short stories

NOLAN - bad day

NOLAN
bad day

Nolan woke up this morning and his head banged against the wall as he stood up. "Great way to start this day," he thought. The pain in his head didn't leave him the whole day. He opened the fridge but closed it brutally afterwards. It was empty. "I wanna stay in bed today," he said to himself. He could, he considered the possibility but no. He wanted to see Julia. Sometimes he wished his name would be Romeo so anyone would think of them together. But no one noticed his interest in her and thought they would be beautiful together. Or at least it seemed. After finding his inspiration for the day, he gulped down some milk and moved to the bathroom. After washing his face and brushing his teeth properly, he still had the damn milk taste on his tongue. He left the room for the lobby and fished in his coat pockets. There it was! He remembered it well. One morning he bought a chewing gum package at a grocery store. He promised himself to keep it for the week. Two hours later, he counted 7 in his stomach. There were 8 in the package. Where did the last go? It must have gone between the handkerchiefs, bills and plastic trash of the coat pocket. He indeed found it there and plugged the chewing gum in his mouth with a satisfied smile. Everything in his nose left, he could breathe properly, too properly. A fresh, for others uncomfortable, feeling while your lungs fill with air. He slurped back to the bathroom, added some hair gel to his unsettled hair. He might need a new cut, streaks covered his eyes even with a whole tube of the strongest gel. "I really need to take an appointment," he said frowning and staring at himself in the mirror.
His coat and shoes on, an umbrella just in case, Nolan was ready to leave. It didn't rain, but he took the umbrella anyway. He stopped at the next average backer to eat a croissant, not french and perfect how he always imagined them. Sad fact: he had no idea how they tasted good and french so he just chewed and swallowed. As long as something was in his belly, it gotta be alright. After 22 minutes and 18 seconds in his bus, he went off and walked to his working place. A tall building rose in front of him. It gave him an impression of power and hugeness everyday. He would never get used to it. Empty building, why was no one there? He pushed the button for a lift to come, after a minute DING! He chose floor 12, DING, he was there. No one was present, he looked very carefully into the boss' room. Oh, there might be someone. He put his bag down next to his desk and headed to the coffee machine. He didn't even wonder why no one was there.
"You want a higher income?" Nolan jumped as he heard his boss ask.
"No, no, no," he stammered. "I'm fine, why?"
"Do you have something like a little rectangle, there's a button you can push and there's a screen you can touch with your finger – "
"You mean a phone?"
"YES, that's it. Thank you," the boss said smirking. "But," his voice changed into the usual strict-mad-rich-a-hole-boss scream "you do not interrupt me!" Kind again: "Dear Nolan, we are SUNDAY!" Screaming: "YOU CAN STAY AT HOME AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE! SO WHY? ARE? YOU? HERE?"
Only then there was a click in Nolan's head. "Yesterday, Saturday," he realised that is must be Sunday.
"Leave if you want. Only if you want extra work," he proposed calm again. And Nolan was sure he would give him work if he wouldn't leave.
"No, I'm fine," Nolan said and grabbed his bag to leave. He saw the boss still looking when the doors of the elevator closed. He hated that he was scared of him. "Bad day, isn't it? Now if the lift is stuck – "
...
"Nonono. FUCK!"
Nolan never used swear words.

I am very happy to introduce you to my new character. I have few stories with Nolan but they're is no link between them, it's just the same character. I really like Nolan and I hope you will do as well. I am really sorry for not posting in so long, I woke up and I just thought that I had to post this story. In fact, I have many other short stories that could be ready to post, but somehow I never do so. Anyway I hope you like it and I might come with a second story with Nolan.
Have a good day
Bérénice