Senior Year Bucket List

by Miller, J. M.

  “No, go ahead.”

  I hit the call button and put it on speaker while I made my way into the kitchen.

  After a single ring, Sam answered, “Hey, Caleb.”

  “Sam. You got the email then? Did you see Celia’s pictures?”

  “Oh … yeah. They’re really great. She’s talented. If she wants us to use them, she’ll have to sign a different release form for those. I can email it to you.”

  “Great!” I looked at Celia and pointed toward the phone while I loaded the Keurig. She smiled, walking over to the counter to stand beside me. “I have you on speaker too, by the way. She’s here with me.”

  “Cool. Yes, great job with those shots. If you want to talk shop, maybe send us some of the rest of your portfolio too, Celia.”

  “That’s great. Thank you.” She raised her eyebrows and smiled big at the news and also at the mug of coffee I handed over. She prepped hers with cream and sugar while I made a cup for myself.

  “So yeah, I’m glad you’re both there,” Sam continued. “Listen, the guy who used to work with us and Merilyn. Vince. He’s the one behind the videos, we know that. And he did put another one up about an hour or so ago.”

  “Shit. Will you be able to get it down?” I asked, finishing my coffee prep and taking a sip while I watched Celia do the same.

  “We have a bigger problem than before. Um. This went big. Really quick. It’s because it’s not his footage, it’s ours—well, yours. Everything you shot. Plus pictures of the notebook worked in as well.”

  “What?!” Celia said, her eyes popping wide while I almost choked on my coffee.

  Still coughing, I said, “No way. He didn’t take the GoPro.” Celia darted over to the table where it sat, and that was when it hit me too. “I didn’t check the memory card.”

  Celia opened the camera casing right as Sam confirmed, “He has it all.”

  “Dammit. Shit.” Every muscle in my body clenched, and the urge to throw my mug was almost too strong to control. “I’m sorry. I screwed that up. I should have downloaded all the footage before.” I set my mug down and ran my hands over my face, feeling as if the world had crash-landed on top of me. I’d let Mer down, let Celia down.

  “Yeah, well, he gave Merilyn’s followers exactly what we wanted to give them. Only it’s a sloppy job. Unedited. Everything you filmed is up there. We’re waiting for Adventure Life to return our calls about copyright infringement so we can get it taken down as well as obtain all the footage since it’s legally ours. And we’ve had our lawyer send Vince a cease and desist also.”

  “Everything,” Celia murmured, realizing the full extent. All of it was out there right now with who knew how many people watching. “I feel a little sick.” She sat down on my couch.

  “I’m really sorry this has happened, too,” Sam said. “Obtaining the video shouldn’t be too difficult, even if he destroys the SD card. We’ll still be able to move on with this tribute to her. As soon as we can do that, we’ll also settle all payments.”

  “What?” Celia whispered. “Payments?” Her eyes flitted from me to a spot on the floor, chewing on her lower lip.

  “In the meantime, do whatever you have left. We’ll put it all together in the end. Try not to worry too much.”

  “All right, Sam. Talk to you later.” I ended the call and looked at Celia.

  “He said—” Her phone went off again. “Caleb, they’re paying you for this? And what did he mean when he said ‘he gave the followers what we wanted to give them’? I thought you said this was Mer’s last request.”

  “The list was her final request,” I said with a nod. “But Jay and Sam knew about it and approached me about filming.”

  “You said it was to give her followers closure, not for money.” Her phone went off again. She eyed it as she stood up then cut her glare back to me.

  “It was—is meant to give closure. It’s why I agreed to do it. The money was just—”

  “Padding for your pockets?”

  “It’s not like that,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t think it was important—”

  “You let me believe that it was for Mer. That she wanted it filmed. It’s because you thought I wouldn’t have agreed to do it otherwise, isn’t it?”

  “No, that’s not …” I pushed off the counter and moved to her, touching her upper arms gently. She crossed them over her chest, setting a barrier between us, but stayed still. “After what happened back then, and at the wake, I thought knowing Mer wanted us to do the list was the most important thing to tell you. I didn’t think the other stuff was necessary.”

