Francisco stares out the window as his older brother drives; his hands are clenched into tight fists, as the piece of paper he gripped in his began to crumple, his lips are quivering and his eyes begin to sting; he doesn't know what he's going to do, but he has to think fast, especially when he has no time to waste.
Chuy turns his head over to him, "Pancho, are you okay?" The elder brother knows the answer, but it doesn't hurt to ask. If anyone asked him, his younger brother had this coming, but seeing him silently breakdown was painful.
Francisco shakes his head, but remains silent.
"Look, if you need someone to talk to, you know that mom and I are here, right?"
Francisco nods.
"Even if you need some…you know…" Chuy doesn't want to say it; he knows that Francisco hates asking for help, but he know that his younger brother is going to need it.
Chuy pulls into Francisco's driveway, and let his brother get out of the truck. The younger brother walks away without saying anything to his older brother, except for a simple thanks. Chuy keeps his eye on his brother as he walks through the front door. He sighs at his brother's stubbornness, but decides that forcing him to talk isn't going to do him any better, so rather than egg him on; he will wait until Francisco comes on his own.
Francisco crashes on the couch. He stares up at the ceiling and keeps his eyes fixed up at the tiles as he remembers what happened that morning. He didn't think that it would happen, he always went in and did his work as well he could, and now he's sitting in the dark trying to think of what he's going to do.
The sound of the door opening snaps him from his trance, but the pain from laying on the couch in the same position keeps him from getting up to see Lynn, who has recently been making more frequent trips to his home after work.
"Hey, Francisco! I hope you don't mind that I used your spare key to get in," Lynn says out loud in the dark house. "Where is he? He's usually home by now." Lynn walks to the living room and turns on a light, "There you are!" she exclaims upon seeing him, "What are you doing sitting in the dark?"
Francisco shakes his head, his throat hurts at the thought of speaking about what happened.
She notices the pained look in his eyes, "Are you okay?"
He nods his head.
Lynn doesn't buy it. She takes a seat on the floor, and asks again, "Francisco…are you really okay? What happened?"
With a strained voice, he says, "I don't want to talk about it right now…"
"Well you're in luck! I can stay as long as it takes."
Francisco turns towards her. He knows that she is going to stubbornly stay by his side until he says what is bothering him, so he took out the crumpled piece of paper in his pocket and hands it to her.
She reads it, and he quietly tells her, "I got fired…"
"What?! Why would they fire you? You're the hardest working person I know!"
Francisco shrugs his shoulders, "I think they said downsizing or something…"
"That's crazy!" she says before she pulls him into a tight embrace.
She wishes that she knew what to say, but she's never been in a position like this before. She wanted to kick the asses of the people who thought that it was a good idea to get rid of him, but that wouldn't solve anything.
Francisco stays still in her arms and takes a deep breath. He quietly stares out into space, as he waits for Lynn to say some sort of comforting words, even if they aren't going to solve his problems.
She lets go of him, and runs to the kitchen, "Give me a minute and we can figure something out."
He takes a seat and pulls out a newspaper as he searches for jobs in the want ads.
Lynn sets down a plate of food for each of them, "So…what are you gonna do?" she asks before taking a seat.
"I don't know…" he says before taking a bite. "I'll probably start looking for work tomorrow."
Lynn is taken aback, "What? Why? Take a little time off. Look, you run yourself ragged all week, the least you could do is take some time to relax. I mean, it doesn't have to be long, maybe a week."
"A week?! Lynn, I can't just take time off like that."
"Why not?" she asks.
He stares at her, "Why not?" he repeats, "I have bills–"
"I can help," she responds.
"No! You don't have to do that, and besides, I have some money saved up," he says as he gets up from the table.
As he walks away, she mentions, "Then you shouldn't go broke after a week." He stops in his tracks. "Look, I'm telling you this because you need to hear it, take a break–"
"I do," he interrupts, "it's called the weekend."
"I meant a real one. When was the last time that you slept in, or had a lazy morning? And not just weekends."
He is about to speak, but pauses at the realization that he hasn't actually done so in a long time.
"Exactly, so take the opportunity to kick back, chill, go to the lake or the pool. What do you say, deal?"
He stops to think about it. It would be nice, but he shakes his head, "I can't, I need to get back to work as soon as possible. I don't want gaps in my resume."
