Ashley's Hard Day(part 1)
1
Ashley
sat in front of her boss's desk while he chewed her a new one. It was
the usual stuff he says when her partner screws up and she takes the
blame. You know, “Someone's gotta answer for this mistake..” and
“We can't afford to lose anymore client cause of morons in the
workplace”. “This was a great way to end the week”, she
thought. Somehow she kept taking the flak for Jimmy's mistakes. Jimmy
was a weasel like that, all charm and play. One of these days, she
wasn't going to take the blame, and really show him she wasn't such a
push over. She stopped listening to the angry boss for one moment to
make a mental note,“Note to self, Jimmy's new Christmas present is
laxative brownies. Be sure to have extra for boss.”
Then
her boss chimed in,”Ashley, are you even paying attention to what
I'm saying? We cannot afford another mistake from you. Do you
understand the words coming out of my mouth???” Ashley nodded. She
forced a smile and said the usual bullshit he liked to hear such as
“Oh, it wont happen again boss, so sorry” and “I'll
make sure this is the last time, your highness. My lips are pressed
against your ass from here on out! Roger dodger?!”. Perhaps,
She didn't say the latter, but she sure wanted to.
She
got out of the wooden chair with a stiffness to her body, and walked
to her office. It always amazed her how long winded her boss was, and
how long she had to sit there and focus. She found herself trailing
off lately with her thoughts. It seemed harder and harder for her to
focus on the task at hand. As usual, when she found herself nodding
off, she took a trip to the coffeemaker and pour herself a cup. This
time she poured Jimmy a cup, since he worked so hard on getting her
in trouble, perhaps he made himself thirsty.
When
she got to her cubicle, She made sure to walk on the path around
Jimmy's cubicle and the edge of the cubicle, which happen to align
perfectly with Jimmy's crotch. She made sure to smile as she ran over
to hand him his cup, just before the incident. “Oops! Clumsy
me! I tripped”, she said to him. He got her message loud and clear.
After finishing up some loose ends on her current project for a
client, she left for the day.
She
decided to grab another cup of specialty coffee from her favorite
coffeehouse called Sacred Grounds. She hadn't been there in a month
since her new promotion, and she thought it would be a real treat
after a hard day of dealing with bullshit.
2
Ashley
managed to snag a sweet parking spot in front of Sacred Grounds. She
noticed that the place was unusually full for the time of day.
Perhaps, The owner finally managed to put out some decent
advertisements and hired some talent. She was excited to see what was
so new that it brought all these people in.
She
entered and it was like she was transported to the 80's new wave
scene. There was more black dyed hair than a Cure concert.
She looked at the chalk board to see if there was any specials, but
instead there was a scribbled image of a skull and a band name”Dead
Girl”. Coffee to go, she whispered to herself.
Someone
walked by and grabbed her. He spoke in a somber tone as if he was
stoned,”Are you lost? Alice?” She blinked and then pulled herself
away. “No, sir, I am errrr found and I'm not Alice. ”. Making a
break for the door, she muttered,”The coffee isn't that good to
endure emo teens and stoners.” She pulled out of the parking like a bat out of
hell with a mouth full of cuss words, and a sour attitude. She
imagined a hot bath as a alternative to relaxing cup of coffee.
When
she got home, she noticed someone had marked her car with some
strange graffiti. She paused a moment to think of happy thoughts and
all that stuff she was taught in her meditation class, but the exercise did
not work very well. She got mad! The neighborhood could hear her vulgar language
very clearly, but after a couple moments Ashley decided slamming her
front door,throwing her project papers into a corner, and running
a hot bath was a better option. She didn't want the neighbors to
commit her to the looney bin just yet.
After she filled the bathtub
with water, She slipped into the bathtub and laid her back. She
forced all of her anger thoughts out of her head, which was a
struggle in itself, and began to relax. She embraced the warm feeling
of the water and she began to feel as if she was floating in air.
Then, something broke her serene relaxed state, she heard the front
open. “Hello?”, she screamed. “I got a gun! I'm calling 911
right now!” No one was supposed to be here, she lived alone after
all. When she got up to reach for her cell, she looked up at her
mirror and paused in her tracks. The mirror was fogged up , but the mirror also had writing that read,”Hello Alice!”
To be continued........ next
installment of this story coming soon.
