"I still can't believe you brought a college grad to prom," Jas said as she, Lila, and I walked to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Yeah, me neither," I replied honestly. I didn't want him to come, but we took pictures so I had proof that we went together. It wasn't my proudest moment, but it was proof that, at least for one night, I had fun. I was the girl who went to school events with a date and had fun. The girl who was carefree and had no problems at home. No dad that would beat her if he found out where she was.
Even though it wasn't my proudest moment, it was definitely one of my favorite memories.
"I can't believe you're dating an older guy," Jas said. My attention snapped to her. Dating? "You brought him to prom, so you must really like him. How long have you been together?"
"We haven't known each other long," I said. Dating? Well, I suppose it was normal to bring the person you're dating to prom instead of someone random. "I'm not really dating him, though." They both looked at me, surprised.
"Then why did you bring him?" Lila asked.
I shrugged. How did I explain it was an offer of charity from my boss? I couldn't. They couldn't know that. "He was cute and interested, so I brought him. It was more of a trial than anything."
That seemed to quell their curiosity. "How did you meet him?" Jas asked.
"We met through my job." It was actually true.
"Okay, but like, how? Did you have a meet-cute or something?" Jas practically had hearts in her eyes. I forgot that she thrives on this type of stuff.
I smiled at her. "Kind of. Someone was harassing me and he stopped them."
"Aww! That's so sweet!" She turned to Lila and smacked her arm. "Isn't that sweet?"
Lila looked up from the pizza she'd been inhaling, pausing as she was taking another bite. She looked between us and nodded as she bit down. "Mmhmm."
Jas rolled her eyes and turned back to me. "Ignore her. I can't believe you had the guts to ask him to prom. How did that even happen?"
I was getting more comfortable with this new version of events, so the words came out of me almost without thinking. "Well, he found out about my prom and asked if I had a date. I said I didn't, so he asked to take me."
Jas squealed. "You guys are so meant for each other."
I shook my head as my heart sped up. "Why do you say that?"
"You didn't see it, but he was paying you a lot of mind. He was looking at you like you were a refreshing sight for sore eyes."
"What are you talking about?"
"He liked what he was seeing. He was definitely attracted to you. Like, seriously."
I scoffed. "The last thing I need is just something physical. If there's nothing emotional there, I want nothing to do with it."
"I get that, and there's nothing wrong with that," she said before sipping her juice. "Still, there's something there that's worth exploring. Something on both sides."
There wasn't, but I wasn't going to say anything. I just hummed and ate my lunch. He didn't have any feelings for me. Not really. Whatever he felt was nothing more than physical attraction. I didn't think I was pretty, but maybe that night I did. He said I was beautiful, and I felt like I was. Still, it wasn't the deep emotional connection I wanted. That type of thing took time.
Not that I wanted to have that type of thing with Brayden. He was drunk that one time, and he seemed way too comfortable with it. Besides, it was morning. Why was he drunk in the morning if he didn't get drunk a lot? I couldn't handle that. That's what I was wanting to get away from - not run to.
---
Everyone was gathered around the office when I arrived to the store that afternoon. It wasn't all that odd - it happened sometimes when checks were being given out - but we didn't get paid until after five. What was going on?
I got closer and saw that Brayden was standing in front of everyone. He noticed me. "Hey there, Jenny," he said. "You're a little late, but that's on me. I need to speak with you in the office for a moment afterwards." He gave his attention back to everyone standing around. "So, just to say it again, I'm going to be in charge until Dad comes back. That's all. You can go back to work."
As everyone dispersed, I walked over and followed him into the office. "How's your dad?" I asked as we sat. "I've been worried."
He sighed. "He's as fine as he can be, I guess. One of his legs is broken, and the other is fractured in three places, and he gave himself a mild concussion. All things considered, he came off pretty good, I think. It could have bee worse. Those stairs he fell down were outside. Had he gone through the railing and fell straight down, he would have fallen on the rock garden and probably have been hurt much worse if he didn't hit his head on a rock and die." He shrugged.
"Still, he's hurt pretty badly. Is he home?"
"No, he's in a room at the hospital. They want to keep his leg up for a while. You know him, though. If they didn't keep him, he'd just be up here in a wheelchair."
"True," I said with a small laugh. Silence began to settle in and I shifted in my seat. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh, right. Well, I was reviewing the company finances today, and I've found several things that Dad was doing that drains money. He was buying from some people that were selling their goods at a much higher rate than some other companies, so I'm looking into fixing that. One of the most puzzling things, though, is what he's paying you. Minimum is $10.80 an hour. Yet, he's enrolled you as salary, and you're earning the equivalent of $15.00 an hour. Can you maybe explain it to me?"
I blushed hard. He didn't have the right to poke his head into my business. Especially financially. "It's what he wants to pay me," I said dismissively.
Brayden frowned at me. "Maybe I didn't make it clear enough. He pays you the equivalent of a 40-hour week. Yet you barely work thirty. Why is that?"
I returned his frown. "Back off, Brayden. It's between me and your dad about why. I'm not obligated to tell you a thing."
He leaned back in his chair. I mentally hoped for him to lean back a little farther. "Technically, I'm your boss until he gets back, so you're supposed to do what I say."
"That doesn't mean I tell you everything about my life."
"And I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to explain why you're being paid at this rate. It doesn't fit in the budget like it's supposed to."
"Are you saying that I'm the reason the company is in bad financial straits?"
He sighed. "No, Jenny. Financially, we're doing fine. The thing is, we could be doing better. I don't want to risk anything. I'm not doing anything to your check right now, but you'd better show me something extraordinary to earn being paid like this."
I clenched my teeth, trying to think of a way to word my thoughts. "I'm a high school student. I have classwork to do before I go back home, so I have to do it here at the store, and then I have to leave by nine. Where in there am I supposed to show you anything besides your average teen? In case you haven't noticed, I'm nothing special."
He leaned across the desk. "You have two weeks. In that time, show me something you bring to the table and why it's invaluable. If you can do that, I'll even give you a raise." He sat back and made a shooing motion with his hand. "Now, back to work."
"I wish I'd never gone to prom with you," I muttered as I stood.
"But you had such a good time," he said lightheartedly. It was such a big contrast to our previous conversation that I had to give him a double-take. "Well, up until we had to leave early. But you can't tell me your friends weren't envious of you."
"They weren't." I turned and started walking to the door. "They were just impressed someone like me snagged an older man." I opened the door and left.
Not more than ten steps from the office, I stopped and put my face in my hands. All kinds of bad were going to come from him running the store. I could feel it. If our encounter just now was any sort of indication, this was going to be a nightmare. Maybe not for everyone else, but definitely for me.
Why was he singling me out? I knew how I was being paid and the reason behind it. He didn't. If I had anything to do with it, that wouldn't change. There was no reason to tell him anything about myself.