again. As in, someone had just opened her yap and stuffed in an entire thing and made her chew and swallow, peel and all. And the lemon just happened to be severely rotten. With worms. And mold. And… and beetles or something.
“What the hell?” Teela ground out. “Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like someone just crammed a nasty old gym sock into your mouth.” Forget the lemon, that was far more accurate.
“Well- uh- don’t you know that Ross Day didn’t always have money?”
“How would I know?” Teela asked, irritated. She barely managed not to snap. Somehow Amy’s friendly sympathy visit had put her completely on edge as well. Now they both looked like they were sitting on a bed of rusty nails trying not to puncture their dainty little ass cheeks. “I don’t know anything about him other than that he’s rich and he likes to do corporate take overs and turn good fashioned family owned stores into his chain of machines. He’s a part of the system. You know that I don’t do the system.”
“You’re such a rebel,” Amy responded sarcastically.
“Okay, well, whatever. I don’t like what he does or what he stands for. He’s enemy number one at this point.”
“Yeah, yeah, the devil. I know. I heard.”
“Well- okay- why does your face still look all messed up? What do you know that I don’t? Or are you just as pissed as I am?”
“I’m pissed alright,” Amy assured her, but her voice was off. Like, really off. Like someone had just jammed that nasty-ass sock down her throat. “Er- well- okay. You can’t hate me. Promise.”
“Of course.” Teela knew she was looking at Amy like she’d just sprouted a second arm right out of her forehead. She had no idea what was wrong with her bestie and it was unnerving as hell. “I could never hate you. Just tell me.”