143

Angela finishes off her fifth bottle of Budweiser before nine. She moves to tie her laces, as their cat, Humphry brushes up against her arm. The rays from the early sun shine through into the living room. It was the first enjoyable day they had had in a while since the weather is temperamental in Seymour, Indiana, and Angela was eager to go out for a walk. Her roommate, Jessica, hates it when she goes out for walks on her own, especially while drunk as they don’t exactly live in the best area and plus, she has gotten into some trouble before while on a drunk walk alone. However, Jessica is still sound asleep, and Angela doesn’t want to wake her. She herself isn’t really that worried but she also is buzzed so she grabs the pepper spray just in case and leaves a note for Jessica. Grabbing her headphones, she heads out the door into the warm May air. Thankfully, there is a park about a twenty-minute walk away. Angela walks the distance to the park, making sure to be aware of her surroundings, but she is buzzed so everything is a blur. Once at the park, she begins her stroll on the park’s path.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak. The sound stops Angela in her tracks as she looks over to the playground where two toddlers are going up and down on a teeter totter. She thinks back to her life growing up. How she came from a mixed family and grew up in an area that was mostly black but went to a school that was mostly white. How despite being intelligent and on the honor roll in high school, she opted out of going to college and how she never stayed close with her only sibling, her brother, Shawn.

“On your right!” A passing runner screams out, startling Angela and taking her out of thought, scaring her a bit.

Angela finishes her stroll on the path and decides to head back to the apartment, her long brown ponytail swinging from side to side, and her buzz already wearing off. On the way back, she can smell coffee and cinnamon rolls coming from the local breakfast diner making her stomach growl with hunger. She is about to cross the street to the apartment when she notices a strange looking man standing outside one of the abandoned buildings. At the same time, he notices her. The man is tall, stocky, and has a face full of hair and although Angela was never into fashion or makeup, she was still a goddess, and she knew it. Angela keeps an eye on the man as she crosses the street. The man does not move, but does keep an eye on her as well. She decides it’s best to enter the apartment building from the back just in case.

Angela bursts through the door of the apartment, nearly tripping over shoes left in front of the door.

“Shit!” Angela says after catching her balance.

“Are you okay? Where did you go this early on a Saturday?” Jessica said as she was sitting on the couch resting with Humphry, their cat.

“Just for a stroll through the park.” Angela answered. “Just need to clear my head a bit.”

Jessica gets up, her long blonde hair all over the place, to grab a couple of beers for them both. The apartment always smelled like beer, with empty cans and bottles everywhere.

“By yourself?” As she recognizes her friend’s beauty.

“Naw, with Bozo. Yes, by myself. I brought pepper spray and kept to myself.”

Jessica laughs at Angela’s smart remark, plopping her slightly chunky body back onto the couch.

“So why did you come in in such a hurry?” Jessica raises an eyebrow towards her friend as Angela grabs a granola bar from the cabinet and scarves it down.

“Okay, I saw a creepy guy across the street, and I got nervous. I entered through the back of the building just in case.” She says with a mouth full of granola. “I probably just overreacted.”

Angela walks over to the couch and sits down next to Jessica and begins chugging her beer to help wash down the granola bar. Humphry rests between the pair, his orange feather-like fur tickles against Angela’s skin.

“Angela, you are too pretty to be walking alone in this shit neighborhood.”

“Uh-huh.” Angela continues chugging her beer, ignoring her friend’s concern for her safety.

“I’m serious. You have a skinny body, perfect skin, and a nice ass.”

“Comes with a price though.” She replies, finishing off her beer and moving to get a second round for the pair.

“Wish I could relate. Do you have to work today?”

“Sadly. Not til’ two though. I don’t want to go to that shithole of a job.” She says popping open and chugging the second bottle of beer.

Angela may not know exactly what to do with her life, but she’s been working at the local Best Western for the last two months and she can’t stand it. Other than the job itself, she also hates the hideous uniform they make her wear. And to top it all off, she has an annoying coworker who always tries to hit on her every chance he gets. However, she needs the job as she’s already been let go from several jobs for being excessively tardy from drinking.

The pair continue to talk and chug beers before passing out on the couch. Eventually, Angela is awakened by Humphry licking her arm. She jumps up in a panic and checks her phone to see it’s already twenty after two.

“Shit, I’m late!” She exclaims, waking Jessica.

This is the third time she has been late to work this month. She quickly types a message to her boss to which he replies that this is the last time she can be late and no exceptions. When she arrives, she is to go right to work at the front desk. Angela has no choice but to skip a shower so instead, she runs to the bathroom and throws on black dress pants, a white button-down shirt, and the company navy blue jacket. She rinses her mouth with mouthwash, throws her hair in a bun, and exits.

Jessica, knowing Angela all too well, had already gotten up poured a beer into an all-black water bottle for her. She says goodbye to her roommate and Humphry and heads out the door, letting Jessica know she’ll be home around ten thirty. She drives as fast as she can to work and quickly walks into the building. Her manager gives her a nasty look as she walks to the front desk.

