Saved By The One & Only

Number One Problem

   "I'm sorry Amy, I just cannot afford to keep you. Believe me, I wish I could! You're one of the hardest workers, but I have to make budget cuts. The store isn't doing so well anymore." Brian exasperated, exposing a tired and defeated look in his eyes. It's as if all he's had lately is nothing but restless nights and it was all catching up to him in this one moment.

      "Brian, please." I pleaded. "I need this job. I've put years into this electronic shop! You have to at least  take that into consideration." 

       "I really am sorry. I hope you can understand. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the front." Brian said with a pained expression on his face.

     Right then, I mentally resigned fighting for this job. I headed for the exit, and as I opened the door Brian said, "Good Luck Amy, I hope you can understand." 

"Yeah sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." The attempt at a petty reply failed when even I could hear hurt laced within my words. With that, I walked out the door and never looked back.

       
        As I jiggled the keys out of my Brooklyn apartment, I walked in and was immediately greeted with the mouth watering scent of marinated chicken on the stove. The familiarity of home felt like a comforting warm hug after the day I've had. See, the way our open concept apartment is set up is pretty cool- at least to me. When you first enter, to your left is a mirror with a little stand holding a vase full of flowers and two frames with me and my roommates pictures inside. One is from our trip to Disney World when we were seventeen, and the other holds the picture of us when we graduated college. Straight ahead is our mahogany dining room table that sits up to six people and behind it stand two sliding doors that lead to our little balcony. To the left of the dining area is the kitchen, fully equipped with stainless steel appliances and sitting right in the middle is a beautiful marble top island, matching the same marble counter tops. Just a few feet away is the living area comfortably furnished with an L shaped couch and matching ottoman. A short right from there is Mia's bedroom, to the left is a hallway which leads to a bathroom, and at the end of the hall is my bedroom where I have my own bathroom. Now, our apartment is not huge, but it's not too tiny. It's what I would consider cozy. Honestly, the kitchen to me is the best part of the apartment because of how modern and chic it looks as opposed to the rest of our apartment, but we don't dwell on it too much. We didn't necessarily grow up with too much money so I'm proud of the work we put in to make our home what is.

     I place my bag on the coat rack and head towards the kitchen where I begin to hear Mia muffling some words through the phone to someone.

     Mia Patterson is my roommate who I've been best friends with now for almost 10 years. Our moms are super close, which - if you ask me - practically makes us sisters. We've been so close ever since we met in High School. Mia is taller than me (because of course, who isn't) standing at about 5'6". Her skin is a gorgeous island girl tan that isn't too dark, but tan enough that it makes her skin glow in the sun. She also has deep cocoa brown eyes and naturally curly black hair that rests right at her shoulders. To top it all off,  the girl is blessed with a flattering hourglass shaped body, and nicely toned legs. What can I say, we Dominican woman are gods creation and i'm lucky to share in the luxuries it brings.

        I slowly walk closer and try to make out what she's saying to the other person on the line, but I fail to comprehend. Once I finally reach the kitchen, she spots me and smiles. "Okay, okay, we'll talk about that later. I gotta go." She quickly concludes her call and turns to put the top on the chicken so it can continue to cook for a little longer. When she turns to me and smiles again, there's what feels like an awkward looming silence. What's that about? 

    "Who was that?" I casually prompt as I lean on the island. 

     "Oh, no one! Don't worry about it, it's nothing. How was your day?" she asked sweetly, clearly in an attempt to brush past my question.

      "Well..." I started, but before I could even finish the sentence, she chimed in, 

      "Uh oh, what's wrong? What happened?"

     "Ugh .. Well, when I walked into work today, Brian told me he had something to discuss with me after work. I honestly assumed it was going to be about the new electronics that were coming in and all the new procedures, you know, yada yada. But then when I entered his office he hit me with 'Look Amy, you're a really great worker, in fact one of the hardest workers I have but I have to make budget cuts.  I'm sorry Amy I just cannot afford to keep you.' " 

        "WHAT?! Ughh what a loser! I cannot believe he did that to you! You out of all people? " she shouted.

       " I know, I know. What am I going to do now? I was honestly waiting to get promoted for that raise, and now it's all gone." I stated, my words dripping with distaste and anger.

          "Look, tomorrow is Saturday, so how about we go to the library to try and search up jobs that are hiring. Sound good?" 

          "Mm, yeah I suppose. Sounds great." Suddenly, it felt like I had ran miles without stopping and my body was about to collapse. "Look, I'm pretty beat so i'm going to head straight to bed. We'll talk more about it tomorrow, alright?" I said as I started making my way past her to my bedroom. 

          "But the food is almost ready?" She said, trying to sound a little bit hopeful.

           "It's too late, I lost my appetite." I said and walked away.

        Once I had a nice long shower and brushed my teeth, I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I lay there thinking - hoping - that there are multiple jobs hiring when I go check at the library in the morning. With that as my last thought, I decide to no longer fight the longing for sleep, so I let it take me as I sank into nothing but blissful sleep, forgetting my number one problem.