Hello. Goodbye - Chapter Two
Lily's promotion troubles her as Jamie tries to survive every trial being thrown at him.
Chapter Two.
It was a week ago Lily had said her final "Hi" to Jamie. Yet, there he was. The exact opposite of the clean cut, well dressed executive. Unbelievable.
As she pretended to decide over two different brands of laundry detergent, she peeped every so often wondering who he was waiting for. The last time she took a peek, he was gone. When she finally decided which bottle to buy, and turned to walk, she bumped straight into a wall of pure muscle.
Oof.
"Sorry.." Lily mumbled as she walked around the tower of a man and scurried towards the cashier before Jamie caught sight of her.
Jamie chuckled as he watched cute little Lily scurry around him as quickly as she could. She probably didn't notice it was him; she didn't even look up. He wondered why she'd always been like that- even at work she never paid much attention to her surroundings; or so it seemed. Shrugging her out of his mind, he walked back to the pharmacist's counter to pick up the prescription he'd been waiting to get filled.
To top off his growing list of pains, he had a cold.
After the two weeks without work, the heat in his apartment was turned off after giving his final notice to his landlord. Figuring it was time to give the office scene up for good, he took this opportunity to get back to his first passion. Art.
He had a long conversation with his father who lived in uptown Marsdale. Life should be better back there, he decided, and began throwing the things he needed and couldn't live without in boxes and luggage. Everything else, he threw into black garbage bags and sent off to the salvation army.
"I'm going home", he thought aloud.
A few weeks passed by, and Lily felt she still couldn't keep up with the workload. No wonder Jamie looked so worn out before the week even started. It was rumored that she was his replacement. It must have been easier to promote lower ranking staff than hire someone new or give Jamie the raise everyone thought he deserved. In the end, it was all due to budget constraints or something in the financial aspect of business. When she found that out, she tried to work harder at her new job, but at almost every turn she was met with a problem. She had lost a good share of troublesome clients; this alone would be grounds for termination, she was very certain.
The day she found out about the reason behind Jamie's termination, she silently prayed not to bump into or ever see him again.
The guilt about the whole situation ate her up inside. How could she look him in the face knowing she was part of the reason why he lost his security. Had she known what the circumstances of her upgrade, she would never have accepted the promotion.
A month soon passed- slowly- and she grew more stressed after having a couple meetings with her boss. He had cautioned her to be attentive to the customer's needs, even gave her some tips. The only thing was, Lily really did inherit the worst customers of all. They tried to scrounge up reasons not to pay for their products. As much as she tried to let her boss in on the issues, he tossed them aside and pointed the finger back in her direction to sort out herself.
What a helpful boss, she fumed inwardly. Never had she known him to be this harsh to herself and others in her previous pool.
Letting out a sigh to calm her nerves she formed a plan in her mind on how to handle her clients' issues.
Her career that had just begun and was prematurely hanging by a thread. It was at this moment, she decided that may be a vacation was just what she needed. Perfect timing too, she thought as she stared at her calendar.
Before her promotion, she had requested and been approved for a week-long vacation for her best cousin's wedding. Just one more week to plow down and she'll get the mental rest she has been lacking, craving and deserving.
She could hardly wait.
It was a week ago Lily had said her final "Hi" to Jamie. Yet, there he was. The exact opposite of the clean cut, well dressed executive. Unbelievable.
As she pretended to decide over two different brands of laundry detergent, she peeped every so often wondering who he was waiting for. The last time she took a peek, he was gone. When she finally decided which bottle to buy, and turned to walk, she bumped straight into a wall of pure muscle.
Oof.
"Sorry.." Lily mumbled as she walked around the tower of a man and scurried towards the cashier before Jamie caught sight of her.
Jamie chuckled as he watched cute little Lily scurry around him as quickly as she could. She probably didn't notice it was him; she didn't even look up. He wondered why she'd always been like that- even at work she never paid much attention to her surroundings; or so it seemed. Shrugging her out of his mind, he walked back to the pharmacist's counter to pick up the prescription he'd been waiting to get filled.
To top off his growing list of pains, he had a cold.
After the two weeks without work, the heat in his apartment was turned off after giving his final notice to his landlord. Figuring it was time to give the office scene up for good, he took this opportunity to get back to his first passion. Art.
He had a long conversation with his father who lived in uptown Marsdale. Life should be better back there, he decided, and began throwing the things he needed and couldn't live without in boxes and luggage. Everything else, he threw into black garbage bags and sent off to the salvation army.
"I'm going home", he thought aloud.
A few weeks passed by, and Lily felt she still couldn't keep up with the workload. No wonder Jamie looked so worn out before the week even started. It was rumored that she was his replacement. It must have been easier to promote lower ranking staff than hire someone new or give Jamie the raise everyone thought he deserved. In the end, it was all due to budget constraints or something in the financial aspect of business. When she found that out, she tried to work harder at her new job, but at almost every turn she was met with a problem. She had lost a good share of troublesome clients; this alone would be grounds for termination, she was very certain.
The day she found out about the reason behind Jamie's termination, she silently prayed not to bump into or ever see him again.
The guilt about the whole situation ate her up inside. How could she look him in the face knowing she was part of the reason why he lost his security. Had she known what the circumstances of her upgrade, she would never have accepted the promotion.
A month soon passed- slowly- and she grew more stressed after having a couple meetings with her boss. He had cautioned her to be attentive to the customer's needs, even gave her some tips. The only thing was, Lily really did inherit the worst customers of all. They tried to scrounge up reasons not to pay for their products. As much as she tried to let her boss in on the issues, he tossed them aside and pointed the finger back in her direction to sort out herself.
What a helpful boss, she fumed inwardly. Never had she known him to be this harsh to herself and others in her previous pool.
Letting out a sigh to calm her nerves she formed a plan in her mind on how to handle her clients' issues.
Her career that had just begun and was prematurely hanging by a thread. It was at this moment, she decided that may be a vacation was just what she needed. Perfect timing too, she thought as she stared at her calendar.
Before her promotion, she had requested and been approved for a week-long vacation for her best cousin's wedding. Just one more week to plow down and she'll get the mental rest she has been lacking, craving and deserving.
She could hardly wait.
Post Comment | View Comments
