Inhale, Exhale (2 page)

“When I woke up this morning, I had this feeling it was more than a dream, like it was a metaphor or something. Like there was a message there.” I closed my eyes, trying once again to picture his face. Had I seen him somewhere before? Did that guy really exist? “It’s totally crazy, but it felt so real. If I hadn’t woken up next to Christian, I would have sworn it really happened.”

“Did you tell him anything about it?”

“God, no! How awkward would that conversation have been? ‘Um, hun, I know we’ve been together for a long time now, but I have the hots for an imaginary guy I dreamt about.’” I rolled my eyes. “I can see that going over real well.”

Trish snorted. Ava and I both laughed at our crazy friend as Ava finally found and pulled into a spot and we filed out of the car. The three of us had been friends for as long as I could remember. Ava’s grandma lived on the same street as Trish and me, and she was the only one in the neighborhood with a pool. With the intense South Georgia heat, we’d have been friends with her if she was the Jolly Green Giant or had a tail. But we’d lucked out because she was awesome.

Now, we’d all completed our first year at Georgia State University, and it was time to reward ourselves with some retail therapy. Since there was only one mall in our small suburban town outside of Brunswick, Georgia, we had been regulars here since middle school. We did everything at this mall: got our nails done, flirted with boys, saw movies, and hung out. Today, we were on the hunt for new shoes.

“So your mom got you a job for the summer, too?” Trish asked as she tried on a new pair of sandals, holding her foot out in front of her as she inspected how they looked from every angle. “And here I was looking forward to sleeping in for a change.”

Trish had an unhealthy love of shoes, more than anyone I knew. She always said it was the one thing she didn’t have to worry about fitting when her weight yo-yoed, which it often did. With the start of a new summer and bathing suit season, I was sure she was about to begin another crash diet, if she hadn’t done so already. Ava and I loved her no matter how she looked, and she always had a string of guys who lusted after her curvaceous body. She exuded self-confidence in public, but her closest friends saw through that. She always said she wanted to be super skinny like Ava, or petite like me. I had no idea why. I mean, at least she had boobs that required a bra.

“Trish, none of your classes this semester started before noon. You slept in every day!” Ava pulled one of the nylon footies out of the box the store provided and flung it like a slingshot at Trish.

“Yeah, but when you go to bed at five AM, it’s not really sleeping in, is it?”

“Anyway,” I interrupted my friends before they could continue their footie war and get us kicked out of the store. “Yes, my mom got me this job answering phones or something. One of her friends from church is the manager and had an opening. I start tomorrow. I don’t even get more than a week’s vacation before I’m back at it.”

I kicked off the nude peep-toe pumps I was ogling and replaced them in the box. Maybe after my first paycheck I could afford the designer label, but today they would not be coming home with me.

Trish saw my defeated face and wrapped me in a hug. “Well, we still have two days to enjoy our freedom, so enough about dreams and work. We have some shoes to buy!”

CHAPTER TWO

“Welcome to Allegro Corporation, Jillian. I’m Connie, the senior administrative assistant here. We’re so happy to have you aboard this summer. Your mother talks about you all the time.”

I smiled at the older, heavyset woman as she showed me around. The woman’s kitten heels clicked loudly as we walked. She paused every few seconds as she said “hey” to another co-worker and asked about their weekend. Connie cheerfully pointed out the copy machine, coffee maker, and mailroom.

This woman is way too cheerful for eight o’clock in the morning
, I thought.
But at least I know where the coffee maker is now
.

“I’m so grateful you had a spot here for me, Connie. But forgive me, my mom didn’t really explain to me what exactly I would be doing here.”

“Allegro is an advertising agency specializing in Internet advertisements and sales. We’re one of the largest employers here in Brunswick, with about six-hundred employees throughout the company. You are going to be answering phones and transferring calls for the sales department. It’s quite simple really.” She paused as we entered a bland cubicle at the end of a row. The cubicles to my left and right were empty, and the closest person was only in shouting distance. It appeared I would be all alone.

“Well, here we are. We’ll hire a few temps throughout the summer, so you won’t be alone for long.” I glanced around my workstation. It was empty save for a computer, chair, and phone. The phone was massive, with dozens of little green and red lights blinking away like a Christmas tree.

“I’ll send someone over to show you the ropes, but basically, you answer the calls using our standard greeting and look up the status of the person the caller wishes to speak to using the computer directory. If they’re available, transfer the call. If they’re out, transfer to voicemail and message the rep. The sales department is the largest department with over two hundred and fifty people, so it might seem overwhelming at first, but I’m sure you’ll pick it up in no time.”

My stomach tightened as I watched the array of lights twinkle. Unlike most tech-savvy kids my age, I was terrible with electronics. I’d graduated in the top ten percent of my high school, but was a complete moron when it came to computers, let alone fancy, hi-tech phones with blinking, angry lights that cautioned what I’d find on the other end. I’d accidentally broken three of my mom’s laptops somehow, and the Geek Squad cringed when they saw me walk into the store. I still didn’t have a smart phone because I was afraid I’d break it. I couldn’t even hook up my DVR correctly without getting Christian to fix it.

