by Leah Laurens
***
Hailey smirks as she erases Jimmy’s name from the board. When the other employees walk in, Hailey smiles and makes extra effort to be nice. She feels that Jimmy quitting means she has settled the score, because she must have succeeded in making him feel bad enough to quit. She’s able to be friendlier with the other employees, letting them know that Jimmy is not working there anymore, without explanation.
The women sigh in disappointment.
Jimmy’s friend says, throwing his arms outward, “Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?”
The ladies laugh and Hailey interrupts. “Also, you each made a bonus last week which will be included in your next paycheck. Well done.”
She begins to move toward her office, but stops and turns around. “I’m not usually so hard-nosed. I think it’s just a lot of pressure being the first office I am running, so I want to do well, and I want you all to do well.”
One of the ladies says, “Hey, any woman that can be a boss is doing pretty well.”
Hailey smiles. “Well, thanks.”
She returns to her office and notices a pain in her chest. It’s not anything she can pinpoint, but it feels like a void now that Jimmy is gone. Hailey tries to focus as she gazes at her computer screen. She is going to have to stop thinking about Jimmy if she’s going to move forward in her life.
She glances at her phone, realizing no one has messaged her or called her in a long time. She desperately needs to make friends and instead of focusing on Jimmy. She needs to create a little more balance in her life. She looks up local activities and finds there’s a trivia night at a local bar tonight. She decides to go. This will be one more step in the right direction.
***
Jimmy walks into the temp agency, and the woman at the desk says, “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“Can you assign someone else? I don’t know how to say this but in high school, I did something that hurt the woman who runs that office, and she was not making it easy for me to work there.”
The woman behind the desk frowns at him. “I hope you didn’t do something mean to other employers in this town, Jimmy. You’re losing us money.”
“I apologize. I don’t think anyone else dislikes me… That I know of.”
“Well, that’s a shame she doesn’t like you, because you seem like a nice person.”
“I think I’ve been learning, but nobody is perfect.”
“I can set you up at this matchmaking tech company. They need someone to help with customer service.”
He scratches his neck. “Anything else?”
“I thought you young kids all want to work in tech?”
“Yeah, yeah. That will be great. Thank you.”
She hands him the paperwork. “I’ll give them a call and let them know you’re on your way.”
Jimmy takes the papers and walks back to the parking lot. Just great, he thinks to himself. He knows with a company focused on romance, it’s going to be hard to avoid thinking of Hailey. He was hoping for something that could distract him from that.
But Jimmy doesn’t know that expectations rarely ever meet with reality.
***
Johnny arrives at the location of his new job and notices a large heart design over the entrance. It feels like the universe is taunting him. When he steps inside the building, he sees a cheerful lobby with red chairs, colorful art, and a lively receptionist who welcomes him with a big smile.
He steps forward. “Hi, I was sent by the temp agency.”
The receptionist reaches her hand forward. “Welcome. Thanks for stepping in to help us out last minute. Our employee wasn’t able to give us notice, so we’ve been scrambling.”
“This place is really nice.”
“Well, I’ll give you the tour. We strive to make our work culture a play culture. We find that happy employees are good for business.”
Jimmy raises an eyebrow, as she shows him into the main area where people are working, though instead of a traditional office, it looks more like a fun lounge. “This place seems really fun.”
“It is. We believe that people need to be able to move and stretch and not have such structured work hours. You make your own hours, have unlimited vacation, and unlimited food. You can work from home when you’d like. We also pay for our employees’ extracurricular activities, massages, and yoga memberships.”
“Wow, this is awesome!” He notices her freckles and the gap between her teeth. “I got to be honest, I thought a matchmaking company wouldn’t be so… genuine.”
“Authenticity is what we try to help people bring to their dating profiles, and so we have to live it.” He nods. “Let me introduce you to your fun supervisor.”
He looks at her. “My what?”
She laughs. “We don’t believe in the word work. We call it play. And we don’t believe in hierarchies, but we take having fun very seriously.”
“I think I could get used to this.”
“We have all organic snacks, too.”
They show Jimmy how to answer the customer service inquiries and who to direct certain questions to. He sits down on one of the bean bag chairs and sips his coffee. He glances around at everyone working and casually chatting. He’s grateful to be able to work in such a relaxed environment.
He gets to work and an hour later, someone taps him on the shoulder wanting to challenge him to a game of Skeeball. With a shrug, Jimmy smiles. “Sure!”
As Jimmy gets up to play, he feels a pang of guilt having left Hailey without an explanation. He tells himself he deserved to leave after how she treated him, but he still can’t shake the feeling that he’s somehow in the wrong. He still hasn’t been able to properly apologize.
His coworker beats him mercilessly in the game. He plays half-heartedly, and the guy eventually calls him out on it. “What’s up? You seem distracted.”
“Yeah, I just need to talk to a friend of mine about something.”
“Oh I know how that feels.”
“But I don’t think my friend wants to talk to me.”
His new coworker sits down. “So write a letter.”