Lynn sighs heavily, "Seriously? You're freaking out about nothing. If you only got fired because of downsizing, I'm sure that there's someone at your old job that you could use as a recommendation, especially after so many years at that place."
He wants to find a rebuttal, but his mind was drawing a blank. She keeps looking at him, waiting to see what sort of excuse he would give.
"Fine…but just one week."
"Good! Now do you mind if I borrow some sleeping clothes again?"
The sound of the P.A. system grabs the students' attention, a woman calls for Lynn to go to the counselor's office and the students look over at the athlete, who is scribbling away writing in her notebook. She isn't sure why she is being called to go see the counselor, but rather than ask, she silently grabs her things and heads to the office.
Lynn knocks on the door of the counselor's office and walks into the office, "Hello?" she says to the woman, who is sitting at her desk waiting for her.
Mrs. Anderson greets the girl, "Hello, Lynn, it's nice to meet you."
The girl takes a seat in the chair in front of her, "Am I in trouble?" she asks, getting straight to the point.
"What?" asks the surprised counselor, "No, you're not in trouble, I just want to talk with you, maybe talk about what your plans are for after high school and how classes are going?" She pulls out a file with Lynn's name on it, "Do you remember the career aptitude test that you took a couple of weeks ago?"
Lynn nods her head. She somewhat recalls spending some time taking the exam, but she also remembers not taking the test seriously when it was presented to her; her teacher said it won't count towards her grade, so she took the opportunity to not worry about what how she answered so that she could use the extra time to finish the other assignments that she had neglected.
"Well I wanted to talk to you about your results, and I wanted to know if you had any questions about possible options that you may want to explore after graduating. I've got some brochures for colleges, but I also have some for trade and technical schools if you're interested."
Lynn has an idea of where her concern came from; when the students took the test, there were multiple little sections that each had six choices and the students were able to choose as many as they wanted for each section; Lynn clicked on every choice and didn't bother to take the test seriously. She also figures that Mrs. Anderson is a bit concerned especially when you couple her strange test answers and her mediocre grades.
The girl raised her hands, "It's fine, I already know what I want to do, I want to be an Olympian."
Mrs. Anderson nods her head, "Okay, that's an idea, but what else is catching your eye? I mean, surely you know that the chances of becoming a professional athlete are rather slim, and I want to you consider all of your possibilities so that you can start preparing for the next step."
Lynn sighs; this conversation reminded her of what Francisco said years ago about having a back-up plan, but she's happy with the path she's on, and heck she even wanted to try out for the Olympics as soon as she could.
"Lynn, I know that you're an athletic girl, your trophies and notes from coaches indicate that, but I know that there's a smart girl in you as well. I've seen your grades and I think that with a little push in the right direction, you can truly see your potential."
Hearing those words makes Lynn feel like she's talking with her parents, her sisters, or anyone else who has wanted to push her towards a more normal career path. She understands their concerns, but she's barely a sophomore, she can't imagine that her peers are already thinking about backup plans for their futures; Lynn just wants to dream a little longer.
Mrs. Anderson pulls out some paper, "During the week, I'm hoping that you will write down some potential careers, this way, we can work at finding some programs that best suit your interests."
Lynn looks at the papers, "But I already said what I want to do, why do I have to pick out some other careers?"
She feels her heart pumping as she waits for the words that she knows are going to come out of the counselor's mouth; she's heard them before from her older sisters, but now it's the woman's turn.
"It's good to have a back-up plan."
There it is – the words she dreads hearing. She isn't against it, but after spending her whole life dreaming of this perfect life, it feels like a betrayal to consider something else.
"Are you interested in playing sports in college? If you are, you will have to take the SAT or ACT, have you signed up for either one of those tests?"
Lynn shakes her head, "No."
"Would you like to sign up for one of them? I can help you."
"Sure…but can we do it next week, you know, after I've had some time to think about my options and stuff."
The counselor grins, "We can start now if you'd like. What are some of your interests?"
The alarm sounds, and Francisco slowly gets up from bed. Lynn begins to turn beside him and he places his hand on her shoulder to keep her from getting up. He opens his mouth to let her know that he is just getting up for work, but he stops himself as soon as the thought runs through his head; he doesn't have anywhere to go. He promised her that he would use this week to relax, but he isn't sure if it's as easy as she says; for years, he has been used to waking up early and getting ready for work, but now he doesn't have to do that.
