SINcere.

Trouble!

The smoke comes out slowly through my nose and I watch in fascination as it dances in front of my face and then mixes with the air, becoming nothing. I suck on my Marlboro cig again, relishing in the way the tobacco particles creep into my lungs and caress my chest, making me to immediately feel calmer and more at peace within me.

The fire of stress that had built in my system in the early morning is becoming more and more extinguished as I carry on sucking on my beautiful white and burning relief. But the anger in me doesn't decrease as I would have wanted it to. 

Leaves on the ground crackle as someone steps on them, approaching me slowly from the corner of my left eye. ''Yo, breaks over,'' Bastian comments in amusement as he stands next to me and faces the white wooden fence in front of us. The fence has green creeping plants with pink flowers sprayed out onto its timber surface. I inhale and seconds after, the white smoky substance escapes my mouth, and I instantly dread going back to work and leaving this momentary bliss. 

I glance sideways at the buff man made of all muscle and a soft heart. Bastian, my best friend since high school is big and all-macho, but he is a really considerate and careful guy-that is, he likes to play by the rules as much as he can.  

The dude can be too careful sometimes, like now and it annoys me. He doesn't want us upsetting our supervisor, Gerrard Bent, because we have extended our ten o'clock break by only a few minutes. 

I respond with fake enthusiasm, 'Goody, Let's go back and cut wood!'' 

Immediately he chuckles as I suck my relief again. ''I'm guessing Gerrard really ticked you off this morning. And don't forget, I'm a plumber.'' I face him and blow the smoke to his face. Immediately he grimaces and groans, then sidesteps, fanning his face to swat the smoke away. ''Wow, you are really annoyed today.'' He laughs as he composes himself from his earlier disgust with my lack of manners. 

''I am not as angry anymore.'' We move from our position as we see Gerrard himself rounding the corner of the house from the direction opposite to the one we need to be heading to. Bastian and I make our way to the work scene in the backyard of this recently built home, that needs a kitchen and other modellings. Steve's uncle, Mr. van Owen has managed to expand his business to not only kitchen-Reno, but also full house Renovation and modelling.  

And so there are many people out in the backyard. Some are cutting wood and making wooden products, others welding metals and constructing whatever it is that they do, and not forgetting painters, electricians and plumbers that are preparing their stuff for the kitchen and other parts of the house.  

Yeah I know, it sounds like a very noisy and chaotic scene, which it is. But I love this job. It's better than the work shop for carpenters I previously worked at nine months ago. It's now that I don't regret being fired by Kenny's. And I hope I won't repeat my mistakes. Violence is not the answer, as my three favorite therapists would say. Although, they are wrong- sometimes if circumstances force it, it's exactly what you need. 

''Hurry up boys, those cabinets aren't going to make themselves.'' Gerrard grumbles loud enough for Bastian and I to hear, as he passes us and goes to inspect a doorframe being joined together by an expert skinny welder I know as my other best mate, Ai.