Life Without A Choice

Chapter One

4:55 p.m

Letters. Invoices. Account Statement. Quotations. Meetings.

These things have been stuck in my head for the past five hours. The sound of the mechanical keyboards all over the office has been annoyed me for the last two years. This is the life of an accountant. I work in a bank for the past two years. I have previous experience as an accountant in a small insurance company for three years and I decided to broaden my career by working in the bank.

Suddenly my colleague, Edith taps on my door.

"Don't stress yourself out, young man."

My fingers gently massage my eyes to relieve it after hours of staring at the computer and then I give her a smile.

"I'm almost done, Ms. Holms."
"Alright then. See you tomorrow."

She left.

I reach out my hand for my phone on the desk. I press the side button and the clock shows 5 o'clock. My work has done for today. I rearrange the papers on my desk and switch off the computer. I grab my bag and coat, taking steps towards the exit and leave the bank. I'm waiting at the same spot for a bus ride home. I'm looking at my watch. 5.15p.m. Fifteen minutes before the next bus. So I patiently wait at the bus stop. I unlock my phone once more and tap on the Facebook apps. Scrolling through news feed and read a few articles that caught my attention. After minutes of staring at the phone, the bus has arrived. When I step onto the bus, I saw a lot of people and took most of the seat. Luckily, there are vacant seats. 

6 p.m

The ride from my working place to my home is only taking half an hour. I got off the bus as soon as I reached home. I'm living in an apartment. I check my mailbox and I got nothing. Walking through the shabby-looking hallway and finally, I've made it to my room. I open the door. My buddy greets me. He's a six years old cat named Buddy. Butting his head against my legs and I give him a pat.

"You miss me, Buddy?"

He meows. 

I hang my coat and throw my bag onto the sofa. I reach for a cigarette and light it as soon as I got it. Take the first sip and exhales. What a relief. 

7 p.m

I rub my head with the towel after having a shower. I'm looking at the clock and it shows 7 o'clock. Today is Friday. Perhaps I should have a little drink at the bar. Should I? I'm approaching my fridge. No beers. Why am I not surprised at all? I close the fridge and put clothes on. Reach out for my wallet, phone, and house key, then I am off to the bar.

8 p.m

I'm sitting at the bars and the bartender approaches me.

"May I take your order, sir?"

I take out ten dollars out of my pocket and place it on the table.

"Whiskey."

He takes it and immediately reaches out for a glass. He pours the whiskey into the glass and serves it to me.

"Thank you."

I drink up the whiskey and put down the glass, then I stare at the television. Not far the television, I saw a lovely lady. She's around my age, I guess. She notices that I was staring at her and she smiles. She gets off from her bar stool and sits next to me.

"Hi."

She greets me and offers a handshake. I shake her hand.

"Hi. I'm Scott."
"I'm Daphne."
"Nice to meet you, Daphne. So uh..."

Clearing throat

"Why are you here?"
"Same as you, I guess. To get a drink?"

Awkward.

"Yeah, obviously. I mean, what the occasion that makes you want to drink?"
"Can't a lady have a drink?"
"Well, of course, you can. Sorry for the rudeness. Let me buy you a drink."

I wave my hand at the bartender and shows "2" with my fingers. He serves us with 2 glasses of whiskey.

"Thank you."

We both drink up the whiskey and place the glasses on the table at the same. She look at me burst into laughter. Why do you laugh at me?

"What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Anyway, are you working?"
"Yeah. Accounting."
"Cool."
"Well, what about you?"
"I'm a broker."
"Oh."

We talk throughout the night without realizing the time passes by. She tells me about her career, her life as a student and in exchange, I tell her mine.

12 a.m 

The bartender rings the bell.

"Last call!"

We are looking at each other and then we realise we have to go. She quickly reaches out for her phone and asks for my number. I grab her phone and key in my number.

"Thanks. It was nice to talk with you."
"Yeah, me too. I mean, it was nice talking with you too."

She chuckles and leaves me.