He rests his head back on the pillow, before grabbing the amber bottle from his nightstand. He stares at the bottle, 'I better ration these,' he thought before taking one with a glass of water.
He tosses and turns; trying to find a way to get himself back to sleep, but it's proving to be rather difficult. He already had a drink of water and he's accustomed to starting his day early in the morning.
"You know that I can hear you groaning," he hears coming from her side of the bed, before she gets up. With her eyes still closed, she asks, "Why are you up so early? I thought that you were going to take a week off before going on a job hunt again?"
He sighs, she wants him to relax, but he feels like a bundle of nerves. "I know, but it's going to take more than a day before I stop getting up so early."
She lays back down on the bed, "Then go downstairs, and tire yourself out or something…" she said before drifting back to sleep.
Francisco kisses her shoulder and went downstairs, "What to do? What to do?" It's too early for coffee and breakfast, and all there is on tv are crappy late night reruns or infomercials. Rather than stay cooped up in the house, Francisco steps outside into the backyard. The scent of the morning grass hits him, and for a brief moment, he forgets that he's supposed to relax. Francisco begins to pace back and forth trying to either tire himself out or at least calm him thoughts.
'How do people do this? I get that some people wake up later for work, but retired people are okay with this?'
He doesn't know why he is comparing himself like that, he isn't in this situation by choice, but it is his fault that he is here. His eyes begin to burn and his throat feels tighter as he thinks about what started all of this.
"Good morning Francisco," said Jackson, who interrupts his thoughts.
Francisco looks across the fence and sees his elderly neighbor, "Good morning," he responds, as he tries to clear his throat.
"My, I've never seen you in your pajamas at this hour," he glances over at his moondial trying to ensure that he has the correct hour.
"Well, I don't have anywhere to go so…" he couldn't finish his statement.
Jackson raises an eyebrow, "Francisco, are you okay?"
The younger man nods, "Its fine…they were downsizing…besides I'll find something next week."
The older man raises an eyebrow, "Next week?" For as long as Jackson has known his neighbor, he's almost compared him to a workhorse, so hearing that he is planning on taking time off between jobs sounds strange.
"Lynn suggested that I should take some time off to rest before getting back out there, but honestly, I don't think I can do that," Jackson opens his mouth before Francisco continued, "You wouldn't happen to know anyone who needs some sort of project done around the house, would you? I mean, you've seen my work, surely there's someone who needs a little help."
Without thinking, Jackson started, "Well I do have a friend who was looking for a carpenter to make him an arch for his daughter's wedding, but Francisco, why don't you take Lynn's advice and take the time off?"
Francisco was taken aback, "You too?"
"It wouldn't hurt. You could think of it as a vacation, even if all you're doing is staying home."
That was hardly a vacation if you asked Francisco, but then again how different is it from all the vacations he took growing up.
Lynn walks into the cafeteria, and looks around for her friends so that she can relax and eat lunch without talking to the counselor about future plans. While she doesn't mind missing class, she doesn't like constantly having to talk to the counselor just because she's not entirely sure about her future, especially with the extra tests and work that she had to do.
'I just asked a few questions, why did you have to sign me up for another test?' she asks Mrs. Anderson in her mind.
She spots Margo and takes a seat next to her as pulls out her lunch. Margo, who is seeing for the first time all day asks, "Lynn, where have you been?"
Lynn takes a bite out of her sandwich, "I've been with the counselor…again! I mean seriously, does she do this with anyone else?" She looks over at Margo, "Has she called you to talk about what you want to do after you graduate?"
Margo shakes her head and hands Lynn a napkin, "No, but we graduate in a little over two years, maybe she's trying to talk to all of the students and see what they may be interested in," she suggests.
Margo isn't entirely sure why the counselor keeps talking to Lynn, and while she has heard of some students getting called in more frequently than others, she isn't sure of what the reason is behind some of them.
"I guess," Lynn says as she takes another bite of her sandwich. She looks around and asks "Where's Francisco? His name comes before mine, maybe he's been called by Mrs. Anderson."
Margo pointed Lynn in the direction of the boy, who is currently eating lunch with a girl that they recognized in class.
"Why's he eating lunch with Mary?"
