Her Soul

Chapter 8 Misty

‘He is going to see your apartment. He is going to think you are trash. He will know you are just pretending to be good enough to work in his world. He will know that you came from trash, and you will never be able to get past that.’

Misty felt a small panic, he couldn’t see her apartment. How would she explain everything? ‘I have been living in a studio apartment that has paper-thin walls and rationing raman noodles for the last 6 months while I looked for a better job than the gas station I worked at so I could survive till I got a job in my field of study. I couldn’t afford anything better because my mother needed help and I gave her most of my paychecks.’

No, that wasn’t going to happen. He would probably pull up to her block and fire her before he let her out of the car. “Really, Mr. Hale, I will be just fine, and your reservation is on the other side of the city.”

Without batting an eye, Gregg pulled out his phone and put it up to his ear, “Good evening, I am sorry, something has come up, and I don’t think I will make it to dinner tonight. Yes I agree, it is unfortunate. Yes, that sounds perfect. I will have my assistant call tomorrow and confirm lunch tomorrow afternoon. No, thank you. Yes, have a good evening.”

He looked back at her after ending the call. “No longer a problem, get in the car.” It had started to rain a little harder, and Misty could feel the chill sinking into her bones. She had no other excuses, so she walked to the passenger door, and Mr. Hale was there before she could touch the door handle.

She slid in and could feel the soft leather against the backs of her thighs. Mr. Hale walked to the driver’s side and slid in. He reached over and turned on the seat warmer. Misty didn’t realize she had started to shiver.

“I need the address Ms. Edwards.” He handed her his cell phone, and she typed in the address to the next bus stop.

“No, your home address. I am not leaving you to sit at a bus stop all hours of the night and get mugged or freeze. Now, your address Ms. Edwards, type it in, or I will pull it from your employee file.”

Misty gently took the phone from his hand and typed in her home address.

“This is it?”

“Yes, sir.” Misty could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks again. Why did she have to be so stupid? She didn’t even have to get into the car. She could have lied and told him that Katie was on her way already.

It was too late, they were already on the freeway headed to her neighborhood.

‘Great job, he is going to see everything. He is going to know how pitiful you are and how you will never be worth anything. He is going to see you for the trash you are. He is going to know that you are just some stupid kid who will never be worth anything.’

“You really didn’t have to do this sir, I would have been fine at the bus stop, or I could have called my friend.”

“I don’t ever want to see you out there like that again. It isn’t safe for you to be out like that.”

Gregg flew down the freeway and glanced at her when he spoke.

“Yes, sir.” Misty hung her head. She could feel her hands shaking from fear as she thought about how she would explain to Mr. Whitmore what happened. She had never let anyone but Katie come over because she knew that Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore would insist on helping her get into a better place, but they had helped enough, and she knew if her mother found out that they were helping her, her mother would exploit them as well. Misty just wanted to keep her mother away from the people she loved, and keep her out of her life as much as possible.

With the silence in the car ride, Misty had all the space to think about her mother, and her mother’s addiction. Part of why this opportunity was so huge is that Misty could maybe convince her mother to go to rehab and move away from the trap of a town she had left.

‘She will never leave, and she will pull you right back into it with her. You will never be free from it all. It will always linger around you, and if you f**k up, all the people here will see right through you, and they will push you away.’

Misty knew that wasn’t true, Katie knew most everything, and she treated her like a normal person. Not unkind, and not like a charity case. Katie treated her just like any other friend should, and that is how Misty wanted it.

The car pulled up in front of her building, and Gregg was out of the car and on Misty’s side before she could gather her things.

“Thank you again, I will see you tomorrow morning.” Misty tried to rush into the building, but Gregg stopped her.

“I think I would feel better walking you to your door.” He looked around before grabbing her elbow, and, not giving her the chance to protest, ushered her into the building.

Misty was acutely aware of the flickering light at the entrance of her building and the loud screaming coming from one of the apartments.

“I think I can make it into my apartment just fine.” She tried to rush up the stairs, but Gregg was right behind her.

“That may be, but I am still going.”

She got to her door and fished out her keys. She turned the lock, and then turned to look at him, “Thank you again.” And before he could say anything else, Misty rushed into her apartment, and slammed the door behind her. If he were going to fire her, it wouldn’t be because of a door slammed in his face.

She walked to her bathroom and got in the shower. She was stressed, embarrassed, and exhausted. She just wanted to go to bed, and good thing too, she only had a few packs of noodles and a couple of cans of soup left, and she still had a few more weeks before she got her last check from the gas station, but she knew she would be fine, and there were always bagels at the office in the morning.

Misty stretched out on her bed and was asleep before she knew it.