“You need help?” I ask, shooting back up into a standing position. “I mean… you’re looking for help?”
“We are,” his dad says, leaning his hands on the counter. “I’m Jeffery Senior and this is my store.”
“Can I get an application form?”
His brows lower. “Can you work a register?”
“I can.”
“Can you clean?” I nod. “Jeffery? What do you think?” I swing my gaze his way.
“She seems nice.” He shrugs. “She has pretty eyes.”
“You’re hired!”
“I am?” My eyes widen to epic proportions when I face Jeffery Senior.
“You are.” He smiles wide. “Jeffery, can you open the delivery that just arrived?”
“Okay.” Jeffery wanders off, leaving me and… Jeffery.
“My son works here a couple of days a week. As long as you don’t get offended by his brutal honesty and can learn to communicate with him on his level, then we can get you started as soon as possible.”
“Is he...” I bite my bottom lip, stopping myself from asking something I probably shouldn’t as I wave my hand in the air. “Never mind. I can start tomorrow?” My stomach flutters at the possibility of having a new job. It may only be a pet store but it’s more than I had this morning. Maybe the universe is on my side after all.
“We’ll see you tomorrow.” He pushes the cat food forward and I hand him a twenty. “Ten sound good?”
“Ten sounds awesome!” I yank the box off the side, heaving at the weight. “Keep the change and thank you so much, Jeffery!”
The grin on my face can’t be wiped off, not even when I knock another display over on my way out.
I hope they’re ready for the disaster that follows me.
* * *
“Finally!”
“Finally?” Ella sneers down the line. “You turn your cell off and don’t answer my calls or texts for two weeks and then send me a message in the middle of the night telling me you’re going to kill me and expect me to answer right away?”
I throw my arm out beside me, startling Colonel Fourpaws. “Well what do you expect when you send my drawings to a publishing company!”
“First off… I didn’t send them.”
I lift up off the bar stool. “Then who the hell did?” I start pacing across the small space between the living room and kitchen, Colonel Fourpaws’ head following my every movement like I’m his favorite TV show.
“My client.”
“What!”
“You need to chill out, Vi. You’ll give yourself a heart attack.”
“No… no, I don’t need to chill out. You have no right sending my drawings to your client! How the hell did you get ahold of them?”
There’s a beat of silence. “I took pictures of them.”
“Fuck me sideways.” I let my head drop. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me!”
“Wait!” I halt in my pacing. “If you’re pissed then it means they want to see more.” I stay silent, rolling my lips between my teeth. “They do, don’t they? They want to see more of your drawings! This is fantastic, Vi!”
“No, it’s not,” I whine.
“Hells yeah, it is!” I groan, flopping down onto the sofa. “I knew you’d be a hit! Have you sent more?”
“No.”
“Do itttt!”
“No.”
“Stop being a baby, Vi! Pull up those big-girl panties and send them.”
“I don’t want to.”
I stare at the wall, my eyes narrowed. It may have been my dream to draw when I was a kid but that notion isn’t feasible. People don’t earn a living from drawing unless they’re amazeballs.
“You have nothing to lose,” El says in a softer voice. “You send them and if they say you’re not for them then you haven’t lost anything, but what if they want you? Look at what you’d gain.”
I close my eyes. “They’re in New York,” I whisper.
“So?”
I blow out a breath. “I don’t want to run into him, El.”
“New York’s a pretty big place, Vi. Besides, Axel said—”
“Nope, not going there with you.” I sit up. “I’ve gotta go, I got a new job.”
“You did?”
“Yep, at a pet store. I went in for cat food and they offered me a job.”
“Cat food? Why the hell were you buying cat food?”
I look over at Colonel Fourpaws and roll my eyes. “Because I have a cat, duh.” I stand up. “Chat later.”
I press the end call button and run my palm over Colonel Fourpaws’ back. “I’ll see you later, dude, wish me luck on my first day.”
Chapter 14
Confession #30: I tried to do a “Mary Poppins” jump… while drunk. I broke my foot but continued partying into the night because… alcohol.
“Puppies need to walk for five minutes for every month they’ve been alive.”
“Really?” I turn my head to face J—Jeffery Junior.
“Yep.” He nods emphatically. “These puppies are three months old so they need to walk for fifteen minutes.”
“Wow, I never knew that.”
We both become silent as we walk the six puppies through the park, them sniffing everything in sight and trying to eat leaves. It’s been three days since I started working in the pet store and it’s a nice change of pace. No death traps for heels allowed here! Thank the good lord!
The more I get to know J, the more I understand how he thinks. He’s linear, no gray, only black and white. His honesty is refreshing and I’ve found myself looking forward to his assessments.
These daily puppy walks are by far my favorite part of the day. What person doesn’t love playing with puppies and getting paid for it?
“You’re thinking.”
“I am.” I chuckle.
“No, you’ve been thinking for days. Dad always asks if I want to talk about it…” J looks at me out of the corner of his eye. “Do you?”