  “No? Really? So you leave off information that is essential to me making an actual decision. This sounds like another time …”

  “What? No, this is nothing like that, Celia. Please, listen. I wasn’t trying to deceive you.”

  “And the money? What the hell is that? You profit off your sister’s death?”

  Anger flared at the accusation, and I huffed a harsh breath to keep my reaction in check. “I knew her followers might need closure, might need to go through the list with us, to heal. I have no platform and no skill when it comes to that stuff. There was no way I’d do it justice if I’d wanted to do it myself. They offered to handle it, since they are technically still part of her channel, even though their contracts will dissolve because of her death. I agreed on terms they worked out with Adventure Life about handling the channel, for them to get compensated for their work too. Half of my portion is yours. The rest will be used for the family business since she left some of her own money for that as well, after most was donated to charity. So please don’t accuse me of using my sister’s death for profit.”

  She blinked at me, disdain still very much alive in her hardened stare. Her phone went off again, and she moved to answer it.

  “Nadine, can I call you ba—what? What do you mean?” She paced around in a circle and bit on her thumbnail. “You’re serious? He saw it?” A sob burst through her lips, and I was instantly at her side, knowing something was wrong and wanting to comfort her, though I doubted she wanted me there at that moment. “Yeah. No, it’s not your fault. It’s mine. Thank you for calling. I’ll see you.”

  I watched her for a few silent moments, waiting. “Celia?”

  She nodded solemnly at the floor. “I just got fired.” Her lips pressed together and she seemed to snap out of a trance, moving around the space, stuffing her phone into her clothes bag then grabbing her camera bag too.

  “What? Why?”

  “My floor supervisor, my boss, watched that latest video. It seems it was as widespread as Sam said. So imagine his surprise when he sees me skinny-dipping in the quarry instead of throwing my guts up in my apartment.”

  “Fuck,” I murmured.

  “Yeah. Fuck.” She slung her bags over a shoulder and clenched her keys.

  “Wait, Celia. There has to be something—”

  “There’s nothing, Caleb. Nothing right now. I now have to figure out how I’m going to make rent and bills … I don’t … I can’t …” She spun around, making sure she had everything.

  “Look, this could be a good thing, right? Maybe it all happens for a reason.”

  She laughed, shrill and cold. “I’m not ignoring my fault in this. I made the choice to stay last night. But since you wanted to know yesterday what you could give me … give me my job back, Caleb. Erase these last few days and give me my life back so I don’t have to go hunt for a new job.”

  “Celia—”

  “I’ve gotta go.”

  “I’m sorry.” The words came out right before the door closed. I couldn’t take it all back, but I would do anything to fix it.

  25

  ______________

  Celia

  -now-

  I hadn’t had the courage to go to the office in the middle of the day. Facing everyone there, knowing they had likely watched the video, seen what I’d done.
It felt a little too crushing. The video was embarrassing enough. Then tack on my spectacular lie …

  What a cruel joke it seemed to be. I knew Mer would have been pissed off too. She would have called Caleb an ass again, for the one thousand ninety-first time. How could I have been so stupid?

  I stared at my reflection in Pearson Insurance’s glass entrance doors. Most people would be gone after close of normal business. No new clients to write in and no payroll tweaking after six. File clerks could still be around if they were able to land the overtime. Of course, Jerry and some other supervisors would be around too.

  When I shuffled onto my floor and headed to my desk to collect my stuff, Jerry emerged from his office—plaid tie loose, brittle comb-over sticking up. Without a single word, he placed a payroll envelope and an official letter of termination on my desk. His eyes flicked to me in a dead stare then he was off, walking a little crooked as if the weight of the day was a hundred pound brick inside his briefcase. He wasn’t even the one getting fired.

