5
A faint knock on my door wakes me up. I look over at the clock and blink. It says nine, but there’s no way it can be right. I never sleep this late.
There’s a second knock on my door.
Part of me really wants to pretend like I don’t hear it. It’s probably my mom or maybe even Dex and I have no desire to see either of them.
Whoever it is knocks on my door a third time. I groan and sit up in bed. I wrap the sheet around myself and walk to the door. I put a dirty look on my face and open it.
My eyes meet Gina’s and I quickly smile. I can tell it’s too late, she has a mortified look on her face.
“Sorry, Miss Amy. Did I wake you?”
“No, it’s fine, I was already awake.”
A twinge of guilt passes through my body. I feel bad for giving her such a dirty look.
“Would you like some breakfast.”
I almost say no, but my stomach grumbles loud enough for her to hear it and she smiles.
“Come down whenever you’re ready.”
Gina turns and walks back downstairs. I close the door and go to the closet to find something to throw on. I put on a T-shirt and pajama bottoms and head downstairs.
The table is set for one and I sit down. Gina brings over a plate of food and sets it in front of me.
“Would you like some milk or juice?”
“Juice, please.”
Gina nods and heads to the fridge. I look down at the amazing breakfast that she set in front of me. There’s two strips of bacon, a fried egg, some wheat toast and sliced apple. It looks really good.
“Do you need anything else?” she says, as she sets down a glass of orange juice in front of me.
“No, this is amazing, Gina. Thank you.”
“Of course, Miss Amy. I’ll just be cleaning up if you need anything else.”
I nod and reach for the orange juice. The moment it touches my lips I can tell it’s fresh squeezed. It’s the best orange juice I’ve ever had. I set the glass down and turn to Gina, who is already at the sink washing some dishes.
“Gina?”
She turns and starts walking toward me. I hold up my hands.
“Sorry, it’s not that important. I was just wondering if my mom or Dex are around.”
I actually don’t care, it’s not like I want to talk to them, but I’m trying to figure out what I’ll need to do to avoid them. If I can help it, I’ll be out of here and looking for a job within the next hour.
“Mr. Baldwin left already, he said he would probably be late, and Ms. K went out of town this morning. Ricardo drove her and Mr. Baldwin said that if you needed to go somewhere, to just let me know and I can call a limo service for you.”
“Thanks.”
She nods and turns back to her cleaning.
Weird. I wonder where my mom went. Not that I really care, but still. And a limo? There’s no way I can, or want, to take a limo out on a job hunt. That would just be ridiculous and potential employers wouldn’t take me seriously if they saw me pull up.
I take a bite of the egg, which is cooked perfectly and follow it with a bite of bacon. It’s amazing how good all the food tastes. This is something I could get used to. I’m definitely going to miss Gina’s cooking when I leave.
When we were driving here yesterday, I did notice some businesses that weren't too far away. I’m not sure exactly what they were, but I figure that’s the best place for me to start looking.
I finish the orange juice and most of my breakfast, only leaving a few bites of egg, and stand up from the table.
“Was everything OK?”
“It was great, Gina, thank you so much.”
“Did you want me to call a limo for you?”
“No, it’s alright,” I say, shaking my head.
“OK, Miss Amy, let me know if you change your mind. If you want lunch, I’ll be around and dinner should be at seven.”
I smile at her and nod. She’s sweet. I’m glad that I get to talk to her, she seems like the only genuine one around here. She smiles at me and turns back to her cleaning.
I walk back upstairs and take a deep breath once I close and lock my door. I don’t know how I’m going to make it until my birthday. It isn’t going to be easy, that’s for sure.
I stand in front of the floor length mirror and look at myself. I like my outfit, I think it’s cute. I’m wearing a pair of jeans, a white scoop neck sweater with pink stripes and black sneakers.
I grab my phone and check to see if I have any messages from Logan or from Jess. I’m a little disappointed when I don’t see anything from either of them. I put my phone in my purse and put it over my shoulder.
I take a deep breath. You can do this, Amy, you’ll get a job and in no time you can save enough money to go back to Salem after your birthday.
Gina isn’t in the kitchen when I walk through on my way to the front door.
“Gina?”
I call out for her, but there’s no response. I wanted to tell her I was leaving, just so that no one wondered where I was. I don’t know why I care, it’s not like my mom would even care if I was gone when she got home.
The front door is locked, which seems a little strange to me since there’s a gate and a fence around the whole property. I don’t have a key, so hopefully someone is here when I get back. I lock the handle of the door and close it behind me.
When I get close to the gate, maybe ten feet away, it opens automatically. I walk to the sidewalk and turn around to make sure the gate closes. Once it’s all the way closed, I turn toward Santa Monica Boulevard. I figure that’s where I’ll have the best shot at getting a job.
