Chapter Twenty-One
Penny allowed herself a satisfied smile the following day. Not only had she sorted things out with her parents, she’d also spoken to her friends. And while she was still scared to death of speaking out, she had to admit, it felt better once it was done.
So, this morning, she had another unresolved issue to confront. Taking a deep breath, she looked across the top of the fixtures to see if she could find Jim. There he was, at the far end of the store. She walked up to him, forcing her unwilling feet one in front of the other. She could feel herself shaking, from deep inside her chest to her cold hands.
But she gritted her teeth and pushed through. This was a conversation she had to have.
“Jim? Can I have a word?”
Jim nodded. “Sure, Pen. But can we make it later? I have this stock that needs to go out.” He indicated a stack of boxes and Penny’s stomach plummeted, before she rallied. After psyching herself up so much, after being brave enough to actually approach Jim like this, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass.
“Would you mind if we did it now, Jim? I can help you with the stock after we’ve chatted.”
Jim’s brows shot up in surprise.
“Well, okay Pen, if it’s that important.”
“It is,” she replied firmly.
She trailed along behind Jim as he made his way to his office and sat in his chair. Penny closed the door and sat opposite him.
“What’s up, Pen?” said Jim lightly, but with a sharp light in his eyes. “You’re not leaving me, are you?”
Penny laughed. “Leaving? No way. This is the best job I ever had.”
“This is the only job you ever had,” Jim reminded her, and Penny smiled at him fondly.
“Yes, it is, and it’s the only place I want to work. But Jim?”
She inhaled, and on breathing out, she fixed her eyes on Jim and said, “I think you should give me the store manager’s job.”
Jim’s smile beamed from his face. “Me too.”
Penny was caught off guard by Jim’s response.
“What was that?”
He leaned on the desk. “Me too. Pen, I’ve always planned to give you the job.”
A confused smile crossed her face. “You have?”
“Sure. No one else is more qualified. The only thing I was a little concerned about was whether you were too passive - whether the other staff would walk all over you.” He looked down at his hands, clasped together on the desk. “And when you told me to give the job to Gavin or Rach, I have to say, I very nearly did. But lucky for you, I held out a bit longer and look! You’ve come through for yourself. Good on you.”
“So, it was a test? Desiree was right?”
“That Desiree was always a bit too bright for my liking,” muttered Jim, and Penny chuckled.
“Well, this time around, you should be thanking her. If she hadn’t said anything, I would never have come back to talk to you about this.”
“In that case, she’s my favorite person. No, actually, you know what?”
“What?”
“You’re my favorite person. Apart from the wife, of course.” He left his chair and came around the desk to Penny’s side. She stood up, and Jim engulfed her in a hug. “You’re a good person, Penny. And I know you’ll take care of my store.”
She hugged him back, unable to wipe the grin off her face. “Thanks for this, Jim. You won’t regret it.”
“I better bloody not,” he retorted gruffly, letting her go. “Now, let’s get back to work. We have a bunch of boxes to unpack.”
Penny groaned. “You’re going to hold me to that promise, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely. Come on, princess. The stock won’t jump on to the shelves all by itself.”
With a good-natured groan, Penny shadowed Jim’s footsteps out the door.
“Most things are sorted,” Penny said, her brow furrowed, “except Marc. I still haven’t worked out what to do with him.”
Dr. Johnson nodded, clipboard on her lap, her severe navy suit reminding Penny of the sergeant-major that only a few weeks ago she thought she was like.
“So, what happened with your parents?”
Penny nodded. “You were right,” she said. “They came around. They’re busily organizing a naming ceremony for the baby even as we speak.”
“A naming ceremony? That’s a nice idea,” said the doctor, although Penny registered a slight dubious tone. “Is that what you want?”
“It was my idea,” replied Penny. “Sort of an acknowledgment, then a letting go.”
“That sounds familiar.” The doctor’s ironic tone reached Penny, and she giggled.
“Yes, it’s something that I learned from you.” She smiled at the therapist. “Along with a bit of assertion, which has come in handy.”
“Oh?”
“I asked my boss to give me the store manager’s job, and he agreed,” replied Penny. “He was just waiting for me to back myself.”
“That’s great, Penny. Well done.” Dr. Johnson scribbled some notes down and Penny tried to read them upside down. She couldn’t, but it didn’t bother her any more what the doctor wrote. She felt like she had taken some great strides ahead in the past few days.
“Okay, so last week you said you wouldn’t tell your friends, in case you got a response like your Mum.”
“Yes, well, once Mum came good, I was all fired up to talk to them about it as well, so I did.”
“And?”
“As I expected, I did get a bollixing from Desiree,” admitted Penny, “but in the end, after a couple of cups of coffee, we worked it all out.”
The doctor nodded, writing again. Penny sat quietly as she did, allowing the feelings of accomplishment to wash over her while Dr. Johnson finished her sentence with a flourish.
“Alright, Pen, and what about the theater ghost?”
“The ghost? Oh, he’s still pinching the handkerchief from the props table but all in all, he’s been kind of quiet. We had to ask the leading lady to leave, because it turned out she was the one stealing things from the other performers.”
“That must have been a bit disappointing.”
“It always is, when everyone else is really working hard. But, you know, it’s done now, and the air is cleared and we’re moving on.”
“Did you have someone to replace her?”
“Oh, there’s usually several someones in the cast who are eager to step up,” laughed Penny. “We had a replacement the same day, I think.” Amber had stood in for Cerise that first rehearsal when Cerise had been asked to leave, and she just seemed the natural replacement.
“So, everything has worked out for the best then?”
“All except Marc. But I don’t know there’s really anything I can do there. He pretty much made up his mind what he wanted to do in a split second, didn’t want to talk about it, just wanted to leave.”
“That must have been rough.”
“It was. It still is.” Penny grinned ruefully at Dr. Johnson. “It’s pretty uncomfortable around the theater with the both of us being excessively polite to each other. And because the whole thing had played out under the spotlight, everyone there knows what’s going on.”
“A little bit awkward?”
“Just a little.”
“And have you had any attacks?”
For a moment, Penny was surprised. “No, I haven’t,” she said. “That’s a bit of a wonder, isn’t it? I mean, with all the things that have been happening, I should be going off all over the place.”
“Perhaps because you’ve addressed some of the reasons for your stress, the attacks have leveled off.”
“I hope so,” replied Penny. “They are pretty nasty.”
“I’ll give you some more breathing and relaxation exercises, so you can practice them, and if another attack does come, you’ll be well prepared to head it off. Also, keep up the assertiveness.” The doctor took off her glasses. “You’re doing really well, Pen, but just be aware, won’t you? Panic attacks like to reappear just when you think everything is fine. And sometimes they can happen for no reason at all.”
Penny nodded. “I’ll pay attention,” she said, “but really? I’m feeling great.”
And she was. About everything except Marc. He was the one thorn still in her side.
But really, if Marc was the only problem left, she was proud of herself for having faced off against the monsters her life threw at her and won. She smiled to herself.
Things were looking up.