As much as I didn't want to face reality, I had to go back to my real job on real land that paid me in real money. It was nice making my regular tips plus the money George was paying me to keep the place up and running, but it felt like I barely even had a moment to think anymore, let alone work on my dream of owning my own craft shop.

Fortunately, no one ever really bothered me throughout the day, but a part of me knew that was because Ashley handled a lot of the earth-shattering problems by saying fuck it, nothing matters. And now that she was gone, I felt it in my bones that more people were going to run into issues that I had to solve.

But for the moment, I closed my office door, put on my good vibes playlist, and grabbed my on-the-go yarn bag out from underneath my desk to crochet granny squares that I'd eventually sew into a bag. They were simple, quick, and fun, and they didn't require much focus. My mind was elsewhere, given that my car was just about toast, and I wasn't sure where I stood with just about anyone anymore.

Other than that, though, it was a perfect day to get a whole bunch of work done. No one ever told me how nice it was to have an office job. Doing the job I was paid to do was barely even required.

Well, I definitely shouldn't let that thought slip out of my mind and out my mouth. I was already on thin ice with George.

An hour or so passed by, and I had a stack of pink and blue squares that were ready to be sewn into their rightful shape of a bag. As I reached down to my yarn bag to grab my darning needle, my door opened, and I sat back up to see who it was.

Mason.

"Uh. I don't know if anyone told you this, but I don't think it's proper work etiquette to walk into—" I began, but Mason interrupted me.

"What are you doing?"

I stopped my search for my needle. "I'm catching up on some work. And I really don't think anyone except for George is allowed to just come into the office whenever they want, so you should probably—"

Mason cut me off again. "You're not catching up on work. I can see the stack of knitting on the desk."

I took in a deep breath. What a disrespectful mistake. "First of all, it's crochet—"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, it matters a lot, and it is work for me. People pay me to make them things."

Mason seemed to accept that with a slight nod of the head, but he said, "You should probably focus on your real job first, though."

"And you should probably focus on yours. I'm doing payroll these days," I replied with a forced smile. I wasn't doing payroll, but he didn't need to know that.

He took the hint and shut the door behind him on his way out of my office. It sure was funny hearing him talk about focusing on my real job when he was the one who got me into trouble with George over ditching.

I knew expectations were different for me now, but I couldn't help but notice that I was the only one who could have lost their new job.

But that boat. It was so freeing to be away from the winery and the bullshit that came with it, and he had a ticket to a life that called to me more than having my own office. Boats didn't pay the bills, but they sure as hell made life a lot less stressful.

"Mason," I called after him, but he must have gone back to his actual job because he didn't respond.

That was fine. At least he took my little threat seriously. That had to be a step in the right direction for my boss bitch energy.

I paused for a moment and looked around the office. There were a few touches that were mine, of course, but it mostly still looked like it belonged to an older woman who knew exactly what she was doing with the neat filing cabinets labeled in cursive. Cursive.

I plopped my yarn bag up on my desk and stuffed all of my finished granny squares into it so I could finish up my project later. Maybe there was a tiny bit of truth to what Mason said about focusing on my real job, but that didn't change the fact that it wasn't my real dream.

Although online business was doing fine, I did love the personal connections that came with waitressing and selling crafts in person, and now that I was locked in an office by myself, I couldn't get that socialization anywhere. I turned on the computer. There were going to be plenty of opportunities to work while I was at work. I didn't need to give one hundred percent to my new role quite yet. I was still learning, after all.

There were plenty of craft fairs going on in the universe during everyone's favorite season, fall, and I would have to be stupid to not take advantage of the opportunities that were right in front of me.

As I scrolled through my options, one in particular caught my eye. It was just in time for Black Friday, when everyone would be doing their Christmas shopping for their loved ones (and doing some self-care retail therapy for themselves), and it was only a little more than a month away. This time, I would have to make a trip to Columbus, and without a functioning car, that would probably be a little difficult, but maybe my car would be in a better place emotionally when the time came.

And if not, I could always just hope that my sales would cover the cost of Ubering there.

----------------------------------------------

Hello friends, and thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your support!

So for today's question, since it is now summertime where I live, what are some of your favorite summer songs?

Personally, I like a lot of pop music in the summer, specifically from 2009 to 2014. I would have the radio on 24/7 during the summer those years, and so those songs make me nostalgic and happy. Big Time Rush is my go-to summer artist. Plus I also love Hotel California by the Eagles during the summer. I have no idea why though.