“My question is, where in the hell have these been hiding all week? We were all caught up.” I thumb through the requests. “Most of these are dated before this week. It’s like she’s been holding them to dump on us all at once.”
“If you have plans tonight, I can stay and do them.”
“No way. I’m not letting you sit and do all of these by yourself. I was just doing the usual. I’ll call Sterling and let him know to go ahead and eat without me.” Instead of calling him, not willing to risk Tamara’s wrath if she walks by and sees me talking on my phone, I text him. I can keep my phone in the pocket of my scrubs. Texting is much easier to hide.
“I’ll be your lookout,” Cassie says.
“Thanks.” I move to the other side of the front office, out of view. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I fire off a text. We can have our phones on our person on vibrate but if we get caught using them, we get in trouble.
Me:I have to work late. Cruella brought up a ton of record requests just now that she says have to be done today.
Sterling:It’s Friday. At four.
Me:She’s cool like that.
I don’t have to worry about Sterling getting my sarcasm. He knows me.
Sterling:Want me to bring you dinner?
Me:No. Cassie is here too. We’re going to get this done. I’ll text you when I’m out of here.
Sterling:I’ll wait on you.
Me:You don’t have to wait.
Sterling:Come on, Tink. I’ll wait. Text me when you’re on your way home. I’ll meet you there.
Me:You’re the best, Tank.
Sterling:Oh, go on.
I smile down at my phone. Sterling never fails to make me smile. I don’t reply. Instead, I slide my phone back into my scrubs and join Cassie at the desk. “You need to make a call?” I ask.
“Nah, I didn’t have any plans. I guess at least we’ll get overtime, but we both know when payday comes next week, she’ll bitch at both of us for having too many hours when she’s the reason we have them.” Cassie rolls her eyes.
This is what we deal with every single day. The search for a new job has been unsuccessful so far. I didn’t have any leads from the few jobs that I’d already applied for. I should make some follow-up calls as well as apply for more jobs. Maybe it’s time I switch careers altogether. At this point, I’m just ready to leave this environment. Short of taking my clothes off and selling pictures of my feet, I think I’d be all in.
“At least it’s all done electronically now. If we had to print or copy all of these records, we’d be here all weekend.”
“Glass half full. I like it.” I smile at my coworker.
“Here’s half for you and half for me. Let’s do this.” Cassie raises her hand for a high-five, and I slap my hand against hers before we hunker down and get to work. It takes us just over three hours to get through both stacks. Of course, the network was running slow, which made the process take even longer.
Once I’m in my car, I call Sterling. “Hi,” I say when he answers.
“Are you still at work?”
“I’m leaving now. The network was slow, which took forever, and then there were a quarter of the forms not filled out correctly, so we had to call the patient and let them know.”
“We need to get you out of there.”
“I know.” I sigh into the phone. “Anyway, I’m heading home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I made dinner, and it’s already packed up. I’ll meet you at your place.”
“Really?” Tears well in my eyes. He’s so incredibly thoughtful.
“Yes, really. Drive safe. I’m on my way.”