"So, looking for a job?" the cashier asked me as I filled out an application. These clothes must have really been improving my chances. "I know the boss, he's my uncle."
"Really?" That might help get my foot in the door. "Yeah, I'll try and work hard if I get a job here," I added. I heard a small chuckle behind me, and tried to ignore Mister Umbrella. He was putting straws in his mouth, and clapping his hands together, pretending to be a walrus. Okay, it was a little funny to see a guy in a suit with an umbrella acting like a walrus, but I couldn't laugh. It did cause me to smile a couple of times though.
"Yeah, it would be great if you worked here." The cashier leaned closer to me. "Listen, you want to grab a hamburger real quick with me? I have a little time off, and I'd like to learn more about you."
Oh, great. Date, yeah. Ugh. I smiled, knowing going 'creep' wouldn't land me a job. If he was right about his uncle being in charge, it would hurt to reject him. "Okay, sure."
Mister Umbrella stopped acting like a walrus and put that trademark serious look back on. He adjusted his tie and walked over with me. "Are you eating with him just to get a job? That's bribery. That's wrong." He looked over toward the cashier as he sat down with him. "He should not be there sitting with you."
"Later," I whispered to Mister Umbrella. I looked over at the name tag on the cashier. "So, Jerry, huh?"
"Yeah, and you?" Jerry asked me.
"Oh, I'm just Julie," I answered. "So…" I patted my hands against my leg. "What do you think my chances of getting a job are?"
"Pretty even," he answered as he grabbed one of the hamburgers he snagged behind the counter. Mister Umbrella stood there, fuming beside him. Geez, for an imaginary friend, he sure did have an anger issue today.
"He should not be sitting with you." Mister Umbrella's eyes didn't leave him. I tried to keep my eyes on Jerry, but Mister Umbrella thunked him on the ear.
"Ow. What the hey?" Jerry looked around, rubbing his ear. "Huh?" He looked back over at me and tried to brush it off like he felt nothing. "I mean, what the hey, chances are okay I bet."
I tried to keep my head down and concentrate on my burger but Mister Umbrella started blowing in his ear. Jerry kept striking around his ear, acting like it was a fly. "Something wrong?" Don't chuckle. Okay, a little chuckle can escape, but not a big one. My chuckle seemed to have encouraged Mister Umbrella though.
It was so hard, you have no idea how difficult it is not to laugh when someone is trying to act like no one is messing with their hair and ears. I couldn't help but crack when Mister Umbrella pinched his nose. Jerry just kept talking and I lost it. He had the nerve to look at me asking what was wrong. I blamed it on the fact he sounded funny.
"Almost like someone's pinching your nose. Do you have a cold?" Keep it together, Julie, I needed this job.
"This corner is just bugging me," Jerry confided. "Thanks for the company during my lunch break. Did you write your number on that application, in case we need to call you about the job?"
Yes, I did, but if he calls, it better be for the job. I got up, shook his hand, and headed out. As Jerry got up though, Mister Umbrella moved his umbrella in front of Jerry, causing him to trip.
"Oops. However did that happen?" Mister Umbrella moved over to him and strode over toward me. "Clumsy fellow."
It didn't matter what Mister Umbrella thought. Later that day, I got a call and the job had been mine. I told my Aunt Merissa after dinner and she actually wrapped me in a hug. It was just a job, but with the way I'd cleaned up my appearance, she seemed to care a little more.
"Julie, I want you to know, I've noticed," she said to me before bed. "The healthier eating. The clothes. You are taking important baby steps to getting your own life. One of these days, you'll be living out on your own."
"It's just a job," I downplayed it, but I hugged her a little bit back when she moved in for an embrace. I looked over in the corner and saw Mister Umbrella, just smiling at me.
"For now," she said softly.
I knew what she was hinting at. College. I almost broke down, but I didn't. College and me, it just couldn't happen. I made up an excuse about being more tired than usual, and escaped the situation by going to my room. Mister Umbrella tried to follow me, but I didn't let him. I closed the door behind myself.
He appeared in front of me anyhow. "Jewelsy."
"No, I don't care," I said to him. "I know what she wants. That's what they want, it's not what I want. That is the opposite of happiness," I told him. "Just give me some time to think."
"Jewelsy," he warned me. "Friends at college would be good for you. You'd graduate, get a better job, and a life of your own. That would bloom into happiness."
"The only happiness I need is to have a roof over my head, and a job." I held out my hands, signaling that was it. "Okay? That's it." I wasn't getting pushed into college! Something…there was something. "Just, leave me be for a few minutes. Go be imaginary somewhere else."
"Jewelsy, be nice. Being twice as nice makes more friends," he warned me. He lifted his hat. "I will give you a few minutes to yourself. I suppose you may have felt stifled."
Stifled was too simple of a word. He didn't leave my side all day. Especially after the restaurant, he was stuck like freakin' glue to my side. He disappeared and I headed toward my bed. Just a few minutes of rest. That was all I needed.