It took the best part of half an hour and quite a lot of groaning and swearing till you'd eventually gotten all the boxes up two flights of stairs and into the attic, and you were already regretting your decision to work for him. Feeling a lot like you had three weeks before, back at Miss. Card's old apartment. Doing all the heavy lifting while he and your mom sat on their asses talking. Mind you, at least back there he had a decent excuse (having to deal with your mom)...
Schoolwork my ass! you grumbled. Wondering if this was actually true, or if in fact he just wanted to leave it all to you - his supposed employee. Still, you had agreed to help and getting a little bit of cash for once would certainly be a bonus. Maybe then you could actually save up and get your own car, instead of having to rely on your parents all the time.
Dusting yourself off then, you headed outside into the rather spacious backyard where the grass was indeed in need of a trim. Not looking like it had been cut for a good month or so. Thankfully the house came with a fully stocked shed and lawnmower, and you quickly got to work. Thinking to yourself, the sooner this is over with the sooner me and 'Miss. Card' can have a little more fun.
Unfortunately, after about an hour of mowing grass, moving old bits of wood, as well as digging up one or two weeds that had sprouted, Randall appeared out the house with a bit of bad news.
"Sorry, dude. Amanda was just on the phone there. Apparently Carla is having some sort of meltdown or something. Some jerk she recently hooked up with has been cheating on her. I gotta run and do the whole sympathy thing, but you'll be alright finishing up here won't you?"
"I... I guess so," you replied, feeling incredibly disappointed.
"Great."
"But wait," you stopped him, just as he turned then to leave, "why do you have to go now? I mean...I though we were gonna... you know... hang and stuff." Not quite able to articulate what you really wanted to say. Which was, "fuck each other stupid!"
"Sorry," he again apologized, being able only to shrug. "That's just the way it works for women. Girl logic or something. You can never let one of your besties down when they're sobbing and shit. It's part of the handbook."
There's a handbook...?
"If I could get out of it I would, but Amanda's gonna be here in like ten minutes to pick me up. So, you know, just keep out of sight when she gets here."
Though it did genuinely look like his hands were tied and he was incredibly apologetic about it, promising that he wasn't pushing you to one side again like before, you still couldn't help but feel a little pissed off. You quickly calmed yourself though, reminding yourself that it wasn't his fault. It was hard enough for anyone to try and juggle two entirely different social lives, and it was even harder for him being a 18 year old guy that was now pretending to be a 30 year old woman. Scratch that... Was a 30 year old woman. Shit like this was bound to happen every so often, so there was no point flying off the handle. You were just disappointed you supposed that you wouldn't get that 'reward' you'd been holding out for and would have to finish up all the rest of the yard work alone.
Promising that you'd be as quiet as a mouse, but inquiring then if your position as odd job man was going to be kept a secret as well, Randall told you that he was going to have to think about that. Being rather unsure how his friend's might take him having one of his students working here. On the one hand it gave you a handy dandy excuse for being there anytime anyone he knew came round. On the other, you guessed it might look like too much of a conflict of interests and people might get suspicious. Though he was supposed to be a friend of your mom's now...
"We'll figure it out later," he told you, hearing something from the front of the house. "But for now just stay out here, I think that's her car pulling up."
"Okay, well have fun consoling Miss. Esposita," you replied. Adding, "And look on the bright side, you already had practice last weekend." This of course being reference to your own, less than happy break up.
Giving an awkward little laugh (clearly not being entirely sure if this was a joking matter yet or not), he then said, " Thanks, dude. I'll catch you tomorrow anyway." Rushing back into the house to greet Miss. Wells.
Less than two minutes later you heard a car pull away and you let out a sigh. "Relationships... Who needs em?" None of them seeming to work out all that well, at least not recently in your experience. First there was you and Allison, as well as Bryce and Shawna. Now Miss. Esposita and whatever dude she was seeing. Not to mention your mom trying to set up Randall with this Alex guy. Certain that that was going to end in disaster... at least for Alex. Your mom was crazy if she really thought he was going to want to date him.
