Ashley's Hard Day

                                            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.