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“When in doubt about men, go for the women. It works out for most not-straight people.”
“Amy,” a male voice said. “Nice to see you again.”
I paused the game and turned to Sebastian, who’d just gotten home from work.
“Oh, hey,” I said with an awkward laugh. “I realize that without context, that didn’t make sense.”
“I’m used to it,” he replied, shaking his head. “I have a habit of only overhearing the weird things you say.”
“And always when you get home too. What a welcome.”
He laughed, but then his eyes turned to Lily, and she was all he saw. I didn’t blame him. If I were into women, I’d do the same thing. Ever since Lily had begun living for herself and not her parents, she was ethereal.
I looked away as she stood to kiss him. The last thing I needed was to let my loneliness show on my face.
“But Amy does have a reason she’s here,” Lily said after a moment.
“Isn’t socializing a good enough reason?” he asked.
“Always, but I do have something to ask of you.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I may need a job.”
“Oh,” he said. “What happened to yours?”
“My brother took over and fired me,” I said. “I promise I’ll work hard, though, and I’m willing to go into the office too.”
The thought actually made my skin crawl, but I didn’t let it show.
“I don’t have any open spots on my team, but I wouldn’t want to be your boss anyway.”
“I’m notthatbad.”
“It’s only because we’refriends.I don’t want anyone to think I treat you differently or that it was a favor.”
“Thisiskind of a favor, though.”
“I’ll try to get you an interview. I can’t guarantee you’ll get hired, but it’ll get you in the door.”
“Could you also throw in some interview tips too?” I said weakly. “I think I’ll need all the help I can get.”
“Yes, of course. Let me see what I can find.”
“See?” Lily added with a smile. “It’ll all work out.”
“Hopefully, it will. Thanks, Sebastian. You’re a godsend.” I checked my phone, hoping to see other interviews somehow lined up, but all I saw was a message from V. When I looked back up, I saw Lily and Sebastian getting closer to talk about their days, and I turned off the TV. “I should probably let you two have your night. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”
Sebastian blinked like he’d forgotten I was there. “Yeah. I’ll let you know if I find something.”
I thanked them once again before leaving. When it was just me in the cool air, I let out a long breath.
My stress was going to leak into every part of my life. It was a bitterness I couldn’t stop. The same thing had happened when I was fighting for the house. Everything ground to a halt. I didn’t even read until I knew I had a place to live.
V
All right. I’m done with The Fair Originals. Not bad. Very gory. What are we reading next?
I let out a sigh before answering.
No idea. Honestly, my life is a bit of a dumpster fire right now. I don’t know if I’ll be in the headspace to read. I know we don’t talk about this stuff, but I don’t want to disappear like I did a few years ago.