Chapter 2 The worst day ever

(The worst day ever)

‘You've been avoiding me Kathy'

Kathleen was still amidst trying to get her shoes to stay together when Mr Garrison her landlord walked up to her, Oh God not again, she thought to herself and nipped on her bottom lip as she finally looked up to face him. Apparently she was covert enough, she'd been able to avoid him for a week now but her dumb luck had run out today. It was no longer a bad day, it was the worst day ever.

‘Hey Mr G'. She playfully touched his arm.

‘Don't call me that', he frowned deeply, ‘You owe me rent Kathy'.

She sighed, ‘I know Mr Garrison but I have this thing and—'

‘Lemme guess', his frown morphed into a full blown scowl, ‘Your mother's dog died, or you buried your grandfather or oh wait— let me think of your favorite one, your boss hasn't paid you yet due to the IRS!!'.

She bit her bottom lip again, she was caught in a lie before she could even tell it and awkwardly scratched the back of her head, ‘Look Mr Garrison I don't have any excuse other than the fact that I just lost my job. But I promise you I—'

’Three days Kathy'

‘What??'

‘Three days', he said, ‘You have three days to pay the money you owe me or you'll bunk with big Joe next to the trash can. Tick tock Kathleen'.

She took a deep breath and quickly wiped off the stray tear that left her right eye, she was on the verge of being homeless with a huge debt in her name and just a hundred bucks in her savings. Still she forced a smile and went into the apartment building, ignoring her new neighbor who said high and just went straight into her room. It was a one bedroom apartment, which had a little living room, with a tiny kitchen and a bathroom so small that a child wouldn't even feel comfortable in.

It was her home nonetheless and she loved it, she forced a smile as she plopped down on her couch which had a splintered arm rest with the stuffings coming out of it. If there was one thing her hard life had always taught her, was that she would always find a way—no matter how hard it was she always found a way.

With reluctance she finally got up and spared a glance at her now ruined shoes. They were her favorite heels, the only good ones she had and the most expensive too—she had just gotten her first paycheck and spotted the beautiful red bottoms at a local thrift store, the owner guaranteed her it was designer and would last a decade—by a decade he meant five months.

Another sigh left her, much more depressing than the last when she walked into her room and groaned loudly seeing the mess she left on her bed. She was in no place both physically, emotionally and mentally to get the heap of laundry off her bed and sort it into her little closet, so she fell on the pile and closed her eyes to slumber.

It was cut short the moment she heard her doorbell ring, she screamed and cursed softly into her pillow wondering why the world couldn't give her a minute of peace—then she heard Nana willow's voice, her neighbor, the almost seventy year old woman who was the sweetest angel in the world and the grandmother to Emilia Willow, her favorite ten year old.

She dragged herself out of bed and put on a normal face before opening the door, ‘Hey Nana'.

‘I heard you lost your job', the old woman with a thick texan voice welcomed herself in carrying a casserole dish, ‘That really sucks Kathy'.

Kathleen rolled her eyes, ‘How did you—'

‘You live in Lincoln avenue honey. Of course I knew', she laughed and placed the casserole dish on the little oak table Kathleen thrifted in a goodwill store, ‘Emilia's mother came today and we made lasagna. I brought you some since you're having the worst day ever'.

Kathleen bursted into tears again and hugged the angelic old woman who always knew when she needed help, ‘You're the best Nana'.

‘Ohh don't beat yourself too much. You'll get a much better job anyways now go take a shower and join us for lunch soon, Emilia's mother is making a foot long club sandwich'. Nana willow muttered and took her leave.

Kathleen smiled at the lasagna and knew she was going to take a shower but not visit Nana's house when her daughter was around, Emilia's mother was a nasty piece of work who was a drug addicted hooker who only visited her daughter when she was short on cash.

The doorbell rang again and she thought it was Emilia coming to get her but it was Gloria, her best friend, the only person who knew her inside out. Kathleen bursted into tears again for the umpteenth time as she wrapped her arms around her best friend who struggled holding a pizza box and Kathleen who seemed to be going through as existential crisis.

Finally Kathleen let go and Gloria Steinem, a short redhead with beautiful curves placed the pizza box on the table and turned around, ‘Lemme guess.....you lost your job didn't you??'.

********

An hour later Kathleen was done with her story about how she was having the worst day ever, wearing a pitiful unicorn onesie and stuffing her mouth with loads of pepperoni pizza—it was her safe place, looking like a toddler and eating pizza whilst she poured out all her life's turmoil to her best friend and with that she felt much better.

Gloria remained silent for a moment and then bursted into laughter which made Kathleen frown, ‘Is my mental health amusing to you?!'.

‘Yeah it is', Gloria teased, ‘Come on Kathy we all know Jake Coleman is a bastard and a mommy's boy, him being married isn't that much of a surprise to me—all married men in this city are bastards'.

Kathleen laughed as she understood her friend's hatred for men considering how she just got out of her second marriage two weeks ago, ‘It still sucks', she shrugged and bit into her sixth slice of pizza, ‘I just got dumped, my red bottoms are useless and I'm unemployed....to make things worse I'm going to be homeless soon'.

‘Well you can bunk with me if you—'

‘No Lorie', Kathleen shook her head, ‘You've done enough and there's a lot on your plate now. The last thing i want is to make things worse for you'.

Gloria's brows arched, ‘Well it doesn't matter cause I found a job for you'.

‘Oh shut up'

‘I'm dead serious'

‘Oh my God Lorie!!!'. Kathleen screamed in excitement as she hugged her best friend so tight that Gloria had to groan before she released her from the gut wrenching embrace.

‘Thank you so much', she said still panting, ‘What's the job offer again??'.

Gloria shrugged, ‘I got the scoop from a friend of mine. It's Hunter Corp, the CEO's looking for a new personal assistant and with your qualifications I'm sure you'll get the job'.

‘I'm in', Kathleen nodded, ‘When is the interview?'.

‘Tomorrow'. Gloria responded.

‘Tomorrow?!!', Kathleen screamed, ‘I don't have enough—'

‘Ohh shut up you're a smart ass', Gloria laughed, ‘Go get dressed we're going out. You need a little bit of happiness in your life tonight'.