ADaaD(A Dollar and a Dream)

Chapter 1: Hot Chocolate

When I woke up this morning the last thing I expected was to get fired. I got fuckin fired from work today. I've given those assholes at LK Accounting the best 2 and half years of my life and they fired me! What pisses me off the most is the fact that they knew they were going to fire me probably on Friday when I left work. So, they let me have an amazing weekend just for me to wake up at 5am, take 2 trains to the other side of town, have me work for 2 hours, then fire me.

What am I supposed to tell my parents? I'm from a small town in Ohio called Lima. My dad made a modest living by owning one of the local pharmacies, while my mom is a librarian, which is where my love for reading comes from. When I was younger after school I would walk to the library and wait for my mom to get off work, I would get lost in reading and not even realize how much time had passed. My dad wanted me to go to college so I could be a pharmacy tech and take over the family business. There was no way I was staying in that damn city to become a Lima Loser...no way. So, after high school, I made the big jump and moved to New York with my best friend Quinn. Quinn went to NYU to study psychology, while I worked at a diner where the waitresses sang show tunes. I literally moved here with a dollar and a dream. I refuse to let my parents find out and hear the 'I told you so" speech that parents give.

I know it sounds cheesy, but I am a fairly good singer. Ok, I'm fucking amazing but I'm working on my humility. My goal was to get discovered and sign a huge recording contract but after Quinn fell in love and moved in with her boyfriend Sam, I was left with a rent bill of $1000 a month, plus cable, internet, lights, heat, and God the list goes on and on. So, I had to find more stable employment and put my dream of seeing my name in lights on the back burner. I went to a temp agency and landed a job as a secretary at an accounting firm. I've always been good at math, so I quickly worked my way up through the company and was given the title of a Jr Accountant a year ago.

While I wasn't necessarily happy at work, I didn't completely hate my job, it paid well after all. My parents were slowly coming around to the fact that I was living in New York, having a good job definitely helped. New York was this big fast city that apparently scared the hell out of them. So here I was 22 years old with a pretty good job, a nice amount of money in my checking and savings account, I'm flawless, and I'm living the American dream, well trying to at least. Then what happens.... I get fuckin fired!

After I was embarrassingly walked out of the building by one of the security guards, with my desk packed up in a box, I stood in front of the building staring at the front door. I have so many emotions going through my body right now; with the main one being rage. I'm known for going straight Lima Heights on people, but I instead take the pictures I had on my desk from the box and slip them in the messenger bag I had with me and throw the rest of the shit in the garbage. I don't want any reminders of this stupid job that betrayed me.

I pull out of my iPod and turn to my inspirational playlist. Yes, I have an inspirational playlist. Quinn suggested I make one to calm me down after I went Lima Heights in a restaurant a few weeks ago and threw my plate at a waiter. I turn to my favorite song on the playlist Whitney Houston's "I Didn't Know My Own Strength." I played this song over and over when I first moved to New York and would start to feel depressed without my parents or other family members and it would calm me down. So, I guess now is as good a time as any to play it right?

I go to Starbucks and order my usual from Carla, a venti soy hazelnut latte with a few shakes of cinnamon and a raspberry scone. The New York autumn wind swirls around and sends a deep chill through my body so I zip up my jacket and head to a small park close to where my job, shit excuse me, my old job is. I sit on the bench and pull out my phone. I want to call Quinn so I can scream and yell and cuss, but I know she is at work and the last thing I want to do is drop this on her. She just landed this new gig, and we are meeting for lunch around 1 anyways. I look down at my watch...11am. So, I have 2 hours to kill.