I'll take that and slide
it into the middle of his stack of papers. When he asks about you not
being here I'll tell him that there was something from you a couple
of days ago that I put in his in-box. That ought to cover it.
Quitting with no notice is a lot better on your record than just not
showing up.”
Lisa's voice went slightly accusatory
with the last sentence.
“I'm sorry Lisa, honestly there
was no way I could've been here the last couple of days. There's a
lot of weird shit going on in my life, starting on the day I called
in sick. I've just been swept along with it.”
Lisa's voice was slightly sarcastic
when she replied.
“Whatever you say Jacob. I'm sure
you have a good reason. Let me go get your check.”
Lisa got up and left the room.
“She wanted you to ask her out.
Did you know that?” Kelly asked him softly.
“Lisa? She never even hinted at
it.”
“She thought you'd notice that
she treated you differently than the other people working here. Now
she's upset because she thinks you have two attractive girlfriends.”
Jacob shook his head.
“I never noticed. I figured she
thought I was just another guy working here.”
Lisa entered the room again before
Kelly could say anything else.
“Here you go, you need to sign
for it like normal.”
Jacob signed and took his check.
“Bye Lisa, sorry I won't be
seeing you around any more.”
Lisa's good bye was bitter.
“Bye Jacob.”
They turned and left the office
building. Sure enough, Keith was waiting on the walk.
“If it isn't the little puke,”
Keith said.
“Lay off it Keith, I don't need
your shit right now,” Jacob replied.
Keith turned his attention from Jacob
to the two girls.
“Ladies, what are you doing with
a loser like Jacob? You're obviously both far too attractive to be
with him,” he said.
Kelly stared at Keith silently, Greta
turned so her back was to him.
“Keith, why do you try to pull
this kind of shit all the time?” Jacob asked.
“Hey, stuff it asshole, you left
us shorthanded and I had to work two shifts by myself when I
should've had someone else helping.”
“Really? That's kind of
surprising since we have different jobs.”
“Yeah, well they pulled my
partner to do your job. He told me it's easy enough a trained monkey
could do it. I figure that's why they hired you in the first place.”
“Keith, just go away. I already
quit and I'm leaving now,” Jacob said.
Keith stepped forward until he stood
chest to chest with Jacob.
“Good, then I won't leave us any
more shorthanded when I lay you out,” he said.
Keith drew a fist back and started to
swing. Jacob stepped out of the way so he wouldn't be hit, but the
punch never materialized. He looked over and saw that Kelly had a
grip on Keith's wrist. One tight enough that the flesh her hand
grasped was white from the pressure.
“Let me go you bitch,”
Keith screamed.
“Apologize first,” Kelly
said calmly, no stress evident in her voice.
She held Keith's wrist as he tried to
pull his arm loose.
“You're only going to hurt
yourself if you try that,” Kelly said.
“Let go of me!” Keith
yelled.
Kelly squeezed, Jacob watched as her
fingers sank into Keith's flesh.
“Alright, I'm sorry I called you
a bitch,” he said.
“You really are as dumb as Jacob
said you were, aren't you. Don't apologize to me, apologize to Jacob.
I've only had the displeasure of knowing you for a few minutes. He's
been forced to endure you for months.”
Greta giggled, Keith protested, and
Kelly squeezed harder.
“I'm sorry Jacob. Okay? I
apologized, let me go before you break my wrist,” Keith said.
“One other thing,” Kelly
said. “You don't have to apologize for calling me a bitch, but
don't think you're getting away with it either.”
She spat in his face, carefully aiming
it to ensure that some got into both his eyes and mouth.
“If you like, you can try that
punch again when I let you go. But I won't be as gentle stopping you
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