One Of These days. . .
'Hey, Gemma, you stayin' in that bed all day?' her mum shouted up the stairs.
Gemma hated having to get up early, especially when she had to go to work. After getting dressed she made her way down the stairs, and after grabbing some toast from the kitchen table, she made her way through the front door to find her friend shirley, waiting on the step.
'Bloody hell, you took your time,' Shirley said to her, with an angry look.
'What are you worrying about? We've got plenty of time yet.
'No, we ain't, and we've already been late twice this week. We'll end up getting the sack.'
The two girls made their way to the bus stop, but the last thing Gemma wanted to do was go to work.
'Oh, Shirley, do we have to go to work? Can't we go to town instead?'
'Tell me you're windin' us up? We'll get sacked for sure if we don't turn up.'
But Gemma wasn't listening. She turned around and headed in the opposite direction. Shirley had no choice but to follow her.
They arrived in town and straight to the nearest cafe, where they ordered a mug of coffee each, and after sitting down at a nearby table, Gemma nudged Shirley in the arm with her elbow.
'Hey, see that lad over there?' She whspered to her?
'Yeah.'
'Well, I was in the same class in school as him. He kept asking me out, and I kept turning him down.
'Why? He's well fanciable.'
'He wasn't then. He was skinny and had a bad case of acne. He kept asking me out, and I kept turning down. But I cetainly wouldn't turn him down now if he asked me out. Come on, let's go and have a chat with him.'
The lad' had a terrified expression on his face when he saw Gemma approaching.
'Hi, Jason. You, OK? She asked him, with a big smile.
'Yeah, I'm fine,' he replied. 'I'm sorry but I'll have to go or I'll be late for work.'
Gemma gave a disappoined look. 'Oh, OK, then. Will you be in here tomorrow?'
'Maybe,' he answered. before getting up from his chair to leave.
'Well, he was certainly pleased to see you,' Shirley said to her, picking her mug up to take a sip of her coffee.
After leaving the cafe, the two girls took off to look around the shops, before going back to Gemma's, hoping her mum had already left to go to work.
Next morning, Shirley was once agin, on the step waiting for Gemma.
'Hi,' Gemma said to her, once she was outside.
'So, are we going to work this morning, then?' Shirley asked.
'Oh, can't we go back to town?'
'No, we can't. We are pushing are luck as it is.'
But, again, Gemma wasn't listening. She headed in the direction of town instead of the bus stop. Shirley ignored her and carried on towards the bus stop, but then changed her mind and caught up with her. But when they arrived at the cafe, there was no sign of Jason. They waited for ages.
'He's not going to come, is he'? Gemma asked Shirley.
'Doesn't look like it. What are we gonna do now?'
'Hang around town, and maybe later, go down by the river.
After arriving by the river, they sat on a bench. Shirley then noticed a man and a woman walking towards a car, in the nearby car park.
'Hey, Gemma, look over there.'
When Gemma looked over towards the couple, she realised the man was their boss from work.
'Do you think he's seen us?' Shirley asked her.
'No, course he ain't.'
'How can you be so sure? He seems to be stairing in this direction.'
'Relax. He ain't seen us. OK?'
'Yeah, I suppose,' Shirley answered. But she had her doubts.
They stayed sitting on the bench a while longer, then decided to make their way towards home. This time they were going to Shirley's .
Next mornig, both turned up for work, but soon as they arrived, they were summoned to the boss's office.
'We're for it now,' Shirley said, as they waited outside.
'I wouldn't be too sure about that' Gemma grinned.
Shirley was called in first. She reappeard after about five minutes.
'Thanks, Gemma,' she said, just as Gemma was about to be called in to the office. 'I've only been sacked.'
But when Gemma came out a few minutes later, she said to Shirley, 'Come on we can go back to work.'
'You what?' Shirley asked.
'You heard.'
'What did you say to him?
'You know that woman we saw him with yesterday?'
'You mean his wife?'
'Oh, that wasn't his wife.
'How can you be so sure?'
'Because his wife was a teacher at the school me and Jason went to, and if that was her yesterday, she had managed to make herself look twenty years younger, and quite a few inches taller. Anyway, I said to him that if he doesn't sack us, we''ll forget about seeing him with another woman yesterday.'
'One of these days, Gemma Riley, you'll push your luck just a bit too far,' Shirley whispered under her breath, as she followed Gemma back into the factory.
