A little good news

Dan coasted through the workday. Ms. Carmen wasn't working that weekend. The leadership team got alternating weekends off, so they could spend time with their families. Todd, one of the other managers, always stayed in his office unless he was absolutely needed. He, more than any other leader in the store, was an example of how some employees failed upward. No one was quite sure how he landed the job, but everyone knew he wasn't suited for the stressful environment.

"Hey, do you need anything before I head to the apartment?" Dan asked his mother over the phone.

"No, I got everything I could earlier. I only got the essentials," she promised as if she worried about spending his money.

Dan knew his mother probably felt terrible about not being able to provide for them, but he felt like he was an adult now and could make the decision of where his money went. "Alright, see you shortly," he said and hung up.

"Hey, I'm back" Dan called as he opened the front door. He stopped when he saw his mom cooking standing at the stove. "It smells great," he complimented.

"Thank you, it's just something simple," she answered with a smile. "How are you? How was your day?"

"It went really well considering, thanks. I'm going to get a quick shower. I had to do a decent amount of lifting and started sweating half an hour into my shift. It wasn't fun," Dan laughed as he ran a hand through his short hair.

"Food will be ready in about ten."

"Thanks!"

That night, after dinner, Laura told Dan what she'd been able to accomplish during the day. She got an interview for a receptionist job at a clinic down the road. While grocery shopping for dinner, she happened to see the sign in the window and asked about the position.

"They cater to... women of the night," she said with an uncomfortable shrug. "It's a job, even if it's minimum wage."

"Hey, that's still wonderful. Maybe you'll get it," Dan praised. "Worse come to worse, you can always keep looking after you get the job. What do they need? Someone to check people in? A preschooler could do that, just give them crayons."

Laura laughed and smiled. "Something like that, yeah," she said. "I need to get a shower. Any idea what you'll do? I still need to make a call to the cable company. I completely forgot to earlier. We can cut the cost of cable and just go with the internet."

"Being able to use my phone at least will be a small blessing," Dan joked. The true horror of not having something to occupy his time with really sunk in at work earlier that day. He thought not having the internet wouldn't be too bad, he was wrong.

"Okay, be out in a bit," Laura called as she moved toward the bathroom with a change of clothes. "Oh, I picked up some cards at the store. We'll play poker or blackjack like when you were a kid."

"Did you get the candy?" Dan called after her.

"You know I did!"