4 - Jobs

They finished eating lunch, and what Amber couldn’t understand was when Scarlet suddenly announced that she was leaving. “I’m sorry, guys. Amber, I’m sorry. This is an emergency meeting, you know this, Uncle, right? It’s my mother’s company that I have to take care of. Promise, Amber. I’ll be back after your shift today.” Scarlet said worriedly.

Amber understood her friend’s reason. “It’s fine, the other staff are already there even if I leave for my next job. I’m fine, don’t worry. Be careful, Scarlet.” Amber said with a smile.

Stephen just listened to the two of them, and they took Scarlet to the parking lot of Scarlet’s shop to get in her car. Amber and Stephen were left outside the shop when Scarlet had already gone. Amber gulped twice; she didn’t know what to say to Stephen.

“Uh... I’ll go in first; thanks for the lunch and ride,” Amber said softly. She was about to leave, but she stopped when Stephen spoke.

“You have a next job after this?” Stephen asked seriously. Amber’s eyes widened because she didn’t expect Stephen to ask her.

She slowly turned to Stephen and nodded. “Yes, my next work is altered afternoon—”

“I’m going to offer you a ride,” Stephen said immediately, causing Amber to stop talking and be surprised.

“What? I mean…you don’t have to do it anyway,” Amber said shyly.

“Yes, I know. But just now.” Stephen showed his phone to Amber. “Scarlet texted me to drop you off because you still have a long way to go to your next job. She wanted to take you but asked me for a favor because she had to go somewhere.” Stephen said at length, which surprised Amber even more.

Amber sighed softly and smiled at Stephen, and she nodded in agreement as Stephen said he would take her. “Okay, but don’t wait for me because I’m not done yet here,” said Amber.

Stephen nodded seriously. “Okay, I will come here once your shift is almost done. I’ll go first,” Stephen said and turned back. He got into his car and drove off, leaving Amber surprised by his sudden leaving.

“Wow...” she reacted. “That’s it?” she added.

She let Stephen disappear entirely from her sight and entered the shop again. She remembered what Stephen had said, that Scarlet herself had said that Stephen would give her a ride; she now understood that Scarlet was making way for her to be with Stephen.

“So, I need to do my job now?” she said to herself about the job Scarlet had said. Taming her uncle Stephen.

Amber’s first shift that day ended, and she forgot someone was waiting for her outside. She wouldn’t have remembered if she hadn’t seen the car because of the rush.

“Stephen,” Amber mentioned Stephen’s name when she saw him leaning against the car like a model.

Stephen was looking at her, so she slowly walked towards Stephen. “You got back right away?” Amber asked.

“I just went somewhere for a while. Here.” He reached for the paper bag containing the cake. Amber frowned at what Stephen did. “Scarlet said it’s your birthday today, so I bought you a cake before coming here. Let’s go?”

Amber’s mouth fell open as she accepted the paper bag that Stephen had given her. She wanted to yell at her friend Scarlet for what she did. It’s not her birthday; it will be in the next two months.

“Uh…okay. Thank you. You should not bother yourself with this,” Amber said shyly.

“Scarlet told me because she couldn’t buy a cake for you. Are you ready to go now?” Stephen immediately changed the conversation, so Amber nodded and got into the back of the car.

She was still confused when Stephen didn’t get in, so she opened the car window. “Is there a problem? Are you still waiting for someone?” Amber asked Stephen.

Stephen looked at her thoughtfully as if Amber was doing bad things to him. “I am not your driver; why are you sitting at the back?” Stephen asked seriously, causing Amber to be shocked.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t know. I’m just going to transfer to the front,” Amber hurriedly and immediately got into the front seat. Stephen also got in and started driving even though Ambe thought that he didn’t know where he was going to take her.

Amber was nervous and didn’t expect her sitting in the back to be a big deal to Stephen. “Uhm, I’m just in Brooklyn, in Hunky Dory Dine In,” Amber said weakly.

“I know, Scarlet told me,” Stephen said without emotion; Amber just nodded and didn’t say anything until Stephen broke the silence between them. “So, how many jobs do you have in a day?” asked Stephen.

“Three, but I also have another job as a tutor every weekend,” answered Amber, which slightly surprised Stephen. He didn’t expect Amber to be so busy.

“Monday and Friday, you have three jobs, and the last one is the weekend as a tutor, so you have four jobs weekly. What is your free day?” Stephen asked as he thought Amber was doing so much daily that she never seemed to rest.

“I don’t have a free day; as much as possible, I need to do something to earn,” said Amber comfortably.

Stephen was even more surprised by what he heard. He only meets someone like Amber once in a while. “If I hire you, can you forget all of those jobs of yours and be my employee?” Stephen asked, his face grave as if he was offering simple goods.

“A job? Why would you do that?” Amber asked.

“Well, I don’t know.” Stephen shrugged and said, “I just got here and don’t have a secretary or assistant yet. you mentioned a while ago that you have a job as a tutor, so I guess you are also eligible to be my secretary?” Stephen said formally, which surprised Amber even more.

‘Secretary? If I accept the job he offered, I will be closer to him and facilitate the favor Scarlet asked of me. Yeah, right.’ She thought to himself.

“I don’t know about the job, but maybe I can learn—”

“So, are you willing to be my secretary? If yes, you can start now.”

“What? I mean, today? Why? I still have a second job and need to think of it first,” said Amber. She was still shocked.

The car stopped due to traffic, so Stephen turned to Amber with a severe face to make Amber even more nervous with Stephen’s looks. “I’ll pay you four times and increase the wages of your four jobs...”

“What? Are you sure? I mean, why?” Amber said in disbelief.

Stephen sighed. “I don’t know. I want you to be my secretary. Is that enough reason for you to say yes to my offer...to me?”

‘Oh God, how could I say no to this beautiful statue before me, looking at my eyes? It seems I don’t have a right to say no.”