Charlie leaned back in her seat, the hard back was unyielding; quite like her boss was being. She had been working at the restaurant for months now and she was finding it harder and harder to find free time, the money was nice of course, but Charlie was 23 and desperately desired a social and romantic life. She had only requested a weekend off; three weeks in advance, praying her boss would allow her to take both days. Janet tried to suppress a sigh, rubbing her temples with her fingers before looking up at the quiet young woman in front of her.
"It's summer Charlie, you know it's hard to fill weekend shifts." Everything about Janet seemed tight, from how her words seem to have to fight to escape between her thin lips too, undoubtedly, the stick so far up her ass Charlie sometimes wondered if the woman had been born with it.
"I know, that's why I requested the time off so far in advance. You know I don't usually request this kind of time off Janet, please?" She shifted her weight, and letting an exaggerated desperation fall over her features.
"I really don't want to approve this; why are you asking for the whole weekend? Can I just give you Saturday?" Her lips pursed together, thin and dry.
"My family wanted to go camping, it's the first time in years we're all going to be able to spend some quality time together." It was true; Charlie's family wasn't super close. She had been an only child living with her father after her mother passed, when Charlie was 12 her dad met a woman who ended up becoming her step-mom. She had two kids from her previous relationship, the twins, Jason and Jacob who excitedly taught Charlie how to get into all kinds of trouble when they were younger. When the twins turned 18 they parted ways and went to different sides of the country for college, and shortly after Charlie followed suit. A few months back her step-mom had texted her to tell her about the proposed camping trip and after all parties confirmed that they would happily make the time; they started to plan. Janet's eyes softened a degree and she nodded for a moment before responding.
"I'll see what I can do, but if we have a call out, there's nothing I can do, I'll have to call you in." It was clear that that was going to be her final answer so Charlie eagerly nodded.
"Thank you Janet, you're the best." She sighed in relief and clapped her hands together softly. Janet just nodded and motioned for Charlie to leave.
Three weeks passed quickly and before she knew it the camping trip was just around the corner. Truthfully it had been a year or two since she had seen either of her step-brothers. Jason was confident and collected, he always had a comeback ready and an excuse for everything. He was charming though, he was a good brother, had always been there for Charlie. Jacob was quiet and thoughtful, he had always been interested in computers, adoring how the fine parts of the modern machines worked. He helped her with her homework quite often and they would oftentimes share boxes of tissues during particularly emotional movie scenes. Of course the three still stayed in touch, a group chat kept each of them up to date on the major events in their respective lives. It had become apparent that Jacob had particularly exceeded in college; he became a popular student who was always on the Dean's List at the end of each semester. He became outspoken and a staple on his campus. She was proud of her big brother and was honestly excited to see both of them.
buzz buzz... The phone in her pocket went off; notifying her of a new text. A message from Jason simply reading: "call me." She sighed but dialed his number as her feet moved over the sidewalk on her way back to her apartment.
"Hey sport." He greeted her quietly, the joking edge normally in his voice was gone and Charlie instantly snapped to attention.
"Woah, woah, woah, don't sport me, what's wrong?" She was used to Jacob calling like this, he had a few hard breakups his first year of college and she was quick to comfort him; always a trusted shoulder to cry on.
"Amy gave me the ring back." He sighed, his voice catching and sending a small choking noise rattling through the phone. Jason had proposed to his girlfriend shortly before they had started to plan for the upcoming camping trip.
"I'm sorry what?!" Charlie stopped dead in her tracks, a young guy passing her shot her an odd glance before moving on. "What happened, are you ok?" Her heart was breaking for Jason, he had truly thought the world of Amy, worshiped the ground she walked on even. She had helped him pick out the ring when he had finally decided it was time and Charlie and genuinely liked Amy up until this moment. After a moment of silence Jason started his story.
"I found out she was cheating on me... one of my fucking co-workers dude, came home and they were doing it in our god damn bed." She could tell he was crying, he always acted cool and collected but he had a huge heart that didn't deserve to be broken like that.