Chapter 2 - Encounter

Two days later in the afternoon, while Eric was working in his cubical, his boss came bursting out of his office. “Eric Gidian, come to my office, now!” his boss yelled over the noise of the room.

The room went silent. His stomach in his throat, Eric headed for his boss’ office with all eyes on him as whispers filled the room.

“Sir?” Eric stood in his doorway, his hands shaking. What did I do?

“Get in here and close the door behind you.”

Click.

Eric stood in front of his boss’ oversized desk. His boss leant his elbows on the desk with a dark expression.

“Sir?” Eric tried to steady his breathing and not hyperventilate.

His boss slammed the report he handed in a few days ago on the desk, and Eric jumped back. “What kind of shoddy work is this?”

“What?” I thought it turned out well.

“I warned you about how important this report was, and when we went to present it, there were pages missing! We couldn’t answer all their questions and we lost the account.”

“T-that can’t be; I printed out everything beforehand.”

“Are you saying I lost part of it?” a vein popped out of his forehead.

“N-no…”

“You’ll have to take responsibility for this.”

Eric stared at the floor, his shoulders slouched. “I understand. What should I do?” Unpaid overtime?

“Are you kidding? There’s only one thing that will work. You’re fired, Eric. Clear your desk and be out of here by tonight.”

Eric’s heart sunk. While it wasn’t a perfect job, and it was a lot of hard work, it was all he had. “But… I know I had everything…”

“I didn’t receive everything. Now, get out of my sight!”

He pushed Eric out of his office and the door slammed shut behind him. Everybody avoided looking at him as he went back to his desk. He pulled out an empty file box and piled in what little he had of his own in his desk.

“Eric…” Karen appeared in his cubical.

“I guess you heard?” he let out a self-depreciating laugh. “Then again, who on this floor didn’t?” He yelled so loud my ears are still hurting.

“He has such a loud voice, doesn’t he?”

“No kidding…”

His hand ran into his pencil holder and all its contents scattered onto the floor.

“Come on…” he grumbled, kneeling down to pick up everything. A couple of papers under the desk, going into the next cubical caught his eye. He groaned as he reached under for the papers. His eyes widened. “This… this is a part of the report… How did it end up over here?”

“Oh no!” Karen gasped, covering her mouth.

“What?”

Thud.

“Ow.” Eric bashed his head on the desk.

“It’s my fault…” Karen teared up. “Remember? I rolled up some papers to smack you with and when you went to take it, I fell back and they scattered. We must have missed it then…”

“Karen… It’s not your fault. I was picking it up from here, so I’m the one who missed it. Besides, I didn't notice it missing when I put it together.”

“But if I didn’t grab them, then—“

“Don’t… Please, just forget about it; what’s done is done and I should’ve checked again before handing it in.”

“Wait, shouldn’t he have?”

“Who?”

“Boss man! He’s supposed to check over everything. That means he just took it and went to present it without preparing. This is totally on him!” She stomped towards his office and yelped as Eric yanked her back.

“Don’t, please… I’m already out of a job; you don’t need to lose yours, too.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry, Eric.” Karen clenched her fists, wishing she could help. “How about a ride home?”

“I’ll pass. You still have work, and the boss is standing in his doorway glaring at us right now, so you’d better get back to work.” He picked up his fully packed box. “Goodbye, Karen.”

“Please, don’t say it like that; we can still see each other outside of work.”

“We both know you don’t have much time outside of work these days, and meeting up probably won’t—”

“Please don’t cut me out because I messed up.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Then promise we can meet up outside of work some time.”

Eric sighed. “Fine… But maybe wait a bit.”

“Okay, I can’t do that.”

“Goodbye, Karen,” Eric readjusted his box. I hope they don't mind me taking the box. Who am I kidding? They'll probably dock my pay for it. All that overtime throughout the years, and it doesn't matter to the company at all. In the end, employees are easily replaceable to them.

“Bye…” Karen held back her tears as she watched him enter the elevator and turn around.

Eric exited the building and started walking towards his apartment with sluggish steps. It would take longer than an hour to walk there, but he couldn’t waste money on transit right now.

As he passed by a park, he decided to take a break on one of the benches, his box beside him.

“What do I do now? I won’t be able to afford my apartment anymore. I’m sorry, Mr. Lawrence. You gave me extra time, but apparently, I’m not worth it.” He sat there for hours, ruminating on his life.

I haven't done anything right... and I'll be on the street soon.

Dark clouds rolled in. Thunder crackled in the distance. A drop of rain splashed on his face. He wiped the water away and stared at the sky as it opened up, pouring down on him.

Weather to fit my life… Eric picked his box up and started on his way home again in the dark as rain pounded against him.

Vroom. A car sped by and splashed a wave of water onto Eric.

“Pleh,” he spit out the dirty water that had landed in his mouth. What else could go wrong today? He crossed the street, his head down as he stared at the box instead of looking at where he was going.

Light descended on him.

Screech. Eric turned at the sound of screaming tires and honking.

Thud. Eric and his box went flying, the contents scattering on the ground alongside him. Everything blurred. He heard a car door open and rapid, splashing footsteps running up to him.

“Are you okay?” they asked as darkness consumed him.