1. Next Chapter 3


    Date: 6/17/2016, Categories: Fiction Author: Michael.F

    ... home. I was pulling on my coat when Frank stuck his head out from the back. “Hey, Jack, come back here for a second.” I sighed and walked into the back, ready to get a reaming for coming in late. “Frank, I’m sorry. I’ve just been having a lot of—” He waved his hand, cutting me off. “Is there anything I can do?” he asked. I blinked. “Huh?” “Look, you wanna look at if from a business perspective, you’re a damn good worker which means you’re a damn good asset. We lose a damn good asset, it’s gonna be pretty damn bad for business.” “I don’t know if I’m that damn valuable,” I replied. He smirked a little and continued: “You wanna look at if from a personal perspective, you’re a good kid, Jack. Not just a good worker. And when I see you having a frown and muttering when I usually think I need to tie you down so you don’t float away on a bubble of joy, that gets me worried. Being late? Who cares? Happens to everything. But this…” He gestured around his face. “The whole depressed thing…doesn’t look good on you, Jack. And if I can help, I will.” I smiled a little. “Thanks, Frank, but it’s stuff I gotta take care of on my own.” He pursed his lips and nodded. “Still dealing with the girlfriend?” I sighed. “Yeah, but this time it’s something different.” “Oh? The other thing get worked out?” “Yeah, but now it’s another thing. And it’s on her.” He made an ‘eesh’ expression. “I hope you’re not planning on saying that to her face.” “Of course not. But…I’m just trying to work through it and ...
    ... everything. Like, do I get mad at her or not. That sort of thing.” He shrugged. “Well, you know the situation better than me. All I’m gonna say is to just be careful bringing it to work. If you can’t escape the personal crap at work, it’s gonna eat at you no matter what you do.” Wonderful. “Thanks Frank.” “No problem. I hope things get better.” I nodded and turned to leave. “And remember!” I turned back. He pointed at me. “A damn good asset.” I smirked. “Thanks.” It was a long car ride home, partly because I got stuck in the fucking red-light cycle and hit every single one on the way home and partly because my brain wouldn’t shut the hell up for a minute. I know you’re probably getting tired of hearing everything that was bugging me but just imagine what it’s like having it run through your head on constant repeat like a little kid shouting in your ear. I tried to push it to the back of my mind, turn it into white noise so I could just focus on the road, but it was some pretty damn loud white noise. And every time I had to go back to concentrating on the road, whether it was a turn or a green light, the white noise would suddenly become intelligible again and the battle would begin again. Angry or not angry. Jealous or not jealous. What the fuck do I do? That last one I had no answer for. I knew I needed to talk to Kayla again but how the hell do I approach her after the way I left her this morning. Even if the part of my brain that said I should be mad at her won out, there ...
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