LITMIR.BIZ

      Open Door

      Chapter One

      Jessica’s life was over, and it was only ten in the morning. She sat there in her new red car. The car she saved months for. The car she borrowed money for. The red car with two doors and black seats. The red car with the endless speed. Her little Nissan 370Z.

      Jessica didn’t start the car. She just sat and looked straight ahead. She could see the back of the Wintergreen Drug Store. There wasn’t much to see. The manager at Wintergreen made employees park in the back. Next to the dumpster.

      The back of the Wintergreen Drug Store looked different from the front. At the entrance, the windows were large. You wanted to go inside. You could see so many bright things to buy. Candy, cosmetics, shampoo, T-shirts, and cards. In the back of the store, there was just the dumpster. And on this cold February day, the view looked dark and sad. The plain, windowless door was shut tight.

      So Jessica sat, thinking that her life was over. She couldn’t believe it. What happened? Things were going so well. She had a job as the head of the beauty department at five Wintergreen stores. She worked hard to get the job. She went to cosmetology school. She spent a year studying skin care, makeup techniques, and business management. She graduated at the top of her class.

      She interviewed at every department store and beauty salon in town. Her older brother, Brandon, said, “See, you messed up again. Why didn’t you go to college? No one’s going to pay you to do makeup.” But then she got a phone call from the manager of cosmetics for Wintergreen Drug Stores. It was a national chain! He invited Jessica to come to the headquarters for an interview.

      Her father, Juan Vasquez, drove her the six hours to Dallas in his huge car. Jessica wanted to drive by herself. Since her mother had died two years earlier, her father had become very quiet. Still, he wanted to drive her to Dallas. He said so. And Jessica decided she wanted to spend time with him. It was a silent drive.

      They got to Dallas. Jessica had her interview. And she got the job! She was the new beauty and cosmetics manager for Wintergreen Drug Stores in her hometown. When she told her father on the way home, he smiled.

      “That’s great, Jessica, amor,” said Juan Vasquez.

      Her brother and sister wouldn’t believe it when she told them about the job. Jessica was the middle child. She was the one who always messed up. She was the one who hadn’t gone to college. She was the one who smoked. Her mother, Victoria Vasquez, yelled at her at least once a week. “You should be in college! Become a lawyer! Become someone! Stop partying and start studying!” But Jessica spent her last two years of high school going to parties. She didn’t study. She found she enjoyed doing her friends’ hair. She tried new makeup techniques on them. Her mother just shook her head. Jessica would not be going to college.

      When Jessica and her dad got home from Dallas, she called her younger sister, Veronica.

      “I don’t believe it,” said Veronica.

      Chapter Two

      Jessica loved her job. For over a year, she worked at all five stores. She read about new makeup lines. She ordered makeup and bath products from the main office in Dallas. She decided how to display them in each store. She did makeovers for customers. One lady bought over a hundred dollars’ worth of cosmetics after a makeover. Jessica answered questions and made suggestions. She felt great about herself.

      Each store was different. One store, in the historic part of town, had mostly older customers. The men mainly wanted shampoo, while the women wanted makeup. Another store, near the college, had mostly young female customers. They wanted makeup and perfume.

      Jessica made good money. Brandon, who was a lawyer, made a lot more. Veronica, who was still in college, studied engineering. She told Jessica, “I have a summer job at an engineering company. I’ll make more than you.” Jessica smiled. Veronica just wanted to believe that. Jessica saw her father once or twice a week. Over dinner, Juan Vasquez listened to Jessica’s stories about work. He said, “That’s great, Jessica. You seem happy.” Then he got quiet again. Jessica washed the dishes. Then she kissed her father before she went home.

      She had an apartment at the newest building in town. She didn’t know anyone yet. Her neighbors were all young professionals. They were always in a hurry, carrying lattes. Or texting on their expensive smartphones.

      So, with all this new brightness in her life, what went wrong?

      It all started with the manager’s daughter at one of the stores. Against Wintergreen Drug Store rules, the manager hired his own daughter as an employee. The girl went to college but couldn’t find a job after she graduated. Her name was Cammie.

      Cammie had blond hair and pink lips. Her eyes were blue and hard. She always looked angry. She sometimes had bad skin. Jessica once suggested some skin-care ideas, but Cammie said, “I know more than you!” Then she turned and walked away. Whenever Jessica visited that store, she found Cammie in the makeup section. Cammie picked things up and put them back down. Once or twice, Jessica saw Cammie put something in her pocket. Cammie saw her looking and said, “What are you looking at?”

      Jessica said nothing.

      “I have a question for you, since you know so much!” said Cammie. “Why do you have this makeup so far away from the door?” She pointed at a new line of makeup from London.

      “I don’t know why it’s there,” said Jessica. “That’s not where I put it last week.”

      “Huh!” said Cammie. Then she walked away. Again.

      Jessica spent an hour putting the display back in the right place. Then she wrote what happened in her notebook.

      Next, Cammie told her father that Jessica smoked. That she

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