Page 21 of Grateful in Watch Hill
“I’m working as a delivery driver instead of pursuing my dream. I know.” She pulled a chair from one of the remaining tables in the dining room and sank into it. “But I don’t want this. Not this way, at least.”
“Why not?” Seeing my opening, I crossed to the open chair opposite hers and pulled it close to her. “I know Nancy pretty well. She wouldn’t have asked you to do this if she didn’t think the idea fit with what she wanted to do for the dance company. That’s not how she operates.”
“I wanted this to be something that I earned. Not something that someone gave to me because they felt bad.”
“Trust me, you did earn it.”
“Did I? There wasn’t a job to apply for, there wasn’t a competition to enter.
You... you pulled strings. You forced it.”
“That’s not what I did at all.”
“What did you do?”
“I simply told someone that you were available, and they put it together. They figured it out.”
Kendra stared at me for a few breaths. “I just... I can’t.”
“What do you mean?”
She backed away from me. “I don’t... I don’t want a handout, Seth. I don’t want a job because someone felt bad about what’s happened to me over the last few months. I want something I’ve earned. There’s a difference.”
“You did earn this. You were about to be a principal with American Dance Company for God’s sake.” I thew up a hand, not understanding at all. Wasn’t that what she wanted? What she needed? Why wouldn’t she accept that? “Anyone would be happy to have you on staff.”
Instead of agreeing with me, Kendra shook her head. “I’m sorry. But... I can’t...” She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and focused on the asphalt. “I’ve gotta go, Seth.” Kendra gave me a small shrug, turned on her heel, and got in her car.
Within another breath, she was gone, out of my life again. Will someone explain what the hell just happened?
NINE
KENDRA
The next few days passedin a blur.
I delivered as many orders as I could for FoodSwap, took my dad to a few medical appointments, paid the monthly bills, and tried to push through the rhythm of life, holding things together each day. By the time Friday afternoon arrived, I was bone tired.
