Monday morning came, signaled by the buzzing of my phone alarm as it vibrated, rotating itself in a clockwise pattern on my nightstand. I got up immediately, and took a bath, feeling energized rather than nervous about work. I felt better knowing that despite all my worrying on Sunday, I hadn't received a call from my boss telling me not to bother coming in. That had to be a good thing, right? Putting on my clean crisp shirt and blazer felt good combined with the confidence I had woken up with. As I secured my tie, I smiled at myself in the mirror, hearing the honk of the carpool faintly outside. I patted my shirt down once more to make sure it was smooth before heading out the door.
When I got to work, Ms. Marshall gave me her usual "Good morning, Benjamin," which I took to mean things had been patched up between us. The last thing I wanted was to pester her with paranoid questions. She hadn't literally said everything was okay, but I felt like the only way I could make it better was to be a good employee by way of just doing my job properly. Some days it really stunk to be at the bottom rung of the corporate ladder. Ms. Marshall gave me the coffee orders for the office, and I headed to Starbucks. I came back in record time and after delivering the coffee to the appropriate people, I went back to Ms. Marshall's office.
"Benjamin. Have a seat."
I nervously did as she said and tried not to look like a puppy that had just been kicked, but I was having a difficult time with it.
"First off, I would like you to know I received your text message, and although I didn't reply, I do accept your apology. Secondly, I'd like to give you a delivery task of sorts that doesn't involve coffee. I will give you a promotion if you get the delivery done in good time. You have potential, and your mistake, believe me, has been nothing compared to some of the idiots I've fired. At least you didn't trip over an office chair and spill coffee all over important reports. No joke. Here's the delivery, it's to go to the Wolfson Hospital by 3pm. Is that understood? Think you can handle it?"
"Yes, Ms. Marshall."
I gently took the delivery, which was a manila envelope, and placed it in my briefcase. Ms. Marshall dismissed me with a wave of her hand, and I turned around to leave. When I returned after delivering the envelope, I spent a few more hours doing a few more mundane office tasks, and then finally, my shift was over. When I got home and walked in the front door, Ralston instinctively came up to me, letting me hug her. I enjoyed the feeling of her soft fur on my fingers, glad that she was there to comfort me. Despite my day going better than I had imagined on Sunday, I was still a little stressed out from it, probably because of the extra pressure I had put on myself to do everything perfectly so I could save my own ass. Thankfully, it had paid off.
"Thanks, Ralston."
Ralston sniffed my shoulder, showing me her appreciation as I pet her fur. I got up and changed out of my work clothes, feeling like I needed to go out and have some fun. I decided to make my way to The Watering Hole Saloon, which was the only bar in Appaloosa Plains. Besides alcohol, they had some games that I thought would be nice stress relief. Not to mention, if there were any hot girls, I knew of a sure way to relieve stress that involved them. When I got to the bar, it was pretty empty, but I didn't care too much as I headed upstairs to the shuffleboard table. All I wanted was to be out having fun, and I didn't mind entertaining myself, so the emptiness of the bar didn't matter.
Since I still felt pretty poor, I waited for Happy Hour to start before I ordered a drink. It paid off because I was able to get a drink for two dollars. After I finished it, I realized I was getting sleepy. Overall, it had been a good day. I felt a lot better knowing that my job was secure, and that my dreams of being well off hadn't been shattered.
Lol, I read *beep* ugly before, and I was a little sad that you stopped writing it because it was funny. But I'm glad you did something else with it!
ReplyDelete(About the *beep* part, as you can see from my writing, I don't like swearing, but I can listen to it and read it. I'm not religious or anything, but there's just an environment in my house where there's a lot of children.)
I really love the makeover you did for Benjamin! I can't wait to see more~!
