Not the One
Chapter 25
Since there was nothing around the house to do, I spent my days watching the sky. It was amusing but also sad. I was pretty much wasting my life when I could be doing something more meaningful. I was currently outside, enjoying the sunshine while it was still available. Autumn was coming, and I was disappointed. I loved summer too much for it to end. The afternoon sun was high up in the sky. There were no visible clouds. My mom was suddenly next to me.
“Leo, someone’s on the phone. She wants to talk to you.” I quickly got up from my lying down position. Who could it be? Hopefully either Tina or Jane because I desperately wanted to talk to them. I went inside and took the phone from the table.
“Hello?” I said.
“Hey,” a raspy voice responded. “It’s me, Tina.”
“Tina! Why are you calling me?” I asked.
“I’m feeling sick… and Damien and I broke up. I just need someone to talk to.”
“Oh… okay. What do you want to talk about?” Right now I didn’t feel like talking to her anymore.
“I missed you, and I want to get back together, if you want to…” I knew this was my chance to get out of my lonely state, but I wasn’t so sure I should get back with her.
I hesitated and then said, “I have to think about it. I’ll call you when I have my answer.” And then I heard a faint “okay” before I hung up. I knew that was the best thing to do for now. After that conversation, it was back to watching the sky. I really wished I had plans to go somewhere, but with my family under a financial crisis, there was just no way. I promised myself that I was going to do into town and see if I could find a job somewhere working at the markets. I couldn’t leave my parents hanging.
The next day, I wrote down a note and stuck it on the dining table that I was take Dad’s truck to go to town. I dressed nicely so that I would seem more appealing to the employers. I drove all the way into town and saw that the whole place had a lot of people. I saw some selling corn. That could have been my dad if it was not for the fire that killed ours. I went into the flower shop, seeing if they were going to hire anyone.
“Hi,” I said to the lady at the desk.
“How may I help you?” She asked.
“Um, I was wondering if you were hiring anyone at this time.” I was suddenly getting nervous, afraid that I was going to get rejected.
“Ah, yes, I am. I’m short on one person. Would you like to work for me?” She sounded so friendly. I was able to be at ease.
“Yes, please. What do you want me to do?”
“Organize the flowers that get shipped every other day and sweep the floors on the days when you don’t have to organize the flowers. So, pretty much you have to come to work every day. Times are from 10 to 5, Sundays excepted. Those days will be from 12-3.”
“Okay, sounds good. When do I start?”
“How about now?” I thought about it and then said, “Yes.” Today the flowers already arrived and Shelly, the owner of the flower shop already sorted them out so I didn’t have to do them. I was sweeping the floor of loose leaves and flower petals. I wanted to ask, “Excuse me, how much do you pay?”
She said, “$5 an hour.”
“Oh okay,” I said, and then went back to sweeping. It was nice and quiet in the shop. Shelly was reading a magazine on botany and listening to the soft sounding radio in the background. I wanted to know if there were anyone else working here.
“Are there any others working here?” I asked.
“No, the last girl left a week ago. She thought it was too boring working here. I hope you don’t think so.”
“Oh, I see,” I said, and then chuckled, “No, I think I’ll be fine working here.” For the rest of my shift, only two customers came in. One came in to only look, and the other bought a small bouquet of roses. I wished I could give someone flowers. And then I realized I could once I get paid. I was going to buy my mother some flowers for her birthday that was coming up soon.
When the sun looked like it was about to set, Shelly said to me, “Okay, time to get off work. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said goodbye and left. The drive home was soothing. I opened all the windows and let the wind blow. I was excited to tell my parents the good news that I got a job. They would no longer have to suffer unemployment.
“Mom! Dad! Guess what?” I exclaimed as I burst through the door.
“What is it?” My mom asked.
“I got a job!” My dad came over to us.
“Really? Where? And did you go fill up more gas for the truck?” He said.
“At the flower shop in town. And no, I forgot to. I was too excited to tell you guys the news.”
My mom put her hand on my shoulder and said, “Well, we’re really happy for you.”
