Vitality

Chapter 14

The class broke for lunch a few hours later. I stuffed my notebook and pen into my backpack with my broken laptop. As I stood I pulled out my phone, intending to find some place that could fix the screen. That idea was soon out of the window as Peter Welch came and stood in front of me. "Hey," he said with a shy smile. "I'm sorry for calling you out earlier. I just can't let people be late all the time without some sort of consequence."

I raised an eyebrow as I smiled and slid my phone back into my pocket. "Sir, this isn't a typical classroom - we're all here because we need our jobs, not because we're being forced to take a class we care nothing about."

"That's kind of what's happening, though, isn't it?"

After a moment of thought I returned his amused look. "I suppose so."

"Call me Peter," he said, gesturing for me to walk out the door.

He followed me out into the hallway and we walked towards the break room. "Call me Liza. Or Liz, if you want."

He chuckled softly. "Liz, then. So, you mentioned you do something called He Said She Said?"

"Yeah, it's kind of like a show. It's a series I do with my best friend, Kyle, where our audience has a topic they're interested in, we research it, and then take sides and debate it. When we're done, we let our audience pick the winner and then the topic for the next show."

He made an interested noise. "Sounds good. I'll have to watch it some time."

"You'll have to see old ones - we put the show on hold for now." I readjusted the strap of my bag nervously.

"Oh, because of your training, right?"

"Yes, among other things." He gave me a quizzical look as we stopped outside the break room. I shook my head. "Mostly personal, but also because I'm moving to Memphis with my roommate. She also works for Life Bar, and she was reassigned to the one there, and I told her I'd go, too."

He nodded. "Sound like you're a loyal friend," he said as he held open the door for me.

I shrugged, fighting a smile. "I try." When the door was closing behind us I touched his arm and he stopped to look at me. "The part about me moving is top secret information - we haven't told our viewers yet."

He grinned and gave me a slight bow. "Then I'm honored to have inside information." I simply shook my head at him with a grin. He began walking towards the row of vending machines set up along an entire wall. It was an impressive variety of snacks and drinks. Despite my protests, Peter bought us each some snacks and a juice. I followed him to an empty table and sat net to him.

After a few moments of quietly chewing I started trying to hold a conversation with him. "How long have you worked here?"

"About five years," he responded.

"What department have you been working in?"

He shrugged. "Various ones. I was originally hired for customer service, then I worked for a year in computer maintenance before moving on to HR for the last few months where I've also been assigned for conducting classes for newbies like yourself."

I raised an indignant eyebrow. "I've been working for Life Bar for over a year. I'm only new to Vitality because they bought out my boss."

He smirked at me. "Okay, calm down, Liz." He chuckled and shook his head at me.

I let a moment of silence pass. "What do you mean by 'computer maintenance'?"

He sighed. "I basically monitored all the computers for viruses and malware and stuff, as well as made sure things stayed up to date."