It’s amazing how busy the road is. There’s cars everywhere, people walking up and down the streets. It’s all a little overwhelming.
It’s kind of funny, I thought that Salem was busy and crowded… but now… now I see what a real city is like.
There are shops on both sides of the streets, so it shouldn’t be too hard for me to find one that’s hiring. I continue down the side that I’m already on. The first few places are closed, but after a couple of minutes I come across a local coffee shop and head inside.
The smell of coffee fills my nose. It’s a wonderful smell. I don’t really like drinking coffee, but the smell is divine. There’s a line, almost to the door, so I wait my turn. When it’s my turn, the girl behind the counter flashes me a huge smile.
“What can I get started for you?”
“Actually, I was wondering if you were hiring?”
Her smile fades and she rolls her eyes.
“Let me get my manager.”
She walks away and taps the shoulder of a guy who’s using the espresso machine. He glances over his shoulder at me and nods to the girl. She walks back over to me and gives me a dirty look.
“Take a seat and he’ll come talk to you.”
Sheesh, I wonder what her problem is. I walk over to an empty table and sit down. I take my phone out of my purse, but there’s still no text from Logan. He must be busy with football. Hopefully he’s free later, I really want to talk to him.
I can’t believe it’s been twenty-four hours since I felt Logan’s lips on mine. It feels like a lifetime ago.
“Hi.”
I look up and see the manager sitting down across from me. His name tag says he’s Ted. I quickly throw my phone back in my purse and turn my attention to him.
“Hello, I’m Amy.”
“Amy, I’m Ted. Nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
“So, you’re looking for a job?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your barista experience like?”
“I don’t have any.”
He frowns at me. I didn’t even think about that before walking in here. I just assumed that places like this would be willing to train people. By the look on his face I can tell that I was mistaken.
“Hmm… well… do you have a résumé?”
I hadn’t thought of that either. I know it’s standard to have one when applying for most jobs, but I didn’t think that it was necessary for a job like this.
“No.”
He glares at me as if I’m just wasting his time.
“Well,” he says, standing up, “If you get one, bring it in.”
He walks away as I stand up. I feel the eyes of everyone on me. I hurry out of the coffee shop and keep on walking.
That was such a weird feeling. I don’t like the fact that I felt like I was being judged by Ted, the guy is just a manager of a coffee shop, when I didn’t do anything wrong.
I should figure out a way to get my résumé written, I just didn’t see a computer at the house. I guess I might need to find a library. There must be one somewhere around here.
I feel a little defeated, after the coffee shop, but I’m not about to give up. My desire to get out of here is too strong.
There are two restaurants farther down the street, but they are both still closed. I guess I should have waited until later in the day to go job hunting. I keep walking until I come across a boutique clothing store that is just opening. I guess it’s worth a shot. How hard can selling clothes be?
I walk into the clothing store and glance around. Everything looks expensive. The store even smells expensive. I see two girls working behind the sales counter near the back and I walk toward them. As I get closer, one turns to the other and whispers something and they both start to giggle.
When I reach the counter, they both give me disinterested looks and continue folding shirts.
“Hi, I was wondering if….”
“Our bathroom is for customers only,” the one on the left says.
Weird. I wonder why she thought I was looking for a bathroom.
“I wasn’t looking for a bathroom. I was actually wondering if you were hiring?”
They look at each other and then back to me and start laughing. I’m not sure what’s so funny. I’m starting to regret coming in here, these two girls are acting so weird.
“Are you serious?” the right one says.
I feel like for the second time already this morning people are talking to me like I’m stupid. I can feel rage building inside my body and I know that I need to walk out of here right now.
Without saying anything to them, I turn around and start walking toward the front door.
“Can you believe her? Wearing that and coming in here asking for a job. What a joke.”
I stop. I know she said it loud enough for me to hear. I really want to say something. I take a deep breath and keep walking and they start laughing. I keep my head down and walk out the door.
The more I think about what just happened, the angrier I get. Why would they say something so mean? I thought that my outfit today looked really cute. Yeah, it wasn’t expensive like the clothes in that store, but that doesn’t mean it can’t look nice.
I clench my teeth and turn toward home. That’s as much as I can take for one day. I need to get a résumé and try some of the restaurants tomorrow. I should have better luck with them since I have experience.
I’m not giving up, not yet. I need to get out of here. I’m just going home to try and figure out where I can write a résumé. Maybe Gina knows of where there is a computer I can use.
I force myself to be strong as I walk home. It’s just a setback, Amy, you’re better than those girls or the manager of a coffee shop, you can do anything.