Margo raises an eyebrow, "She's his girlfriend. Don't you remember what I was like when I first started dating?"
Lynn sighs as she remembered what Margo was like when she first dated Elliot; aside from the mushy romance stuff, Lynn didn't see her friend as often as she was used to, now she has to deal with again from another friend.
"So when did they start dating?"
"A week ago. Remember that he told us once after class one day."
Lynn nods her head in agreement, but can't recall when he actually mentioned it. She notices the two of them talking and when he sees her, Lynn waves at him before he is pulled into a kiss. He looks surprised by the sudden action and Lynn just looks away as she continues her lunch.
Margo, who notices what just happened, asks, "Do you want to go eat outside or in the hallway?"
Lynn shakes her head, "Nah, I just wanna finish lunch before I have to go to class, besides," she points towards the administrators by the exits, "they're gonna want a good reason for leaving the cafeteria with our food."
Margo nods, and remembers, "Don't forget that we have a test on Friday for English class," she reminds her friend.
Lynn groans, "Maybe, I'll tell Mrs. Anderson if we can meet then, so I can have the weekend to study," she playfully suggests.
Margo laughs, "Fine, but don't put it off like you always do."
"Hey! I've managed to earn some good grades, even if Lisa had to help me."
The girls laugh, but Margo does have a point; Lynn procrastinates studying and sometimes leaves it for the night before, but it's not her fault! She get excited to find out last minute news on her favorite teams before games.
"Hey Margo…do you know what you want to do when you, you know, finish school and whatnot?" Lynn asks tentatively.
"I think so, I'm sort of stuck on a few choices, but I'm still not completely sure which one I want to study once I get to college. I'll probably do a few General Studies classes, to really seal the deal, or talk to Mrs. Anderson."
Lynn sighs. If Margo had an idea of what she wanted to do, she is sure that her friends are probably already planning out what they futures. The thought of falling behind her friends again, stresses Lynn a bit, as she knows that she's not spending enough time thinking over things that her friends are already doing.
"That's good…"
Lynn stabs her fork into her eggs. Four days and he was still tense as ever; she hoped that the few days away from any sort of work would have calmed him down, but he seems to get worse by the day.
"Fifth eldest sister is there a reason that you are striking your breakfast rather than scarfing it down like a common barn animal?"
Lily snickers at the analogy, while Lisa rolls her eyes.
"I'm not hungry," she absentmindedly said.
The three younger sisters don't believe her; Lynn rarely comes to these Saturday morning breakfasts without her appetite, so to hear her say such a thing made them suspicious.
Lucy spoke up, "Does it have to do with Francisco?"
Lynn looks over at her goth sister, 'Does she know? Maybe. She does sneak up on people. Maybe she was around when I talked with him over the phone? This wouldn't happen if she spoke up. Maybe I should get her a bell or something that makes noise for her birthday. It's only a few months away. Definitely something gothic so that she'll wear it – wait! Focus LJ! What was I thinking about? Oh yeah! Francisco…' Lynn nods her head.
"Is your sex life suffering?" asks Lucy.
"What…?"
Lisa speaks up, "It would be rather difficult to be intimate with a man that one rarely sees over the course of the week."
"True, and he was pretty distant at Thanksgiving," said Lily as she remembered Elena mentioning the trait out to her.
"And every other time that we've seen him," Lucy mentioned, as the three younger sisters begin to recall some instances that they ran into the couple; if you could call it that. If Lucy didn't know any better, it almost appeared like they were kids that were just hanging out.
Lynn turns to Lily, "What, are you comparing us to Lori and Bobby? Of course no one is as annoyingly lovey-dovey as those two," she turned to Lucy, "And you saw us at the lake after training," Lynn pointed out.
"Intimacy is necessary to ensure a healthy relationship, and from what research books and articles have mentioned the act itself is rather–"
"Look! It has nothing to do with that!" Lynn takes a deep breath, "He was fired…and he still seems pretty bummed about it…" The sisters have a look of sympathy on their faces, as Lynn continues, "I mean, I get that he's used to working, but he's freaking out like he'll never be employed again, or that he's going to be homeless in a matter of days."
"Well, unemployment can be traumatic," mentioned Lisa. "Especially for someone that doesn't have a large financial safety net. However, I do believe that he should be able to bounce back."
