16: Karma Really Is Real

I had never in my life abandoned my responsibility to do something fun besides pretending I was sick to go to Cedar Point instead of going to work or school. And now that I had done it, it made complete sense why Ashley would call off whenever she didn't feel like coming in to work. I would have started that habit myself if I could have afforded it.

That boat was just as magical as I had imagined it would be. It was Disney World in Ohio, and I had to see it again soon.

"Well, thank you for today. I feel a lot better now that I got to spend a little time in the water and the sun," I said as we got to my office door.

"Of course. And next time, you should probably warn me that you're in the mood to go swimming," he said.

I smiled. Next time?

I opened up the door, and there sat George in my chair staring right at me. My heart sank into my stomach. Shit.

"Where have you been, Marigold?" he asked rather plainly, even though my still-wet hair gave away the answer.

"I'm so sorry, George—" I began and turned to Mason, but he was already gone from my side.

What the fuck? He already left me?

"When I picked you to help me run this place following my wife's death, I thought it was assumed that you would be actually working during your shifts. I apologize if there was any confusion, but galavanting around town when there's work to be done is not how we operate here at the Lakeside Daisy. And after working here for three years, you should know that," George continued.

I looked down at my shoes. Obviously, I did know that. I just didn't think I would get caught.

"I'm sorry. I was just upset after having—" I began once again, and this time, George cut me off.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but where's Ashley? She at least had the drive to keep a place like this up on its feet and running."

I grimaced. "Well, I fired her like you told me to. That's why I was in a bad mood, so Mason tried to—"

"I don't want to hear the blame game or any of your excuses." George paused for a moment of thought, then shook his head with his arms crossed in my seat. "If you didn't already fire Ashley, I'd really be thinking about firing you in her place."

What was I supposed to do with that information? Beg for forgiveness?

Well, fortunately for George, I certainly wasn't too proud to give him what he wanted.

"Please let me keep this job. I swear I won't do anything like that again. I'll work as much as I have to to keep this place just the way Lydia would have wanted it," I said. A tiny pang of guilt snuck its way from my stomach into my throat. "I'm so sorry."

I stayed put in the doorway without saying another word and hoped he would get up out of my chair from behind my desk that I knew were technically temporary. Even if it was a sad circumstance that had put me in that office, I still earned it by being the least bad option.

George let out a sigh. "Don't beg. It's not what real leaders do."

But I never wanted to be a real leader anyway. I just wanted to work for myself and make little crafts that made people happy.

He stood up from my chair. "Don't let yourself get caught up in a lifestyle that isn't yours." And with those parting words of wisdom, he left me alone in my office.

I wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but it was nice to be by myself again. And I also wasn't quite sure how late I was supposed to stay to make up for the time I wasted.

Being the boss of me and only me was beginning to look better and better every single day.

***

The days were beginning to get shorter as we inched closer to winter, but even in the middle of June it would have been dark outside when I finally headed out to my car to leave for the day.

I checked my phone as I crossed the parking lot, and I had seventeen orders I had to catch up on sometime in the next few days. I let out a sigh. If I wanted to prove that I was serious about keeping my new job at the winery, even if I wasn't particularly good at it so far. It was nice having a little more money than I was used to.

But at the same time, I knew my forever career wasn't at the Lakeside Daisy. I'd never be truly happy bringing food and drinks to people and pretending to be friendly in the name of customer service.

Well, I'd never escape the second part, but at least it would be on my terms.

I couldn't help but wonder how my crafting career would be coming along if I had Mason's circumstances. I certainly wouldn't be wandering from town to town playing music that didn't even speak to me.

I climbed into my car and stuck my key into the ignition, but when I twisted it, the engine gave a small sputter. Weird. I tried to start it again, and once again, it didn't start up.

I laughed softly to myself. I probably deserved this, didn't I?

I wasn't quite sure that my car would be able to make it to Pittsburgh and back, but I always assumed it would be able to take me home whenever I needed it. I shook my head. It was nice having that extra money for a good two minutes. That brief moment felt like a freshly crocheted security blanket made with the softest baby yarn out there.

Since we weren't open super late on weekdays in the fall, everyone else was gone for the night. At least I had plenty of friends close by who could take me home, and first on that list, after our day in the sun, had to be Mason.

I called him, but he didn't answer. I waited a couple minutes and tried again, but still nothing. And I got the same no response from Alex and Blake.

Of course, it was on the later side of the evening, so it was very possible that everyone really was asleep, but my list of plenty of friends was drying up quickly.

It probably wasn't super safe to be sitting in a parking lot by myself, even if nothing ever really happened in our small lakeside town, so I couldn't just wait around for someone to call me back.

Was it bad of me to call the only Uber driver I knew? Was that like asking nurses medical questions at parties, or like asking a hairdresser friend to cut your hair for free? Because, if my car was going to need some repairs, I didn't have much money lying around.

I shut my eyes and pressed the call button next to Chris's contact.

"Hello?"

An answer! A miracle!

"Hi, Chris. I know it's kind of late, but there's not really any Ubers around this time of year, and none of my friends are answering their phones, and my car won't start, and—"

He interrupted me. "Are you at the Lakeside Daisy?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "I am. You can say no, so don't feel pressured if you can't—"

"Don't worry about it, Marigold. Just give me a few minutes. And you probably should go inside if you can instead of staying in the parking lot," he said.

My heart rate slowed a little since he didn't seem too annoyed with my late call. "Thank you so much. Just let me know how much how I owe you."

"You don't owe me—"

"Just let me, okay?" I said,

He didn't respond to that. Instead, he just said, "I'll be there in a few."

We said bye, and I slunk down into my car seat. I sure was the queen of being an inconvenience, wasn't I?

Within fifteen minutes of my call, Chris was at the Lakeside Daisy

"I'm so sorry I bothered you. None of my friends would answer their phones, and after the day I had, I guess that's karma speaking her truth," I said as I sat down in the passenger seat.

"Karma?" he asked.

I nodded. "Hopefully my luck turns once it's Scorpio season, though. We're almost there."

He smiled and shook his head as he turned out of the parking lot. "You don't actually believe in that stuff, do you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Logically, I know it doesn't make sense, but there are too many coincidences for astrology to be complete bullshit. I mean, I can be such a Scorpio sometimes, but not all the time." I turned to him. "What do you think?"

"How far do you live?" he asked, and I laughed.

"We can talk about something else then. How was your day?" I changed the subject.

I didn't live far, so hopefully it was a nice, basic day, but anything was better than silence in that moment. I needed to keep all of the negative energy in the world outside of the car where it couldn't make him hate me for ruining his evening.





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Hello, and thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your support!

So for today's question, do you feel like your Zodiac sign is representative of you and your personality?

For me, I'm a Virgo, and I feel like I fit the uptight, cautious perfectionist that we supposedly are.

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