California Girls

Zennie smiled at her even as she had the oddest thought that Clark would enjoy looking at condos with her and C.J. She picked up her menu as a distraction, all the while telling herself that there was no reason Clark should be on her mind. They were done. Long done. Besides, if she were to fall for someone, it wouldn’t be him. Sure he’d been nice enough and interesting, but not for her. Clark, Schmark.

“What?” C.J. asked.

“I can’t wait for my hormones to calm down. My mom swears it will happen soon and when it does, I’m having a party.”

*

Ali was willing to admit it—she felt good. Better than good. She’d had the week off for her honeymoon and instead of feeling depressed and stupid, she’d spent the time figuring out her career and hanging with Daniel. She’d laughed with him, talked with him, made love with him and slept snuggled in his arms. Just as amazing, it turned out that keeping as busy as she’d been had meant eating less. Over the past couple of weeks, she’d noticed her clothes feeling a little looser. A quick step on the scale shocked her with the information that she’d lost ten pounds.

On her first day back at work she was wearing cute dark-wash jeans she hadn’t fit in for maybe eight months and a chunky open-knit sweater over a tank top she’d almost forgotten she had. One of the upsides of moving—aside from her yummy roommate—was going through all her clothes and reminding herself of what she owned. Something she should do more often, she told herself as she drove to the warehouse.

Losing a little weight had even inspired her to get up early and spend thirty minutes walking up and down the hills in Daniel’s neighborhood. She’d brought her lunch to work rather than going to the taco truck. Not that she would give up tacos forever, but a little protein on a salad every couple of days wouldn’t kill her and might keep the downward trend going.

“I feel good,” she whispered to herself as she parked, and she was determined that feeling should last. She had a nine-thirty meeting with her boss and once that was done, she was going to focus on her job and her responsibilities.

She got to her desk a few minutes early and plowed through her email. After printing out the weekly sales reports, she ran her inventory control program and collected the printouts before heading to see Paul.

She knocked on his open office door right at nine thirty. He looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

“Vacation agrees with you,” he said, motioning for her to come in and take a seat.

She closed the door before sitting in the chair and setting a folder on his desk. “I enjoyed my vacation,” she admitted. “I thought I’d be upset about Glen, but I barely thought about him.”

“I’m glad. He was never good enough for you. So, what can I do you for?”

Ali felt the first flicker of uncertainty, then told herself to suck it up. She was prepared with all her information and arguments. If Paul didn’t think she was ready to take over his job, then that was good information to have. She would make her plans accordingly. Either way, she was going to make her case.

“I heard you’re retiring,” she began, looking directly at him. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m ready. The missus and I are going to buy a place in Arizona and hide out from our kids.”

She smiled. “I happen to know you adore your kids and love your grandkids even more, so I know that’s not true.” She cleared her throat. “It’s taken you a while to find someone, which makes me wonder if the job is going to be more difficult to fill than anyone had considered. There might be a reason for that. I was disappointed not to be asked to interview for your job. I have the skills. I know how the warehouse functions, I’m good with the people and when you go on vacation, I’m the one who runs things.”

Paul looked surprised. “I never thought you’d be interested, Ali. You don’t talk about getting ahead. For the past six months you’ve been all about your wedding. I thought you’d see the promotion as too much work.”

His words hit her like a slap. Seeing herself from someone else’s point of view was instructive, but painful.

She wanted to say that wasn’t true, that she hadn’t been all about the wedding, only she thought maybe he was right. Once Glen had proposed, she’d kind of floated through life, spending her time planning and dreaming and writing her new last name on random pieces of paper.

“I don’t want to manage inventory for the rest of my life,” she said, keeping her voice steady. “I would like to be considered for the job. I’ve prepared information on what I’ve done to decrease theft and reduce shipping costs, along with the controls I’ve put in place for inventory.” She pushed the folder toward him.

“Ali, I know what you’ve done for the company.”

“Probably not all of it,” she said, keeping her tone light.

“Good point. Thanks.” His expression was kind. “I really didn’t know you’d be interested. Now that I do, I’ll be in touch to set up an interview with me and the owner. We’d rather promote from within and I think you’ll be an excellent candidate.”

“Thank you.”

She spoke calmly, but on the inside she was cheering. They spoke for a few more minutes, then she returned to her desk where she forced herself to act completely normal. Dancing in place would be too hard to explain.

At lunch she headed to the post office box she’d set up before moving out of her apartment. She collected a couple of circulars and her VISA bill, opening the latter when she was back in her car. She stared at the five-figure balance and felt all the blood rush from her head. How had it gone up from last time?