Chapter 28
Jody took a deep breath as she went into her store. She hadn’t slept for the two days following her breakup with Taylor and she knew she didn’t look too great. She made a feeble attempt to hide the bags under her eyes with concealer, but her whole face seemed to be dragged down.
“Jody?” Dana questioned. Jody looked up at her with forlorn eyes. “Jody you look horrible!”
“Thanks,” she muttered as she made her way past the side of the counter and to the back room. “Horace here?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Yeah, he’s in the back,” Dana responded in complete and utter disbelief.
Jody disappeared a few minutes later.
“Horace?” Jody questioned.
He turned around. “Jody?” She nodded. “G-d Jode. I barely recognized you.”
“Yeah, well.”
He took a quick glance at the schedule. “You’re not even supposed to be in today.”
“No. I figured this was better handled in person.”
Horace squinted at her to try to clarify what she was saying.
“I’d like to transfer stores.”
“You what?”
“I need you to transfer me to another store.”
Horace was still in shock and he sputtered for words. “I don’t get it. You love the City and I thought you were happy here.”
“I was.”
“Is this about your salary? ‘Cause you can just name your price and I’ll match it.” He picked up the phone and began to dial. “I’ll get it approved right now if you want.”
“Save your energy, Horace.” He stopped his dialing. “My mind’s made up.”
“I’ll double your salary. You’re well overdue for a raise.”
“No.”
“Triple it?”
“Horace, no.” She ran an exasperated hand through her hair.
“Jody, what can I do to make you stay?”
She looked down. “You can’t.”
Jody’s statement seemed to nail reality into Horace. “You’re really serious about leaving?”
“Yes, Horace. I’m leaving.”
He sighed. “When do you want the transfer for?”
“Immediately.”
“Immediately?” he parroted. “Jody, that’s gonna be next to impossible to do. You’ve gotta give me at least a week.”
“I can’t do that.”
“It’s only a week.”
“Horace, I’ve never asked you for anything. You needed someone to come in and help out over the holidays or when someone’s called in sick, I was there.”
“Yeah, but you’ve been stressed these last few months...”
“Which is exactly why a transfer would help me out.” Horace sighed. “You’ve even said that I could save money on my commute in and that would help me get back to school sooner.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Jode.”
“I know,” she responded softly. “It’s just time for me to leave.”
He studied her for a moment. “Can I ask the reasons behind your decision?”
Jody sighed. He just opened the proverbial can of worms. More than anything, she didn’t want to tell him that this was about Taylor. “It’s personal,” is all she said.
“I see,” Horace responded thoughtfully. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but does this have anything to do with that young guy who used to come in here?”
Jody had predicted the question and her eyes had welled up in response. “I, um...” A stray tear had worked its way down her cheek. “I’d rather not answer that.”
“Fair enough.”
There was a moment of silence between the two. Jody used the time to collect herself and Horace tried to figure out how to word his next sentence.
“Listen, Jode, I’m gonna try to get you out of here as soon as I can.”
“Thanks,” she sniffled.
“But I’m going to have to ask you to be prepared to finish off the week.”
Jody nodded. “That’s only fair.” She took a deep breath. “And I’m going to ask you that you won’t tell anybody where I’m going.”
Horace looked confused. “What?”
“When people ask what happened, just say that I had a family emergency and needed to leave immediately. If they ask where I went or where I am, just say that I didn’t tell you when I rushed out of here.”
“That’s not like you.”
“I know.”
He took another deep breath. “So you’re willing to give this all up and essentially betray the other employees.”
Jody scoffed slightly. “It’s not that deep, Horace. I can’t keep working here knowing that Taylor’s down the street. If anybody knows where I’ve gone, there’s still that outside chance that they’ll tell him and I can’t risk that. I can’t risk seeing him again. I just can’t do it.” She paused and lowered her voice along with her eyes. "I'm not that strong."
“OK.”
Jody furrowed her eyebrows. “OK what?”
“OK. You’ve got your transfer.” Horace stood. “It’s been a pleasure having you on staff here, Jode. We’re really gonna miss you.”
“I’m gonna miss you guys too.”
“Are you sure about this, though? It’s not too late to change your mind.”
“Horace, I need to leave this whole situation behind.”
“We all just want you to be happy. If this is going to help you, then go.”
“Thank you, Horace.”
“Now get out of here before I find a reason why you can’t leave.”
Jody smiled for the first time in what felt like ages. “Thanks again.”
“I’ll call you later and let you know that you’ll officially start on Long Island on Wednesday.”
Jody shook her head with a smile and readjusted her bag. “I’ll talk to you later, then.”
Jody meandered back to the front of the store and took a long look around.
“You leaving, Jode?” Dana asked as she finished making a vanilla creame frap.
“Yeah, I’m outta here.”
“Go get some rest.”
“Yes, Mom,” Jody teased. She took another look around before returning back to her friend. “Bye Dana.”
Dana squinted at Jody. “Are you implying something?”
Jody shrugged. “See you around.”
With that, she was out of the store, into the bright sunshine, and down the block.
Horace joined Dana at the counter soon after.
“She’s not coming back, is she?” Dana questioned.
“Nope.”
“Did she quit?”
“Nope.”
“Transfer?”
“Yup.”
“Long Island?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“You think she’ll be OK?”
“For her sake, I hope so. Any more heartbreak for her and I would have transferred her anyway.”
Dana took a pause before her next question.
“Did you know she was going to do this?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Really?”
Horace shrugged. “She needs this.” Dana gave him a funny look. “She’s too sweet, too nice, too pretty, too smart to just roll over after this. The change of scenery is the best thing for her right now.”
“You think she’ll be back?”
Horace shrugged. “Maybe just to visit. She’ll never stop in for more than a few minutes though.”
“What about Taylor?”
“Oh he’ll be in.”
“You really think so?”
“Sure. He’ll come to his senses and realize what he gave up. Jody was better than any groupie that little Hanson boy could have gotten.”
Dana looked shocked. “What? I thought Jody was trying to keep that under wraps.”
Horace shrugged. “A group of teenyboppers came in looking for him one day. They asked about Jody and I had to tell them that she was only temporary.”
“I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”
“I’m sure she appreciates a lot right now.”
Dana paused again and took a deep breath.
“You really think she’ll be OK?”
Horace nodded sincerely. “She’s strong. She’s Jody, she’ll be fine.”
THE END
Index
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