With that in mind, Miguel got up to take a quick shower and change into clean clothes. Once dressed, he went over to the dark, espresso wood computer desk on the wall catty corner from the patio doors. Hector’s closed laptop sat neatly in the middle. A desk lamp was to the left of the computer and an acrylic pencil cup and pad of paper were to the right.
Miguel sat down in the black leather chair and opened the laptop. He went to one of the major employment sites and started to type dental assistant into the search field, but realized he’d need to have a resume to upload, or at the very least, a list of his school and work information to make filling in the applications easier. He minimized the window and opened Word.
Two hours later, Miguel had a well-formatted resume. It was short, but well-rounded. He included his education as well as his volunteer experience where he’d spent two semesters working at a low-cost clinic. Miguel smiled in satisfaction as he looked at the neatly organized information on the screen. He could do this.
Bringing the job app site back up, he narrowed the field down from Houston at-large to Hector’s zip code. It made sense to get a job in this area since he’d be traveling to work from here. And once he was financially stable, he could get an apartment near here as well. Maybe then, he and Hector would manage to stay in touch. When he hit enter, he got several pages of results. Miguel took a deep breath and started applying.
Around five thirty that evening, Miguel stood up from the computer, leaning back until his sore ribs pulled and his spine popped. He groaned in relief. He’d been sitting too long and he was hungry. The quick lunch he’d made for himself had been several hours ago. Hector had told him this morning he usually got home around six thirty, so he might as well stop filling out applications for the day and start dinner.
Miguel closed all his tabs and put the laptop to sleep before heading into the kitchen. Thanks to the groceries his and Hector’s mothers had dropped off yesterday, he had everything he needed to make fajitas. By the time he heard keys turning in the lock, dinner was almost finished. Miguel walked out into the living room just as Hector came in, dressed in a dark blue HPD T-shirt and dark jeans.
“Hey. How’d today go?” Hector asked the question casually, as if he always came home to Miguel in his living room.
“Great. I got about fifteen applications submitted. I wanted to do more, but they take a while to fill out. I don’t know why they ask you to upload your resume if you still have to type in all your information. Anyway, I stopped to make dinner so it’d be ready when you got home.”
“Slow down, buddy.” Hector went into the bedroom, his voice floating out through the open doorway. “You don’t have to apply to every dentist office in Houston in one day.”
“I know,” Miguel said. “I just want to do everything I can to get on my feet as soon as possible. Until I have a job, filling out applications is my job.”
Hector came back out into the living room. “I like your attitude.”
“Thanks.” Miguel ducked his head. “I never intended to be a kept boy. I just sort of fell into it. Now I’m determined to live life on my own terms, the way I always planned to.”
“Well, you’re on the right track.” Hector sniffed the air. “Whatever you stopped to cook smells good.”
“Steak fajitas.” Miguel went back into the kitchen, Hector following. He dished the meat and peppers onto a platter and set it in the middle of the kitchen table.
“What can I do to help?” Hector asked.
The question made Miguel pause. He couldn’t recall Santos ever asking what he could do to help in the kitchen. “Ummm…drinks please. Ice water for me.” He continued setting the table while Hector got their drinks.
“So, if I’m going to be cooking, I should know what kinds of food you like. I just went for what was easiest today.”
“I’ll eat practically anything. Italian, burgers, Tex-Mex are all good. Not a fan of seafood, so I guess you can skip anything like that. A thick and juicy fried pork chop is one of my favorites.”
“Okay, I’ll remember that.”
It was quiet for a while as they started eating. Once Hector finished his first fajita, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He slid it across the table to Miguel. “One of my teammates has a cousin who’s a dentist. He doesn’t have any openings at his practice right now, but he said if you call him, he can give you some leads.”
Miguel picked up the paper to see a dentist’s name and phone number written down, along with the best times to call. “Oh, wow. Thank you! An inside referral can definitely help. And tell your teammate thank you too.”
“Will do.”
They continued eating, Miguel watching in near awe as Hector put three fajitas and a generous side of rice away.
When he finished, Hector leaned back in his chair, patting his flat stomach. “I can already tell I’m going to have to up my workouts with you here. That was amazing.”
Miguel smiled, happy that he was able to pay his friend back in this small way for all his help. “Thanks. I’m glad you liked it.”
“We still need to take care of your phone tonight. I can add you to my plan. It’ll be cheaper than you getting a new contract and phone on your own.”
Miguel got up to scrape the remains on his plate into the trash. “Actually, I was thinking I’d keep my phone and get one of those pay as you go plans.”
“Are you sure?” Hector asked with a frown. “It’s not a problem for me to add you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Thank you for the offer, but I’ll be fine. Besides, if I do it this way, I won’t have to worry about transferring it once I’m working.”
Hector rose to rinse his plate in the sink. “All right. Sounds like you’re a man with a plan. Let’s go.”