What If I can’t handle all the calls? Or I screw up? My mom called in a favor to get me this job; I can’t let her down or embarrass her by failing
. In a small town like this, everyone would know how badly I’d failed before she could even make it home. I swallowed down the lump in my throat and squared my shoulders, putting on a fake bright smile.

“It shouldn’t be a problem at all. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

I hoped speaking the words out loud would help instill some confidence, but I felt like a fraud.

“Well, if you need anything, call me. My extension’s in the directory. I’ll send Temperance right over to give you a quick demonstration, and someone from IT should be by to set you up with a username and password.”

I wasn’t given a chance to respond before someone called Connie over the intercom, and she left, heels clicking merrily away. I sat alone in the cubicle for a few minutes, trying to read the tiny buttons on the phone without much success when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“You must be Jillian,” a cheerful woman greeted.

Why is everyone so happy this early in the morning
, I groaned in my head.

She wore a sunny yellow top with white lace adorning the collar and a pleated black skirt that fell below her knee. She was probably in her late thirties, but with her lack of makeup she appeared older. “I’m Temperance. I’m going to show you how all this craziness works. How familiar are you with the Cisco Unified IP phone system?”

“Um, not at all. I’ve never worked in an office before. The past couple of years I was a camp counselor, and I babysat, so this is all kind of new to me.” Temperance pursed her lips disapprovingly. I looked down at my feet, lifting my hand to my mouth as I bit the side of my thumb, trying to will my face not to flush.

“Oh boy. This is going to be harder than I thought. And they put you on the busiest floor, too,” she clucked, taking my hand and dragging me to another cubicle a few rows away and pushing me into the chair. “All you have to do is…” She prattled on and on for fifteen minutes about the meanings of the rainbow of color choices in the computer, not pausing to give me a chance to write any of it down or memorize a thing. “Got it?”

I couldn’t even respond, trying to keep the colors and screens straight in my head. I simply stared at her like a deer in headlights.

“Here, sit down and watch how I do it for a while. You’ll pick it up.”

Two hours later, I was completely overwhelmed and bored out of my mind simultaneously. We hadn’t moved at all, and I hated sitting still for this long. I swiveled in the chair, spinning in circles and taking in all the knitted decorations that filled Temperance’s cubicle. Between the crocheted seat cozy and pictures of cats everywhere with sayings like “Hang in there” and “You’re purrfect they way you are,” I assumed the woman didn’t get out much.

Temperance made me watch everything from a distance, never letting me participate in the training or learn anything. I tried for the first thirty minutes to look over her shoulder and pay attention to what she did, but the woman pushed buttons and typed so fast, I had no idea what she was actually doing. When she announced it was time for me to try it on my own, my heart began to race.

“Are you sure? Maybe I should take the rest of the day to observe and try it tomorrow?”

Temperance swiveled in her chair to face me. “Nah, I think you’re ready. Come on, give it a try.”

I had no idea what inspired this woman’s confidence in me, but Temperance was determined. She stood up from the chair, took her headset off, and brushed off her chair, inviting me to sit.

“Now, the next time the phone rings, simply do what I’ve been doing.”

I have no idea what you’ve been doing
, I thought as I switched seats
. I’ve been making a list of birthday present options for my Gamma in my head
instead and practicing my Russian
.

“Here goes nothing.”

CHAPTER THREE

“Dude, did you get a look at the new hottie Connie was bringing around this morning?” JT plopped down at the desk beside me, spinning around in two full circles before coming to a stop and booting up his iMac. He wore his customary wrinkled khakis with the company polo we all wore, his comic book tee shirt peeking out from under it.

I returned my focus back to my screen. “No, I didn’t see anyone this morning since I got here early to recode this algorithm. You know—the one we were both supposed to start on an hour ago?”

“Sorry, man. My mom forgot to wake me. But seriously, Grant. You’ve gotta go check this girl out. Smokin’ body, tight little ass, and that sweet Southern twang that hits me in all the right places, if ya know what I mean.”

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his comments about the new girl. “JT, you’re almost twenty-five. Why is your mom still waking you up? Or for that matter, why are you still living at home? It’s just sad, dude.”

JT flicked his pen cap at me using a rubber band as a slingshot. I ducked as it whizzed by and landed in my now-empty coffee cup.

“Whatever. I have it made. I don’t have to cook or clean, all my laundry is done and folded when I get home, and it’s free. Why would I give that up?”

There was no talking sense into him. “You live with your mom! How do you expect to ever get a girl like that?”

He swiveled toward me and bent slightly, placing his elbows on his knees and steepling his fingers by his chin. “Any chick who wants a piece of this,” he paused, running his hands up and down his body like a Price is Right model, “better be down with my ma living with us. I mean, ever since Pops left, she’s been real sad and shit. What kind of son would I be if I didn’t let her take care of me and just moved out?”

“You’d be the kind of son with more than only his left hand to keep him company.” I stood up, tossing my empty cup in the trash. I’d never understand how JT scored girls’ numbers every time we went out. He dressed like a slob, had terrible manners, but yet girls still fell all over him. I asked him once. He winked at me and told me it was because he could pass for Joshua Jackson’s twin brother (and often did to get laid). The bastard had all the luck.