With Randall gone then you finished up as much work as you could before dinner time came calling and headed back home, playing some COD online with Sean later that night (he also being a fan). When the Saturday afternoon came, both you and your siblings were instructed by your mother to make yourself scarce come six o'clock - that being the time her little dinner party was supposed to begin. David and Tabitha were of course glad to avoid it, having his girlfriend and her friends to go visit with instead. You on the other hand were kind of curious to stick around and see how things played out, but you had also arranged with Sean to head out to the cinema a little earlier on, so that was kind of out of the question. Doesn't mean I can't catch the end of it though, you thought to yourself. Wanting to at least see what this Alex guy was like...
As it turned out, you saw him a little sooner than you'd planned - both him and your mother's friend having arrived slightly early, just as you were leaving.
"Oh... Michelle, you know my oldest, Tim, don't you?" your mother said as she beckoned them both into the living room, introducing you. "And Tim, this is Michelle's son, Alex."
"Hey. How's it going?" you said, looking the sandy blond haired, early thirtyish man in front of you up and down. His face wearing a warm and friendly smile as he put out his hand to greet you.
"Hey there, Tim. Nice to meet you."
Though in your head, you'd been painting this guy as some sort of asshole (instinctively feeling this way now about any guy Randall met), in actual fact, he seemed pretty laid back and friendly. Not exactly the kind of guy you'd spend your weekends with, but he certainly didn't seem in anyway threatening. And though you supposed objectively, he was the kind of guy some girls were attracted to, he didn't have that whole fashion model thing Mr. Hanson had going for him either. All in all, you didn't really know what to think. Worrying somewhat that perhaps Randall would kind of dig this guy and end up going out on dates.
Nah, he already told me he wasn't interested, you had to remind yourself, shrugging this thought off. Though admittedly he hasn't actually met him yet when he'd said this...
Less than ten minutes later, after a little small talk and after having found out that Alex worked in Sales and had just recently settled down in town, your mother practically shoved you out the door, not wanting you hanging around when 'Laura' arrived. And so you rather reluctantly headed off, meeting up with Sean outside the cinema. Him excited about the movie, your mind still on Randall, Alex and the dinner party. Trying not to be jealous, but finding it rather hard not to be. He was basically on a date again... but this time, it wasn't with someone he already knew.
"So did Card give you shit on Friday?" Sean asked as the two of you left the cinema over two hours later. The movie having been pretty disappointing. "She looked pretty pissed when I left you. Was even glaring at me too."
"Eh.. yuh-yeah," you told him, still slightly distracted. "Kinda... a bit. " Glad that you hadn't actually come out and said, "Yeah, so mad she made me eat her out!"
"Must be weird getting detention off someone you know outside of school. Conflict of interest and all that shit."
You wondered what Sean would make of your new job then - actually working for Randall - but opted not to tell him. Having said too much already about your relationship with 'Miss. Card'.
Instead you told him, "Well, we don't really know each other all that well or anything." Not wanting any kind of rumors to get started (not that Sean was the type to do that), "And she treats me just the same as anyone else." Thinking then, Yeah right she does!
"Anyway, I'd better be heading back home," you said, looking at your watch. It being the back of nine now and still wanting to catch the end of the dinner party. Hoping that it wasn't already over.
"So soon?" Sean asked, slightly perplexed. "You not wanna grab a burger or something first? It's still kinda early..."
You felt bad for leaving him and were momentarily torn... but no, Randall came first. You had to find out how he was doing. Even if it meant your mom killing you for returning so soon. "Nah, sorry, dude. I really need to get back. Maybe another time though. I'll give you a call later."
Grabbing a nearby bus, you headed back home (having opted for public transport for once) and arrived outside your house approximately twenty-five minutes later. There were no cars in the drive, only your own, but then again there hadn't been when you'd left either. Michelle and Alex having presumably gotten a taxi over and Randall no doubt doing the same. Seeing as there was bound to be wine.
Creeping quietly up to the front door then, listening in for any sounds from inside, you heard...
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