"That's what I keep telling him, but he's worrying like it's the end of the world!"
A light bulb goes off in Lily's head, "How about he goes to work for Lisa? She could use some help in the lab."
Lynn glances over at her youngest sister, "Don't you need your job? Why are you trying to pawn it off on Francisco?"
Lily shrugs her shoulders, "I spend nearly twenty-four hours a day with Lisa, and I need a break. Besides, I need to focus on finishing my game and I can't babysit Lisa and do that at the same time, now can I?"
Lisa scowls at Lily's choice of words, but the younger sister gives the scientist a quick wink, "It wouldn't hurt…would he be comfortable receiving money for just keeping track of a meal log or other charts?"
"That's it? Why do you need him to do that? Can't you do it?"
"I can, but sometimes I get preoccupied with more pressing issues, and forget to consume my pre-packed meal."
Lynn shrugs her shoulders, and asked, "How much money, and what are his hours?"
"He would only need to show up when the charts tell him and I'll pay over a thousand dollars a week."
Lucy and Lynn are both surprised, "A thousand?! You paid them five hundred just to drink that crud a few weeks ago, but you're offering Francisco double just to for keeping up with a few charts?"
Lisa shrugs her shoulders, before pulling out a business card, "Let him know to contact me if he's interested."
Lynn nods and takes the card from her sister, 'Hopefully, this'll put his mind at ease…'
Lynn lies down in bed and tosses a racquetball towards the ceiling. After talking to Margo, she talked with her other friends, and each one has an idea of their plans; gap years, working, volunteering, and school, but none of those plans seem like a great fit for Lynn. She gets up from her bed and decides to talk to her sisters and get their input.
"I guess I could talk to Leni," she looks at the time on her phone and realizes that her sister is about to get home from work.
Lynn opens her bedroom door and sees Leni walking up the stairs, "Hi Lynn," she happily says.
"Hey Leni. Can I ask you something?"
Unlike Lori, who went straight to college after high school, Leni continued her work at Reinenger's full-time and has also been helping her parents with the younger siblings. Lynn knows that Leni isn't fulfilling her dream of being a fashion designer, but she assumes that she can provide Lynn with some sort of comforting words.
"Sure, what is it?" Leni says as she slowly walks towards her room.
Lynn follows after her, "Look, I know that you like doing the whole employee at the department store, but do you ever think that because you're doing normal work that you don't get to follow your dream of being a fashion designer?"
Leni shakes her head, "No, actually Mrs. Carmichael can be really nice, I get to work dressing mannequins, and help people make stylish choices, and Mrs. Carmichael has even offered to introduce me to some of her bosses, who are thinking about selling my clothes in all of their stores," she says with a spark in her eyes.
That doesn't help Lynn, but rather than tell her, she just nods her head, and says, "That sounds great, congrats Leni."
Leni smiles, "Thank you, Lynn. I can't wait."
Lynn waits outside the bathroom and hears the sounds of Luna, who is singing in the shower. She knocks on the door and tries to get the older sister's attention.
"Occupied!" Luna sings.
Lynn rolls her eyes. It is annoying to be on the outside during her sister's extended singing sessions in the bathroom, but Lynn is willing to wait for an opportunity to talk. She knocks on the door again and hears the water shut off.
Luna opens the door and scowls at her younger sister, "Dude, seriously?! I have to get ready for a gig tonight, can't you wait a minute?"
"I just want to ask one thing, do you like doing these gigs? I mean, you wanted to be a musician that sells out concerts, but how pumped are you only playing random gigs for some random crowds? I know that you're still trying to make it big, but what would happen if it doesn't work out and–"
Luna sighs loudly. She was only expecting one question, not a bunch of them, "Look, dude, I don't know where this whole thinking about your future thing came from, but I have to get ready, alright?"
"Well you can still answer my questions, like what sort of backup plan do you have in mind and how did you decide on it?"
Luna closes the bathroom door, and Lynn sighs. Her older sister's reaction shouldn't have surprised her; after all, no one likes to hear a bunch of questions about your life not turning out how they were planned. The difference that Lynn sees is that even if Luna doesn't become a big rock star, she'll still be performing and doing what she loves, but there isn't much option for a grown-up that wants to continue playing sports non-professionally.