  “Well, fuck you too, Jerry!” I called after him, no longer giving a shit. Funny how that happened when the dam broke. “I lied one time. One time! I worked hard for this place, and all you did was treat me like a piece of shit on a shoe. Well, you know what? I hope … I hope you …” I exhaled a deep breath, the anger deflating out of me. Fuck.

  To his credit, he never turned and never flinched. But really, I didn’t care, and he likely didn’t either. He’d had to fire people before, and I was certain he’d heard much worse than I’d managed to spit out. It was a waste of breath.

  I looked around one more time and decided that Caleb was right, even if I was pissed at him. It all happened for a reason. As I walked back to my car, I pictured Mer there waiting, leaning a cocked hip against my beat-up Civic, long hair blowing over her shoulder as she nodded in agreement. Slipping into my seat, I let my head fall to the wheel and my tears fall down my cheeks.

  Minutes or maybe hours later, my phone beeped. Text. Caleb had tried to call and text earlier but seemed to have given up for the day, realizing I wouldn’t reply. And even though I was conflicted on the idea of seeing his name again, I looked.

  Nadine: You all right?

  Me: Yeah. Got my final check. Headed home.

  Nadine: The ladies rallied for you today. They beat Jerry up about it.

  Me: He looked it.

  Nadine: I think word of the revolt traveled upstairs.

  Me: Doubtful.

  Nadine: Not from what I saw. And did you watch the video?

  Me: No.

  And I likely never would. I didn’t even want to think about what was on it. None of it was edited. The fact that it was stolen was bad enough, but the tribute to Mer being seen so roughly had my stomach knotted. He’d even showed pictures of the notebook. And then there was the other part of it, all the personal stuff Caleb and I had shared. Everything we’d said. Everything we’d done. I shook my head. I couldn’t watch it.

  Nadine: I understand that you are upset, but you need to see what we saw, what thousands of people have seen.

  Me: Please stop. That’s not helping right now.

  Nadine: Come out with us tomorrow night. I think you need a night.

  Me: Tomorrow’s Tuesday.

  Nadine: Schedules are cleared. Husbands and sitters are on duty.

  I smiled sadly at the phone, knowing that it would possibly be one of the last regularly scheduled nights with them. There was no telling how much free time I’d have at whatever job I got, what shift I’d work.

  Me: Okay.

  26

  ______________

  Caleb

  -now-

  “Yeah, I’m here to see a Jerry. I’m sorry, I don’t have his last name.”

  The young receptionist plucked the phone up with her talon nails and murmured into the receiver, eyeing me curiously.

  “Is that him?” A distant whisper hit my ears as I slid my fingers along the waistband of my pants, adjusting the tuck of my button-down.

  It was nine in the morning, and I was already sweating. After driving two hours and stressing, it was no wonder. Luckily, that stress had nothing to do with my own job. My father had no issue with me taking off again to right my wrong. My stress was all about Celia and if I could get her job back, whether she’d give me another chance or not.

  I looked around the stuffy lobby of Pearson Insurance. Fake ficus. Pressed wood desks and flimsy plastic chairs. Vivid abstract canvases meant to liven up an otherwise drab place and only having an adverse effect by calling attention to the stark difference. I had to wonder what was so appealing about the place. But I checked myself again, knowing that it wasn’t my choice. If Celia wanted the job back, was content with it, I would try my hardest to make that happen. It was my fault. I was to blame for all of it.

  “It is him,” another voice said.

  I turned my head the other way, catching the eyes of two women in the doorway of a break room, a table and chairs set up behind them. The curly brunette crossed her arms, and the blonde whipped out her phone, typing furiously. They didn’t look away, so feeling the awkwardness creep in, I turned back to the receptionist.

  “He’s finishing with a meeting upstairs. He’ll be down in a moment. You can have a seat if you want,” she said, smiling brightly and flicking her black hair over a shoulder.

  “Uh-uh, honey,” the curly-haired woman at the break room said with a glare aimed at her.

  I let out a breath and took a seat close to the front door, trying my best to ignore what was happening. Celia had said that her coworkers had seen the video, which outed her sick day lie. So they obviously knew who I was, making this situation even more strange.

