Welcome to Envy Park by Mina V. Esguerra Read Free Book Online Page A

with the people I work
with. I don't care about ranks and positions."
    "Are you sure about
that?"
    Was this going well? It didn't
feel like it was going well. "If there's anything I learned when I
worked away from here, it was just to do the work. People come and
go."
    "Why, Moira? Were you planning to
'come and go'?"
    Did Roxie not tell him that I
intended to leave by June? "I may be leaving Manila again in a few
months, yes."
    Jonas was surprised. "A few
months? You weren't intending to stay even if you got this
job?"
    "I'd consider staying longer if
the job was worth it, of course."
    He leaned back against his chair.
"Well that's the issue then, isn't it, Moira? Should I even offer
you the job knowing you're half out the door already?"
    His demeanor had changed, and I knew that the
interview was over.
    I forgot what I said next, and what he said next. I
kept it pleasant, and shook his hand when I left, but didn't feel
like finding Roxie to chat about it, even though she was just two
floors down.
    I went home instead.

Chapter 9

    Yes, I moved back home because I'm so enthusiastic
about the economy and my career options here.
    Should have said that.
    It wasn't a lie. I just didn't think of it at the
time.
    I thought an energetic swim would get my mind off
this, but I was still me, so I kept reliving that conversation with
Jonas and rewriting it in my head.
    Matilda waved at me from the shade. I waved back but
didn't feel like talking, so I gestured about having to go.
    Back in my apartment, I cleaned again. Took out the
trash. Made pineapple jam and set it out to cool in the little jars
I was using as glasses. I scrubbed my bathroom tiles.
    I don't mind working from the ground up again.
    I napped at five pm and had a dream about the
interview. So annoying. Roxie had called and sent messages during
that time, but I didn't return them. I woke up four hours later and
headed to the gym for my run, still annoyed.
    A downside of my stint abroad is my career has
plateaued but I don't mind paying my dues and earning my spot on
the corporate ladder again.
    I set my treadmill program to include a sprint, and
I was running my rage out within minutes. So many things I could
have said! I was usually so much better at job interviews than
that. I should have practiced. Roxie scheduled this too soon; I
wasn't ready.
    When the thirty-minute program ended I started it up
again, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to beat myself up some more.
And I sprinted.
    Eventually I became aware of him, of course Ethan,
sitting on the bench usually used by the people lifting weights.
Except he was still in his standard office outfit and was just
looking straight ahead, at his reflection on the huge mirrored wall
I was facing.
    "Oh my god," I said. "How long
have you been there?"
    "Middle of your
sprint."
    "My first or my
second?"
    "I didn’t see your first. Why are
you angry?"
    "Oh my god. You should have said
something."
    "You were obviously deep in
thought. Do you want to go out and get something?"
    "But you haven’t started
yet."
    Ethan shifted his legs, bringing
his feet and his leather shoes closer to the bench. "I don’t work
out every day. Just so you know. What do you want to
eat?"
    "Meat," I said, pouting. "And
onions. Something really obnoxious and smelly."
    We ended up at the kebab place, right in the
business park. They served crazy large sticks of grilled meat with
onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. I told him about the interview as
we worked on dividing the meat from the single skewer we
ordered.
    "So. I screwed up, didn’t I?" I
said.
    He shrugged. "You didn’t want the
job to begin with."
    "But I needed it."
    "You say you do."
    "I just really have a problem with
saying things the right way, you know. It’s like there’s a version
in my head, and maybe it’s not the right thing to say."
    "But it’s the truth, isn’t it? Why
would it not be the right thing? I mean, ultimately."
    "Because it doesn’t get me what I
want. If I just told