Monkey Business

kimmy gets lucky

7:30 p.m.

I’m lying in bed staring at the ceiling. I hate him. How could he jerk me around like that? How could he ignore me?

I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.

There’s a knock on the door.

“Not here,” I say. I don’t feel like talking to anyone. It’s not like it’s Russ. He’s too busy with his girlfriend. No time for me. I’m sick of it. So sick of it. He can have his precious Sharon. I don’t care. He can go to hell.

“It’s me,” Russ says.

Huh? What, did he send Sharon on an errand so he could get a quick blow job? “Go away.”

“I need to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.” I can be strong.

Pause. “I told Sharon the truth. She left. Can I come in, please?”

What? I scurry off my bed and open the door. He looks sad and disheveled.

He told her. He broke up with her.

He told her. He broke up with her.

I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him inside. He chose me. I can’t believe it. A helium balloon of happiness rises in my chest. I kiss his neck.

He loves me.

I nap and wake up feeling happy. It doesn’t matter that he was a jerk. He realized his mistake and chose me! I turn over and see that he’s staring at the ceiling.

“Do you want me to set the alarm?” I ask. What I’m really asking is, Do you still plan to sneak out?

“What time is class tomorrow?” he asks.

“Ten-thirty.”

“Why don’t we sleep in and get up at ten?”

I fall back asleep, smiling, my head nuzzled in his arms.

When the phone rings the next morning I’m still smiling. I reach across Russ for the phone. The call display says O’Donnel. Oh. My. God. “Hello?”

“Hello, may I please speak with Kimmy Nailer, please?”

Please be yes. Please be yes. Please don’t ruin this perfect morning. Damn you O’Donnel, give me good news. “Speaking,” I say, my voice shaking.

“Hi, Kimmy, this is Claire Moss from HR at O’Donnel. We’re pleased to be offering you a position of summer associate.”

Oh. My. God. Hurray!

“The summer program is ten weeks, beginning June first. Your salary has been set at fifteen hundred dollars a week.”

I can pay back some of my loans! “I accept!”

Russ’s eyes pop open. I give him a thumbs-up and mouth, O’Donnel.

“Wonderful,” Claire says. “The only provision is that you’ll need to maintain a B average in your classes.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Better not be.

“Let me confirm your address,” she says, “and we’ll send you all the necessary paperwork.”

When I hang up, Russ hugs me. “Congrats,” he says. “I’m proud of you.”

He must have gotten in, too, right? “Check your messages,” I urge.

He hesitates, then picks up the phone and dials his voice mail. Two minutes later he smiles.

“I got it, too,” he says, looking dazed.

“Wahoo!” I scream. I don’t believe it. How amazing is this day?

He scoops me up and whirls me like the twister ride at a fair. I bend my knees so they don’t hit the wall.

I can’t believe how good my life just got. He broke up with Sharon. For me. We both got jobs. In New York. Where we’ll be working together all summer. Maybe we can even live together… Maybe I should wait a day or two before bringing that up. Don’t want to push my luck.

We walk to the showers smiling, his arm tightly around me. Two people from another Block spot us. “Morning,” I sing.

“Morning,” they say, eyebrows raised.

I think we’re finally out of the closet.