“So in the end I told him yes and that’s about it really,” Veronica finished as she followed Carla out of the kitchen.

“Wow, so you’re dating Nick Carter officially?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“I can’t believe it!”

“You and me both, it’s very surreal.”

“Veronica, Veronica the temps aren’t done, how come?” Shelly said suddenly, interrupting.

“I was working on the dishes, I lost track of time, sorry,” Veronica frowned.

“Well can you get them done now please? If Steve comes in for inspection and they’re not done, we’re gonna get fined,” Shelly sighed, rolling her eyes before turning and heading to her desk.

Veronica took a calming breath, smiling when Carla gave her a light pat on the shoulder.

“You go ahead, I’ll watch counter and call you if I need you.”

She nodded, grabbing the folder and thermometers. It was time for her to get a new job.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She circled another ad, scanning through the listings. She’d purchased a paper before leaving work and after a quick dinner and TV watching, she settled down at the table to look over the classifieds.

The excuses had worn thin, and even though the last time she’d put in her résumé’s to a few places and didn’t hear back, it didn’t mean she should stop trying. There had to be something better out there, a job she could be happy at, a job where she was paid what she was worth so she wouldn’t have to keep cutting corners. She circled a few more ads before closing the paper and then grabbing the notebook she’d brought from her room, proceeded to write rough draft of her résumé on paper before typing up, trying to get a feel of what would look most appealing to a company.

She was knee deep into her third attempt, when her cell phone rang. Scrambling for her purse, she pulled the phone out and looked at the id and was only a little disappointed. She flipped the phone open.

“Hello?”

“Hey you!”

Veronica smiled, “Hi James!”

“Hey, how’s it going? I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I didn’t know when you went home. Are you still in Florida?”

“Nope, just got home today actually.”

“Oh yeah? Glad to be home?”

“Sure, no place like home.”

“I hear ya. Did you have fun though?”

“I had a great time, it was really nice to hang out with Nick, he’s a special guy,” Veronica said, smiling.

“He sounds like he’s very important to you,” James said softly.

“Yeah, he is.”

“Well I’m glad to hear it.”

“So what’s up? How are you?”

“I’m doing alright, kind of anxious to come home though, I miss my family.”

“It’s gotta be rough. When do you come home?”

“That’s why I’m calling actually, I’ll be in next week. I wanted to know if you wanted to get together and have dinner, maybe go see a movie.

“Of course I do!”

“Great, just wanted to make sure we were still on for it.”

“Absolutely, I’m really looking forward to seeing you. I can’t believe it’s been almost two years since I saw you.”

“Yeah I know, it went kind of fast you know?”

“Yeah, but I’m glad you’ll be home to visit. I can’t remember what you told me last time but, how long will you be home?”

“Just a few days, I wanna get as much done as I can cause it’ll be a few months at least before I can visit again.”

“Aww well are you sure you want to get together at all then? I’m sure you’d like to spend as much time with your family as you can.”

“I do and I will, but I’d also like to see you too.”

Veronica could feel herself blushing.

“Aww you’re so sweet.”

James chuckled, “If you say so.”

“You know it’s true, c’mon.”

He chuckled again, “Well unfortunately I’ve gotta go.”

“Alright, well it was nice to hear from you.”

“You too. I’ll call you when I get in and we can set up a time and whatever.”

“Sounds good, see ya then.”

“See ya, bye Veronica.”

“Bye James,” Veronica flipped the phone closed and set it down, slumping back in the chair. Hearing from James had been great, but ultimately, it wasn’t him she was hoping it was when the phone rang.

Veronica was sure Nick wasn’t acting the same way. He’d probably had tons of long distance relationships and wasn’t giving this one a second though. He probably wasn’t waiting by the phone hoping she’d call. He was probably out there doing his thing, hanging out with his friends and going on with his life. She was trying, she was really trying, but it just felt like for as long at it took for them to get where they were now, she wasn’t able to properly enjoy it.

She needed to be distracted is all. Looking down at the paper, she picked up her pencil and continued to write.