On her way to lunch, Giselle stopped by the office and opened the door, "Hey, Mr Dean, can we have that chat?". She poked her head inside and saw her boss turn around on the office chair and lean back. He smiled at her and waved her in. "Ah, Giselle, what can I do for you?". The brunette squeezed through the door and leaned her back against it. The lock clicked behind her. Somehow she felt like a teen, begging for a favour.
Her hands clenched into fists and she took a deep breath. When their eyes met, she said, "Ian and I, we broke up". Her lips pressed together and she felt an uncomfortable feeling creep through her. When she noticed it, suddenly it was gone again. "I'm sorry to hear that, Giselle", he said in a compassionate, but still rusty voice. "Well, he moved out and left me the apartment. We've been living out west in the suburbs. With him leaving, I kinda inherit the loan for the place...", her voice got all quiet and soft, but her face steeled itself again, "...and to be able to keep the place, I need a raise". The man's eyebrows lifted and he twisted a pencil in a circle in his fingers.
As her boss pondered about his response, or his options, Giselle pursed her lips and felt quite frustrated about her lack of mind-reading. Just when she thought it would go nowhere and was about to turn and leave, he spoke up, "Laureen and you earn about the same, so I need to offer her a raise as well. You've been working hard to keep the store running and a breakup is hard enough without financial worries. Say 5% for each of you with the salary next month?".
Giselle's face lit up and she smiled brightly, "Thank you, Mr Dean! That helps me tremendously!". His hand waved it off, "No worries. I'm glad to help. And you two rarely ask for anything anyway! Be sure to tell Laureen about it, okay? I'll have your contract ready by next week for a signature".
Once she had shut the door behind her, she grinned and danced victoriously down the corridor back into the shop. "Didn't you head out to lunch?", Laury wondered over a pile a shirts. "I stopped by to ask for that raise. And he gave both of us 5%! Just like that!", Giselle beamed and wrapped her arms around her friend. With her breath, relief washed through her and she sighed happily. "I'm not sure what to say, love. I'm happy for you. And me! I think I can afford a vacation now. Wow, look at that. Would you believe me being lucky for once?", the coworker mused and hugged Giselle back tightly. "Also, Laury, I really love your new style. If I didn't have Annie....". "Oh shut up, you!", Laury poked her friend into the side so she squeaked and hopped backward. "Now shush, go have lunch or you'll be grumpy!", she said, showing both her index fingers, threatening to poke the brunette again if she didn't comply. "Alright, I'm already gone!".
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
After work Giselle went grocery shopping and took the bus home. It wasn't much, yet it had her panting when reaching the apartment door. Inside she heaved everything onto the kitchen counter and drank half a water bottle. A glance back into the living room rubbed her slightly the wrong way until she realised some decorations were missing. The Switch was gone, too. Ian's drawers were empty, the wardrobe had empty shelves. His secret stash had vanished from the pantry. "So he moved out now… for good", she muttered to herself and fell onto the sofa. Her gaze went up to the ceiling and her body started to relax. "I need to make a list of things I need to take care of. Or I'll forget half of it", she told the ceiling and grabbed her phone. Her To-do list app got a new list entry. She added an entry for the apartment paperwork. One for doing her finances. One for sorting through the apartment to find things Ian had forgotten or that she wanted gone. And a last one for replacing the photo wall.
Her head turned and she looked at the photos. Nostalgia distracted her and suddenly she wasn't sure whether she wanted to get rid of it in the first place. They were nice pictures. And even greater memories. The distraction lasted for about thirty minutes until it turned into sadness and despair. From the top of her wardrobe, she fumbled down an empty delivery package box and without thinking twice, all the photos went into the box. Keeping her composure was tough. Since she was already at it, she went into the kitchen and took care of storing the groceries.
The groceries didn't take long. While dealing with them, Giselle recalled that Annie wanted her to come by in the evening. It was evening already, but her quest to take down the photo wall took priority. Uncertain about what to do about her drifting mind, she let herself fall onto the bed. Bright light from the living room ceiling lamp illuminated her stretch of the bed. She sighed and pondered about getting up.
Ding Dong.
Really, Rachel and Kamal handing out cookies again? Don't they get bored of that? Giselle pulled the door open and stared at Annie in a dressing gown. "You wanted to come by. I think you wanted to. Are you okay?", the blonde wondered and pushed herself into the door. The brunette absentmindedly closed the door and followed her neighbour inside. "What's those?", Annie pulled a picture frame from the box on the sofa and her expression turned from cheerful to apologetic. Their eyes met as they stared at each other across the room.