Page 81 of June

“You’re early,” Rory noted when Enid walked in.

“Yeah, managed to avoid traffic, I guess,” she replied while walking to the counter Rory was standing behind. “Are you ready, or do you have to finish something up first?”

“I need about two minutes,” Rory told her.

“Okay.”

Enid looked around the office, which was bigger than it appeared outside. The owner of NOLA Guides owned the whole building, including Melinda’s old place right above it, and according to Rory, that old apartment was vacant most of the time, but Melinda and Kyle sometimes used it for middayactivitiesor stayed over if Melinda was working late and they were too tired or didn’t want to walk home to their Garden District house that Kyle had inherited the previous year.

Some people just had all the luck. Kyle had inherited two homes, one of which was in the nicest neighborhood in the city. Melinda had a kick-ass apartment in the heart of it all, that, according to Rory, was really nice, and they had the option ofwhere to sleep every night. Enid was living in her childhood bedroom and didn’t have any other option.

“Hey, Enid,” Melinda greeted as she walked out of the office.

“Hey, Mel,” she replied. “Are you coming to lunch with us?”

“No, I’m running the office today. I’ve got Jill coming in to handle the tours soon, but we need someone here to handle the walk-ins while Rory is at lunch.”

“Sophie is coming, though,” Rory added. “She should be here soon.”

“Oh, cool,” Enid said, liking Sophie.

“Are you sure it’s okay that I go?” Rory asked Melinda. “I don’t mind just grabbing a sandwich and coming back. I can watch the counter and eat with Enid in the back or something.”

“No, it’s okay,” Melinda replied. “Jill mentionedyou’re looking for a job, Enid. Any chance you want to be a tour guide? I had someone call in sick this morning, and it’s her third call-in since she started a month ago. She only calls in when she has a morning shift.”

“Late nights and hangovers?” Enid guessed.

“Well, when shedoescome in, her eyesdolook a little bloodshot, so that’s my guess.”

“Not sure I’d be a good tour guide. Rory likes people more than I do.”

Rory laughed and said, “She’s right.”

“But if you needed office help or something, I could maybe try that.”

“You’d still have to handle people. We get a lot of walk-ins.”

“What about back-office help?” she asked, deciding she might as well bring it up.

“What about it?” Melinda asked back, looking intrigued as she leaned over the counter.

“Payroll, bookkeeping, whatever you need,” Enid said. “I can do that.”

“Youcan do my payroll?”

“I did it at my last job. Well, part of it. I was a cog in a big machine. I know the laws, though, and the software, depending on which one you use.”

“I hate payroll,” Melinda shared.

Enid laughed and replied, “I don’t mind it, and I could handle some of the other stuff, too, if you want.”

“Really? Want to talk in the back before you head out to lunch since you’re waiting on Sophie anyway?”

Enid nodded, and they went into the back office, where Melinda walked her through the current process and software, which Enid was familiar with. She’d have to brush up on a few things, but Melinda didn’t have many employees, and most of them were part-time. In fact, Melinda and Jill were the only full-time employees, so they were the only ones who received benefits. Melinda, it turned out, didn’t mind the business stuff, but it was proving difficult, balancing giving tours when someone called in sick and handling the end-of-day money stuff and payroll, all while still having work done on the Garden District house and planning her upcoming wedding.

“So, it would be temporary. Would that be okay?”

“Sure. I could also be available after that in a pinch. I still have another year on my program, and I don’t have anything else lined up yet, so I can be available if you’re on your honeymoon or just need another set of eyes to check something for you.”

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