Ch. 5: Rate

So, it's been a good month and a half since the whole stalker-Kevin arch; meaning that it's about mid-February. So, Zach and I got rather acquainted with one another, and became pretty good work pals!

My relationship with Mason, Jim, Alyssa, Keith, and Zach continued to blossom, as my relationship with Wally, Shelly, Corey, Jamie, Tyrone, and Berry remained the same (give-or-take). The only negative, was my relationship with Steve... but I totally don't blame him for that--you see, his girlfriend dumped him over the holiday break... so, he's been pretty emo to everybody...

We'll come back to that in a minute; I gotta tell you of a fantastic day I had!

**

"You worthless little f*ck!" said my father to my car. It was Friday the thirteenth... a blessed day for all (nice introduction to a day, huh?).

As it turned out, I had a pretty average day of classes on Friday. I had Physics of Sports at 9a.m. and had to begin a Journalism project--which involved  me interviewing someone of importance in my community. I later hung out with my friend Laura and played some Guitar Hero (she beat me twice out of thirty-four songs... heh heh); then it was off to work at the haven of my choice, T.G.I.Fridays.

Why does it seem that I work every God-for-saken Friday? It's because I do!

Anyways...

So, on the way to work, my car got a flat on the passenger-side in the front... it then proceeded to skid into a ditch. Ugh! It was then that I decided to call my dad. He answered, and I said, "Dad? It's Kelly. Listen, I got a flat, and the jack to my car sucks... No, I took the spare out of the trunk, it's on the ground next to me... No, there aren't any 'freaks' around... What? No, I... Oh, okay." And he hung up.

Well, he told me I wouldn't be strong enough to put the bolt-thingies back onto the wheel (meaning that if I put the bolt-thingies on, my wheel would pop off whilst driving). He then told me to call AAA, and he hung up on me. The unfortunate part of THAT was that I forgot my AAA-card at home... on my dresser.

Best part...

My cell phone battery died when I checked the time two minutes after my dad hung up. Brilliant, eh?

So, luckily for me, I knew where the crap I was. I walked about a mile to, my friend, Tiffany's house, and knocked on the door. She was surprised to see me, but she let me in none-the-less (she was also attending a close-to-home college, and living at her mom's house).

I kicked off my shoes and sat on her couch that was covered in cat fur. She handed me a glass of water and I took a sip before saying, "Hey, Tiff. I'm sorry to barge in like this. Do you know what time your mom comes home? I know she's the one with the AAA-card."

She began to tidy up her small, cluttered little home--there were boxes, plates, laundry, and cat toys everywhere. She said, "Oh! Um, she'll be home in about thirty minutes, Kelly."

So, we chatted while we waited, and finally here mom rolled into the driveway. I shouted while walking out the door with arms raised, "Mama Tiff!!!" She smiled, said hello, and gave me a hug--me and Tiffany go way back into the fourth grade together, so we're pretty close.

"Here, Sweetie, use my cell to call AAA," said Mama Tiff. I thanked her, and proceeded to call my AAA Heroes. They asked if I was in a safe place, what the model of my car was, the license plate and a whole buncha other questions. I answered them all without any hesitation, and gave them Mama Tiff's cell number if they needed to contact me.
"Did you call work to tell them that you're going to be late?" asked Tiffany. My response was, "Oops..."

**

After I called work, told them it would take about an hour, and ate some left-over cookie-cake with Tiffany, we all headed down to my car to meet the sweaty AAA man.

Ew...

After he fixed my car (after a whole lot of struggling--he was new), I called my dad one more time on Mama Tiff's cell, "Hello?" he asked. I said, "Hey dad, I just got my tire changed by some fat-guy. I'm gonna go to work n--"

"Come home first," he said while cutting me off, "Take my van, your car probably won't make it to work and back on a stupid doughnut." I told him "okay" and then said my good-byes to Tiffany and her mom.

**

"You worthless little f*ck!" said my father to my car, "This amateur who changed your tire put it on crooked. Alright, get in the van and get to work, you're late enough as it is. Have a good one." He patted me on the head with a frown towards my little Eagle Talon and I was off in the Montana.

Thanks for the van, dad.

**

"Where've you been, Kelly? I saw on the schedule you were supposed to be here over an hour ago. Everything okay?" asked my very attractive co-worker, Zach. I told him what happened.

He laughed and said, "Ha ha! Aw, man, 'Happy Friday the 13th', right?!" I laughed alongside him and then told the other staff members: Steve (who had answered the phone when I called in late), Alyssa, Berry, and Corey.

**

Work seemed pretty average that Friday, I had my fair share of complaining, inpatient as*holes, a trip here-and-there, and a party to set up.

"Hey Kelly, set up this kid's party," said Keith passing me a book of names and reservations, "He and his family should be coming in about forty minutes."

I set up for the occasion. What we do is place a "Happy Birthday" tablecloth on the table, a "Happy Birthday" balloon on the birthday-child's chair, and we prepare the free little slab of cake (and our glorious singing voices).

