And been studying self-help management manuals, obviously.
‘To cut to the chase, quite frankly, Rachel, your performance leaves much to be desired. Since the implementation of the new invoicing procedure, your rate of errors has not decreased in line with the rest of the staff. Your turnover is tardy, your statistics and record-keeping are patchy at best, and your phone manner is often . . . disinterested, to say the least. And while I do not wish to be a tyrant about these things, you have been taking too many personal calls. In summary, your performance is well below the standard we strive for at Handy Home Health Care.’
Rachel paused for a moment, taking all that in. ‘You’re right,’ she said finally.
‘Pardon?’ he blinked. He was probably not prepared for total acquiescence.
‘You’re absolutely right, Lloyd,’ said Rachel. ‘I haven’t been doing my job to the best of my abilities, and you know why I think that is?’
‘Why?’
‘Because I just don’t like it. I don’t like the work, I don’t like the place, I don’t really like many of the people. So I think it’s time for me to move on.’
‘I beg your pardon?’ Lloyd was blinking furiously now.
‘I quit.’
‘You can’t just quit.’
‘Yeah, I can. I can just quit.’ Why hadn’t she thought of this before? She could already feel the proverbial weight lifting.
‘But you are required to give notice,’ he said pompously.
‘Of course. No problem. Two weeks, isn’t it?’
Lloyd was scowling at her from across the desk. ‘On second thoughts, that won’t be necessary,’ he said. ‘If you don’t want to be here, far be it from me to keep you. In fact,’ he said, getting to his feet, ‘I would like you to leave immediately. I will personally escort you to your desk, you can have five minutes to clear it out and vacate the building.’
Rachel frowned at him. ‘What, are you worried I’m going to steal sensitive client information –’
‘No further discussion will be entered into. Please proceed to your desk, Ms Halliday.’
‘Lloyd, are you trying to pull a swiftie and fire me instead so you don’t have to let me serve my notice?’
‘Incorrect,’ he replied crisply. ‘I always adhere to the rules and regulations as set out with the utmost stringency. You will receive the appropriate remuneration, but your services are no longer required in the office. Your continuing presence here will only be bad for morale.’
Rachel walked out of the building ten minutes later. She felt free, unencumbered. She wasn’t even carrying the infamous cardboard box under her arm, like a character in a movie. When she went to clear out her desk she realised there was nothing there to take. She wasn’t going to steal the stationery, she couldn’t anyway with Lloyd breathing down her neck. She had no photos, no personal knickknacks; there was a packet of Tic Tacs, a tube of hand cream that she never used, and a magazine in the top drawer, all of which fitted quite easily into her handbag.
So what now? It was after eleven, maybe she could go into the city and meet Tom for lunch? She thought about surprising him, but if he wasn’t available she didn’t want to schlep all the way into the city for nothing. And it’s not as though she could just walk straight up into his office, she’d have to call him from outside the building, so it wouldn’t be much of a surprise anyway. She took out her phone and dialled his mobile.
‘Tom Macklin.’
‘Hi, it’s me.’
‘Oh, sorry, honey, I didn’t look at the screen. Hey, how are you?’
‘Unemployed.’
‘What?’
‘I quit my job.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, really.’ And the reality was just hitting her.
‘Are you okay?’ asked Tom. ‘What happened?’
‘Picture me as a camel and Lloyd piling on the final straw.’
‘Where are you now, you sound like you’re out on the street?’
‘I am,’ she confirmed. ‘He was kind enough to escort me from the building.’
‘Rach, did you quit or were you fired?’
‘No, I quit, but Lloyd took it to heart.’
‘He has to let you serve out your notice.’
‘I know that,’ said Rachel. ‘It’s all covered, he just doesn’t want me in the office, bad for morale. I don’t know how morale in there could get much worse, mind you.’
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ she assured him. ‘It’s time, I’ve been wasting away there.’
‘You’ve been wasted there, I know that much.’
She smiled. ‘Listen, what are you doing for lunch? I could come in and meet you in the city.’
