Chapter 10
Vanessa
Thursday
I woke up to the sound of rustling in my bedroom. I felt some movement on the bed beside me and opened my eyes to see Maggie curled up happily on top of the sheets. She saw me opening my eyes and leaned forward to lick me in the face. It was warm and slobbery and smelled like dog, and I had missed it when I was gone.
I smiled, pursing my lips closed and tilting my head away from her while I scratched behind her ear. When my eyes opened, I sat up blearily to find Mom shuffling about and cleaning up my dirty laundry, humming to herself.
“Ugh, Mom. What are you doing?” I asked her hoarsely.
She looked up at the sound of my voice and smiled. “Good morning, sleepy head! Did you have a nice night?”
“Same as usual,” I grumbled. “You never answered my question, though: what are you doing in my room?”
“Oh, just picking up a few things.”
“Mom,” I warned. “We talked about this.”
“I know, but how else am I going to take care of you?”
I sighed. “Okay, allow me to rephrase: please don’t come into my room unannounced. I’m a grown woman and can clean up after myself. I don’t need to be coddled.”
She ignored me and continued picking up items off my desk and dusting them. When her hands reached for my eight-hundred-dollar camera bag, I leaped off the bed to stop her. “Mom, why aren’t you listening to me?”
“It’s just an ugly purse. I was going to throw it in your closet.”
“Mom! You don’t know what’s inside it, and that’s why I don’t want you touching it. Why are you going through my things in the first place? It’s an invasion of my privacy.”
Her lips pursed together in a thin line as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I don’t think I like your tone.”
“Good, because I’m upset! This is my camera, and it’s a delicate piece of equipment; you could have broken it.”
She rolled her eyes at me and scoffed. “Vanessa, I know perfectly well what I am doing, and if something had happened to your camera, then your father and I could replace it for you. Honestly, I don’t know why you’re acting like this.”
I shook my head at her. “You really don’t get it, do you? I don’t want you to buy me a new one. This is mine, and I worked hard saving up for it so I could buy it with my own money. You and Dad just want to throw money at a problem and make it go away. I don’t want to do that anymore, and I don’t want your charity. That’s what I was trying to tell you the other day; I need my own space.”
Mom stepped back from me in surprise, unprepared for my outburst. “Well, then… I guess I’ll leave you be.”
Her shoulders slumped as she was heading for the door and I knew that she was hurt. I’d never outright yelled at her like that.
“Mom…”
She didn’t turn or even acknowledge me in any way. I just sighed, watching her leave, and sat back down on the bed defeated. Crap.
My heart fell, realizing that I may have been overly harsh – she was only trying to help. I set the camera bag down gently on the bed and glanced over at the clock. Eight-fifteen.
I still had plenty of time before my interview. Now alone in the confines of my room, I gathered a few of my toiletries and headed for the shower. My favorite apricot scrub was exactly what this situation required. I breathed out heavily and closed the bathroom door. The steamy, soapy bubbles left me feeling not only clean, but emotionally refreshed.
My wardrobe was full of clothes, but not a lot that I considered business professional. I sighed while sorting through the hangers until I found a gray sheath dress that had a designer belt around the waist.
Ooh, you’ll do nicely, I thought to myself gleefully.
I changed into the dress and checked my reflection in the mirror before heading down to get some breakfast. Both my parents were sitting there talking in the kitchen when I approached. Dad looked up at me and smiled. “Hey, there! You look nice; what do you have planned for the day?”
Mom didn’t look up from her coffee and made a point of staring off in the other direction since the moment I entered the room.
“Actually, I have another interview lined up in about an hour.”
He raised an eyebrow at the declaration and positively beamed with pride. “Well, I like the sound of that! Do you want to borrow my car?”
I blushed, looking down sheepishly as I grabbed a bagel from the counter, and nodded. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all. Anything we can do to help. Right, Kathy?”
Mom set down the mug she was holding carefully on the table and replied, “Of course. Anything you need, dear.”
I smiled at her, though she refused to meet my gaze and Dad looked back and forth between the two of us confused. I cleared my throat and started backing away from them uncomfortably. “Alright, well I’m going to go finish getting ready.”
Dad grunted in acknowledgment as I turned on my heel and headed back toward my room. I’d spent the night before printing out my résumé and downloading my portfolio onto a USB drive. Maggie was sitting outside my door wagging her tail happily as I walked toward her down the hall. I gave her a quick scratch behind the ears before opening the door and allowing myself to exhale. There were butterflies in my stomach as I collected my satchel and rehearsed a pep-talk in my head.
I knew Dad would be pleased with my initiative. Surprisingly, he seemed like the only one who really understood why I was so determined to get my own place. After double checking all my things, I skipped down to the kitchen and retrieved the keys to the Expedition from the hook hanging on the wall.
“Bye, guys! Wish me luck.”
