her company is hiring. The marketing department just lost someone because she had a baby and they’re looking to fill her position. I thought you would be perfect for it, so she gave me her contact information for you to submit your resume.”
As much as I’m enjoying holing up on my parent’s couch eating my favorite childhood sandwiches and plowing through every cheesy romance movie, it does sound refreshing to get back to reality—a job, showering regularly.
“Sounds great. I’ll give her a call.” I take a bite of my sandwich and moan. Damn, it’s just as tasty every time. The phone rings, and my mom excuses herself to answer it while I take down the rest of my lunch. My mom really should consider selling this idea. Probably make a bazillion—
“Honey, it’s for you.”
I twist my head. “For me?” Who the hell would be calling me on their house phone? I shovel another bite into my mouth and stand, taking the nineties receiver still mounted to the wall. “Hello?”
“Good afternoon. Is this Katie Swanson?”
“One and only. Can I help you?”
“Yes, this is Maribel Richards from First West Bank. I’m calling in regard to the three credit cards you have open with us.”
Oh, great. Here we go. “Yeah, so I actually closed those and spoke to someone at your bank about a payment plan. I’m kind of in a money crunch and unemployed at the moment.”
“Well, actually, we’re calling about that. It seems, Ms. Swanson, there was a glitch in our system. Our records show the credit card numbers were fraudulently used. We’re very sorry. This should have been caught by one of our staff sooner.”
“Uh, say again?”
“It’s very unheard of that this happens, but it seems these credit card accounts were being used by accident. We have a system in place that creates test accounts and uses them for test purchases as a way to make sure the bonus points structure is a success. Strangely enough, the system, when creating a fake account, matched up to your credit cards. Like I said, this has never happened before and we’re extremely sorry. Our team is currently working diligently to rectify the situation.”
I wipe the peanut butter off my lip. “Okay, you lost me. What exactly does that mean?”
“It means we are erasing the debt owed from all three cards, along with reversing the payments you’ve made the last three years. They will be transferred back into your bank account.”
I choke on my bite before I’m able to get it down. “Excuse me? Payments?”
“Yes. Please allow the bank twenty-four to forty-eight hours to transfer the money back into your account.”
I want to tell her I have no idea what payments she’s talking about considering I never knew about these cards until a month ago and James was certainly not paying on them. “And how much would you be transferring?” I ask.
“$42,651.52.”
My half chewed up bite goes flying out of my mouth, smacking my mom in the face. “Holy fuck!”
“Again, do please accept our apologies and thank you for banking with First West.”
“Yeah…uh…sure…” I hang up, standing there in shock.
Then I proceed to smack myself.
“Oh, dear, why did you do that? You’re going to hurt yourself.”
I look my mom dead in the eyes. “I need you to smack me.”
“I’m not going to smack you, honey. Who was that?”
“That was the bank. Unless I’m dreaming.” I smack myself again.
“Oh, goodness, knock that off!” My mom yells.
“So, you actually see me, right?” I’m not trapped in some alternate universe where I see people and things happen and—"
“Darryl!” my mom yells for my dad.
“What is it?” he asks, entering the kitchen.
“Something’s wrong with Katie. I think she’s finally lost it.”
He eyes me. “You all there, baby girl?”
I have no idea. I stand there as my parents cautiously await my next move. My skin starts to sting from where I slapped myself so I’m going to go with this is really happening. A grin slowly spreads across my face, making my cheeks hurt for a whole other reason. “Actually…I’m great!” I give my mom a huge kiss and then my dad. “I’m actually going to go shower. You know, make something of the day. Love you both.” I practically skip out of the kitchen before turning around. “Oh, and, Mom, really think about patenting that sandwich recipe. Real winner.” I skip out of the kitchen.
One week later…
I walk into the local coffee shop, unbuttoning my suitcoat. The potent smell of coffee brewing seeps into my nostrils, and