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When Jenna returned from work she found Kai and Lacie both sitting in front of a television nobody was watching, staring down at their phones. Neither of them looked up as she dropped her bag heavily onto the kitchen table.

She let out a loud sigh and still neither of them moved an inch.

"How was your first day?" she intoned, cocking her head to one side.

She twisted her head. "Oh, it was lovely, darling, thank you for asking."

Kai jumped up like a meerkat, turning his head to face her. His brows were drawn into an angry line. "Do I need to beat the shit out of this Jonas guy?"

Jenna chuckled slightly and shook her head. "I doubt I'll run into him much. Don't worry about it."

"Hmm," Kai said, staring at her with the same angry glare. "He best stay away."

"Huh?" Jenna asked, turning away so Kai couldn't see her blush. She hadn't mentioned that the guy was good-looking, so there was no reason for Kai to be all jealous and weird about it.

She busied herself in the kitchen until Lacie joined her with questions.

"Who is Jonas?" she asked.

"Well... he's the HR who wants the certificate I don't have," Jenna replied honestly.

"Oh, Mum you best not lose this job," she whined. "I told all my friends you were working at Henderson's. They will think I'm lame if you get the sack on the first day."

Jenna couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's concerns. "Oh, right, I wouldn't want to let your mates down."

"Did you get spaghetti sauce?" Lacie asked as she riffled through her bags, done with the topic of her mother's new job.

"Yeah I got the one you like," she replied.

"You need to start eating other foods," Kai grunted. He was always moaning about his daughter's limited diet choices. It was one of those things he and Jenna argued about too often.

"Mind your business, Dad," Lacie tutted, rolling her eyes.

"Oi," Kai shouted. "You ain't too old to go on time out."

Lacie rolled her eyes again but fell silent.

Time out was another parenting convention that Jenna thought was utterly stupid, but Kai insisted the kid had to be punished somehow.

While Jenna did not agree, it was an argument she always lost.

After making the dinner, Lacie took hers to her room and Kai ate his in front of his computer. Jenna did not mind. She knew they were never going to be a 'eat around the table and talk about your day' kind of family. It wasn't in the stars.

Besides, it gave her more time to herself. She was able to google all the things she found confusing at work and get a headstart on tomorrow.

After a pause, she googled 'How to get a fake degree certificate.'

'These things aren't going to fool him,' she thought, scrolling through the results.

###

The following morning at work, Jenna got there early. She found most of the staff were having coffee in the canteen, and while she was nervous about joining them, she forced herself to act like a normal, sociable human being and sit with the people she'd met yesterday.

Her nerves were unfounded, and everyone seemed genuinely happy to see her.

"We didn't scare you away then!" Jenny cried. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." Jenna smiled.

"Long night?" Jenny asked.

"Couldn't sleep," Jenna chuckled. "Too much excitement."

Just as she spoke, Jonas walked in, passing behind her to get to the coffee pot. She wasn't one hundred per cent sure, but she could have sworn she heard him mutter, "Too much googling."

Her heart almost stopped right then and there.

The coffee spilt over the lip of her cup as her hands shook.

"Oops," she muttered. When she wiped the spillage from her dress she looked up to see Jonas staring directly at her. He was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, on the opposite side of the room, observing her as if she were in a tank.

After the others left, Jenna went to leave, but Jonas raised a finger, indicating for her to stay there.

"A word," he said.

Jenny pulled a sympathetic face as she left her there, alone with her nemesis.

A cold silence fell over the room as everyone vacated.

"Come here," he said at last.

Jenna stood and walked over to him, feeling stupid, like a naughty school girl as she shifted her weight. Her new work heels were not the most comfortable, and her tight dress stole her breath.

"Do you have anything you want to say?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jenna swallowed and shook her head, feigning ignorance.

"Nothing?" he probed.

'He knows,' she realised. 'He definitely knows.'

"What do you want me to say?" she asked, feeling her cheeks turn a horrible shade of red.

He knew she lied on her CV and he was going to tell everyone and she would be humiliated and marched out of the building like a criminal. The thought made her feel sick. She just wanted to die.

Her abject inability to lie or act was her undoing. Anyone else would play dumb, or say they had no idea what he was talking about. But not Jenna.

Jenna started to cry.

Getting this job was going to change her life. It was going to mean a house of her own and a better life for Lacie. It was something that made her daughter proud. And now she was going to lose it all because she was 3 points off getting a piece of paper.

It was all slipping away. All of her dreams and everything she had worked so hard for.

"Really?" he asked and tutted. "Grow up."

Those words made Jenna feel like a child. She sniffed back the tears, wiped her cheeks with her fists and nodded.

"Have you told anyone?" Jenna asked.

"If I had, we would not be having this conversation right now," Jonas scoffed.

"Why?" Jenna asked. "Why haven't you told anyone?"

Even as she asked the question, she knew the answer. This was the recurring theme in her life.

"Hmmm, now that's the question, isn't it?" he teased.