Jimmy looks at him and says, “You know what? That’s a great idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
“We get all kinds of relationship questions here. You start to learn how to resolve issues after working here a while.”
“Well, that’s pretty cool. Thanks.” The guy smiles.
Jimmy returns to his work area and picks up his laptop. He spots a booth with a nice comfy back that he can sit at to write this letter. He pours out his heart and when he’s finished, he prints it and closes his laptop.
He didn’t get much work done today, but the day is now winding down as people leave the office. He grabs the three-page letter from the printer and sits back down to do a bit more work. He sees a few more customer service requests in the queue. He quickly forwards the first two, and then when he clicks on the third one, he catches the name Hailey.
The message says that she needs to cancel her membership but doesn’t know how to cancel. He feels a rush of anxiety, wondering if Hailey hit it off with the doctor. Has he completely lost his chance? Then he considers that she’s feeling bad about mistreating him and maybe wants to reconcile their differences. He quickly forwards her email to the billing department and heads home. As he drives, he realizes there’s one undeniable truth: he is definitely not over Hailey.
***
Hailey feels like the day is dragging on. She keeps glancing at the clock and waiting for her staff to turn in their processed loan applications. She’s determined to make friends at tonight’s trivia game and hopes it will finally take her mind off Jimmy.
When she finally leaves the office, she goes home to change into something casual. She throws on a purple crop top and a pair of high-waisted jeans with chucks. She’s excited to get out and have some fun.
She arrives at the bar just as another girl is walking up. The girl looks like a tomboy, dressed with jeans a
nd a t-shirt. She has just a bit of sass with her red lipstick. Hailey smiles at her. “You here for trivia night?”
The girl nods. “I’m on the Nerdbot team. What about you?”
“Me too! It’s my first night.”
“Phew. Glad I’m not the only first-timer. I kind of thought everyone would have the hang of this already.”
Hailey follows her inside and sits down. When she sees a girl at the bar with a guy playing with her hair, she gets an instant wave of emotion. It throws her off. “I’ve got to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
She walks into the bathroom feeling a tightness in her chest. She doesn’t know why she’s feeling so wound up and tries to take a few deep breaths. An older woman comes out of one of the stalls and says, “You okay?”
“Yeah, just a little… I don’t know what.”
The lady pats her on the back. “Sounds like you need a cold one.”
Hailey looks at her. “Yeah, thanks.” Hailey walks up to the bar and orders a beer and takes a long pull. She tries to ignore the couple who is now forehead-to-forehead at the bar.
She strides over to the table where her new friend is sitting. “All right. How hard can this be, right?”
The girl high fives her. “Nerdbots rule!” Hailey laughs and the game begins. “Wow, there are some hot guys here!”
“Yeah.” Hailey looks around at the other guys who all seem to be rather preppy and clean cut. Hailey thinks about Jimmy’s rugged style. He’s more of a biker than a frat boy. She wishes there was a guy here more like that, because none of these guys appeal to her. She wonders how Jimmy would feel about playing trivia. If things hadn’t gone wrong, would they still be best friends playing this game here together.
“Oh man, I don’t know this one. What do you think?”
“What? Oh, what was the question?”
The girl laughs and repeats the question. Hailey shakes her head. “I’m the worst with pop culture.”
The other girl groans. “Me too!”
They nearly come in second place, despite their lack of knowledge of pop culture and. Hailey says, “Hey, you should take my number so we can hang out sometime.”
“Yeah, that would be great.”
“If you’re not doing anything tonight, I was going to watch Magic Mike and order pizza.”
The girl’s jaw drops. “That’s one of my favorite movies! Yes, I’m in!”
Hailey smiles and they exchange numbers.
“I’m going to go talk to that guy real quick, and then we can go?”
Hailey smiles. “Get it girl.” Hailey realizes that she was finally able to not think about Jimmy for twenty whole minutes. She’s aware it’s not much of an accomplishment. She orders the pizza, while her new friend makes a pass at one of the frat boys. Afterward, they head to her house and relax on the sofa with their soda and pizza.
***
Jimmy arrives at home and sees a second car in Hailey’s driveway. His heart drops. He’s never seen a second car there before, so it has to mean Hailey has met someone she likes. He starts to envision her and a good looking doctor together, and he tries to block it out.
He glances at the letter. It’s carefully folded and taped with Hailey’s name on it. But, if she is seeing someone, it might mess things up to get a love letter from the guy across the street. He stuffs the letter in the glove box and decides it’s not the time to give it to her.
His mind says, You’re chickening out! He pushes the thought aside and goes inside, bummed out. He walks in and smells fried chicken. He sees a table covered with freshly made biscuits, chicken, and macaroni and cheese. His mom is washing the dishes.
“Wow, Mom. What’s the occasion?”
“I thought you might want to invite Hailey over for dinner, like old times.”
“Oh, I think she has someone over.”
“Well, I made a lot of food.”
“I don’t know, Mom. Hailey and I aren’t really close anymore.”
“It’s up to you. Either way, we’re going to have leftovers.”
