Shiny Celebrity Skin

My first day back at work was a disaster. As soon as I set foot inside the restaurant, I knew that nothing was going to be easy. Shannon greeted me with an icy glare. I ignored her and went straight back to Leilani's office. Her stern gaze told me that she already knew everything. Or, at least, Shannon's version of the story.

"Let me start off with an apology," I said, holding up my hands defensively.

"She's about one insult away from quitting. But tell me, just for argument's sake, what the story is like from your perspective." She folded her hands on top of her desk. I sat down across from her in my usual chair.

I took a deep breath, then told her everything. I was kind of surprised that she hadn't called me as soon as Shannon had given her side of the tale. When I finished, Leilani didn't look at all surprised. She cleared her throat and frowned.

"Yeah, I knew that she wasn't telling me everything. I know you have a temper, but I also know that you don't just blow up over nothing. I also know that you were trying really hard to be supportive of Matt. Because of that, I know that you genuinely thought that she was a threat. And Mike and Matt have been talking about it, too. Mike seems to agree that Shannon is a bit crazy. He asked me to fire her because he didn't feel comfortable that I was spending time with her here. So I want your honest opinion, Becky. How do you think that we should handle this?"

I chewed my bottom lip. I knew what I wanted to say, and I also knew that it probably wasn't the best option for the restaurant. I wanted to let my own feelings get in my way. I wanted Shannon to be gone. But I also knew that Leilani was trusting me to help her. And I had to be truthful with her.

"I think that we should keep a close eye on her," I said slowly. "But as long as she doesn't decide to quit on her own, it's stupid to fire her. We both know that we're better off when we aren't training someone new."

Leilani smiled. "You always seem to pass my little tests, Becky. I promise I'll never doubt you again."

"You mean you doubted me before?" I pressed a hand to my chest and pretended to be hurt.

Leilani laughed. "Go get ready for your shift."

I got to my feet and left her office. As soon as I was in the dining room of the restaurant, I could feel Shannon's eyes on me. I ignored the chill that swept through me as I got ready to get to work.

I shuddered, but managed to avoid saying anything to my coworker. I saw an elderly couple sitting at a table in my section, and I walked over with an effortless smile on my face. Clearly, I had shaken Shannon up. I couldn't deny that that knowledge made me feel strong. I could be effectively threatening when I needed to be. For now, however, I had to sweep my anger under the carpet and pretend that it didn't exist. I had to do my job.

Shannon's shift ended when I was only a few hours into mine. Before she left, she managed to corner me in the kitchen.

"I'm not leaving," she stated.

I clenched my jaw, but tried to appear nonchalant. "I never told you to."

"I think you made your intentions clear, Becky. But I can't afford to quit, and I'm too good at my job to get fired. So you're going to have to get used to it."

"I'm fine with it, Shannon. You're the one that has to get used to it. Can you manage to work with me every day and avoid these little confrontations?"

"I can if you can," she said.

"Perfect," I flashed her a fake smile. "See you tomorrow, then."

I left the kitchen with a tray full of drinks. I busied myself with serving customers so that I didn't even notice when Shannon left. In fact, I was so busy that I didn't get a chance to check the time until the lights were turning off and we were cleaning up after the day. Leilani had also gone home, and I was left to do the cash out on my own. Sometimes being one of the most trusted employees was a bad thing. I had more responsibilities than anyone else in the restaurant.

There was a loud knock on the front door, and I looked up to see Josh standing outside. He waved me over, and I gave him a questioning look as I approached him. I unlocked the door and let him inside before securing the deadbolt once more.

"What are you doing here?"

"Don't I get a hello?" He asked.

"I'm trying to close down, Josh. I'm kind of busy."

"You're never too busy for me," Josh argued. "So tell me, how was your day?"

I returned to counting coins as I replied. "Leilani can't legally fire Shannon over something that happened outside of work. And I don't blame her for not wanting to train someone new. So, essentially, my day was terrible. But it was busy, so I wasn't really bothered with her too much. How was your day?"

"Well, I slept until twelve-thirty. Then I worked on some new songs with Matt. He told me that he was worried about you working with Shannon, so I came here. That's pretty much everything. Can I help you with this? What do you have to write on this paper?" He began rifling through everything that I had spread out on the counter. I reached over and pulled the documents back toward me.

