You wrote "Don't Forget"

Chapter 8- Ruthless Ruth

After finally putting on some clothes and vowing to try my best to never be publicly naked again, I sat down in front of the dreaded pile of files. Thus, began a fourteen-hour grind. Jane left fifteen minutes after she repeatedly called to me and I didn't pull my nose out of the file I was pouring it into.

Finally, when I was done, my brain was buzzing with numbers and something which sounded suspiciously like 'kill me already' repeatedly echoing in my head.

I promised myself to never procrastinate again but I knew who I was. I would surely break that promise the next time I was assigned any work. I stretched my arms and after taking care of basic human needs, sprawled down on my couch and dozed off. Under normal circumstances, I would have slept on my bed but these were not normal circumstances. The thought of what had transpired on that bed still haunted me, so I went with the solipsistically supported belief of: 'If I can't see it, it didn't happen.'

************

I hadn't looked in the mirror. Not until the next morning, when my eyes wandered to my reflection in the bathroom mirror. It was evident that I had had a fun weekend.

The black eye decorating my eyes and the bruise on my cheek was testimony to the fact that I had had the best weekend ever. No wonder all my coworkers would be jealous. I sighed, applying some medication on it, wincing as I touched it.

Have you ever seen Clark Kent change into Superman? This was nothing like that.

This was more like a cool hip millennial aka me, changing into a low-budget version of a really old and not very rich Bruce Wayne. That was what happened when you worked as an accountant at a big deal company.

Wearing a suit was one of those mandatory things there. I wondered if I ever showed up without a suit - would anyone would ever recognize me or would they just toss me out in one of the garbage bins in the back? If that was the case, maybe I could try the reverse tactic - convince Jane to wear a suit and sneak her in as well. She would blend in perfectly, she had a certain rare charm of blending in anywhere she wanted to blend in - that way there would be someone to preserve my sanity in that hellhole. The only problem was that Jane seldom wanted to blend in.

So, I forced myself into my slightly wrinkled suit and tried to smooth it out with my hands. I struggled with my tie for a good two minutes and finally settled on a lopsided leash dangling from the right corner of my neck. I tucked it in, trying my best to make it look normal and walked out the door, trying to rub one of my shoes against the other to polish them.

The company I worked for looked as bland as its name: Cork. Yes, it was called cork, one letter away from being both a bird and a certain part of the body. Well, it was actually CORK: Corporation of Regal Knights. Except, there was nothing regal or knightly about this company. It was just a simple trading company with such a fancy and embarrassing name that everyone had resorted to calling it Cork.

Personally, I think Company of Ram-faced Knuckleheads  would have been a better and more appropriate name. I pushed opened the doors to the too-ordinary-to-be-allowed-to-exist building and walked in.

"HEY WILLIAMS, CATCH!" I heard a very familiar voice shout before a very dirty napkin was flung at my best suit. I didn't manage to duck in time and now found a napkin, dripping soup on me. "And what the heck happened to your face? Did a dog beat you?"

I gritted my teeth, tossing the napkin in a trashcan and raising my eyes to glare at Stephen.

"Are we in freaking middle school, Stephen? Grow the hell up!" I said, anger pulsing through my veins. He just laughed and walked away, high-fiving the coworkers who stood next to him. I sighed, pulling out my handkerchief and trying to wipe the soup down.

"Bad day, huh?" The receptionist, Martha asked as she stared at me. I just nodded, still trying to get that stupid soup stain off.

"How did he even get hold of that napkin? Soup - who eats soup in the morning?" I murmured under my breath.

"Oh, yeah I don't think someone does that unless they plan to fling it at someone else." She said. I turned to look at her. I could see it in her eyes.

Pity.

I turned away from her as if I had suddenly been bit by a snake. I didn't need anyone's pity.

Still trying to wipe the stain, I managed to take the elevator to the second floor, where my office awaited me.

Yes, I did have an office. Except I am pretty sure that before my time it used to be the janitor's closet. It was small, small enough for only two people and my freaking table to fit in. I barely managed to stuff all my files in there.

The stain refused to go, so with a deep sigh, I flung my coat over the back of my chair and sat down at my desk. My lopsided tie hanging freely for all the world to see.

I stared at the clock.

It was going to be a long day.

Ruth came into my office fifteen minutes later, followed by Charles, who couldn't get in because of the cramped space. As my eyes looked past Ruth at Charles, my heart sank.

He was carrying ten files. 

I sighed.

"Good morning, Ruth," I said, plastering a fake smile on my face.

Ruth just nodded. "Do not waste time on greetings, get to work. Chop chop!" She said, pointing at the files. 

Really? I had just managed to do all of that yesterday...

I didn't say anything, my smile dropped as quickly as it had come. Ruth didn't say anything either, she just stepped back to allow Charles to enter.

Charles dumped the files on my desk, trying his best to hold in his glee. I shot him a glare out of the corner of my eye and just like that, they left.

As soon as I was out of their field of vision, I let my head fall down on my desk - feeling truly and utterly alone and miserable. No wonder half the accountants resorted to excessive drinking.