The sound of Luan joking around with Mr. Coconuts grabs Lynn's attention, and she figures that another older sister might be able to help her out.
"You're my last chance, if not, I'll have to wait until Lori gets off the phone with Bobby, and who knows when that'll be," she jokes to herself.
She knocks on Luan's door and hears, "Who's there?"
Lynn knows that her sister is about to set up a joke, but she's willing hear it if it means getting some advice. With a groan, Lynn responds, "Me."
"Me who?"
Lynn opens the door to Luan's room, "Yeah, I don't have a joke. I need to ask you something."
"Like who took the varnish?" asks Mr. Coconuts. "I'll give you a hint," he said as he shines in the light.
"No," Lynn responds to the dummy, "I want to talk to Luan, what are you planning to do after high school?"
Luan shrugs her shoulders, and Lynn sighs in relief; at least there was another sister in the same boat.
"I was probably thinking taking a gap year and work on my act or at least save some money for college. I mean Funny Business Inc. is doing pretty well, but I could always expand my act or work comedy clubs. I still don't have all the details sorted out yet, but I can probably figure it out before graduation."
There goes the comfort. With her own business, Luan would have something to fall back on, but Lynn isn't sure if that'll work for her.
Luan is surprised by Lynn's question. Normally, she doesn't expect Lynn to worry about such things, and as far as she knew Lynn has wanted to be a professional athlete, but now it seems like she may be doubting herself.
She sets down Mr. Coconuts, "Lynn, did you want a little help figuring out your plans after high school?"
Lynn scoffs, "Nah, I just wanted to know and see what you would interested in, I mean, you can't do kid parties forever, right?"
Luan nods, "Yeah, that's why I'm hoping to move onto the big stages."
"Good for you," Lynn says as she walks out of the room.
She doesn't know why she lied, but she doesn't want to admit that she doesn't know what she's going to do with herself. Lynn walks down the stairs and hears the sounds of typing coming from the dining room.
She stops and realizes that her parents should be able to hype her back onto being a professional athlete; they're supportive of everyone's dreams no matter how insane, so they were perfect to remind her to go for her goal.
'That's right! Mom and Dad can probably help me out with this, or at least remind me that I'm gonna be fine!'
Lynn walks downstairs and looks for her mom, who is currently typing away on her laptop.
"Hey mom, can I talk to you about something?"
Rita continues to type, "Can it wait five minutes, Lynn? I'm almost done with this chapter."
"Yeah, sure," Lynn says as she takes a seat on the couch, waiting for the five minutes to elapse. After what felt like an eternity to Lynn, she walks outside and decides to get some fresh air.
Rita walks into the living room after the five minutes have elapsed, and notices that her daughter is gone, "Lynn?"
Francisco walks through the doors of the university building. He isn't sure what to expect from this job offer; Lynn mentioned that it was supposed to just be reading and filling out charts, but that sounded way too good to be true, Lisa's description over the phone also didn't uncover any more clues. All he was told was to just show up Monday morning with an empty stomach, which already made him nervous. In the past, Lynn mentioned being wary of Lisa and anything that she may offer, but that was years ago, and people change over the course of a decade.
He knocks on the door, "Come in," he hears Lisa command.
Inside, Lisa is staring intently at a chalkboard, before turning around, "Greetings potential brother-in-law. May I offer you a place to sit or maybe some water?"
"No, I'm–wait, what did you call me?"
"Irrelevant, so I'm glad that you're available for this position."
"Thank you?" he isn't sure what to say, "So you and Lynn both mentioned something about charts and a thousand dollars a week?"
Lisa nods her head, "Affirmative, however I must inform you that my work involves biological organisms and there is a risk of an infection for both of us," Lisa pulls out some charts and a blood pressure monitor and hands them to Francisco, "So it is imperative that you track your vitals at home in the event of an unfortunate incident."
Francisco nods his head in understanding, "Quick question – is there a risk of me–us contracting something, you know, deadly?"
Lisa's eye twitches, "Negative, this is a rather simple BSL-3 laboratory. While you may get sick, it's nothing that would be difficult for a healthy adult male to combat with proper medical care." Francisco opens his mouth, but Lisa continues, "Which is offered as part of the job, as well as all immunizations and medications needed to enter the lab."
