Chapter 21
Iwalked into work the next day, a complete zombie. Sleeping in the Honda had left me with a kinked neck and a severely sore spine. I couldn’t help but yawn as I entered the break room and put my stuff into my locker at sloth-like speed.
“What happened to you?” Tyler asked, quickly noticing my exhausted demeanor.
“I slept horribly last night,” I replied, turning to Tyler to show him the dark circles under my eyes.
“Why didn’t you sleep?” Macey asked as she heated her breakfast burrito in the community microwave, the same thing she had every morning.
“Turns out my cabin is infested with mice.”
“What?” both Tyler and Macey said simultaneously, their eyes widening in shock.
“Hope, that’s horrible. I’d let you stay at my place, but I’m currently couch surfing,” Macey said as the microwave beeped. She retrieved her breakfast burrito, then hurried over to hug me. “I wish I could give you a place to stay.”
“You could stay with me. I have a few other college roommates, so we don’t have any extra bedrooms, but you could take my room, and I could sleep on the floor in the living room,” Tyler offered.
“How chivalrous of you, Ty,” Macey said with a wink.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll figure it out. I appreciate you guys offering, though.
” I was touched that they’d even offered.
But I was really hoping to have this figured out by tomorrow.
I didn’t want to impose on people or stay in a house full of strangers.
Well, Tyler and Macey weren’t strangers, but the Flossy Posse definitely wasn’t at sleepover level yet.
Our conversation was interrupted when Jenn, Erica, Shelby, and Devin entered the room.
It wasn’t a usual occurrence to have everyone in the break room at once, which could only mean one thing: a group meeting.
Just then, Dr. Jay walked in, dressed in fresh olive-green scrubs and his white lab coat.
“Sorry for the unannounced meeting, but I have some things I need to discuss with you all,” Jay said.
“We’ll talk about this more later,” Macey whispered, patting me on the shoulder as we all took our seats at the break room table.
I sat between Macey and Tyler.
“We need to talk about the Wellness Fair and our annual office outing. I’d like to go over what’s happening at the market tomorrow and then get some ideas from you all on what activity you’d like to plan for next week,” Dr. Jay said, opening his notebook and getting his pen ready to take notes.
Maybe it was because I was so tired and my brain wasn’t functioning, but I could’ve sworn I’d never heard any announcement about a staff meeting. I must not have been in the office when it was announced.
“What is this Wellness Fair? And do I even dare ask what the annual office outing is?” I whispered to Tyler.
“Every year, Jay likes to do community service. There’s this fair where businesses set up booths in a park to offer free services and resources to anyone who needs them.
Jay does screenings and gives away coupons for free fillings and other services.
As for the office outing, it’s something we do every summer.
We all get together and do something fun.
Doc thinks it helps office morale,” Tyler explained, making air quotes beneath the table.
“I’ll have three stations at our booth: screenings, brushing demonstrations, and free resource pamphlets. Who is helping me with screenings?”
“We can,” Jenn said, raising her hand for herself and Erica.
“Thank you. And demonstrations?”
“We want that one!” Macey said, pointing at Tyler and me.
“Perfect. And then Shelby and Devin, are you okay with handing out the free resource pamphlets?”
“Yeah, we can do that,” Shelby said while Devin nodded.
“Perfect. It’s at Pine Ridge Park. If you can all arrive around nine, that would be great.” Jay clapped his hands together while a smile grew on his face. “Now let’s talk about what we want to do this year for our office outing.”
“I was thinking we could go on a picnic, maybe,” Jenn suggested, but her idea was met with silence. When no one immediately jumped on it, more ideas from the group poured in.
“I thought maybe we could go to a trampoline park,” Tyler offered.
“They have pottery-making on Saturday nights at the art gallery downtown,” Erica pitched in.
Ideas were bounced back and forth until Macey finally chimed in with the winner.
“I was thinking of something more like zip-lining.”
“Zip-lining?” Jay asked, his eyebrows raising.
