Read Online Just Another Job by Casey Peterson - Free Book Online Page A

enthusiasm with a quick kiss on the
head.
    “What happened!?” asked Gerry, with even
more energy than his sister.
    “Don't hold back,” said Sadie, who reached
around her children to grab her husband for a hug and kiss that
expressed all the terror conjured in her heart from waiting for him
to walk through the front door.
    Chris hurried through his story, being
self-aware not to embellish as he would normally. Guilt gnawed on
his conscience nonetheless. Louise had a volleyball tournament and
kissed her father proudly goodbye once he was done. Gerry was out
the door next to play with a neighbor and likely boast of his
father's new job without the restraint Chris had. This left Sadie
with him and the chance for more than just a flavorless story about
his day.
    “You're upset about something. What really
happened?” asked Sadie.
    “It was my fault the girl was in danger. I
had her in my arms and stopped to watch. I couldn't look away.”
    “It's not your fault – ”
    “What if it was Louise? This girl already
had a hard enough life fighting cancer and then she gets killed by
a would-be hero's stupid indecision. We could have easily made it
inside.” He cried and choked out the next words. “I stopped.”
    “It is your fault. You're right.” Chris
looked up at Sadie. She was serious. He was stabbed in the heart
and his brain stumbled over her reasoning. “But you know what you
did was wrong and you can do something different next time. It
wasn't Louise and the girl was safe. You’re safe.” She cried, but
her words came out clear. “And you better remember. You need to
remember to be different next time. Cause it’s not fair to your
family, to me; to do something like that again.”
    “You're mad at me?”
    “Yes, and I should be. You've put your
family in jeopardy twice now. You lost your job to save – not even
save – to help a boy with a broken leg. And then almost lose your
life for a girl you tried to save. You can't keep doing this. It's
not your job.”
    “What if it is now? Do I quit?”
    “Maybe. You're supposed to be a secretary or
something. I don't what it's called, but it involves writing, not
this extra stuff. They’re the heroes. They don't get hurt or die.
Leave it to them.”
    “Erik officially made me into their
sidekick. He said it's mostly symbolic. I'm to show up and not get
in the way when something happens, but I need to be there for the
reporters and image of it all. He said something about Frank
too.”
    Sadie slammed her palm in his shoulder. “How
could you? That’s even worse. You’re just a sidekick charade.”
    “How could I not? You just said I have to
make it different next time. I'm still writing and documenting what
happens.”
    “I meant not make the same choice to risk
your life.” Chris pulled her into a hug but she pushed him back.
“No, this discussion’s not over.”
    “How do you want to finish this? Do you want
me to quit? They're giving me a raise and more time off. I thought
that's what you wanted? Me here more.”
    “I do. But if it means when you're not here
you might not come back, then no.”
    “I promise I’ll be different. I can't stop
again like I did. You’re right. It's not fair to you or Louise or
Gerry. It's also not fair of you to stop me. I need you to push me
to go.”
    “It is fair for me to ask you to stop. You
can't do this forever.”
    “But I can do it now.”
    “It's your decision.” She stopped talking
and looked away from him for the first time since they started
arguing.
    “I think...” He didn't want to say it. He
wanted her to agree with him and it to be over. “I think I need to
do this. This might be what I am. Maybe I was meant to save and
protect people.”
    Sadie looked back up at him, surprised that
he finished the decision on his own. She wanted to keep fighting
with him, wanted to stay mad, but instead she said, “You better not
fucking die on us.”
    Chris made his way close to her again. Sadie
wrapped