‘Damn, sorry, hun,’ said Tom. ‘I’ve got a lunch meeting in . . .’ he must have been checking his watch ‘. . . half an hour.’
‘Never mind, thought it was worth a try.’
‘What are you going to do?’ he asked.
‘Whatever I feel like, I suppose.’
‘I’ll call you later, maybe I can leave work early, after the meeting, that’d give me an hour or two before I have to pick up Hannah.’
‘Okay.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’
Rachel caught the bus towards home, but as it pulled in to Bondi she decided to get out there. She had time to kill, she could get some lunch, wander round the shops – though she’d better not buy anything. It was all very well to throw in her job, but she still needed an income. She barely had any savings to speak of, and she had rent to pay. And bills. And she had to eat. She hesitated as she walked past a noodle bar. Maybe she shouldn’t buy lunch after all.
But she was being ridiculous; she had another few weeks’ wages coming, between her severance pay and leave owing, and that gave her plenty of time to find a job. She could probably walk straight into another admin position, but she didn’t think she could stand it. She still didn’t know what she really wanted to do with the rest of her life, or even the next part of it, but what she did know was that she needed to do something different right now.
And then she saw it. It was like a sign. Actually, it was a sign, propped in the window of one of those juice bars that seemed to be everywhere these days.
HELP WANTED
APPLY WITHIN
Half an hour later Rachel sat opposite ‘Mel’ – according to her name badge – as she read through her application. She was the manager, as well as the owner, Rachel was pretty sure. She looked about her own age, quite short but sturdy, with intense dark eyes and what Rachel assumed was a wild mane of dark hair tucked underneath her cap, on account of the frizzy curls escaping at the back.
‘Your experience is all office administration,’ Mel remarked after a while.
‘Yes, that’s true, more recently,’ said Rachel. ‘But prior to that I travelled extensively for many years, working as a waitress and a bartender, right across Europe, in holiday resorts, all kinds of places. I can do this job.’
‘But why would you want to?’
Rachel blinked. ‘I’m sorry?’
Mel looked at her squarely. ‘This is a casual position, the pay’s not great. With your experience you could get a better paying office job with some kind of future. I own and operate this franchise, and I employ casual staff to support me. But it’s my show. There’s absolutely nowhere to go here – you make juice, you sell it, you clean up afterwards.’
‘Suits me,’ said Rachel. ‘I just left an office job that I hated by the end. I’d like to do something completely different, in a more relaxed environment.’
‘Hey, don’t let the ads fool you,’ said Mel. ‘The ones with all the zany people dancing around, juggling fruit and laughing hysterically. We get busy, flat out in fact, especially over holidays and weekends.’
‘Of course, I understand that.’ Rachel paused, thinking about how to explain herself. ‘The thing is, I’m tired of pushing papers around, sitting at a desk, seale
d up in an airconditioned box all day. I want to work somewhere with a bit of life, and energy, and deal with people face to face instead of on the phone or through the computer. I’m desperate for a change of scenery, and look at this,’ she said with a sweep of her arm. ‘I can see the ocean from the counter, I can smell it! I’m sure it’s busy, hard work, I’m not afraid of hard work. But I can’t help thinking it has to be less soul-destroying than what I’ve been doing.’
Mel had listened closely to her spiel, and now she seemed to be mulling it over. ‘Can you do weekends?’ she asked finally.
‘I can do absolutely any time.’
She frowned then. ‘Have you just broken up with a boyfriend?’
‘No, not at all.’ And then it struck Rachel, she could actually mention Tom to this woman. She’d be able to talk about him freely here. It was suddenly the most attractive thing about the job. ‘Actually, I have a wonderful boyfriend.’
‘No need to skite.’
Rachel looked at her. ‘Is that going to go against me?’
A little smile crept onto her face then. ‘Nuh, I’m not that bitter and twisted. Though, to be honest, I’m a little sick of hiring young things with their long legs and their tits up to here.’ She cupped her hands in front of her. ‘And always with the lip balm, these girls, what’s that about?’