“Yeah. There’s this place about an hour from here that does tours for groups like ours.
It’s been proven that doing something that produces a bit more adrenaline can force employees to interact more, as everyone has to trust and support each other.
At a picnic, you can break off into pairs and don’t have to engage as much,” Macey said with a beaming smile, though I sensed a bit of an evil smirk behind it.
Part of me would have loved to break off and chat with Macey and Tyler at an office picnic.
Still, another part of me remembered going zip-lining in Oregon with Emily as a teenager and absolutely loving it.
But I was older now, and things like zip-lining had become much scarier.
When I was younger, I felt invincible; now I was much more aware of all the things that could kill me.
“I like that idea, Macey,” Dr. Jay said, seeming to warm to the suggestion. He scribbled something in his notepad before looking up again. “Is everyone alright with zip-lining?”
When everyone else raised their hands, I reluctantly raised mine too. What was I going to do—protest? If everyone else were willing, I would just have to suck it up.
“Great. Macey, why don’t you write down the name of the company, and I’ll give them a call this afternoon,” Jay said.
After the decision was made, everyone dispersed, and I stood up to head to my operatory, unable to fight back a yawn.
“Hope, may I speak to you for a moment in my office?” Jay called out.
With watery, post-yawn eyes, I turned in surprise at the sudden request. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
Feeling like a kid being called into the principal’s office, anxiety immediately burned in my stomach. Was he going to say my anxiety attack the other day was unprofessional and kick me to the curb? Maybe he thought I was too emotional and didn’t want to deal with any more crying episodes.
He closed the door behind me before taking a seat in the chair behind his desk. I stood awkwardly, not meeting his gaze fully, my arms folded protectively across my chest.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
“You seem a bit…” He paused. “Off. Is everything alright?”
My cheeks burned as I thought about my panic attack two days earlier and the moment we’d shared in the supply closet. I could distinctly remember how it felt when he touched my face.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I don’t want you to be embarrassed about what happened the other day.”
“It’s not that,” I hurried to say, not wanting him to think I was acting strange because of our previous interaction. “I just had to sleep in my car last night.”
His eyes widened, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the hard cherrywood desk. “Why are you sleeping in your car?”
I hesitated, then decided it would be impossible to keep it a secret forever, so I might as well just tell him.
“Turns out the cabin is infested with mice. It’s not just one or two.
I had to move out immediately. I was going to stay in a hotel, but I didn’t want to spend so much on one night.
I’m going to find something to rent soon…
” I trailed off, suddenly embarrassed by how many unnecessary details I’d shared.
“Have you found a new place?” Jay asked, his brow furrowing.
“Not yet. I’ve got to start looking today.” I yawned again and raised a hand to cover my mouth until it passed.
“Well, I have a rental above my garage if you’d like to stay there. It’s currently not being used, but it’s up to code with the city. I haven’t posted the listing yet because I’ve been too busy. It’s a one-bed, one-bath with its own kitchen and laundry. I could even give you a discount on rent.”
I stared at him, struggling to process what he was offering.
Rent the space above his garage? He couldn’t be serious.
“Wouldn’t that be sort of… weird, now that I’m your employee?”
Jay chuckled and shook his head. “I’d rarely see you anyway, due to my busy schedule. Plus, we were neighbors before; you’d just be a little closer now.”
A little. More like extremely adjacent.
“I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll try looking elsewhere first.” The offer was incredible, but I had to be honest with myself. Living next to him would only complicate things.
“Oh. Okay. Well, if you change your mind, let me know.” His face fell slightly, but he quickly covered it with a polite smile.
“Thank you,” I said, glancing toward the door. “May I go now?”
“Yes, you’re free to go.” He hurried to stand and opened the door for me as I slipped back into the safety of the hallway.
I took one last glance at him as I passed the break room, but I couldn’t quite read his expression. He looked deep in thought, his brow furrowed as he watched me go. Then he sighed and returned to his office.