21. Just a Bug
21
JUST A BUG
CHELSEA
A severe headache started the moment I woke up Monday, and didn’t stop for three days. “I should have stayed home,” I grumbled to Annie after I yelled at one of my best sandwich makers in the middle of the lunch rush. That wasn’t like me, but Rex’s so-called proposal still weighed heavily.
“Then go home, sweetie. We’ll be fine. You should rest, get rid of this bug you’ve had,” Annie said, a worried, motherly nature in her tone. With her graying hair tucked under a net and her wire-rimmed glasses, she often reminded me of an old picture from a storybook of Old Mother Hubbard.
That’d been my excuse since Rex’s so-called proposal—A bug. Telling anyone I had a bug immediately earned me sympathetic eyes, offers of soup, and reasons to rest. In my case, perfect excuses to roll into a ball on the couch and cry until I had no tears left.
Annie was right. I had no energy for this today, and I couldn’t even get the energy up to bake something, which usually was my go-to on the rare occasions when life pulled me down.
I looked around at the employees here who’d been so good to me, working so well for me, they’d become like family. I’d asked a lot from them as we grew fast this fall, serving more and more customers, and they had to work harder than the days when Uncle Doug ran things. But I wouldn’t be any good to them unless I took time away to sort myself out.
“You’re right. I think I will take the rest of today off. Call me if you need me.” I patted Annie on the shoulder and waved goodbye to the rest of the crew as I took off my apron, pulled on my blue wool coat, and headed out the door.
My dark blue dress and coat matched my mood perfectly, especially given the overcast day. I sauntered outside, trying to decide what to do with myself because I couldn’t face Rex yet. I wasn’t ready to march into his office and give him a piece of my mind.
Marriage of convenience? Was he serious? That had to be worse than friends with benefits. Although if he’d asked for that, I might have said yes as long as it was an exclusive arrangement. As friends, Rex might have woken up one day and realized he had fallen for me, too.
Lost in my heavy thoughts, several steps away from the deli, I stared at a sight that stopped me in my tracks—the familiar car parked on the curb of the concourse. Rex’s car. His driver, Stephen, waved and smiled at me, leaning against the car, waiting. But I couldn’t wave back, not upon watching Marlena and Rex walking out of the building together.
With their hands joined, she talked and gestured, but he was quiet. I could tell, even only knowing him a short time as I had, how sullen he appeared, eyes down, not cracking a smile, not twitching his lips at anything she said.
Stephen opened the back door for them and she got in. Then Rex spotted me and froze. He couldn’t move either. His eyes were like sunken black dots with dark circles around them, his complexion paled, and he barely flatlined a smile.
With only a moment to linger, I couldn’t breathe, shocked by the connection still so strong between us. Even now, it reached across the distance, closing the gap. How I longed to know his thoughts, to feel his touch, to kiss his lips, to figure out why he did this to me, but he shook his head and quickly entered the car.
“Bastard!” I muttered under my breath as they drove away, my ragged puffy clouds floating in the cold air.
He was with Marlena now? What, I turned him down, so he took the proposal to the next available woman?
“Oh God. I can’t do this.”
Seeing Rex again stabbed me in my heart like a sharp knife, but seeing him with her twisted it in the wound. He meant more to me than I led him to believe.
I had wanted the deli, the man, everything. Now, I wanted nothing. I had told Uncle Doug to renew the lease, but if it meant running into Rex all the time, then forget about it. I’d never be able to get over him that way.
If not for my phone ringing, I might have stood there in that spot all day, contemplating my life since coming to New York. Was I any better or further ahead than the day I arrived?
Perhaps I should give up and go home, back to Holly Creek? Home, yes, my heart yearned to be home again.
The call went to voice mail, and finally I forced one foot in front of the other, walking and walking, until I reached Central Park. I hadn’t spent much time here, and it definitely was on my bucket list to explore. Pleased I wore my flats, today was my lucky day to meander through the famous park and think.
Before I could get too far into my thoughts, my phone rang again. I hissed and pulled it out. From a number I didn’t recognize, I debated about not answering, but I noticed the last call was the same digits.
“Hello?” My voice wavered.
“Chelsea Calhoun? This is Stanley Proctor from the studios of the Morning City Show. We came across your social media channel and checked out your deli. I wondered if you’d be interested in coming down to NYBC television studios to interview for a temporary position?”
“Um, what?”
The man sighed on the other end. “I said, this is?—”
“Sorry, I heard all of it. What temporary position?” I hardly knew why I asked, especially when the pull of home called to me so strongly.
“We’d like to feature a segment about home-style cooking and comfort food starting next week and running through Christmas. The segment would appear three times per week.”
I blinked several times, as if that helped me process what the man said. This had to be some sort of crank call. “Right. Ha ha. Very funny. Whoever this is, hope you got a good laugh out of it.”
I hung up and huffed on my way, only to be assaulted by the ring once again. Same number. I clicked on it. “Yes?”