‘I believe it’s one of the lesser known effects of global warming,’ said Rachel. ‘I’ve heard they’re going to establish a lip dryness index, or LDI, to help predict the rate of icecap melt.’
‘Ah, now that makes sense,’ Mel nodded. ‘That’s why they’re texting all the time, sending their data back to the lab.’
‘Obviously.’
Mel made a face. ‘Drives me mad,’ she said. ‘You don’t text, do you?’
‘Well, I have been known to text,’ said Rachel. ‘But I’m not a habitual texter. I control it, I don’t let it control me.’
‘Very good,’ said Mel. She leaned forwards. ‘Look, it’s only a casual position, so it’s going to be up to you. You work hard, the customers like you . . .’
‘Stay off the lip balm . . .’
‘And the texting,’ she nodded, ‘and you’ll get as many shifts as you want.’
Rachel smiled. ‘When can I start?’
Mel didn’t want to throw her in the deep end by putting her on over the weekend, so she told her to come in Tuesday. Mondays were quiet, so Mel took the day off and left the running to her senior.
‘I say “senior” lightly, she’s all of twenty-three, but she’s got a brain in her head at least. She’s doing a Masters degree so her time’s flexible. Before she came along, I hadn’t had a day off in three years.’
After she left Mel at the juice bar, Rachel decided to take a stroll down onto the beach, conscious of a distinct spring in her step. This morning she’d caught that awful smelly bus to that awful stuffy building, with no idea it would be the last time she was ever going to have to do that. She felt like running and jumping into the ocean, but unfortunately she wasn’t dressed for it, and Bondi was a little too public for skinny-dipping.
Her phone started to ring and she fished it out of her bag and flipped it open. It was Tom.
‘Hi!’ she almost sang.
‘Hi, I’m on my way, are you home yet?’
‘No, I’m at Bondi.’
‘Oh, okay, whereabouts? I’ll pick you up.’
She didn’t feel like going home. ‘You know, Tom, I’ve just come down onto the beach, it’s really lovely. Why don’t you meet me here?’
There was a pause. ‘You don’t want to go back to your place? I’ve only got an hour or so.’
She bristled a little. ‘So this is just a booty call?’
‘What? No,’ he insisted. ‘I just thought you’d be worried about being seen out in public together.’
Sure you were. ‘Look, it’s not like we’re going to do anything, we’ll just go for a walk.’
Was that a sigh? ‘Okay, I’ll see you soon.’
Rachel hung around where she had a view of the carpark, and soon enough she saw Tom’s car pulling into a space. She waved when he got out and looked around. He spotted her and waved back, then he dipped down again out of her line of sight. He was probably taking off his shoes. Rachel ambled slowly back towards the ramp onto the beach, till she saw him appear again, taking the steps down from the carpark. He crossed the esplanade and started down the ramp, barefoot.
‘Hey,’ she said, smiling.
He looked awkward, glancing around as he came closer. ‘You’re sure no one’s going to see us?’
‘So what if they do?’ she said. ‘We’re friends going for a walk.’
He shrugged. ‘I would have liked to kiss you at least.’
‘Nice to see you too,’ Rachel said loudly, reaching up to offer him her cheek.
He bent to kiss it. ‘Not quite what I had in mind,’ he muttered.
‘But all you’re going to get.’ They started to walk across the sand towards the shoreline. ‘So guess what?’ she began.
He looked at her, waiting.
‘I got a job,’ she said proudly.
‘What?’
‘I got a job,’ she repeated.
He looked confused. ‘I don’t understand. You just quit your job and you’ve already found another one?’
‘I know, isn’t it great?’ she said. ‘I was walking along the street, right here in Bondi, and I saw a “help wanted” notice in a window, so I went in and applied.’
‘What kind of job are you talking about?’ he frowned.
‘At the juice bar, just up there,’ she said with a backwards wave of her arm.
He stopped then to face her. ‘You’re kidding?’
