Page 36 of Pucking Matt
Name: Matthew Pearson
Age:Old enough to know better, young enough not to care.
Previous Experience:Expert at pushing Amber’s buttons.
Honestly, I’m filling this out and wondering what was running through Amber’s mind when she decided to work at the Grind Stone. I wonder what she was like when they called her in for an interview. It couldn’t have been half as nerve-wracking as the law firm. I have to give it to her. She has guts.
“Do you think you’re taking this too far?” Harvey leans against the counter, staring at the application that I’m almost done filling out.
“What?” I ask, filling out the address of the college.
“You know what. You’re applying to her job now?”
“Yeah, and your friend, Jen, is going to make sure I get on the same shifts as her.” I whack his chest. “I’m not going to let her get away with leading you on.” I continue the application. “And for trying to sell my truck. She made me spend two hundred bucks on sushi and then she paid a bunch of girls to be all over for me for an hour––what a waste of my time. She thinks we’re even, but we’re not even close.”
“So, you get this job and then what?”
“I make her life miserable.” I list Harvey as my emergency contact. “It’s called karma.”
He shrugs. “I think karma has a different meaning than what you think.”
“I know what it means, you trick.” I swat him with the folded application. “Where’s Jen?”
“Right here?” she says from somewhere behind me.
I turn around and smile. “There she is. This is for you.”
“Okay,” she says, taking the application and shoving it in her back pocket.
“When will I find out if I get it?” I ask, leaning against the counter and tapping it with my pen.
She immediately gets nervous. I have that effect on women.
“We need someone right away, so I’ll make sure that person is you.”
“And make sure you switch the schedule around so that she and I work together. Can you do that?”
“Yeah.” Jen nods. “I can do that.”
“You’re the best,” I grin, throwing the pen on the counter. “Now what do you say? Let’s have some fun!”
I walk over to Crew who’s been playing beer pong this entire time. I ask him to let me throw the next one. He passes me a ball. I shoot and score, and the whole crowd cheers. Crew shakes my shoulders as I laugh.
“Jen, Harv. Get in on the next one,” I shout over the crowd as Crew pats my back. “Crew,” I call out as he tries to walk away. “Play with us.”
Crew stands next to me and says, “So, what was that all about earlier?” He points his eyes in the direction of the girls in the corner.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Grind Stone chick paid those girls a hundred bucks a piece to be all over me for an hour.”
Crew breaks into laughter, using my shoulder to catch himself. He’s already buzzed from the earlier game of beer pong. “Grind Stone chick didwhat?”
I throw a ping pong ball and make it in the cup. I point at Jen, so she takes a shot. I blow out hot air. “Unbelievable, right?” I smile, and Crew nudges me.
“Come on, man,” he laughs. “I wish she offered me a hundred bucks to be all over you. Is she rolling?”
I shrug. “Jen told me that Amber works at an attorney’s office, so probably.”
“Damn,” Crew says, throwing the ping pong ball and missing. “Then why does she work at the Grind Stone making sandwiches for idiots like you?”