“Yeah, and put in more gas tomorrow when you go to work,” my dad added.
“Will do,” I said, smiling. I was excited to work again even though my job was not very exciting. At least I was doing something with my life rather than staying at home doing nothing.
“Leo, someone’s on the phone. She wants to talk to you.” I quickly got up from my lying down position. Who could it be? Hopefully either Tina or Jane because I desperately wanted to talk to them. I went inside and took the phone from the table.
“Hello?” I said.
“Hey,” a raspy voice responded. “It’s me, Tina.”
“Tina! Why are you calling me?” I asked.
“I’m feeling sick… and Damien and I broke up. I just need someone to talk to.”
“Oh… okay. What do you want to talk about?” Right now I didn’t feel like talking to her anymore.
“I missed you, and I want to get back together, if you want to…” I knew this was my chance to get out of my lonely state, but I wasn’t so sure I should get back with her.
I hesitated and then said, “I have to think about it. I’ll call you when I have my answer.” And then I heard a faint “okay” before I hung up. I knew that was the best thing to do for now. After that conversation, it was back to watching the sky. I really wished I had plans to go somewhere, but with my family under a financial crisis, there was just no way. I promised myself that I was going to do into town and see if I could find a job somewhere working at the markets. I couldn’t leave my parents hanging.
The next day, I wrote down a note and stuck it on the dining table that I was take Dad’s truck to go to town. I dressed nicely so that I would seem more appealing to the employers. I drove all the way into town and saw that the whole place had a lot of people. I saw some selling corn. That could have been my dad if it was not for the fire that killed ours. I went into the flower shop, seeing if they were going to hire anyone.
“Hi,” I said to the lady at the desk.
“How may I help you?” She asked.
“Um, I was wondering if you were hiring anyone at this time.” I was suddenly getting nervous, afraid that I was going to get rejected.
“Ah, yes, I am. I’m short on one person. Would you like to work for me?” She sounded so friendly. I was able to be at ease.
“Yes, please. What do you want me to do?”
“Organize the flowers that get shipped every other day and sweep the floors on the days when you don’t have to organize the flowers. So, pretty much you have to come to work every day. Times are from 10 to 5, Sundays excepted. Those days will be from 12-3.”
“Okay, sounds good. When do I start?”
“How about now?” I thought about it and then said, “Yes.” Today the flowers already arrived and Shelly, the owner of the flower shop already sorted them out so I didn’t have to do them. I was sweeping the floor of loose leaves and flower petals. I wanted to ask, “Excuse me, how much do you pay?”
She said, “$5 an hour.”
“Oh okay,” I said, and then went back to sweeping. It was nice and quiet in the shop. Shelly was reading a magazine on botany and listening to the soft sounding radio in the background. I wanted to know if there were anyone else working here.
“Are there any others working here?” I asked.
“No, the last girl left a week ago. She thought it was too boring working here. I hope you don’t think so.”
“Oh, I see,” I said, and then chuckled, “No, I think I’ll be fine working here.” For the rest of my shift, only two customers came in. One came in to only look, and the other bought a small bouquet of roses. I wished I could give someone flowers. And then I realized I could once I get paid. I was going to buy my mother some flowers for her birthday that was coming up soon.
When the sun looked like it was about to set, Shelly said to me, “Okay, time to get off work. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said goodbye and left. The drive home was soothing. I opened all the windows and let the wind blow. I was excited to tell my parents the good news that I got a job. They would no longer have to suffer unemployment.
“Mom! Dad! Guess what?” I exclaimed as I burst through the door.
“What is it?” My mom asked.
“I got a job!” My dad came over to us.
“Really? Where? And did you go fill up more gas for the truck?” He said.
“At the flower shop in town. And no, I forgot to. I was too excited to tell you guys the news.”
My mom put her hand on my shoulder and said, “Well, we’re really happy for you.”
“Yeah, and put in more gas tomorrow when you go to work,” my dad added.
“Will do,” I said, smiling. I was excited to work again even though my job was not very exciting. At least I was doing something with my life rather than staying at home doing nothing.