  Noticing movement by the desk, I glanced over and saw the dark-haired guy who had been at Celia’s apartment. The BMW driver.

  “Morning, Brent,” the receptionist said with a giggly voice.

  I gritted my teeth and forced my body to remain seated, suddenly losing all motivation to plead for Celia’s job. Did I want her to work here with him? Hell no. But was it my choice? Fuck. That answer was also a no.

  As his eyes cut to me and flashed with recognition, an older woman with a mass of braids wrapped at the crown of her head and flowing floor-length skirt appeared, hip checking the backside of Brent, shoving his bent body against the desk.

  “Caleb,” she said, her voice gentle as she continued to walk toward me, as if she’d known me for years.

  Nadine. Celia and I had talked about several things on the short drive back to my house from the quarry. Times in college. Goals in life. But mostly friends. Nadine seemed to be the one who she was closest with. Also the one who had called to break the news the previous morning.

  “Nadine,” I replied. “I was told to thank you and a few others whenever I met you, for helping to convince Celia to speak to me again.”

  “Oh, right.” She nodded with a genuine smile.

  “Not sure if she’d still feel the same about that now. But I do. I owe you.” When she didn’t reply, only looked me up and down with a lifted brow, I added, “You gonna kick my ass?”

  She chuckled and bit her smile, shaking her head. “No, honey. I had to meet you since you showed up here. Why are you here?”

  “She doesn’t deserve to be fired for my mistake. I want to try and make things right for her. Get her job back.”

  “Kinda hard to get your job back when you tell your supervisor to fuck off, though,” she replied, widening her eyes and folding her hands together.

  I let out a stiff breath. “Well, this could be more of a challenge than I thought.”

  “Might not even be necessary, actually.” She looked over her shoulder at the two—now three other women in the break room doorway. “Anyway, as her friend, I’m obligated to tell her about your visit when we meet up with her later tonight.”

  “I wouldn’t assume otherwise.”

  “And,” she continued, “as her friend, I also plan on advising her to get her h
ead out of her ass, as I have before.”

  “Nadine,” a guy interrupted as he approached us.

  “Jerry. Things go all right upstairs? You look like you’ve been wrung out a little,” she replied in a bored tone with a lift of her eyebrows then turned her attention back to me. “I suppose your plan for the fair is still on for Friday evening, correct?”

  I scrunched my brows then realized she’d seen the leaked video too, which had Celia and I discussing plans for the Ferris wheel task. “Yeah. I’m still going.”

  “Good,” she said, eyeing Jerry again before walking off.

  “Hi, Jerry. I’m Caleb.” I extended a hand with a big smile, unable to shake off the hope Nadine had been able to plant inside me.

  The balding guy took and shook but didn’t offer a greeting at all. All right then.

  “Look, I don’t want to waste your time. You seem like a busy guy. I came here to ask you to reconsider Celia’s job. I realize that she did lie, but she wouldn’t have if it weren’t for me. She was prepared to work, and I convinced her not to. I know it’s probably odd for someone to come here and plead for another person’s job, but I feel like I owe her this much after causing it to happen. Please know that she thinks highly of this company and still would love to continue to work here. I’m positive she won’t repeat the same mistake.”

  He blinked at me.

  “Is there any chance that she can get her position back?”

  “It’s not my call. Unfortunately,” he tacked on the last word in a huff.

  “So whose is it? Would I be able to speak with them?”

  “No, it’s not your concern. It’s already been decided. Now, if that’s all …” He turned sharply and stalked off, not bothering to wait for my reply.

  All three of the women standing near the break room waved at me. As Jerry passed by mumbling something, they all scattered down the back hallway.

  I had no other cards to play. Celia refused to answer my calls, but I’d at least told her my intentions in a voicemail. Contacting the bosses after that would be crossing too big of a line. The company would either reconsider or they wouldn’t, even without my attempt to push myself into the situation.