"Here," I handed him a stack of twenty-dollar bills. "Count these. Then recount them. Continue until I'm finished and I tell you to stop."

"Don't give me pity jobs!" Josh ignored the stack of cash in front of him. "Come on, hurry up."

"What's your rush?"

An impatient, childish grunt came from somewhere within his chest. "I'm bored!"

"Then why did you come here?"

"Because I wanted to see you. And I wanted to take your mind off of your bad day."

"Oh yeah? Thanks, Josh," I jotted down some numbers on a paper before punching them into the calculator.

"You don't seem very excited," he pouted.

"Josh," I sighed. "If you don't let me finish, I'll be here until tomorrow. Please, just give me a minute."

Josh seemed to understand that I wasn't actually angry with him; I was just exhausted. I wanted to go home, and I couldn't do that until I completed my work. He sat down on a nearby dining chair and pulled out his phone. He started texting someone, but I was too preoccupied to really care who it was.

When I finished, I tucked the deposit bag under my arm and crossed over to Josh. I took his face gently in my hands and kissed him softly. "Thank you for coming to entertain me. We have to stop at the bank and deposit this, and then I'm all yours."

He put his phone back into his jacket pocket and stood up, returning the chair to its original positioning on the dining room carpet. "I'll let you pretend that you weren't mine all along."

I locked up and followed Josh out to his car. He drove back to my apartment, parking in the guest area of the parking lot. I hurried inside and up the stairs. Josh trailed behind me, walking at a normal pace.

"Why are you running, Becky?"

"There's a hoodie and sweat pants calling my name!" I called back over my shoulder. I was in such a rush to get comfortable that I had the top few buttons on my shirt undone before I was even inside my apartment.

"Whoa," Matt paused as I pushed my way inside. "I never pegged you as the type to give the world a peep show, Beck."

I glanced down at myself, then scowled at him. "I'm not even exposed. Even you have seen more of my skin than this. I'm just not quite used to wearing dress clothes anymore. Was this shirt always so damn itchy?"

Matt laughed and continued on his way into the living room, shoving a chip into his mouth as he went. I continued down the hallway to my bedroom. When I was dressed in my comfiest clothes, I returned to the living room and found Matt and Josh watching some sports recap show. I was surprised that Josh was even looking at the screen; he wasn't big on sports. When I entered, he smiled at me. I curled up in between the two of them on the couch.

"You look cozy," Josh commented.

"I hate dress clothes."

Matt tore his gaze from the television to look over at us. "Has Shannon quit yet?"

I shook my head and let out a heavy breath. "No. But I get the feeling that it isn't far off. She really seems to hate me now. It's almost a shame that she didn't feel that way before."

"Yeah, you're telling me," Matt agreed. "But really, I think everything is back to normal. She hasn't tried to contact me at all since you threatened her life."

"Then I did it right, didn't I?"

"Becky," Josh interrupted. "Are you ready to go?"

I frowned, puzzled. "Go where?"

"To my apartment," he replied. "I have something to show you."

"You didn't go to Ikea, did you?" I whined. "I'm just not up to putting together a new dresser."

"No, that's next week's surprise. Thanks for ruining it."

"Just go, Beck," Matt urged.

I looked back and forth between the two of them. "This is another surprise that everyone is involved in, isn't it?" When neither of them responded, I huffed, "I hate it when you guys do that."

Matt nudged me with his elbow. "Get going."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're supposed to be my friend."

"I don't know which of you it's more dangerous for me to piss off. So I'm just going to turn my attention back to the TV now." He slowly, dramatically turned away from me and refocused on the scores replaying on the screen.

I faced Josh with the same glare I had just been giving Matt. "What are you plotting, Josh?"

Josh rolled his eyes. "I don't get why you're always so upset. You're always happy in the end."

"But the anticipation kills me!"

"Then forget that we ever said anything."

"That's not how it works."

"Just get moving, Becky."

Grumbling under my breath, I got up and put on my jacket. "See you later, Matt," I said as I headed for the door.

"See you tomorrow," he replied.

I trudged out of the apartment, still muttering darkly. Patience was not my best virtue.