Since Laura quit her job working at Greggs (a bakery) about three or four months ago, she has been working for Gary in one of his shops. He sells furniture. I've often expressed my want to get a job to my mum and because of this, lately, she has been saying that she'd ask Gary for me to see if he'd take me on. However, I said no to asking him, because I didn't want to get a job till I was back at college, choosing instead to simply enjoy the free time I have over the summer. Granted, I do absolutely nothing to fill this time, but i'm happy with that.
On Sunday, Laura went on holiday to Torquay with one of her friends for a week. She'll be back this Sunday. However, since she's gone on holiday, Gary is one (wo)man down at is shop.
Last night, I got a call from him. I expected him to say something like 'Is Sue there please?', because that's the extent of the conversation I've ever had with him, since I've never met him in person and it was only last week that I actually seen a picture of him. However, as soon as he said one word to me, I could hear the change of tone in his voice. The conversation went something like this:
"Hello?"
"H-hello, is that Neil?"
"Yeah"
"Alright Neil, it's Gary"
"Hiya"
"Listen, your mum was telling me about you and I was wondering if you'd like to do some work for me?"
"Yeah, sure"
"Yeah? It would be Thursday, Friday and possibly Saturday, but i'm not sure about Saturday"
"Yeah, that's fine"
"I'll give you �30 a day, is that alright?"
"Yeah, sure"
"So if you come by the shop on Thursday about 10am and I'll tell you what you have to do, yeah?"
"Yeah, ok"
"Excellent, mate, look forward to seeing you"
"Thanks"
"Oh and", at this point his voice went quieter, "on Friday, after work i'm organising a surprise party for your mum so we'll go to that afterwards yeah? She's in the bathroom right now"
"Yeah, that's fine"
"Alright then Neil, talk to you on Thursday"
"Bye"
I put the phone down and walked back to my room, bemused at what had just happened. I was quite confused. I had said yes to everything because I was dazed that someone was just offering me a job just like that. Then, I wondered what the party for my mum was - Her birthday! Fucking hell. I'd forgotten all about it. It's on Friday. I couldn't quite believe that I had forgotten about it.
I began panicing. In retrospect, I don't quite know why. It's not like i'm doing anything death defying, but panic I did.
Today, when my mum got home, she asked me if Gary had spoken to me and I said yes and she told me where the place was and asked me if I was going. I said yes.
I explained to my mum that I wouldn't be able to work for Gary on the days he wanted me to when I go back to college, but she corrected me, saying that this was just a one off and that I was simply filling in for Laura. However, she also said that Gary said that in September, when I do start college, on my off days, he'll take me on, which is great. The place is about five minutes walk from the station, so it's pretty cool.
She also asked me if I was coming to the party on Friday. I guess Gary must of let her know or something. I said that my friends had wanted me to go out with them because we had all got our results and we were going out to celebrate - not that they need an excuse to go out of course. She said that she wasn't bothered and that I should go out with my friends.
And of course, with good news, always comes pessimism.
I woke up this morning and done the usual, once I was up and about but I noticed that I was finding it uncomfortable to walk on my right foot. I thought I was just imagining things, but the more I walked, the more I found it uncomfortable and after a while, painful. Yes, the lump on my foot had returned.
This would usually worry me a lot, but on this occasion, it wasn't, because the last time it decided to show up, it went again within a week because I made myself walk on it, even though it was so very painful to do. However, this time is more of a problem, because I'll be going to town tomorrow and doing more than just walking about the house and i'm worried that by the end of the day, I'll be in agony. I really don't want to turn down Gary's offer though which is why i'm going to at least try to struggle into town and hope to god that he doesn't ask me to go walking places because I really won't be able to do it.
Also, tonight, Stan called me to check up on whether I was still coming the pub and clubbing with him and the rest of our friends. I said yes. He was shocked to hear me say yes. I told him though that it was my mum's birthday and that I may go to that and also, I may not come out with him or go to my mum's party because of my foot. How can I have such fucking bad luck? It sucks.
Stan said that if I am coming out, that I should be in town at 8pm. However, I'll already be in town if i'm in work and I'm guessing I'd finish work about 5pm on Friday, which leaves me two hours to kill somehow, since by the time I went home, it'd be time to come back again. He said that he'd come down to the shop and meet me and then we could go back to his for a bit. I said ok, but from the shop to Stan's house is at LEAST a 45 minute walk. Even if I didn't have this problem with my foot, that journey is not one I would enjoy doing. I've only done it once and hated it a lot. With my foot the way it is currently, I don't know if I could do it.
For the past week, I've been trying to pysche myself up to actually go out with my friends and now that it's here, I DO want to go, but the fact that my foot is fucking bad means that the possiblity of doing so is looking slim. This is why i'm trying to rationalise not going out with them but instead, going to my mum's party, as i'm sure it'll be easier for me. The rationalism behind it being that I can go out with my mates another time, but this party will only happen once. I hate turning Stan down SO MUCH. I feel horrible when I do it. I feel like i'm throwing his genorosity back in his face when I do want to go out with him and the rest of them, it's just that I am scared to. Also, although he disagrees, I don't think I look over 18 and therefore wouldn't get in any clubs. He says that as long as I've got my beard thing going on that I would, but i'm not so sure and I'd hate to go there and get turned away.
So, more than likely, I will be going to my mum's party, even though I won't have that much fun there, with an extremely painful foot. But, if I work for Gary tomorrow and Friday, I'll be �60 richer.
