𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒

SIX | THE SHIFT

Felicity took the news of her firing quite rough.

Though she knew she needed to find a new job as soon as possible, she couldn't gather up any motivation to. She was too depressed.

As shocking as it was for her to come to realize after losing her job, Felicity had grown to enjoy working at Belmonte Publishings very much as time progressed. It filled a void in her empty days.

Yes, Mr. Belmonte could be the biggest pain in the ass to work for, but she was good at the job. And for the first time in her whole life, she felt like she was doing something right.

Felicity was sitting on the couch in her apartment, staring down at the stains and holes that covered it. The condition of her couch was not so different from the condition of her apartment, and not so different from the condition of her life. She was a complete and utter mess—a total crap-show.

Felicity hadn't come straight home after school since she first started working at Belmonte Publishings, and being home made her feel weird. She felt like she needed to do something to pass the time, but there was nothing for her to do. She had already finished her homework for the evening, and she obviously didn't have any assignments from Mr. Belmonte to complete.

She was bored.

So she continued to stare off blankly into space until she heard the landline in her kitchen ring. Felicity remained where she was for another few seconds before her mother angrily yelled at her from the bedroom, shouting at her to answer it.

She finally stood up with a sigh, then carried herself over to the phone. She dragged her feet slowly and lethargically, nearly missing the call. When she picked up, the voice that spoke on the other end of the line made her heart race.

"Where are you?" he asked, "You have 20 minutes to get here."

"Um...Mr. Belmonte, you fired me. Several days ago. Don't you remember?" Felicity asked in confusion.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again with irritation evident in his tone, "Do you want your job back or not?"

Felicity felt herself starting to grin, "I'll be there in 19!"

As soon as she said that, she hung up the phone and sprinted out the door. Her car was completely done for, so she bolted as fast as she could to the nearest bus stop. A bus started pulling away as she arrived, but she chased after it on the sidewalk until it stopped to let her on. To her luck, there were only a few other people on the bus, and no one was waiting at any stop that the bus passed on the way over. So she made it to Belmonte Publishings just in time.

Nearly going over her ETA of 19 minutes, Felicity found herself banging on Mr. Belmonte's office door not a second too soon. Almost immediately, the door swung open, and the tall man appeared in the doorway.

Felicity's heart started to race as she panted, "Hi."

Mr. Belmonte peered down at Felicity, who was much shorter in height than he was, then walked back into his office. Felicity entered the dark colored room and quietly closed the door behind her.

"Did I tell you to close that?"

Felicity glanced behind her at the door, then back at her reinstated boss, "Oh...no, I just assumed because you alw—"

"Look, Felicity, my point is that you're on thin ice right now. You cannot afford any more screw ups. Never assume anything while you're here, or it could cost you your job. Again," Mr. Belmonte said calmly.

Felicity closed her mouth, realizing that he was absolutely right. He was giving her a second chance. She had to do everything perfectly this time, "Yes, you're right. I apologize. Thank you for giving me a second chance."