Heartbreaker - Episode 1

Friends And Layoffs

"So, another complaint for you, Eris. How, shocking," my boss said, not shocked at all.

I was sitting across his desk, chewing gum loudly. I didn't know if he hated that too, but it was a safe bet he did. We were in the dungeon of his office, a closet-space with no windows and piles of papers. He had the usual amount of papers in front of him, but he seemed to be struggling with two specific ones.

"There's a reason for that," I began to explain.

"Stop," he interrupted with a palm up. "You know damn well you're fired. My problem is, I have to fire your friend Harmony too. And I overheard you two yesterday talking about her getting evicted."

"Yes, she is," I said, sinking down on my chair. "But don't blame her for my behaviour!"

"I'm not," he said and seemed to mean it. "I just need to cut down on employees. But I can't bring myself to tell her."

I snatched the papers from his desk and stood up, smiling wide. "Oh don't you worry now! I'll tell her myself."

"I can't believe you did this!" Harmony said with a struggle, waving the paper all around.

"Hey! I'm getting fired too here," I said and bobbed my head.

Harmony bit her lip and turned away, leaning on the counter. "No, it's the way you said it. Like you enjoy bringing bad news or something." She sniffled.

I raised my arms in mock surrender. "Don't shoot the messenger."

"I thought you were my friend..."

I pointed at our identical layoff papers and said, "I am your friend. See? We're getting fired together. BFFs."

Harmony turned back to me, but she seemed angry now. She gritted her teeth, "It's always like this with you. Do you get off ruining people's lives? God, you're such a sadist." She took off her neon hat, which I knew she hated and threw it on the counter. Then she stormed off, leaving me to finish the shift alone.

It wasn't like there were any customers to serve or anything.