people, tiny living spaces, and too much work, not enough living.
Today would be her fourth sixteen-hour shift that week. Not exactly how she envisioned her mid-twenties. She didn’t get a job on Wall Street, yet here she was, slugging it to her tiny-ass studio after a long day, hoping there’d be leftover takeout in her fridge, only to repeat the process less than eight hours later. Her boss told her it was just temporary, but Olivia had her doubts. The magazine was growing, becoming more successful. Now that she was experienced and had gained the confidence of management, they just kept piling the work on her.
Dear Kane,
No charges filed. Keep emailing, they are a welcome change in my long days. It seems like a fluke we met, because shortly after you left by boss decided I needed next to no free time. Did you go to port yet? Any more loafers in your brother’s future?
Olivia
*****
“Hey Olivia, missed you again. Look, I was wondering, ah, if you wanted to take a much needed vacation and come out to meet me when I’m done with this cruise in a few weeks? I’d love to see you again. Later.”
*****
Dear Kane,
I’m sorry, work won’t give me time off on such short notice. I suspect they won’t give me any time off. Ever. I’m afraid I’m back to wondering what I want to be when I grow up, because this isn’t it.
Don’t mean to be a downer. You’re finally coming home, that’s awesome! Do you get time off, or have to wait until your brother’s wedding to relax. Or is that even relaxing? I have to endure a sibling wedding myself next year. It’ll be fun, right?
Sorry again,
Olivia
*****
Dear Hot Stuff,
To address an earlier email: port was nice. We stopped in Spain, and I got Jeff and Kate each a robe to go with their slippers. They will chill in style.
To address your reply to my request: that sucks. If you ever tell the boss to shove it and walk, you have a place to crash. Just sayin’. Life’s too short to hate your job. Aspects of my job completely blow, but I love what I do and that makes it worth it. At least for nine more years, until I retire and become that Veteran who regales any young kid who’ll listen with stories of my complete awesomeness at sea.
No pressure, Olivia. Just think about it. The offer will still be there in three weeks.
Kane
Chapter Six
“I fail to see what the problem is.”
Bethany needed a good throttling.
“The problem is, Beth, that I hardly know him.” Olivia had called her best friend so she would talk some sense into her and help expunge the crazy ideas that had creeped into Olivia’s mind.
“No, not in the traditional sense, but your intuition is screaming to get up close and personal with him. You’re a smart girl, if you bug out of New York and settle in with him, and find out he has a porn addiction and hangs out at schools telling little girls he has candy, you can get out of there.”
“And go where?” Olivia couldn’t believe Bethany was encouraging her to leave her job, leave the state, and be with a man she barely knew.
“Your parents will always take you in.”
“Uh-huh. Hey Mom, I moved in with this hot guy I had a fling with, but turns out he’s not cool, so can I move back home? Beth, seriously?”
“I am fucking serious, Olivia. Come stay with me then. But you’re miserable in New York. You were miserable with David, and you’re miserable without Kane. You have skills, girl. You can work anywhere. Sit in your underwear and make your own schedule. Change careers to something that makes you happy.”
Bethany was right. She did have skills. And she’d been entertaining the idea of working independently, maybe even start writing. She didn’t have much money saved up, but her tiny nest egg, if needed, would get her by until she got an online business started.
“I won’t work in my underwear.”
“Yeah, you will. Because you will have had hot sex with Kane before you kicked it with the laptop.”
*****
No reply. The last call went to voicemail. Like always. She couldn’t come out and see him. She ignored his e-mail offering to let her move in with him. But she was smart, she’d know what his offer was. And since she was smart, she probably wasn’t going to leave her job and uproot her life to settle down with a