Dad waved to me with a smile as I walked out the door to the garage. I placed my bag with the résumé and portfolio in the passenger seat and put the key in the ignition, crossing my fingers that this would be the opportunity that landed me a position.
The drive to the photography studio took almost no time at all. Before I knew it, I was sitting in the lobby of their office building across from the secretary. I tapped my foot nervously while waiting for my interview. The woman at reception smiled at me thinly, glancing up toward the clock. My appointment was set for ten, but I’d been waiting for twenty minutes and was starting to get nervous.
“Mrs. Knight will be right with you,” she assured me, looking up from the documents on her computer.
I nodded pleasantly and smiled, but the woman didn’t seem to notice; it was more about social protocol than actual interest. The room was full of black and white shots of modern architecture hanging on the walls. While I was waiting, I had admired a few of them and made note of the style and focus.
I was about to ask if there was a water fountain when the office door clicked open and a tall brunette woman with glasses stepped outside. “Vanessa Butler, I presume?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I told her, offering my hand.
She smiled kindly and gestured back the way she came. “Why don’t we step into my office?”
I nodded, grabbing my bag off the floor and following her into the executive suite. After we had both taken our seats, her behind the desk and me in front of it, Mrs. Knight cleared her throat and said, “I understand you’ve applied for the position as one of our photographers.”
“Yes, ma’am. I saw the opening on your website, and it was almost too good to be true.”
She chuckled and laced her fingers together across her lap. “Do you have a copy of your résumé?”
I nodded, pulling it out of the leather case and reaching over to hand it to her. She took it from me without another word and glanced over it briefly. As her eyes drifted down the page, I could almost see the corners of her lips begin to pucker. “You’ll see I have a bachelor’s degree in photography from the University of Tampa with a minor in graphic design. I also have several extracurriculars—”
“But no work experience,” the woman cut me off.
“Um…no,” I stuttered dumbly. The woman behind the desk shifted in her chair, doodled something on a piece of paper and kept looking down while I was speaking. “I brought a copy of my portfolio. You’ll see that my work speaks for itself, and I really think—”
“Ms. Butler, I’m afraid that we require at least three years of work experience before being considered.”
“How am I supposed to get experience if not a single company is willing to hire me for an entry-level position?”
“I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. All I know is what the criteria here requires, and that you, unfortunately, do not have the proper qualifications.”
“If you could just see some of the pictures I’ve produced, I think you might be willing to reconsider.”
“I’m sure that your work is lovely, but the company has a strict policy to enforce. Thank you for your time. Jane will show you out.”
My jaw fell open in outrage as I stared at her in shock. “You’re not even willing to look at the portfolio that I brought?”
The woman sighed and sat back deeper in her seat while Jane, the secretary, opened the door. “I already told you that your portfolio is irrelevant. Have a nice day.”
Angry, I grabbed my bag off of the floor and stormed out of the building. I was furious and devastated, knowing I had just blown my last opportunity to become a photographer at a major company. I’d already been rejected by six companies. This was my last hope, and I blew it.
It was becoming an increasingly emotional thing for me. I didn’t know what else to do.
Bitter tears were streaming down my cheeks by the time I made it home. I drove crying through the city of Akron until I made it back to my parents’ house. My cheeks were flushed, and I still felt my eyes sting from the salty tears when I parked in the garage.
I grabbed the satchel containing the useless portfolio off the seat beside me and slammed the door shut. My shoes scuffed against the concrete floor of their garage as I made it over to the door. A sound exhaled from my chest that was halfway between a sigh and sob as the door swung open to the kitchen.
Mom was chopping onions on the counter. I could smell them from the minute I stepped inside. She didn’t look back at me even though I knew she had heard me come inside, so I spoke to her instead. “Hey, Mom. I’m back.”
The sound of my voice was off, and she glanced back at me over her shoulder. When she saw my face, all remnants of our earlier fight were gone. She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “Oh, baby. What happened?”
“They wouldn’t even consider me!” I explained to her in outrage. “The woman who interviewed me didn’t look at my portfolio or anything because I have no work experience.”
Mom’s brow line furrowed with confusion and asked, “Then why did they call you in for an interview?”
“I have no idea!”
“Well, that was rude of them, wasn’t it?”
I nodded in agreement and rested my head against her shoulder. She brushed her fingers against my hair and sighed. “Sweetie, what about the other job we were talking about the other day? About starting your own photography studio?”
I pulled away from her and looked in her eyes confused. “You still think I can do it?”
“Absolutely. You can stay at the house as long as you need until you can get on your own two feet.”
I smiled and waved my hand toward the stairwell. “I’m going to go put this stuff away. Can we talk when I get back?”
“Sure.”
I took my bag and walked up briskly toward the stairs. In the back of my mind, I thought about the offer from Adam to move into his apartment. I knew I had to call him at some point. I couldn’t stay cooped up at my parents’ place forever. I pulled my phone out of my satchel and found the business card that he had given me.
I guess now is as good a time as any.