Catch Me When I Fall

Little Attitude

Sitting on the couch, Karla's fingers ticked the keys of her laptop as she typed up invoices for the vendors who supplied crisps, soda, and other third-party goods or services to the store. Another hat she was not supposed to be wearing, but who else would do it if she didn't? The respective manager of the receiving department had finally taken a vacation to care for her older parents. Noelle felt guilty for leaving Karla with the added responsibility, but after some insistence from Karla, she agreed. Still extending the invitation to Karla to give her a call if she runs into any issues. Glancing at the clock in the corner of the screen, she saw it was 15 minutes to midnight. Time had gotten away from her, but the invoices for the week were finally done, just to need to be redone for the fiscal week that reset on Sunday morning. She sighed, closing her laptop, leaning her head back, and closing her eyes, just for a moment.

"Hey, Kar, are you going to work today?" Ricky shook her arm slightly, rousing her from her slumber. Merry curled up at her feet.

She blinked a few times before rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" She muttered, her mouth dry from sleeping underneath the air conditioner all night.

"I dunno, like 5:30?" He shrugged, taking a drink from the soda can in his hand.

"In the morning? What are you doing awake so early?"

"I was coming to bed, but you weren't there. Figured you had run off with one of your boyfriends until I saw you on the couch." Ricky snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Come off it," Karla frowned at Ricky for his passiveness.

"You'll leave me eventually, I just know it. You already have a bag packed, ready to go whenever," Ricky pouted, already playing the victim at such an early hour.

"From the vacation we had planned with my parents last summer? The one that we couldn't go to because I had to choose to see my parents or lose the house? Patrick, I'm not getting into it with you. I've got to get ready for work," Karla sighed, already exhausted from the exchange.

"Wow, so eager to leave me, aren't you? Your little boyfriend waiting for you at work. If that's actually where you're going?" Ricky was getting under her skin. He never trusted her, always assuming the worst if she was a few minutes late getting home from work. She installed the Maps application on her phone so he could constantly see where she was, hoping to uproot the seeds of mistrust he had. Though the facts stared him in the face constantly, he had his own narrative he would go off on.

"I've been nothing but loyal since we got back together," she frowned. Referring to their brief breakup a few years before they got married. She had gotten together with a*****e Manager from a different Dollar-Mart in their district during that time. Ricky had found out, and though they smoothed everything over, every argument brought her "infidelity" into the conversation without any relevant context. Reconciling, they decided on forever, and married a while later.

"How am I supposed to know if you're being loyal or not when you aren't here?"

"Christ, if you didn't stay cooped up at home all day, simmering in your own thoughts and insecurities, maybe you could trust me again."

"How the hell am I ever going to be able to trust you again? You probably tell everyone at work that I'm such a loser and useless anyway."

"Ricky, that was years ago. And you know damn well, I don't talk to anyone about the problems we have at home. You're sick of being made out as 'the bad guy,' right?"

"Yeah, because all of your friends and even my own mom have turned on me because of all the s**t you say about me."

Thankful her psychiatrist had her medicated to the nines, Karla took a breath before turning to Ricky to speak in an even tone. "Ricky, I love you. I chose you, didn't I? I don't find anyone besides you attractive. You're my husband, and I'll stand by and support you, no matter what." Obviously...

"I guess," Ricky rolled his eyes, his voice no longer rising. Neither of them won the battle, but they had come to an unspoken agreement to drop the argument.

"I'm sorry, I have to go to work. I would stay home with you all the time if I could." However, Karla didn't know if she could spend more than a few days at home with her husband without wanting to kill him or herself.

"I know, can you get me some Cola after work?"

"Sure thing. But remind me when I'm done, would you? I've got a lot on my plate today," she gave Ricky a small smile, her tiredness showing on her face.

"Yeah, I will."

"What are you going to do today?" Karla asked him as he brushed out her hair in the bathroom.

"I think I'm going to weed-wack around the house. The weeds are almost as tall as you," Ricky chuckled.

Smiling slightly, Karla replied, "That's not much of a feat. I'm just over 5 feet tall, you know."

"True," he leaned in the doorway of their bathroom to converse with her before she left.

"Oh, could you water the flowers and the veg while you're outside?"

"Sure, babe."

"Thank you," Karla said, giving him a quick kiss goodbye before grabbing her morning coffee to rush out the door. "Have a good day." Turning the key in the ignition, the old truck protested before finally starting, releasing the parking brake before pulling out of the gravel driveway. The sound of the exhaust grew louder as she accelerated onto the main road.

Sitting at her desk, Karla let out a sigh, rubbing her face as she got logged into her computer. 37 emails greeted her; 7 recalls for a variant of the same tumbler in the Sports Equipment department. An end-of-business email from the Cashiering Manager from the night prior. Karla didn't bother to read the extent of it. The third shift manager sent a copy-pasted email that he sent almost every night with a minor change or two to keep it original. Plan-o-grams were set in the women's fragrance, dry grocery took them the duration of the night, unable to finish the consumable freight, per usual. A dozen forwarded emails from Stephen regarding late deliveries, upcoming shift changes and a variety of other emails that didn't really pertain to her.

"Miss Karla?" A voice carried after a few light knocks on the door frame of her office.

Karla looked up, "Emily, how's tricks?"

"You have a 10 o'clock interview here?" She seemed unsure of herself.

"Oh," Karla glanced at the clock. It was 9 minutes after 10. "Well, I do have time now, send her in, please."

With a nod, Emily disappeared for a few minutes before returning with a young lady interviewing for a job for the summer. Karla smiled, greeting the woman as she stood to shake her hand, "Hello, you must be Mariah." Mariah looked confused at the gesture of a handshake, reciprocating half-heartedly. She was dressed very casually for a job interview, Karla thought. Jogging pants with the local high school name embroidered on the sides of the legs, a crop-top shirt that looked a size too small, exposing the piercing on her navel. "I see you put you were interested in a few different departments in your application. Tell me about that." Karla clicked her pen to take notes.

"Um, I just wanted a job for the summer. I don't really care where I am," Mariah shrugged.

"I see," Karla tried to remain pleasant, already deciding against this candidate. Though it was a small-box retail store, Karla still expected some professionalism from the employees.

"I can get weekends off, right?" She had cut Karla off before she could say anything further.

Mouth slightly agape, as she was about to speak before getting cut off, Karla's brow furrowed slightly, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Here's the skinny, girlie," she leaned forward slightly at her desk. "You don't want to work here; you made that very clear the moment you walked into my office tardy for your interview."

"It's just an interview, it's not like I'm getting paid for it," Mariah rolled her eyes.

"But I am. And every minute of my time you waste is thousands of dollars I'm flushing down the crapper. This is a retail setting, not a frat party. I do have expectations for my employees, believe it or not."

"It's, like, a dollar store. Who cares?"

"And that is the kind of attitude I don't want to run my store. You are dismissed. We'll keep your application on file," Karla maintained eye contact as she shredded the documents in front of Mariah."

Scoffing, Mariah stood up, "Whatever."

"Have a pleasant day," Karla smiled, sarcasm dripping in her tone.