As Erik thought about his work schedule and how to tell Liona about it, she encouraged him to open the invitation.
"Go on and open the invitation! I customized this one, just for you!" She seemed excited for him to open it.
He didn't want to destroy the pretty seal on the back, but in order to open it, he had to. Taking a deep breath, Erik slid his finger under the back flap and gently slid it under the seal to break it open. The gold foil crinkled and then gave way, falling into a smattering of gold dust that was carried away by the slight breeze. After a moment's lament, he lifted the flap of the envelope and slowly slid out the thick card that was the invitation. The card was probably the most beautiful piece of artwork he had ever seen. It was a fantasy painting of a young woman that was obviously Liona since her face was so detailed, standing in a field with a rainbow in the distance and the lettering stating that he was cordially invited.
Opening the card slowly, he saw the neat script printed inside, addressed to him, with the details of the party, that was in exactly a week, the address, as well as the dress code of semi-formal attire. That worried him since he didn't have semi-formal clothing. 'Wait. Why am I even worrying about having anything to wear?! I can't go anyway! That day is a work day!' He thought a bit sadly.
"Keep reading, you haven't gotten to the best part!" Liona encouraged, almost as if she could read his thoughts again.
He kept reading, and to his astonishment, when he got to the bottom of the card, there was a note about compensated wages for a day. This really confused him. Was she saying that he was to take this day off of work and she would pay him to attend her party?
"Uhmm, what exactly does this mean, 'compensated wages'? I don't think I quite understand…" He understood but wanted clarification.
"It's exactly as it says. I'll pay you back for missing work and attending my party. You just tell me what you would make in a day, and I'll deposit a day's wage in your account." She seemed so confident, so he felt the need to test that statement.
"So, all I have to do is tell you what I would make? Aren't you afraid that I would make up some ridiculous amount? I mean I could lie and say I make more than I do, just to get more money from you." Erik sighed.
"But why? I mean why would you do that?" Liona tilted her head like she was confused. He dragged a palm down his face. As he thought; she was a clueless and naive rich kid.
"Look. Not everyone is honest, Liona. Some people will take advantage of an offer like this. You really shouldn't even offer to replace lost wages from someone taking a day off from their work, unless they are working for you." He tried to explain this concept to her as best as he could, but she still looked like a pretty little airhead when he was done. 'How has she lived up until now without any kind awareness of the real world?' He wondered, before he answered his own question. She was a sheltered rich girl, and her parents likely kept her bubble wrapped from all the unpleasant things in the world.
"I know that. But you don't strike me as the dishonest type." She said simply.
He wanted to cringe. She had no idea. He wasn't honest. He had done his fair share of stupid and scummy things. He was a thief and that made him a criminal. He wasn't a good person…
"Even if you said you were losing out on twice as much as you actually are, I would trust you." She said, making him further want to kick himself.
"Why would you trust someone like me?" He really had to know.
She tilted her head again, "Someone like you? You mean a hard worker that goes above and beyond his duties? Someone that can interact and put customers at ease with little effort? Or someone that has a spine but can hold back their anger at unjust treatment?"
'There she goes again with those character traits that aren't really me.' He thought.
"Erik, how could I call you a friend without giving you my trust? Friendship requires a little bit of trust, you know. I believe you are a good person and that's reason enough for me to want to compensate you for making you miss work."
"What about your parents? Don't they have anything to say about you giving me money?"
"Why would they? This is my money I'm using. I'm not using my dad's credit card to pay you. I'm using my own allowance, so even if my parents questioned it, they wouldn't interfere. They would just lecture me on being responsible with my money." She shrugged like it was no big deal.
Erik shouldn't be surprised, after all, rich kids got paid just to exist. They were handed money without a second thought by their equally rich parents.
"What about this dress code? I don't have anything that can be considered formal or even semi-formal. I have one pair of black work pants and that's it. I would just embarrass you if I showed up to your party looking like a hobo." He mumbled the last part, hoping that she didn't hear it.
"Oh, well, if that's the case, then let's go shopping! What's your work schedule like for the rest of the week? I'll pick you up after work or whenever you're free. We'll go to the mall, and I'll get you something nice to wear! Oh! Better yet! Bring your sisters too! I'll borrow one of my dad's work cars so we can fit everyone!"
Erik just shook his head; it seemed that Liona had an answer for everything. But fitting 7 people, plus he might have to bring Tyler with them if his mom didn't have a day off at the time. How could she fit them all in her small car? The van his mom drove barely fit them all. He completely missed her statement about borrowing a car from her dad while he was contemplating a shopping trip with her.
"Uh, I don't know if my mom will have a corresponding day off, if all my sisters come, then Tyler might have to come with us. Otherwise, Nikki, Kylee, or I, will have to stay home to watch him." He said honestly.
"Well, bring him with you! I don't see a problem; I'll just scrounge around the garage for my baby sisters' car seats. I'm sure one of them is still buried somewhere in there. I don't think the maid even cleans the garage nor do I think my mom or dad have really organized it in there in years!" She smiled that pretty smile of hers and it sent his stomach fluttering again. He was starting to have a hard time saying no or even arguing with her. She just had to smile, and it made him want to lay the world at her feet… 'Stop that! You're doing it again!' He scolded himself for his weird thoughts.
"Okay." He said simply. He gave her his work schedule for the remainder of the week. He expected her to comment on how little time he had for himself again, but she didn't say a word this time. She just smiled and promised to see him again tomorrow when he told her he had to get back to work.
Heading back inside the small coffee shop, he placed the bento in the employee fridge without looking inside and got back to work. He made sure to work twice as hard to make up for the early break he had taken at Dani's assistance. Although when it came time for his lunch break, he was going to work right through it, but Dani scolded him for trying to do so. So now he found himself outside in the slightly warmer sunshine that had mostly burned off the cloud cover.
Taking the lunchbox with him, he carefully pulled apart the layers and saw to his amazement that there were simple sandwiches in one layer, while there were fruits and veggies in another and finally, the third layer had a variety of sweets. He gulped at the array of sugar before him and quickly closed that layer back up. Just because there were sweets, didn't mean he had to indulge. He couldn't just pig out on them. Cavities were expensive and they couldn't afford that, so he opted to avoid the sugar. Instead, he examined what he thought were simple sandwiches, but each sandwich was different. There was everything from what looked like peanut butter and jelly, to some kind of breaded chicken and everything in between with a variety of meats and cheeses.
When he opened the compartment with the utensils, he found a note in a pretty. He read it out loud, "I didn't know what you liked, so I made a bit of everything. Tell me what you liked and I'll make more for you sometime!" The note then went on to describe what each sandwich had in it and the type of bread. Types of bread were a new experience for him since all he had ever eaten with a sandwich was just plain wheat bread that was the cheapest variety available. Each sandwich used a different type of bread ranging from something called sourdough, brioche, potato, milk & honey, multigrain wheat, and finally Laskiaispulla. He had never heard of half of these kinds of breads, especially not the Laki-something or other, let alone eaten them.