Stairway to Heaven

1 (Part1) ~ No Turning Back

Ms. Paisley wanted to see me. Again. I stared at the text message for about a minute or so. I wasn't sure why, but this was like the fifth time this month. I blew out a puff of air before sending a quick reply to my manager. My heart was racing as I drove back to work with the company truck. I just finished delivering three sets of groceries. I made sure customers were happy and satisfied with their orders before I left. What the heck did I do wrong this time?

Value Mart was our neighborhood's grocery store. I've been working here as a part timer for the past four months while I went to school in a community college. Everything was running smooth right until Ms. Paisley transferred to our branch about a month ago. I heard she was Filipino just like me. She had bright red hair and pale white skin. You could easily spot her because she loved wearing red every day at work. I'm not sure if she was married or not, but her office wall was filled with pictures of her. She's the clear definition of Love Yourself.

The first two weeks, everyone loved her because she brought freshly baked donuts to work every morning. She also made sure that we had enough coffee and creamer for the week. She was pretty cool. So sweet. Everyone was happy.

Except for me.

Closing my eyes, I lifted my hand up to knock on Ms. Paisley's office door. Here goes nothing. Brace yourself for another Value Mart Sunday sermon, brought to you by Ms. Paisley Howards. Before I could even start knocking, Ms. Paisley's door swung open and one of the newly hired girls rushed out of the room with her face drenched in tears. I looked over my shoulder and saw all my coworkers staring at me. All their eyes said the same thing. Here we go again.

I quietly closed the door behind me before taking a seat in front of Ms. Paisley's desk. "You wanted to see me?"

Ms. Paisley glanced at me while she was typing on her computer. There was definitely no more trace of sweet Ms. Paisley from when she first started. Her stylish long nails tapped away on her keyboard. She sighed as she turned to me, removing the glasses from her eyes. "There was another customer complaint about you."

"What was the problem?" I asked. To distract myself from being nervous, I started squeezing my fingers underneath the desk.

"The customer, Mrs. Guevarra, was missing a bag of groceries," she pointed at a paper with a red marker. "Mostly her frozen food items."

"Wait. Mrs. Guevarra?" My eyes widened in surprise. "Wasn't she the one who complained about me last week for not delivering her crabs and the week before that?"

"Same customer," she nodded. "I don't know what's going on with you right now, Ms. Flores, but as your Customer Service Manager, I just wanted to remind you to keep your mind focused on the job."

"But I am focused." I said defensively.

"You're not focused," Ms. Paisley continued. "Your mind is stuck somewhere in lala land. Whatever you're going through, please don't bring it here in the workplace."

"What? Seriously, I—"

"I don't want to hear it, Ms. Flores," she held her hand up to shut me up. If you're not happy anymore being part of our team, then I suggest you leave and find another job that'll work out for you," I could feel hot tears forming at the back of my eyes. Don't cry, Faith. Don't let her win. My eyes settled on my lap and closed my eyes instead of defending myself. I continued to squeeze my fingers underneath the table. Ms. Paisley started typing on the computer and a sheet came out. She slid it in front of me. I opened my eyes and read the bold black words on top. It felt like a slap in the face. "The door is wide open, Ms. Flores. Once you go through that door, there is no turning back."

The paper staring straight back at me filled me with guilt. She's not terminating my employment, but she's forcing me to resign. If I resign, I won't have a job. That'll be a huge problem. How will I get money for food, rent, and the rest of my bills? Borrowing money from friends and family was never an option for me. I used to work three jobs, but that only made me sick due to the stress. I don't own a car, so commuting was the only way for me to get around. That was also part of the problem, and the reason why I can't handle extra jobs.

Whatever. If there's a will, there's a way. I'll figure it out once my head is cleared. I fought the tears that were threatening to fall as I signed the paper in front of me. I removed my sky-blue vest and name tag and dropped it in an empty bin on my way out. The cashiers stood quietly by the registers with faces that sympathized with me. I smiled at them like nothing happened. They wanted to say something but were afraid to say anything in fear of hurting my feelings. My best friend, Easton, just finished assisting a customer by the refund terminal. As soon as he saw me walk out from Ms. Paisley's office door, he jogged toward me with a worried face.

"Hey, is everything alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I glanced up at him with a smile on my face.

Easton rolled his eyes. "You are not okay."

Of course. Dear sweet Easton Frost was like my fraternal twin. He could easily detect lies from the way you talk. Nothing could fool him. I sat down on the wooden bench outside the grocery store, lifted my legs up, and buried my head between my knees. "I don't know what to do anymore, Easton."

Easton leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "What happened in there, Faith?"

"There's no turning back." I simply said. Let the words hang in the air. It's enough for him to decipher what it meant.

"You can't resign, Faith," he dragged a hand down his face. "Come on, let's go back and talk to Ms. Paisley. I'll help you. I'm sure she'll understand it once you explain what happened."

"I'm tired of explaining," I threw my head back. "It's the same bullshit every week. Customers are always right even when they're wrong. She clearly doesn't want to listen to what I have to say. I'm sorry, but I'm not going back."

He crouched down in front of me and pulled my arms down. "How about if I go back there and talk to her? Will you stay?"

Ms. Paisley liked Easton, from what I've heard. The cashiers at Value Mart heard rumors going around the store that she liked young meat. Easton was only twenty-two while Ms. Paisley was around her mid-thirties. I caught her flirting around Easton one day in her office when she was sitting down next to him while he did his annual mandatory training. Out of curiosity, I asked Easton if he was interested in her, and he told me that there was only one woman in his life that he really cared about, but he never mentioned who it was. I already knew deep down that it was his mother. Easton would never do something that reckless.

The bus came and I waved goodbye to Easton. "Don't worry about me, bro. I'll think of a way."

*

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

 The second part will be published next week. I hope you guys don't mind if I added another wip. I'm trying to gain back my writing mojo for the other wips that I currently have on Wattpad. Please bear with me. I appreciate it and thank you so much for reading!! <3

XOXO

Katie