Freezing rain beat mercilessly against the yellow raincoat making its way down the street; ashen with fog. It was supposed to be snow. However, as the young girl had hardly more than sneakers on her feet, she was thankful not to walk in the result of a blizzard.
The staircase leading up to her apartment had never seemed steeper, and she slipped more than once on the ice. Gripping the rail in one hand, a damp envelope in the other, she reached the top and hurried to find her door. The key couldn't turn the lock quick enough, the girl sighing in frustration, tired of sitting through the day's unfortunate events. Rain pouring on her head made it all worse. Finally the door opened, and was slammed with vexation.
The envelope was clutched in both hands as she sat against the wall. A slit carved the top in an earlier read, but the contents were taken out again just to be sure. Black ink scribbled a greeting at the top, an apology for the inconvenience, and a list too long describing the issues presented. The words were exactly the same as before, and would be exactly the same next time she read them. Her eyes glistened at, "...terminated effective immediately", and, "...for committing company personnel and resources to a client..." The client was a poor woman, in need of a place to rent for the night before she could claim her paycheck the next day, and pay for gasoline to drive up to a friend's house. She had all the politeness and manners of a kind woman, and never once raised her voice when things were going slow. The young girl couldn't help but feel empathy, and arrange her a room in a nearby apartment. In a hurry to leave work she left her paperwork behind on her desk for her boss to find and look over. The transactions between the two were frowned upon, the company having lost around thirty four dollars. It wasn't much, she thought. When confronted she offered to cover the difference but he wouldn't hear of it. She was told beforehand not to assist this woman, and maybe give her a card to a company that would. By tomorrow morning she would be looking around for a new job, one that didn't discourage helping the less fortunate due to having a good heart.
The energy exerted on closing the door brought attention to another resident. The young man came out from the kitchen looking around before he saw his girlfriend sitting on the floor. "Everything okay?"
The letter and envelope were tucked away like lightning, and the young girl stood up with a teary smile. "Everything is great, Cliff," she answered sniffing. "Sorry, I-didn't mean to slam it."
"Thought maybe we were getting broken into or somethin'," Cliff added with a smile. He held a napkin in his left hand.
"You sure took your time getting here."
"Well, it was a second guess thought, I figured it was you, Keiko." The girl stood from the floor and followed her boyfriend out to the kitchen, where he sat at the table. "Besides, I was eating." Keiko opened the fridge and took out the milk, pouring herself a glass. Cliff had his dinner for two all spread out, the plate on the other side of the table getting cold.
"I'm so sorry for being late, there was-" She stopped short. What could she tell him about her day that wouldn't upset him? Getting called late after work, getting lectured at by her boss only to be fired shortly after. That wasn't what her boyfriend needed to hear, not on his birthday.
"Traffic on the stairs?" the man laughed. She cracked a small smile, one that quickly vanished. "I'm sure it's nothing serious, I should have waited a while. Your hours are unpredictable, of course, no one knows that better than you..." He began to ramble. Keiko watched him, unable to interrupt him, as she smiled. He was the best thing to come into her life. Full of charm and character, always something comical to say. Sure he had his faults, and she no less of her own. But they each accepted them, and never a day had they loved each other any less. The most difficult times they made it out, hand in hand. Keiko decided this day shouldn't be any different. "...anyway. So. How was work?"
She approached the table with her milk glass in hand. "Tiring. Uninspiring." Firing, she thought to herself. Cliff laughed.
"When isn't it? Here, come sit over here, my food is still warm." She hesitantly made her way over and was pulled on his lap. A fork was soon in his hand. "Here, you can have mine."
"But my plate-"
"Is cold and unnecessary, I was just about done. The rest is for you." They shared a smile and the fork was speared into the food and held up to her lips. "Alright, open."
"You don't have to feed me, I'm not a baby, you know," she reminded with shock.
"No, but you can think better if I do the fork work. If today was a bad day, you need to get it all off your chest. So." He lightly tapped her lips with the fork making her smile. Slowly she opened her mouth and took the food. "Now. What happened?"
"You see, there was a client yesterday in need of a place to stay."
"Naturally."
"Yes, and it was only for one night. Just one night, and she would have left before the sun came up."
"Right," Cliff answered. "So you helped her out, of course?"
"Y-yes," she answered slowly. "When no one offered to help her, from command of our boss, I took her aside and arranged a stay for her at one of our local apartments."
"Good for you! Open."
"Well," she started, as she chewed her food. "It appears...my boss...found out." Cliff raised an eyebrow at her.
"Why should it mean a pinch to him?" Keiko sighed and wrung her hands together. "If I was him, I'd give you a raise for taking a stand."
"He, he was pretty mad," she explained. "I mean it was his orders that we shouldn't help her, and I kind of broke those orders..."
"That's my girl. Open." Keiko didn't speak this time until she was done. "What'd he do then, yell at ya'?"
"Yes. He did."
"You've got the most selfless heart of any woman, love, I'm proud of ya', even if he isn't. To hell with him then, yeah?" Keiko could feel the tears escape from her eyes. If there was ever a time to tell the truth, this was it. A shaky hand reached into her pocket and her small fingers gripped the envelope. A moment's worth of thought passed...and she let go of the envelope. With a sigh she removed her hand and took her milk glass instead. Cliff deserved to hear the truth from her, not from a paper written by a coward.
"There's-there's something...something else too," she murmured. Cliff moved a lock of her hair behind her ear and gazed at her face. "I...I've been let off."
At first Cliff didn't know whether to laugh or not, thinking this was all a joke. A birthday prank, Keiko was notorious for those. But seeing the remorse sparkle in her eyes was enough to convince him that this was truth. She watched him, waiting for a response. "Didn't you hear me? I said I've been-"
"I heard you, I heard you," he assured so she wouldn't have to repeat it. He brushed a hand over his head and sighed. "You okay?"
"Fine, I guess, I mean I'm not happy I've been let off but-"
"No one is, but...you'll find another one. A better one. One that doesn't reject a poor client from a rich one. One built for you, one that can take on a heart as good as yours and doesn't resort to letting them go because of one silly rule broken-"
"Cliff! You're rambling again," Keiko giggled wiping her eyes. The man blinked at her.
"I am? Oh, sorry. They give you your last check?"
"I'm going in next Wednesday," she replied. "Taking my check, my belongings, and my pride with me."
"Good on ya', love. We'll make this work. Open." As Keiko opened her mouth, just a small way, instead of lifting the fork to her lips, Cliff leaned in and kissed her. Taken by surprise she gripped the table next to her so she wouldn't fall off his lap. He smiled, knowing his little trick worked. Eventually she relaxed and rested her hands on his shoulders, forgetting about the events of the day. After a minute they pulled apart. The sparkle in Keiko's eyes had returned, this time her usual cheerful self, with Cliff's smile to match.
"Happy birthday," Keiko remembered. She was pulled into a hug, resting her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. Two arms wrapped around her. The rain pounded on the roof like bullets, but neither one really noticed.
"Thank you, love. Now, let's have at that birthday cake."