“Hey look. I get it, it’s not every day a TV studio calls and thinks you’re the perfect person for the job,” Stanley’s voice rushed in before I could speak. Did he say perfect person? “But I think you owe it to yourself to come down to the studio to do a screen test. I have openings at two or three this afternoon. What do you say?”
TV? Something like this never factored into my plans and dreams. It’d be a new adventure for sure. Something different. Something far away from Rex and the deli. And only temporary, while I figured out what to do with my life next.
“Sure. I don’t know a thing about TV, though. I’ve never been in front of a camera.”
“Are you kidding? I saw your daily lunch special videos on your social media channel. You were terrific. Trust me, whatever you don’t know, I can teach you. So, two or three today?”
“Fine. Okay. Three. Oh, what should I wear?”
“That shouldn’t even be a question, considering your branding has been very consistent with bright dresses and flowers in your hair. See you this afternoon. ”
He clicked off, leaving me dumbfounded. He really had watched my social media. What was the old saying? A door closed, and a window opened, or something like that. With renewed vigor, I backtracked and headed to the apartment to pick out the brightest dress I owned.
On the way, I called Mom, eager to share the news with someone, and I knew Maisy and Sophie were in classes.
“Flora’s Diner.” Colt’s voice instantly brought a smile to my face.
“Baby brother! It’s Chels.”
“Hey, how’s it going, big city girl?”
“It’s going. How are things with you? How’s the diner?”
“Things are…yeah.” He sighed. Hm. Very ominous. “Listen, Mom’s at a dental appointment. And there’s a lull right now before the lunch rush. I need to talk to you about something. Hang on.”
I waited and could just picture him transferring the call into Mom’s office and shutting the door. Sure enough, when he clicked back onto the line, I heard the familiar squeak of hinges as he closed her door. “You there?”
“I’m here. Tell me what’s going on.” Oh no. Things came in threes, Mom always said. I braced myself. First Rex, then the call with Stanley, and now…?
“Well, I’ve made a decision. I don’t know how anyone will feel about it, but it’s done. I’ve signed on the dotted line,” Colt warned.
“Signed what? What did you do?”
“I’ve been on this health kick, you know, working out a lot. I talk with the owner, Trey of Treyner’s Gym, all the time. And as I’ve gotten to know him, he shared about his days as a Navy Seal. And, I don’t know. He’s a cool guy. I like the way it sounds. So, I joined up.”
I let the line sit quietly for a moment, trying to understand what he just said. “You joined…the gym?”
“No. I joined the Navy. I report for duty on Valentine’s Day.”
I blinked back the tears, amazed I had any left by now. “Oh, Colt. Mom is going to flip. What if something happens to you?”
“What, like travel the world beyond Holly Creek? Get to learn some cool shit? Meet new people?”
“No, like being sent into a war zone…or something bad happening?”
He sighed. “You worry too much. I’ll be fine. Besides, there’s no sense talking me out of it now. I signed the contract with the devil. The military owns my soul for the next four years. Hey, how do you think I’ll look with a high and tight haircut?” At least his good humor showed up about it. But Mom…once she heard his news, she’d be a basket case.
“When are you planning to tell Mom?”
“I figured at Thanksgiving, when you and Maisy come home for the weekend. Oh hey, I hear Mom’s voice. Don’t tell her, okay?” I heard the door to the office open, and he called to her. “Hey Mom, Chelsea’s on the phone for you.”
“Oh, gimme, gimme,” Mom cried. “My Chelsea-Sunshine girl? ”
“Hi, Mom. Miss you. Love you.” I fought back tears once again.
“Oh, darling, how are you?”
“I’m okay. First, how are you?” I bit back my tongue so hard to keep from blurting Colt’s news.
“Wonderful. I just had my teeth cleaned. They’re gleaming.” I could see her running her tongue along the smooth ridges of her white teeth.
“Good. Well, you’ll never believe this, but I’m going to interview this afternoon to be on television for the Morning City Show.”
“Ah!” she screamed. “Our Chelsea is going to be on TV.” She screamed again, sharing the news with whoever was in the diner at the time.
“It’s a cooking segment, but I don’t know yet for sure if I have the job or even if I want to do it.”
“Oh, honey. This is the best news I’ve had all day, and it gives me a good feeling. You know what I think? You’re young, so do the show, and see where it leads. Maybe other opportunities come from it. You never know.” My mother and her eternal basket of sunshine and optimism did my heart good to hear today.
“It is only temporary if I get it. I’ll see how it goes.”
“What’s wrong, dear?” Her knack for sniffing out trouble remained keen. But I couldn’t worry her about me, when she’d soon be worried enough about Colt.
“I just miss home.”
“Oh, you’ll be here soon for Thanksgiving. And you’re always welcome home. Doug and Louisa will be up then, too, looking for a new place to live since they’re moving here after the holidays.”
“That’s great news. Oh, Mom, I have to go. Talk soon, okay?”
“Love you, my sunshine girl.”
As I clicked off and rounded the corner to the apartment, suddenly the weight of my worlds pulled at me. My small town life versus my city life. I straddled them both, lingering in the middle, trying to figure out where I belonged.