“I am so sorry, Jim.” Angela says to him.

Jim doesn’t reply but instead just walks away, clearly irritated with her. Angela goes to work, checking in a few guests before Devon, one of the janitors and the annoying coworker with the crush on her, comes up with his cleaning cart.

“Yo, Angie! How are you?” He says, walking up a little too close for Angela’s comfort.

“Eh, ya know? As best as I can be working here in this paradise.” She replies, forcing a fake smile.

Devon laughs, a little too hard at her sarcasm. Angela was always too nice and didn’t want to hurt his feelings. His nerdy look, with pants well above his waist and the suspenders he wore, were enough to turn her off, and his personality just made her want to vomit. She has been there for thirty minutes, and she’s ready to take a swig of her “water.”

“You are so funny.” He pushes his large, round glasses up his face.

“Uh-huh.” Angela lets out a nervous chuckle. “Well, I should get back to work.” Although no one was waiting to be checked in.

“Okay. See you around Angie.” Devon says happily, leaving with his cleaning cart.

Angela hates when he calls her that nickname but is glad to be out of conversation with him. She stands up and heads out into the lobby area to pour herself a cup of coffee. She decides to open her water bottle to take a sip, waits a moment, then takes a sip of coffee to mask the smell. Coffee and beer do not mix, but she decides to take another sip of each anyway. Another flow of guests begin to come into the hotel. Angela checks in an old man-, who reeks of alcohol, a young mother, and a couple, who are in their forties. Some time goes by without any check-ins, so she decides to pass time by cleaning and dusting the furniture in the lobby, taking sips from the water bottle and her coffee, which is now room temperature and makes the taste of beer and coffee even worse. Angela is dusting above the fireplace in the lobby when she hears the deep voice of a man.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” says the man.

Angela turns around, annoyed that her cleaning is being interrupted and speaks to the man.

“Yes, how can I help you, sir?” Using her customer service voice before realizing that it is the same strange man she saw earlier while walking home. Her entire body tenses.

“I was wonderin’ if I could get some help checking in?” He says, a smile appearing on his face.

The strange man smells like pinecones and mint.

“Yes, sir. Right this way.” And leads him over to the front desk.

“Have I seen you before?” The man asks.

“I believe I saw you earlier on my walk.”

“Oh, that’s right. Now I remember. I was out that way doing some journaling. What a coincidence that you work here and I’m glad you do. It’s hard not to notice a pretty woman.” John smiles at her again.

Normally, compliments like that from a guy annoy her. She already knows how pretty she is. However, when he said it, it was different, and she relaxes a little bit.

“Hard not to notice how creepy you look.” Angela laughs at her own comment, and it doesn’t take long for the man to join her in laughter.

“Fair enough. It’s the beard, mustache, and sideburns.” Angela nods in agreement, still slightly laughing.

“Can I get your name, sir?”

“It’s John Markos.”

“Well, John, would you like a standard room or double?”

“A standard room is fine. It’s just myself.” John says, pulling out his wallet.

“Alright, John, that’s eighty dollars for the night. The hotel offers free internet and cable and there is complimentary breakfast in the morning between six and nine. Your room number is one forty-three and it is right down the hallway there and to the right.” Angela explains as she processes his card. “Oh, and the hotel bar is open until two in the morning.”

“Thank you, but I don’t drink.” Angela looks up at him, shocked by his statement. “I had a rough upbringing and I found out the hard way that drinking was not the answer to my problems.”

Angela thinks about his comment as she hands John his card and he leaves for his room, but not before slipping her his number, making her smile. She shoves the little paper in her pocket and realizes Devon was watching the whole time, clearly jealous. Angela goes back to doing busy work in the lobby before the next wave of guests arrive. After seven, business slows, getting only getting three or four check-ins per hour. Angela, out of tasks, plays games on her phone to pass the time in between guests. The remaining three hours fly by, and she realizes that Devon hasn’t said another word to her after her moment with John. Good. Not even a goodbye as their shift ends. Angela gathers her things and heads home, driving in silence, and when she arrives home, the apartment reeks of sex and vodka. Angela calls out for her roommate.

“Jessica! I’m Home! I really want to tell you something!”

When no one replies, Angela decides to check the bedroom where she finds Jessica passed out drunk with Humphry curled up next to her. She stares at her for a moment as John’s words hit her all at once. “Drinking was not the answer to my problems.” She begins to cry a little as she realizes he might be right. She proceeds to the kitchen to prepare a sandwich, a glass of water, and a couple of ibuprofen for when Jessica wakes up. She places them next to her on the nightstand and goes back to the living room. This time, Humphry follows her out of the room as she sits on the sofa. She will have to tell her about John in the morning, but in the meantime, she wonders if it is too late to text him. She decides to go for it and shoots him a “hi” text and for the first time ever after work, her mind isn’t focused on drinking, instead, she decides to clean up the empty beer bottles scattered around the apartment while she waits for a reply from John.