Risky Business by Nicole O'Dell Page B

were on a different bus than the one they usually rode—one that would drop them near the mall. They walked over to the mall and then called home to let everyone know they’d made it safely. They were even planning on eating dinner together at the mall—a first for them. But first—Magna.
    “Molly!” Amy grinned as soon as she saw Molly come into the store.
    Molly chuckled and shook her head. She never could figure out Amy’s moods.
    “Are you working with me tonight? I thought it was Amber on the schedule.”
    “Nope. Not me. This is just a shopping visit. Amy, I’m not sure if you met my friends when they were in before. This is Sara and Jess.”
    Both girls had learned from their hesitation last time and immediately reached out to shake Amy’s hand and tell her that they were pleased to meet her.
    “Hey Amy, is Donna here? I really need to talk to her.”
    “Yeah, but she’s on the phone. I’ll let her know you need to see her when she gets off.”
    The girls started their shopping. As usual they started in the denim section—jeans were the most important item, after all. At seventy-five dollars a pair, the choice was tough. But each of them hoped to find the perfect pair that day. Jess was long and very lean, so she had her pick of styles. Sara had slightly curvier hips but a very tiny waist which made things a bit more difficult. Plus, she was the shortest of them. Molly was average in every way—height and weight, right in the middle.
    “Don’t worry, girls. There’s a perfect pair of jeans in these racks for each of us. I promise.” Molly grinned and started digging.
    They each took six or seven pairs to the fitting rooms. The girls were each trying to pull on a pair when they heard a knock on the door. They stopped giggling and said, “Who is it?” Which, for some reason, made them giggle even more.
    “Sounds like you girls are having fun in there.” Donna laughed. “It’s just me, Donna. Did you want to talk to me, Molly?”
    Molly hurried to button the pair of jeans she’d been trying on. “I’ll be right out.”
    She opened the fitting room door just a crack and squeezed through it because Jess hadn’t gotten her next pair of jeans on yet. “Hi Donna. Sorry, were we being too loud?”
    “Oh, not at all, Molly. You girls have fun. You deserve it. Now, what can I do for you?” She had her purse in her hand and her jacket over her arm. It looked like Molly had caught her on her way out again.
    “Oh, well, I won’t keep you long. It’s just that I wanted to talk to you about the schedule, if that’s okay.”
    Donna nodded for Molly to continue.
    “Well, the past couple of weeks I’ve been scheduled both Monday and Tuesday nights, and then I have church on Wednesday nights, whichis really important to my family, and then usually I have exams on Thursdays.”
Slow down, Molly
. She took a deep breath. “So, I’m having a tough time getting all of my studying done. Would it be possible to be scheduled only one of those nights, either Monday or Tuesday and then another night of the week, say Friday night?”
    “You mean you want to work on Friday night instead of Tuesday night?” Donna laughed. “I hardly ever get a request like that. But, yeah, that works for me. I’m sure Amber would appreciate being freed up on Friday nights. So, will a schedule like Monday night, Friday night, and Saturday during the day work for you then?”
    “That would be just perfect,” Molly said. “Maybe once in a while I could work Thursday night instead of Friday or Saturday—once a month, maybe?”
    “That sounds great, Molly. Thanks so much for being honest with me about it. I want to be helpful, but I can’t if I don’t know what you need.” Donna smiled. “Now you get back to your fun. I’ve got to get to a dinner.”
    Molly squeezed back into the fitting room where Jess and Sara looked triumphant. They had each found the perfect pair of jeans. Since
    Molly loved the ones she still had