**

After the kid and his family left with smiles skipping across their smug faces, it was time for me to clean up. I asked while walking by the main counter, "Steve, will you pass me the cleaning-room keys?"

He tossed them to me, and off I was.

I got out the broom, Windex, and paper-towels, and was about to put the spare table away, back into the cleaning room, where we kept them (it was a big group, so we got another table out).

Now, it was a pretty heavy table, so I kinda meandered around a bit--trying to see over or around this huge object and get it back into the closet. I first set it against a wall, put the keys in the lock, opened the door, and grabbed the table--again.

"Outta the way! I gotta peeeeee!" screamed a man who was undoing his pants as he sprinted by me.

"Geeze! Be careful, will you?!" I shouted as he ran into the Men's Room. To evade him, I had ducked into the closet with the table (T.G.I.Fridays is pretty crowded and ONLY has small spaces, so I had to get out of his way).

I set the table in the back of the closet with the others, and was about to head out of there until I realized the keys were now lying on the ground. I muttered, "Stupid kids, moving things around and always--" But I was cut off.

When I picked up the keys, I looked at them only to find the HEAD of the key--the actual "key" part of it was still lodged into the lock itself.

Holy f*ck-muffins... I broke the key in half!

I literally stood there with a gaping hole in my face and was silent-screaming for about three minutes.

Yeah.

I ran out of the closet and frantically looked around for some assistance.

Alyssa! Yes! She'll help me!

I dragged her to the side, and in an exasperated manner, I told her what I just did to the keys. She laughed at me, told me to calm down, and to go get a paper clip.

I ran to Steve (who held all the paperclips--of course), and I asked for one. He didn't question why, and he willingly gave one to me. It was then that I SPRINTED around herds of people and towards the closet where Alyssa was waiting.

**

We spent about 27 minutes trying to pluck the key out of the lock, but it just wasn't working for us... So, Alyssa's suggestion was to ask Jim (he liked to work with his hands--building things, cooking things.....stop being perverted.... I know you were when I said "liked to work with his hands").

He had just walked in and took over for Berry ten minutes ago. So I ran over to the loud-speaker (after Steve walked away and into the office) and called for help. I blushed, and told him of the stupid thing I'd done.

He also laughed at me...

But, he went to go get a nail-file out of his car and began his work on the lock. During this time, Alyssa told me that I really should let Steve know--he was already having a bad day as it was; better tell him sooner when he's less pissed.

**

Some time passed, and I finally gathered the courage to tell Steve what I did. I knocked on the office door, and he let me in, I started by saying, "Hey, Steve... I had... kind of a little incident..."

He frowned,  turned in his big chair to face me and said bluntly, "Now what did you do?"

"Well... I, uh, kinda, broke your key... in half," I looked at the ground and held up the damage.

There was a pause until he broke it by saying, "How in the H*ll did you do that?!"

"I hit it... with a table..."

Again, another pause. He said, "What were you doing, Kelly?!"

I told him the whole series of events; from the man zipping down his pants, to me trying to get Jim to pluck the dumb thing out.

He said, "You know... that's my only cleaning-room key. The only copy we have is with Mason... and he's out for the weekend." I probably looked as guilty and uncomfortable as I felt, "Well, Kelly, these things happen. Besides, I'd rather you break a cheap key than hit a man who has to piss."

I laughed and I prompted to pay for another key; he told me "no". He then proceeded to tell me all the bad things that were going on in his life--I offered him a hug and told him that I idolized him. He then told me that he wished I hated him because life was easier when people hated you, that way you couldn't get hurt (this is where the whole "my girlfriend dumped me so now I'm emo" attitude comes in).

**

It was time for me to go, so I clocked out, and was walking in the rain in the back parking lot to the Montana (luckily the snow was all melted--no more slipping!).

Jim came up to me after I was already outside, and he was holding the other half of my faults. He said, "See, no harm done!"

I ranted and complained that Steve was REALLY pissed at me, it's just that he didn't really show it--tears swelled a little in my eyes, but I didn't ever let them fall (plus, the rain hid them).

Jim felt bad for me, gave me a hug, ruffled my ponytail up, and then told me of a worse time he had at work--he broke a light bulb he was supposed to be changing over some guy's head. I laughed and gave him a hug for comfort.

"Alright, it's time for you to get out of the rain, dry off, and go home, Lil' Sis," said Jim with a grand smile. I told him the rain was my favorite type of weather. I said with my arms open wide, "It's like it washes away all the troubles and refreshes you for a future day. Like the snow is a blank canvas for Nature."

He grinned again and said, "Have a good night, and drive home safe."

I replied with, "You too, Jim."

**

So, Friday the 13th isn't too bad, but still, it could have gone a little smoother, ya'know? So remember, if it seems like your day has gone to sh*t, just look back, and think about how much worse it could actually be. You could be homeless, or hospital-ridden, or worse.