The bitterness of summer

1. I can't seem to move fast enough. I need help. I feel I am trapped in my old job.

2. I want to be more upbeat. I don't want to let Macy down. 3. I have to remember that if I can get this person trained, I can move on. 4. Find that job in Chicago that I really need. I don't want Macy thinking she has to support me. I want us to be a team.

-Jake

It felt so endless. And summer started on Father's Day. Jake felt downright numb. He was growing restless. More than a bit depressed these days. It didn't help that he'd spotted Macy's ex at the library. He even asked Jake if he'd heard from her.

"Yes, I mean," Jake pressed his lips tight about the matter. He didn't want to tell her ex anything. "Not really. She's busy." He sucked in a breath. "She's working."

Dean nodded as if he'd expected it. "I just don't know why she hasn't called me, or even sent a postcard." He shrugged.

Jake nodded as if he hoped Dean wouldn't pry anymore.

"Do you think she has a boyfriend?" Dean squinted as if this was the question he'd wanted to ask all along.

Jake thought he might crash into the floor. He could barely keep his senses together. His heart began to race. He nodded in an attempt to keep his mouth shut, but he sputtered, "Maybe." He looked up at Dean, thinking of all the things he'd done with Macy that Jake hadn't had a chance yet.

"Maybe?" Dean's eyes shot wide open. "Is she with that old high school friend of hers?"

Jake shrugged as if he needed to do something quickly at Reference. If only he had a cup of coffee to reach for. Even so, he was certain he'd spew most of the drink on Jake.

Whatever's been weighin' you down

 "Do we even know her real name?" Emmie sighed about Macy's grandmother moving in. She thought she would have left by now, but the weeks were wearing on. It was a new month. This was getting weird.

Emmie crossed her arms in thought. "I know you don't think I understand, but I do," Emmie told L when she came over to rant about Gram. She knew how stressed L's life was with this outsider taking over L's place with kindness that could kill L. 

"I'm sorry, you're having to go through this," Emmie found her hands on each of L's shoulders as if she could get through this, but when she looked at those sad puppy eyes of L's, Emmie could help but give her a hug, and she told her all over again how if she'd only known how this grown woman would be.

"Just stay with me." She said softly to L.

"No, I couldn't." L pulled back as if she could be a tough old bird, too. She wasn't a little girl.

"Yes, you can." Emmie looked at her wide-eyed. "You deserve to have a comfortable space to come home to."

L winced as if she hated to intrude. As if it wouldn't be right.

"Oh, come on." Emmie smiled as she put her arm around her and walked her through the apartment. "OK, I know there is only one bed, but it's big enough. It'll be like a sleepover. And you are free of bread and anything sugary here. We'll make the most on big fat salads and egg scrambles."

She reminded her of how they found that huge bag of rice from the Indian Store that was actually OK for diabetics, and she'd made a chicken curry not so long ago that didn't spike L's sugar. She went on about how it would be fun to prep meals for the week. "It'll be fun. Think of it as a vaca from your own place."

L chuckled. Emmie thought she was feeling better already. 

"Let's get your stuff." Emmie would help her.

L nodded as if this might be the only solution for now.

Rollercoaster

 L supposed they were doing the right thing, letting Macy's grandmother move in with her. Still, it felt as if she was getting closer to Emmie every day.

She didn't want to go back to her apartment. The woman was taking over. She cleaned. She baked. Moved furniture around. She didn't think the place was letting in enough light.

"No wonder you're so depressed," she'd told L that she needed more Vitamin D and K in her life. And she needed to eat more than those protein bars.

L tried to explain she was always on the go, and there was that diabetic matter. Only, Gram kept forgetting, and she was going crazy making all sorts of cookies. L didn't know if she could take it anymore.

"I'm sure they love you at the breakroom." At first, Emmie made light of it, but even she could see the struggle L had with Gram's obsession with cooking. 

"I don't know what to do."

L found she couldn't stand up for herself. She thought she could, but Gram wouldn't listen. Give her an inch and she took a mile. It was as if she wanted to make the place her own, with cozy floral landscapes and little knick-knacks that she couldn't help to bring home.

"Remember, it's only temporary," Macy told her. "She'll go back as soon as Jake gets here." Macy assured her.

"Well, is he ever coming back?" L looked at her bug-eyed while Macy sampled her gram's cookies in the breakroom.

"It'll be soon," Macy shrugged about the matter. "He's just trying to find a job before he gets here, and well, there's the summer reading program at the library that he said he would see through."

L nodded, wondering how did she came to be a part of this. A part of her felt sad that Macy didn't quite understand the dilemma she was in with her grandmother.  She didn't mean to be in a fret, but it was not good for her to live with someone who wanted to feed her foods that were bad for her health. And L only had so much diligence. This was much more complicated than Macy would ever know, and maybe she didn't care if she did.