Jaded

Birds of a feather

William held the phone anxiously as he dialled their number, the number of his employment. He waited patiently, hoping that the business hadn't closed yet for the day. However, this was unlikely because the time was 5:47pm and they were open until 6pm. He didn't like the thought of what he was about to do, about a week previous to the turmoil that he was going through he most likely would have turned his nose up at the individual. He would have called them a slacker. That time was long gone. He had had a far more optimistic outlook on life because of Mrs Clarke and her husband. Though it was a terrible tragedy it had made him sympathetic again to the needs of others once more.

He was stirred from his innermost thoughts by the sound of a female, his ever frowning boss, "Hello?" She asked plainly with a very mild sense of curiosity.

"Hello, it's Mr Wilson here. Unfortunately, I have some very bad news for you. I've got food poisoning and I've been throwing up the entire contents of my stomach for the past thirty minutes. I would never usually put you in this predicament but it's for the sake of my colleagues." He said without missing as beat, despite the fact that he rarely had to lie to anybody.

"That is most unfortunate Mr Wilson, I presume that you aren't coming into work tomorrow because you don't want to leave a vile, putrid mess all over my carpet and my documents." She said coldly, her biting sarcasm frightened the already nervous William.

She then continued,"How long will you be off?"

"Oh, I'll only need a day off, I wouldn't want to hinder you or the business anymore than I already have." He replied hoping that she would agree to his wishes.

"You may have today off of work, but I do expect you to keep to your promise by returning on Friday. I don't like being let down. Goodbye." Her unemotional, seemingly robotic, voice delivered it's verdict.

"Goodbye."

He ended the call. His breaths were quick and shallow. He didn't like doing this. He didn't like lying. It had made him panic. He needed the time. He needed the time to fix everything, for her.

He took a deep breath, as he leaned against the back of his leather armchair. He had little over 24 hours to raise one thousand five hundred dollars, it wasn't an impossible task, just an improbable one. Ann stared over at him, she was shocked by his panicked state ; her mouth was wide open. William gave her a knowing look.

"You've just called in sick, haven't you?"

"Yes, this money won't raise itself. You may have noticed that we only have one day to do this, I'll add some of my money to the fund but I won't be able to do alone." He already had a plan, he was going to from door to door asking for donations. If every household gave about two dollars each, they'd be able to cover the cost.

"Why are you doing this for me?"

William turned around,"Because I care."

"Because you care? You've only known me for five days!"

"You've helped me realise what a jaded old fool I was. I was living in the past, forever reliving my days of boyhood with my grandma. I wasn't living for now, you've helped me realise where I was wrong."

"Thank you."

"Anytime, Ann." He called locking the door behind him.

They were very similar in many ways, they were both trying to reinvent themselves as a coping strategy. They both had a very hard time. Birds of a feather flock together, they say. William sighed to himself, there was one thing he was pretty sure that was one sided. He was in his late fifties and she was only in her forties, he didn't even know why he was even hoping. He loved her. He loved her as more than a friend.

The rain began to pour down as he went to door to door, telling and retelling the tale to hundreds of home owners. Most people were downright horrified by it, they produced small donations to help the communities most loved lady. It wasn't enough money though. The hours were dwindling away as were the the number of homes that he had left to visit. His luck was running out.

It was at 2pm he returned home, he had to deposit the money in his home and collect Clare from school. He was drenched from the storm and he looked worn out.

"We didn't make it, did we?" Ann asked.

William shook his head slowly.

"Oh..."

"It's not that..." William weakly replied.

"Then what is it then?"

"We made nearly double the amount we needed."

"WHAT!"