One Pacific Away

5 || Elissa

The very polite waiter takes my bowl away without a single comment on how I finished it so fast. When he comes back with the check, I take it, read it, and pull out my wallet. I put my AMEX card on the check and hand it back to him. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," says the waiter as he walks away with the check.

He deserves a good tip for good service. So when he comes back with my receipt, I fish out five dollars from my wallet and put it on the tray, taking the receipt with me as I leave.

As soon as I walk out the door, I'm hit with another gust of Santa Ana Wind. Wow. Mother Nature hates my hair, I guess.

I start driving back, a lump of discomfort steadily growing in the pit of my stomach. More filing awaits. And there's definitely going to be more than usual because of friggin' Kirsty. Kirsty who dumps all the dirty work on other people and cozies up to the higher-ups. Kirsty who breaks the office dress code daily with her pencil skirts and low-cut blouses. Kirsty who does absolutely nothing and still gets a higher salary.

Horns honk, snapping me out of my funk. I realize that the traffic light in front of me has turned green, and I quickly drive forward before someone can cause a road rage accident.

It only takes a minute or two to steal Kirsty's parking spot and head up to the doors.*¹ Three minutes to get back. I've got time to spare, and I can afford to be a little bit late, since Kirsty isn't back yet. She can't terrorize me for another fifteen minutes.

Bliss.

So I greet the security guard as I tap my lanyard on the barrier and go through. "Beat the level yet?"

"Nope." She sighs. "Man, level 1,034 is tough."

"Good luck, then." I continue on, walking up the two flights of stairs.

When I reach the office, Saiko Gentle, my co-worker, taps me on the shoulder. "Hey!"

"Oh, hey, Saiko!" I turn around to face her. Saiko looks young for her age— she stands at 4'11", has medium-length hair that curls up at the ends, and wears huge, round glasses. But she's the best at Microsoft Office in our department. Thanks to her, the filing system is totally revamped. Only four hours to file a week's worth of paperwork instead of a whole shift!

"Elissa! Look, here's the thing—" She looks around the office, glancing to see if anyone might be listening in. Then she lowers her voice. "—I know that Kirsty's been awful to you. We all know. And we want to help."

"What, are you guys going to Post-It Kirsty's cubicle again?" They did that last April Fool's Day. Apparently just before work, my co-workers stormed the Office Depot next door and pretty much bought up their entire stock of Post-Its. Before Kirsty arrived (from the boss's place, obviously), they had managed to Post-It her entire cubicle, spelling out "APRIL FOOL" in the process.

"Oh, no. She got mad enough that last time. We haven't come up with anything yet, but just know that we're on your side, okay?" She puts a hand up and squeezes my shoulder.

I smile at her. "Thanks, Saiko."

All of a sudden, I hear the aggressive click-click-clicking of Kirsty's stilettos. Well, shit. The Wicked Witch of the West Coast is back early. Probably to raise hell in the office.

I rush back to my cubicle; Saiko does the same. And with good timing— I've just pulled up my filing progress when Kirsty stomps in, like a kindergartner forced to share a chocolate chip cookie. I note her hair, no longer perfect Pantene waves but rather windblown madwoman in need of a shower, and grin to myself. The Santa Ana's have done their work.