"but you better appreciate..."

"But you better appreciate what a great employee I am," James said.

"Oh! I do, James!" Caroline exclaimed. "I DO! I appreciate you so very, very much! I'll totally make this up to you! I wasn't serious about cutting your hours. I'll let you set your own schedule for next week and fill in any gaps with everyone else."

James blinked. What the hell? Caroline never let people choose their hours. She set the schedule and if you didn't like it, you found someone to cover for you. It was your problem, not hers.

"So, I'm, like, your favorite now?" He asked.

"Oh, definitely!" She exclaimed. "I try not to show it, but you are by far my favorite!"

Huh.

"Well, ok then," he said. "I'll see you in the morning."

"I look forward to it!" She gushed. "And really, THANK YOU!!! I can't express enough how much I appreciate it!"

He hung up and said aloud to his empty room: "That was so weird."

His room didn't answer.

"Is she playing some sort of game with me?" He missed. "Is this some elaborate play that ends with my ass unemployed?"

He snorted as a bizarre thought occurred to him.

"She must have the hots for me," he speculated. "There probably isn't even a Sunday morning delivery. She just wants to get me there alone so she can bone me in the break room."

He giggled at the absurdity, set his alarm, and went to bed.