Francisco sighs, "Good. You know for a minute there, I was worried about–"
"Sign these papers," Lisa quickly interrupts him, as she hands him another set of papers and a pen. "They're your contract explaining your pay, and also forms that I need so that I may get you access to the lab. It also stipulates that in the event that you become sick, you may not enter, for risk of contamination, and that you must inform me of any physical or psychological developments that arise."
"What sort of psychological developments?"
"Depression, unexplained fits of homicidal rage, et cetera."
He raises an eyebrow, "…from the diseases that you work with?"
"It is possible, but also from the medication, in which case I will need to switch it out for something else."
Francisco looks at the forms in front of him; it is filled with plenty of legal and scientific jargon to make his head spin, "Is there anything else that you need?"
"I will need to conduct some blood tests," she pulls out a tray with three containers and some small vials, "as well as a urine and fecal test."
He looks at her, "What's the other container for?"
Lisa looks down at the containers, "I believe you can figure it out on your own."
He didn't, until realization smacked him in the face, his cheeks began to turn red, "Is that really necessary?"
"I need to ensure that you are in overall good health and that includes fertility. Now do return that post haste, the job cannot start until I finish running your health screening," she informs him, while taking his arm to check his blood pressure.
"A thousand dollars a week…" he quietly repeats the mantra to himself over and over again, until he gave Lisa what she wanted.
"Is that everything?"
She nods, "Before you go, what medication were you on again?"
The teacher begins to wrap up the lecture before the final bell rings. Lynn, who is staring at her desk writing on the sheet of paper, ignores him, and tries to think of possible career choices at are more 'attainable'. She doesn't like thinking that she can't be the famous athlete that she has dreamed of for years, but she decides to go along with the counselor to hopefully end the meetings.
During class, Lynn wrote out a bunch of careers that she thinks would be a good fit for her, but nothing felt right. She spent her whole childhood thinking about being on the world stage and taking home a medal in whatever sport she wanted, but now everyone kept telling her to be more realistic.
'Dreams are for kids, no matter how much you feel like one…'
When the bell rings, Lynn gathers her things and walks to her locker, along the way, muttering potential things to add the sheet of paper that she is going to hand to Mrs. Anderson. As the crowd of students begins to disperse, she spots Francisco and calls out to him.
"Hey Francisco, where have you been?" she asks as she walks towards his locker.
He smiles, "I should be asking you the same thing, I keep hearing that you're skipping class, I doubt that the coaches are going to be thrilled about that."
Lynn sticks her tongue out, "No, I'm not, I've got a good excuse."
"And that is?"
"I've been in the counselor's office, so ha!" she jokes.
Francisco closes his locker, and he begins to walk down the hall towards the gym; Lynn follows next to him and they begin to catch up on the week's events that both of them have missed. After spending a week stressing about her future, Lynn feels good about not having a regular conversation. However, as soon as she remembers what has been keeping her up more than usual, she remembers why this week has been so cruddy.
"Hey Francisco, have you thought about what you want to do for a career and whatnot?"
He lightly nodded his head, "Yeah, I want to be an engineer. It seems like a nice stable career, even though it'll be a lot of work in college, but–" He stops talking when he realizes the disappointed look in her eyes, "What's wrong?"
She shakes her head, but Francisco knows the truth; whenever she's feeling down or any sort of 'negative' emotion, her eyes will give her away.
"You can tell me," he assures her.
Lynn opens her mouth, trying to think of what to say, "I have been talking with the counselor for most of the week, and then my sisters, and some of the other girls on my teams, and it seems like everyone seems to be doing something more realistic when they get out of here, but I feel like I'm still living in a dream world."
Francisco wants to agree with the others, but he can see that she doesn't want to hear another person telling her the same thing. For as long as he's known Lynn, she has always boasted about being the next big thing in sports, and while not entirely out of the question, he understands what everyone else is saying and planning – pick a target you can hit; there are millions of regular people working regular jobs, but only a handful of pro athletes.
"Since when have you cared what people think?" he asks.
The question surprises her; she was expecting him to agree with them all, but he didn't.
Francisco continues, "And besides, there's always going to be a career in sports out there for you. After you retire from the Olympics, you could be a coach, or a trainer, color commentator, maybe a career in sports medicine, I mean can you imagine? Team doctor and competing, you'll be a double threat."