“I…” I bite my bottom lip. Right now J is one of my only friends. How sad am I to only have one friend here in L.A. “I draw—”
“I know, I saw your notebook.” He turns to face me. “My favorite is the man with an axe in his head.”
“J! That’s private!”
“If it’s private you shouldn’t leave it where anyone can see it.”
I roll my eyes, partly at him but partly at myself. “Yeah, okay.” I scrub my hand down my face. “Anyway. My cousin—well, her client—sent my drawings to a publishing company and they’ve asked to see more but I’m…” What the hell am I?
“Scared?” J supplies.
I shrug. “I guess.”
“You should send them. They’re good.” He says it so simply, as if it’s as easy as washing your hands.
“I dunno.”
“Then don’t send them,” he replies, his voice level as he turns to looks ahead, his focus on the walkway between the two grassed areas.
“But if I don’t send them I’ll never know what could’ve happened.” I look down at the puppy on the leash in my right hand. “I just don’t want to go back to New York.”
J is silent as we walk a few more steps to the bench he always stops at for a five-minute rest. He starts the timer on his sports watch as I sit beside him.
“New York is noisy,” he states.
“It is… it’s also home to doucheturd.”
“Doucheturd?”
“Yep!” I nod. “But then I shouldn’t let it dictate what I want to do. If I want to be an artist then I have to do it… but… ugh!” I drop my head into my hands. “I’m driving myself insane.”
“You’re at an impasse.”
I lift my head, leaning back on the bench, the coolness seeping through my thin t-shirt as I stare up at the bright blue sky.
“I am.” I roll my neck so I’m facing J. “What would you do?”
“I can’t draw.”
“But if you could?”
�
�I can’t though.”
I chuckle under my breath. “Okay, let’s say… someone wants you to help them collect Star Wars figurines—you’re good at finding them, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so would you? If they paid you, would you do it?”
“Yes.”
“Okay…” I roll my lips between my teeth. “So you think I should send the pictures?”
“Time’s up.” J stands up, skirting his gaze to mine as if silently telling me to get up.
“I think I should send them, fuck doucheturd, he can go lick a dirty floor.”
“Why would someone lick a dirty floor? That’s disgusting.”
I throw my head back, brash laughter escaping my throat. “It’s an expression, J.”
“It doesn’t make sense though.”
Grinning, I tilt my head toward the end of the park. “Come on, let’s get back and I can send an email before I change my mind.”
* * *
Press send. Press send.
Dammit! I can’t press it! Why the hell am I so nervous? They’ve already seen some of my drawings. My skin heats to epic proportions and my hands start shaking as my breath saws in and out of my chest.
I’m such a freak! It’s an email and I’m about to have a panic attack.
I lean forward, banging my head over and over again on the small table in the back room.
I’ve been back from the walk for five hours and I’ve just cleaned the puppies’ kennels and closed the shop. And yet I’m still sitting here being an absolute pussy and not able to press send.
Why can’t I do it? Why can’t I take the next step and try to better myself?
Because I’m a wussy!
“You can do it, Vi. You. Can. Do. It.”
I lift my head up, taking a deep breath and watching the screen of my cell with wary eyes. Bringing my hand closer, I stretch my finger while backing my head away in slow motion, pressing send.
I did it!
Jumping up off the chair, I start to dance. My hips move to an erratic beat of their own, my feet turning to do the running man.
“I’m the best! I did it! Hellllllls to the yeah!” I fist-bump the air, squealing like a little girl.
It’s such a small thing but since I was sixteen El has been nagging me to send the drawings and I never have.
Planting my hands on my hips, I thrust the air until my cell pings and I become as still as a statue.
Is that them already? It can’t be… can it?
I tiptoe toward the table, gingerly picking up my cell and letting my body deflate when I see El’s name pop up.
Ella: Chad is annoying me… I wanna throat punch him.
Me: Uh-oh, what’s he done this time?
I grab my purse while I wait for her to reply, switching the lights off and heading toward the front door.
Ella: He won’t let me watch Outlander while I work. Doesn’t he know I need to see me some Scottish hottie? Ugh!
I chuckle as I lock the door behind me, turning left and starting the couple of blocks walk to my apartment.
Me: Can’t you play it on your iPad and let him have the TV?
Ella: And let him win? HELL TO THE NO!
Ella: What you doing? Distract me from being violent.
Me: Just walking home. Guess what?
I grin, knowing her reaction will be much the same as mine was when I finally pressed send.
Ella: What? Tell meeeee.
Me: I sent them… the drawings.
Not five seconds later my cell is ringing with FaceTime, I click accept, a wide smile on my face as soon as it connects.
“You did? You sent them?!”
“I did.” I nod, my grin widening even more when she squeals and jumps up and down on her sofa. “This is unreal! You’re gonna get the job for sure and then we’ll be living in the same city! Ahhhh!”
I chuckle nervously. “Don’t get ahead—”
“Who’s moving to the same city?”
El rolls her eyes and looks to the side. “Mind your own business, Chad.”
