Page 58 of Confessions of the Funny Fat Friend

“I suspect she wanted to make another pass at me without you around. Which, she has, and trust me, it’s not working. Although she has been poking around the office.”

“Shit,” I muttered, then looked down the hallway to make sure no small ears had overheard. I was still alone. I had left my updated résumé and printed off job listings at the office. If Janessa found them, I’d be out a job before I was even close to ready.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I need to get back to the office. Can you stall Janessa?”

“Not a problem. I have a feeling she’ll be dragging this out as long as possible.”

“My hero,” I said, a slight smile on my lips.

“Thanks for letting me rescue you for once.”

I hung up and hurried back to the room to tell Mom I had an errand to run. Grandma was sleeping, her hands folded peacefully over her chest. Dad had gone to the cafeteria to bring lunch back.

“Hey, you can stop looking at credit cards,” I said with a smile.

She looked up from her phone, surprised to see me. “Oh, Hen, what do you mean?”

I told her about Tyler’s offer, and his insistence to follow through on it.

Mom put her hands over her heart. “He is one of the good ones.”

“I think so,” I agreed. “I have to run an errand for work real quick, and then I’ll be back for the night. Are you sure it’s okay that I go away with the girls tomorrow? I feel bad for leaving her.”

Mom glanced at Grandma. “She wants you to go.”

“She’s not thinking of herself.”

A coy smile crossed Mom’s lips. “Well now we know where you get it.”

Shaking my head, I took the keys from Mom’s purse and left the hospital. It took precious minutes to find her car in the massive parking garage, and my nerves were starting to fray. Tyler had said he would stall, but if Janessa got to those papers before I did...

I didn’t want to think about it. I hadn’t yet reached my savings goal, and losing this job... I pressed my foot down on the gas and finally, finally reached my office. I parked in front of the main door, one mission on my mind: in and out as quickly as possible.

I fumbled with shaking hands to unlock the door and yanked it open. I quickly crossed the worn blue carpet to the spot behind my desk. Janessa had clearly messed with some papers, but my stack was safely at the bottom of an untouched pile.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I folded the papers in half.

The bell above the door jangled, and I jumped backward, seeing Janessa come inside, followed by Tyler speaking rapidly about a deck that needed structural repair on the opposite side of the complex.

“Henrietta,” Janessa said, her eyes narrowing. “What are you doing here? It’s your day off!”

“I, uh…” I searched desperately for an excuse and accidently walked into my hanging plant, the pothos leaves tickling my shoulder. Thankful beyond belief, I reached for it, pulling it down. “I just had to bring my plant home! Didn’t want it to feel all abandoned and wilt while I was gone.” As I had my back to Janessa, I tucked the papers between the two inside pots. Mission complete.

When I looked back at them, Tyler had a small smile for just the two of us. Janessa shook her head, looking around the office. “I have no idea how you keep all these things alive. They’d be dead within a week if I were taking care of them.”

“Which is why I wanted to bring it home,” I teased. “This one has an attitude.”

Tyler laughed. “You and your mom with your plant psychology.”

I smiled, but Janessa asked, “You’ve met Henrietta’s mom?”

Shit. Shit. Shit. I had to think fast. But I was coming up blank.

Tyler quickly supplied, “Henrietta’s mom brought lunch to the office one day while I came to ask Henrietta a question. I think she loves these plants as much as Hen does.”

Janessa eyed us suspiciously. Then she turned to Tyler and said, sickly sweet, “No need to come by the office, Tyler. Henrietta should be coming to you. And if she’s unavailable, I’d be happy to make a trip out here.”

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