‘No,’ she said simply. ‘The woman who owns it seems really nice, we clicked right away, and she gave me the job.’
‘At a juice bar?’
‘Uhuh,’ Rachel nodded, walking off again.
He caught up with her. ‘And that’s really what you want to do?’
She shrugged. ‘For the meantime.’
He took hold of her arm to stop her. ‘Rachel, don’t you think you’re rushing into this? How will you ever find something you really want to do if all your time’s taken up working at a juice bar?’
‘But that’s the beauty of it,’ she explained. ‘I’ll just be a casual, so I’ll have plenty of free time to work out what I want to do, apply for jobs, or maybe I’ll even do some training, I don’t know. But in the meantime I can pay the rent.’
‘If money’s the problem, I can help you out, Rach.’
She pulled a face. ‘No way, Tom. I can support myself.’
‘Working at a juice bar?’
‘Yeah, for now.’ Again, Rachel turned to walk on down towards the water. He was beginning to irritate her. If he said ‘At a juice bar?’ with that tone of disbelief one more time . . .
‘Won’t this mean you’ll have to work weekends?’ Tom asked as he fell in beside her again.
‘Of course, that’s their busiest time.’
‘What about our time?’ he said pointedly.
‘Well, maybe you’ll have to work around me for a change.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Just what I said.’
‘Rach, I have to work full-time, I don’t have a choice. You and I have barely enough time together as it is; if you work weekends, when are we going to see each other?’
‘Don’t worry,’ she said. She was really getting annoyed now. ‘It closes at six. I’ll still be available nights for your booty calls.’
They had reached the shore and Tom turned to look at her. ‘Okay, that’s the second time you’ve used that expression, Rach,’ he said. ‘What’s the matter?’
She sighed. ‘You know how miserable I was in that job, Tom. I would have thought you’d be happy for me.’
‘I am, really, I’m glad you quit,’ he said. ‘I just don’t know why you’re in such a rush to take the first thing that
comes along.’
‘I’m not in such a rush.’
He gave her a dubious look. ‘Rach, you quit your job and took another on the same day, all on a whim.’
‘It wasn’t on a whim,’ she defended.
‘Oh, I see,’ he said, folding his arms. ‘So after careful research of the job market, you decided that becoming a casual at a juice bar was a good career move?’
‘Jesus, you sound like Catherine,’ she sniped. ‘What would you prefer I do, Tom? Sell my soul to work for a faceless corporation, even when it goes against every principle I ever held and I hate every minute of it?’
He glared at her. ‘I can’t do much about that right now, you know that. I don’t have the choice to flit about and take a job like I’m still a backpacker without a care in the world. I have a family to support.’
‘Fine, I understand that. I wasn’t the one who started criticising you for your choices.’
‘I wasn’t criticising you,’ he insisted. ‘I was only saying you shouldn’t rush into this, take your time to find something that works for all of us.’
She shook her head and gave a wry laugh. ‘You really think we have a hope of finding an arrangement that works for all of us? Do you have any idea just how complicated this is?’ She paused, giving that a moment to sink in. ‘I can’t put my life on hold while everyone else sorts themselves out. I might just do what suits me for a change.’
‘For a change?’ he scoffed. ‘Are you kidding? You’ve always done exactly what suits you, Rachel, you’ve never taken anyone else into consideration.’
‘Yeah well, that’s because I haven’t had anyone in my life who gives a damn about what I do.’
‘You do now,’ he said loudly.
She stared up at him, breathing hard.
‘Look, I know what this is about. You’re afraid –’
‘Don’t psychoanalyse me, Tom.’
‘I was there, don’t forget, for the missed calls,’ he went on, ‘the forgotten birthdays, the cancelled visits. I never left you alone then, and I’m not going to leave you now.’ He paused, gazing steadily at her. ‘I know this is hard right now, Rach, but it’s temporary, and we will get through it. I’m not going anywhere, Rachel. I’ll always be here for you.’
Three’s a Crowd Page 30