Yeah, I know, I figured some people would be sad Nubby's story was closed, but I seriously was not having any motivation towards her... LOL. I'm glad you understand. :D
DeleteAhh haha, I like swearing, but it's cool if you want to censor yourself LOL, I'm not going to stop you. <3
Thanks, Benjamin is a cutie. I have the next chapter in a draft, I'm trying to make this one a little easier to write than my other stories, but we'll see.. I seem to thrive with the more complicated stuff, and when I give myself something too simple to do, I trip myself up.
Thanks for reading and commenting! :)
Well at least he didn't lose his job. :)
ReplyDeleteHis boss is really something else though. How is someone an idiot for tripping? Accidents happen ...And I love how she was so much more concerned with the reports rather than the person who nearly busted their assets on an office chair haha haha. And is there a reason why you haven't showed her face?
Omg I can't stop giggling....Benjamin is really trying to stretch his dollar huh? But I guess it kind of was worth it...Why by then drink for full price when you can wait a while and get it cheaper?
Yeah, he got lucky, Ms. Marshall was very understanding.
DeleteWell... his boss is one of those corporate power ladies, like she's all business, business, business. She's not mean, but she's not very lenient. If an employee makes her feel like they're wasting her time, she tends to be mad and fire them, especially the lower level employees. She might be working in Appaloosa Plains, which is a small town, but I kind of feel like her personality is hustle-bustle, and very rushed. The person who tripped over the chair and spilled coffee on the reports was wasting her time, in her opinion, because they had to take precious time away from the meeting by cleaning up the coffee.
Yeah, I am still working out the kinks of this story, like in my head, I feel like it's supposed to be 'different' than my other stories because it's a challenge story. It's not, of course, it's a story, so I should treat it like a story and quit getting hung up on my own shit. LOL. I was trying to follow my own challenge rules, since I made up this challenge, I thought I would try to stick to the rules I made up. The boss is a townie, and technically I would have to ask her over to Benjamin's house to get pictures of her, which is why there are no pictures of her. BUT, I changed my mind at chapter three, because it drove me nuts that there were no pictures of him at work and of his boss. So I made his office building, and I'm going to make his boss instead so that she can show up in future pictures. I just woke up from a nap, I hope my answers are making sense. LOL. Sorry if they're not. *sigh*
LOL, I like how Benjamin's cheap-ness is making you laugh. XD That part I wrote in was when the game informed me it was Happy Hour, and that's when I made him get a drink. It was just coincidence actually. XD
Lol well I guess his boss kind of reminds me of someone I know...Lamp but they're probably worse than her :D
DeleteIt doesn't feel like you're working out any kinks when I read this so nice job :) Its definitely different in its own way but it still feels like a story to me, I think you're being too hard on yourself. I'm anxious to see what his boss looks like now so this should be interesting ^_^ Your answers made sense, hopefully you enjoyed your nap :]
Lmao not lamp
DeleteDifferent from your other stories is what I meant to say*
DeleteLOL, I thought lamp might have been LMAO. XD *slaps autocorrect*
DeleteOh thanks, haha, yeah, sometimes I am hard on myself for no good reason. Thank you for the reassurance LOL. I did, I felt better after my nap, and even better when I saw your lovely comments. :)
Hmm...so what was in the envelope that needed to be delivered prompt and on time. Me thinks Ms. Marshall might be getting blackmailed and paying someone off. Oh! Maybe it's a threat of some nature to someone else. Perhaps SHE'S the blackmailer :P Or I'm just simply paranoid and making up stuff. Yep. That could be it too.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he didn't get fired. Although if my suspicious nature is telling me anything it's that Marshall kept him around to abuse for her deliveries so she can deny ownership if the cops come around. Just saying.
LOL! Your theories of what was in the envelope are funny. The delivery to the hospital was legit business paperwork for one of the doctors. This is one of my stories where I haven't introduced paranoia yet, LOL.
DeleteHahaha, that's funny. Ms. Marshall isn't corrupt or involved in any criminal activities, she is just strict and very corporate. She put those stipulations on Benjamin's errand to test him to see if he was worthy for a promotion. She often tests her lower employees, and then promotes the ones who do well, while firing others who don't. LOL.