Page 71 of Minted

“Try it on a bite of turkey,” Ricki says. “That’s how Mom always ate it.”

I’m skeptical, but because of who’s asking, I try it. “Not bad,” I say. “Maybe that’s how it’s meant to be eaten.”

“Sometimes, things are better when you mix them with other things that aren’t at all the same,” Ricki says. “Mom used to say that.”

“Your mom was smart,” I say. “I think a lot of things in life are better when they have something else, even something dissimilar, to go along with them.” I can’t help looking at Barbara, and she blushes. Hopefully she got my meaning.

“Like how we did that promotion for the black bean brownie mix?” Nikki asks.

“Sure,” Barbara says. “Although I’m not sure their sales stayed very steady. I think they discontinued that line.”

Ricki laughs. “You have such a weird job.”

“Do you like it?” Nikki looks genuinely curious.

Barbara—who I thought loved her job—shrugs. “I like that it pays my bills.”

“Wait,” I say. “You’re working at the same place as James, and you don’t even like it, but you haven’t quit? How many times have I asked you to come work for me?”

“You make it sound like—”

“I always thought you loved your job,” I say.

She shrugs. “Some things about it are interesting. I love helping people like the twins to make some money from doing what they like.”

“But you don’t like rest of it?”

“Do you like your job?” Ricki asks.

“I love my job,” I say. “Every single day, I wake up, and I look at broken things, and I fix them. It’s literally what I get paid a lot of money to do.”

“You fix companies?”

“Exclusively. I used to work with an Investment Bank, and that was cool too, as was the Capital firm I worked for, but in all of those, you’re sort of preying on people who are in trouble. I like to help the people who are struggling and then get a really big check for sharing my time.”

“Sounds good to me,” Nikki says. “Maybe I can do that one day.”

“You make it sound like I’m a corporate sell out because I don’t love what I do. Most people don’t love their jobs,” Barbara says. “They just do them because that’s how they get paid.”

“That’s a depressing thought,” Bentley says. “If you really think that, and I think that’s wrong, then you should reevaluate. You should do something you love to do.”

“The only thing I like doing is helping people like Ricki and Nikki,” Barbara says. “And there’s no market for that.”

I wipe my mouth. “I’m not sure that’s true. You could be an agent.”

Barbara frowns. “Why didn’t I ever think of that?”

“We don’t have an agent,” Nikki says. “Or, I don’t think we do.”

“You don’t,” Barbara says. “But if you did, you’d have someone whose job it would be to help you find more work.”

“But then you’d take our money?” Ricki asks.

“Well, agents get a cut,” I say. “But they help you find way more jobs, so you make more overall. They also make sure the contracts are good, so that you don’t get stuck doing something you shouldn’t.”

Barbara’s brow furrows. “I had never even considered. . .”

“You should,” I say. “I can’t even imagine waking up every morning and not being excited to get to work.”

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