Chapter Six
Nikki
Maeda’s onboarding to the team at Lucky Lanes was smooth. She picked up the standards of operation quickly, and she folded herself into the team seamlessly. Emma Jones, one of the other employees, and Maeda became fast friends. I was glad for it.
Emma was honestly one of the best employees we ever had here at Lucky Lanes, and Maeda matched her work ethic. The two would get everything done and still have time to hang out, which I didn’t mind. They were always on top of their tasks and quick to solve any problems that arose.
Which is why I was so surprised when Maeda no-called, no-showed to her first solo shift.
It was going to be a slower night, so I had scheduled Madea solo.
I would be there, too, but mostly handling things in the office.
She was going to be manning the floor. Except, it was fifteen minutes after her shift, and she still was nowhere to be seen.
I checked my messages, missed calls, and even the company email. There was no notice.
Andrew, a seventeen-year-old kid, was on the floor. He had stayed, waiting for Maeda to arrive, but I could tell he was getting antsy as he had a first date with the high school varsity pitcher tonight.
“Hey, Andrew,” I called down from the office doorway, “Go ahead and clock out, buddy.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I could stay a few more minutes.”
“Man, are you procrastinating your date tonight?” I teased, but then I saw the slump in his shoulders. I went over to him. “What’s wrong?”
Andrew crossed his arms on the concessions counter and rested his forehead on them. He muttered into the counter, “I’m nervous. Steven is so kind, and he really listens, you know? He makes everyone he passes in the hallway feel special. I really like him.”
I waited a beat. “Okay, so not seeing a problem here. He sounds like a catch,” I laughed, “No pun intended on the whole baseball thing.”
Andrew slumped down dramatically until he was sitting on the floor. “What if—” His eyes looked up to the star-painted ceiling. “What if he’s just being kind? What if this isn’t a real date, but just a nice guy doing a nice thing?”
I squatted down next to Andrew. He’s a cute kid, Latino with warm brown eyes and black hair cut short.
He made me think of a puppy or a bear cub.
“Andrew Martinez, you are a catch, too. Go out, have fun, and don’t stress about it too much.
You’re young and the feelings are big, but it doesn’t have to be a big deal.
Avoiding it won’t make the situation clearer.
” I stood and offered him a hand. He took it and rose.
He did a little shake to get the nerves out.
“Okay, I’m good.”
I called Maeda. Maybe she was hurt? Or, sick? I tried to swallow the fear that she didn’t want to be alone with me. We hadn’t had a shift with just the two of us. In fact, we hadn’t been alone together since Mike came by and tried to make it seem like we were together.
I wondered and worried all the way through closing and to her house. She had told me that she was renting from a professor who was currently on sabbatical. I had house-sat for him once before, watering his plants while he was away.
Before I knew it, I was knocking on her door. I heard a child’s voice call out. “Mama! Someone’s knocking!” I thought I could hear Maeda’s voice in the distance, but the door handle was already turning. A knobby haphazard turn, an unpracticed opening of the door.
A little girl stood there in blue-and-white striped pajamas with little cherries all over them. Maeda came rushing to the door behind her in a matching pajama set. Button-down top and shorts. Little cherries all over.
“Dolly, you’re not supposed to open the door.” Then, she looked up at me, and her eyes widened. “Nikki, what are you doing here?”
My palms were sweating, and I tried to hide it by shoving them in to my back pockets. “You missed your shift, and I was just coming to make sure you were okay.”
Maeda scrunched her brows. “Dolly, can you go brush your teeth?”
“But, I don’t know how,” the little girl protested.
“Yes, you do.”
“But, I want you to do it.”
“Dolly. Now.” Maeda gave her a look, and Dolly skipped away. Maeda shut the door a little bit, so all I could see was her. I focused on the porch light.
“I wasn’t scheduled tonight,” she said. “I’m scheduled tomorrow night. It’s Thursday. I have a conflict every other Thursday.”
I knew that. Shit. I must have messed up the schedule and forgot about her parenting group at the Center.
“Why didn’t you mention it when I posted the schedule?” Because yeah, I might have messed up, but she should have mentioned it.
Maeda grabbed her phone from a counter right next to the door and checked.
“Fuck,” she murmured. She turned her phone to show me the message with a red exclamation point next to it where she said that she had a commitment tonight, and that the schedule needed to be adjusted. There’s another message under it asking if I can confirm that the shift was covered.
“When you didn’t respond I thought you were busy. And, honestly, once I got to the Center, I was focused on other things.” She crossed her arms. “You didn’t need to come all the way out here though.”
I nodded. “I know. I was concerned.” I shook my head. “It’s called being nice, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Well, I’m fine,” she said flatly. Had she always been this rude?
“So, I see.”
We stood there for a few beats, and I was getting more and more annoyed.
I had thought she hadn’t shown up because she was uncomfortable with her and I working alone together.
But, no. She had barely thought of me at all.
I sighed. Maybe that was my fault for having expectations.
Shouldn’t I have known better at this point?
When it comes to personal relationships, Maeda will disappoint me every time.
“If you ever need anything,” I said as I backed away.
“I’m sorry about the shift. I’ll work an extra one to make it up. Dolly is going to be with her dad tomorrow night.”
I nodded. “Sounds good. We have a big party coming in so having an extra hand will be helpful.”
“I’ll be there.”
As I walked back home, I thought about reliability. Until tonight, Maeda had never given any sign that she would be an unreliable employee, and it was an honest miscommunication. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a sign from the universe that she and I would not be a good couple.
I thought I learned that lesson years ago.