The Decision Is Already Made

Lily told me that I had time to think about it, she wasn’t going for her management training for a couple weeks. “They aren’t posting the job for a couple days, I’ll have lots of time to show you things you may not know or answer questions you may have.”

I told her I did need to think about it but in all honesty, I wanted to wait until I got a chance to talk to Josh. I knew when I told him he would support me in whatever decision I made but I also knew that he would be all for me taking the position because it meant that we could actually spend more time together, since I would be working just Monday to Friday, and only until 3:30.

Josh was sleeping when I got to his place that night. Normally I would let him sleep but I was too excited, I managed to get ready for bed before I found myself sitting on his bed, staring down at him, feeling a little nervous, I didn’t want him to be mad that I couldn’t wait for morning.

Darkness had not settled completely, like it never does in the summer months around here. I could see Josh’s sleeping form in the light that made it through the blinds he had up to his window; it wasn’t enough to lit his room but it was enough for me to feel even worse for what I was about to do.

“Josh?” I leaned over him, my hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. He groaned but didn’t wake, so I tried again, harder this time. “Josh? Honey please? I really need to talk to you.”

He mumbled something I couldn’t make out as he turned over on to his back.

“Wake up Josh,” I shook him harder. “We need to talk. I found out something tonight that has the power to change our lives and I really need to talk to you about it!”

“Wha….” Josh shot up, staring at me from under his half closed eyelids. “Anna….?”

I giggled for some unknown reason, maybe it was the way he sprung up in bed or maybe it was his attempt to look awake even though he was clearly still trying to sleep, either way it made me giggle. “Hey honey,” I gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Or it was meant to be a quick kiss but he had other ideas and I ended up on top of him while he sunk back to the mattress.

It took a while for me to gain my composure enough to try and get a handle on the situation so we could talk. My mind screamed out its displeasure the same time Josh voiced his when I pulled back from him. “Get back here,” his hands grabbed my hips as I tried to move away from him.

“Josh,” I laughed while I held myself steady over him. “As much as I would love to make love to you, we need to talk first.”

“What did you need to talk about?” There was something in his voice that made me think he was a little worried what I would say. “You said something life changing…?”

“That’s right.”

“Should I guess?” He shifted upwards so that his head was resting against his headboard. “Is it something I’ll like?” I went to speak but he continued, “If it’s something bad, I think I would rather not talk about it until morning when I’m a little more awake.”

“Something bad?” I frowned. “What on earth are you thinking? What bad thing could I possibly have to talk about?”

Josh shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. When you woke me up wanting to talk about something life changing my first thought, in my sleepy state, was that you were going to tell me that you were pregnant but I would hope that you’d be a little more excited about that.” He paused, studying me. “Is that what you wanted to talk about? Are we having a baby?” Despite what he just said, he seemed hopeful.

I hated to crush that hope but I had too. “No,” I shook my head. “We aren’t having a baby,” he seemed disappointed. “I’m sorry Josh.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight. “We weren’t trying; it was just the first thing that popped into my head because it would change both of our lives.” After pressing a kiss against my forehead, he asked me what it was that I wanted to talk about.

“Well,” I sighed. “It doesn’t seem like it’s such a big deal now.”

Josh let out a frustrated groan. “Anna don’t do that, you know what ever you want to talk about is important. Tell me what’s on your mind, please?”

“Well,” I flashed him a smile before going into my explanation of what happened when I got to work earlier that day. When I told him that Lily said they were thinking of me to slip into the department manager role, he didn’t let me go any further.

“Wow honey!” He exclaimed as he hugged me tight. “That’s awesome! I’m glad they realize just how valuable you are to them! You’ll be the best department manager they’ve ever seen!”

“Really?” I was a little surprised by his reaction. I knew he would be excited for me but I didn’t think he would be that excited until I told him that it would mean we would get to see each other more.

“Yes really!” He smiled down at me. “I’m so proud of you honey, all your hard work and dedication are about to pay off. They made the perfect choice; they won’t regret it and all your customers will be overjoyed to know you are in charge.”

I know it shouldn’t have mattered as much as it did, but hearing Josh go on about how great it thought I would be for the role and how it was about time management realized it, made me really happy. I was determined that the job would be mine, even if I had to go through the interview process and wait to see if it’s really mine.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Josh told me when I mentioned that. “There isn’t another person in that whole store who could take that position away from you.”

“Thank you,” I kissed him. “You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that.” I gave a little laugh and told him that I thought I would have to tell him the hours I would have to work before he would be so gung-ho about me going for the job.

“Oh?” He raised a brow, “What would the hours be?”

“7am to 3:30 pm, Monday to Friday.”

He stared up at me for a moment, and then I saw his lip twitch. “You mean?” He smiled, “I get to see you more?”

“Yes,” I smiled. “No more sleeping while I’m trying to seduce you.”

“I’m sold,” he exclaimed as he flipped me into my back before moving above me. “Now,” he nipped at my neck, “About that last part…”