There’s a knock in the background and some shuffling before the screen fills with darkness and El says, “You didn’t tell me he was coming over.”
“I didn’t know you were going to FaceTime—”
“It doesn’t matter, I’ll go in the bedroom.”
I come to the corner of my street when she lifts the cell back up. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Her gaze darts to the left as she stands up. “We have a visitor and—”
“Is that Violet?” Shit. Axel. God, how can his voice still affect me the way it does? It seriously should be illegal.
“No! It’s—”
The cell is plucked out of her hand and then his face comes into view and I don’t know what to do. Do I talk to him? Ask him why he hung up on me after getting me fired? Or do I—
“Vi—”
I squeak and end the video call.
I’ll say it again: I’m such a pussy.
Chapter 15
Confession #27: I walked into a glass door and shattered it. Nothing gets in my way.
“So you like new job, yes?” Mr. Chung sits behind the counter while on his break, me next to him with Colonel Fourpaws on my lap. One of the downsides to working in a pet store and having a pet means you spend all your money on stupid things said pet hates.
Every day I come home with something new, but this creation I have on his body means I can take him out with me to visit people.
J fell in love with him when I brought him to the pet store a couple of weeks back on my day off. This has become one of our new regular routines over the last couple of weeks. I come down when Mr. Chung is on his break and we sit and have a chat. Not that I didn’t use to do this, just not with a cat on my lap with a leash attached to his body collar.
“Yeah, I love it. Been there for nearly a month now.” I stroke Colonel Fourpaws’ head. “Obviously I don’t want to do it for the rest of my life, but yeah.”
“You heard back about pictures?” he asks in his stilted English.
I look away sheepishly. “Yeah but… I haven’t opened the email.”
“Open now.”
“I’m—”
“Open now,” he repeats.
“You’re so demanding.” I roll my eyes in jest before lifting my ass up off the stool, pulling my cell out and clicking on the email app. “I’m sure it’s a rejection email anyway. I mean—oh, holy shit!”
“What? What they say?”
My hands start to shake, my stomach dipping with nerves. “They want me to come to New York for a meeting! They love my drawings.” I scroll through the email. “They’ve sent me tickets to fly first class.”
“This good! When you go?”
“Erm… February twentieth… next week.” I chew my bottom lip. “I hope Jeffery will give me the time off.”
“He will, he will.” Mr. Chung waves his arm in the air. “No worry about that. You worry about finding home for cat while you away.”
My eyes widen. “Oh my God, I forgot about that!”
“I have him but I busy busy with work.”
I smile gently. “I know, Mr. Chung.” I look away, staring at the wall. “I’ll come up with something.”
He pats my arm twice before standing up. “I go back work, you want usual?”
“Yes, please.”
“You wait, I put chicken in box for cat.”
As if he knows we’re talking about him, Colonel Fourpaws lifts his head. “Awww, you don’t have to.”
He waves me away before pushing through to the back as I lift up off the stool. Only my foot gets stuck on the bottom rung as I try to stand. My arms open wide, Colonel Fourpaws flying out of them as I fall face first onto the counter.
Why does this feel so familiar?
* * *
I pick Colonel Fourpaws up off the ground, the leash getting tangled in his legs. Continuing up the path, he meows, wanting to be untangle
d.
“Alright, alright! Keep your fur on.”
I manage to finally untangle him as I get to the bottom step, looking up and seeing J standing in the doorway.
“You’re three minutes late.”
“I know.” I run my hand through my hair. “Colonel Fourpaws got distracted.”
J doesn’t make a move, keeping his eyes on mine before he states, “You won’t be able to leave until three minutes after eight.”
“That’s fine.”
Walking up the steps and onto the wraparound porch, I wait for him to move. When he finally does, he watches me walk inside, patting Colonel Fourpaws on the head. I take my Converse off, shutting the door behind me and setting him on the floor, undoing the leash and collar before hanging it on the hook next to the coats.
“We’re having meatloaf.”
“Ohhh yum!” Shucking off my jacket, I hang that up too. “Do you need help?”
He shakes his head as Colonel Fourpaws wanders off. “The table is set and Dad said it’ll be ready in…” He looks down at his watch. “Seven minutes.” He looks back up at me, his eyes widening. “What happened to your face?”
My hand lifts, my fingers skimming over the bruise under my eye. “I erm… I fell.” I shrug it off, knowing J knows what I’m like. I can’t count the number of times I’ve knocked his displays over now.
“Did you seek medical attention?” he asks, his eyes flashing with concern as he lifts his arms, twisting his fingers around one another. “You could have a lesion on your eye, it could make you lose your sight. You have to—"
“J.” I place my hand over his hands, stopping him. “It’s okay, honestly. I got checked out.”
He lets out a deep breath, his gaze not moving from my eyes as his mouth moves silently. He’s counting; calming himself down.
He spins around abruptly, walking toward the living room, all thoughts of the bruise on my eye forgotten. “I also set a game out to play after dinner. We’ll have one hour to play and then you have to go.”
Confessions Of A Klutz: Confessions Series #1 Page 13