Lynn smiles, she knows what he's doing, and while she knows that he isn't serious, it is nice to hear that someone actually doesn't mind encouraging her dream.
"Really? And what would I earn my medal in?"
"Depends which season you compete, although you'd probably do both, and go for gold. I mean, are there any women who have won gold in two different sets of games?"
She shakes her head, "Nope. Not that I know of."
"And you would know, you are the expert. Which means you could probably be a sports historian, that's probably a thing; although you'd have to make it first."
She punches him the arm, "Alright, now tell me the truth."
He bites down on his lower lip, "Fine…look, I know I gave you crap years ago about not being realistic, but maybe you should try. Everyone gives up before trying, if you still have that drive then why worry? You'll find a way to get there; through blood, sweat, and tears, you'll prove them wrong, right?"
Lynn smiles; she's glad to hear those encouraging words, and without a second thought, she pulls him into a hug.
He's shocked by the sudden contact, but he returns the affection. She lets go, and both turn around and see his girlfriend watching the two from a distance.
"I think your girlfriend saw us."
"She'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
Lynn knows that she should probably be careful with him for some time, especially after what happened in the cafeteria, but she figures that she's probably blowing everything out of proportion.
Francisco shrugs his shoulders, "Maybe, but I think that she'll understand when I talk to her.
"Alright, I should get going. Thanks for the pep talk," she say as she runs off.
Lynn's eyes briefly meets Mary's and the athlete just smiles as she walks away.
Francisco turns over the steak that he was making to thank Lynn for helping him through this week. It isn't often that he cooks for her, or ever for that matter, especially when dates at his house typically consisted of takeout or random snacks with pop, but tonight he was happy to have a good possibility of job at the moment, even though he is still wary of Lisa and whatever her lab is working on, but he put those fears behind him at the moment.
He pulls out his a notepad and glanced at the wall clock; writing down the time before he popped one of Lisa's pills and his own pain pill into his mouth. From what she said, it was supposed to protect against some long-named disease that he couldn't remember. He looks at the sheet, wondering how much longer he would have to continue to this medication, but he shakes his head, if Lisa trusted him to start taking medicine, then he can let some of his fears wash away.
A knock comes from the front door, and he walks over to let her through the door. She sniffs in the air; it smells like something is burning, she quickens her steps and sees the source of the smell, "Do you need help?"
He shakes his head, "No, I've got it. Can you help me set the table?"
She begin to set to the table, but looks over at him. 'Does he not smell it, or does he think that that's normal?' She'll admit that growing up around her dad made her a bit of a snob in the food department, but not that much.
"So how's it working out at Lisa's?" she asks; he's been her assistant for a few days now, and was genuinely curious what goes in her sister's laboratory.
He begins to plate their meals, "I haven't really started yet. Lisa told me that I can't start until my test results come back," he saw the look on her face, "She wants to make sure that I'm healthy enough to be in the lab without much risk of disease."
Lynn nods her head; that sounds like Lisa, running random experiments on those around her.
"She said that she would get the results back next week, so I can start then," he said as he took a bite of his steak.
Lynn attempts to cut through the streak, but she struggles…not really, but it was still tough. She sees him bite into it with no problem, eating as if this was normal; meanwhile, she is still chewing while wondering how much water she'll need to get through the salty dish.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
She swallows the food in her mouth, "I think that you may have gone a bit overboard with the salt."
He shrugs his shoulders, unaware of how much salt he used on the protein, "Tastes fine to me."
A phone call interrupts their dinner, Francisco pulls out his phone, "It's Lisa," he told Lynn. "Hi Lisa."
Lynn watches him nod and answer a few questions about his 'progress' and if he's 'feeling out of the ordinary' while trying to get through dinner.
"I'll send you a photo of the charts after I finish dinner…Alright, I'll go pick up my badge and parking pass tomorrow…Bye." Without noticing, Francisco had a slight smile on his face that Lynn began to mimic.
In a singsong manner, "Someone's got a job."
Francisco rolls his eyes at her silliness, and gives her a kiss, "Thanks, I appreciate what you did."
"I'm glad, but next time let me make dinner, deal?"
"Deal," he says.
After dinner, Francisco sends Lisa photos of the charts that she requested. Lisa looks over at photos, and says to herself, "Well, this explains what happened at his prior employment…birds of a feather, I suppose…"
