THE JOB
by Shoshauna Shy
So
that coworkers would not joke
that
Val was a total loser,
she
took vacation every year
the
way they were supposed to
even
though she preferred to stay
booking
reservations
for
the exclusive historic lodge
in
the Sangre de Cristo mountains
with
its children riding horseback,
waitstaff
performing cabaret,
plates
boasting crepe suzettes.
The
pine-shrouded stone chateau
was a
primo destination
for
the international jet set
who
lavished appreciation
when
she saved them a favorite suite
a
season in advance.
Since
Valerie lived two towns away
in a
studio apartment
disowned
by her parents
soon as
she turned 18,
holiday
dinners were at the lodge
amongst
the owners’ children –
Christmas,
New Years, Easter Day
each
savored by her Nikon.
When
she did manage to vamoose
one
week every August,
she
checked email and Facebook posts
in
every internet café.
In Sacramento
her
boss dumped his latest mistress;
in New Orleans
got
fired for cocaine.
A
maid’s diamond find in the whirlpool
was
the highlight of Ann Arbor
and
the gardener’s proposal to the chef
her
memory of L.A.
The
cab ride home from the airport
was
the best part of the journey,
and
by dawn Val was in the dining hall
with
Cook Cody’s basted eggs.
If it
weren’t for the blackened postmarks
on
the cards sent to the office,
nobody
would believe that “Velcro”
~
first published in MO: Writings from the
River (Montana State University
in Great Falls