Jimmy sits down. “I’m starving.”
His mom glances at the table. “Well, then let's eat.”
Jimmy’s quiet at the table, wondering whose car is in the driveway across the street.
***
Hailey and her new friend finish the movie and the girl says with a laugh, “I’m freaking exhausted. Just can’t do as much now that I am in my early twenties.”
“I know the feeling! Thanks for coming over though!”
The girl gets up. “Well I’m off, Hailey. Thanks again for hanging.”
“Yeah, anytime!” The girl gives her a hug and heads out the front door.
Hailey breathes a sigh of relief that she has made one girlfriend. She’s glad she found someone with a relaxed vibe that is easy to hang out with. She remembers hanging out with Jimmy for hours, lost in their imagination and talking about random things. She realizes that all her friendships are going to be compared with her friendship with, Jimmy because it was so substantial in her life.
She gets up and walks out the back to the side of the house to throw the pizza box in the trash bin. From here, she can see into Jimmy’s backyard, and something catches her eye. She notices a large, white treehouse in the spot where their old treehouse used to be. She stops, completely flabbergasted at the trimmed windows with flower boxes, the cedar shakes on the roof, and the fancy ladder.
She can even see the sun glistening off of real glass windows. She smiles, before walking back inside, stunned that there’s such a nice treehouse in place of the old one. She assumes it’s been there for years, not realizing Jimmy just built it.
***
From the dining room table, Jimmy can see Hailey’s driveway. Movement pulls his attention across the street, and he sees a girl he doesn’t recognize, climbing into the second car. Relief come over him, and he smiles. He laughs at himself for assuming she had a guy over. With a grin, he takes a bite of his biscuit.
Chapter 6: Back in the Game
The workday is off to a great start as Jimmy sets up with his laptop and coffee in an outdoor hammock. He is loving the casual atmosphere of his new job and is starting to see himself staying in this role. He likes the people he works with, and so far, the company encourages everyone to come up with new ideas on how to improve, so he feels like he’ll never get bored.
He’s been thinking a lot about what people are looking for when they come to the dating app, and he has already has some ideas for it. He just still has this feeling that he can’t let go about Hailey, and as much as he tries to ignore it, he still wishes he could be with her.
He decides to sign up for the dating app to understand the ‘user’ experience, but realizes that this might also be a way for him to stop thinking about Hailey so much. Reluctantly, he signs up and starts swiping. He decides it’s good for researching ideas he wants to bring to the company, and he knows he can’t keep holding onto the past. Otherwise, it’s going to eat him alive.
He doesn’t feel excited about swiping through potential matches. It feels more like an obligation. He recalls the excitement of liking a girl for the first time, and it sure never felt this forced. He wonders if that is just because it’s online, or if he’ll ever be able to have feelings for someone else, when he still thinks about Hailey every five minutes.
He sets a goal for himself to go on at least one date this week. It’s already Tuesday, so he knows he’ll have to put some effort into it. What he doesn’t realize is that almost any girl would go out with him. He’s just one of those guys girls daydream about. He chooses a few of his own photos and uploads them to his profile, following the app’s instructions.
***
Meanwhile, Hailey is at work, having a good time teaching her staff how to increase productivity. She carefully explains which customers are most likely to take out additional loans, so the office can start to pull ahead of the other offices in the region.
She spends the mo
rning training everyone and decides to take a break by herself for lunch. She messages her new friend from trivia night, as she sits at the sub shop. Now that she has a girlfriend, she decides that she’ll need to also try dating again.
She decides to sign back up for the dating app she was on. She reactivates her profile, but doesn’t feel much joy in it. It’s just something she feels she should do. She feels like everyone expects her to be dating, but she just doesn’t feel the urge.
She starts to swipe without paying much attention, but then she catches Jimmy’s picture. She stops, a wave of sadness coming over her. Suddenly nauseous, she has no appetite for lunch. She closes the app and looks out the window, negative energy taking over. She takes a deep breath and sighs as she gets up to go back to work. She sees a message from her new friend inviting her to hang out at a pizza sports bar after work. She’s excited to have someone to spend time with and quickly responds. Once again, she’s in a good mood as she finishes up her work for the day.
***
Jimmy is working diligently to help someone who doesn’t know how to upload photos to their account. He feels proud of his work, even though it’s not quite like saving lives. He feels like love is really important to each person that he comes in contact with, and that he’s a part of making it happen. He patiently walks the customer through each step and can tell they are not technologically savvy.
He hears his phone ding, alerting him that he has a new message from a match on the app. He checks his messages, seeing a girl has invited him to meet later this evening. He’s not excited about it, but tells himself it’s necessary. He accepts the invite, and he asks if she would like him to pick her up. She agrees, because her car’s in the shop.
He finishes up his work for the day and drives straight over to his date’s house to pick her up. She’s cute, petite, and very bubbly. She’s also very feminine and reminds him of a fragile bird. He makes small talk with her on the way downtown.
“So I just graduated and it seems like a bunch of places opened up since I’ve been gone.”