Chapter Text
8:00 am
The clock tower rang out eight times. It was a sound I was used to hearing, but this time, it was a sound I was dreading.
I pulled into the parking lot of my kid’s school and pushed him out the car. “Go, go! You're already late!” I shouted.
He ran out of the car and waved at me as he left. “Bye, mom! Love you!”
“I love you too, Georgie!”
As I watched him enter the school, I let out a sigh. I could already tell today wasn't going to be a great day.
When I arrived at my workplace, I was fifteen minutes late. Not great, but it could've been worse. I greeted the receptionist.
“Hey, Penny,” I waved.
“Oh, hey, Remora. You're a bit late today,” she commented.
“Yeah… uh… my alarm clock broke.” I didn't have the heart to tell her it was actually because I stayed up until 3 am last night wrapping my son's birthday presents and then proceeded to forget to wake him up this morning.
She nodded as if she understood. “Yikes. Well, I hope you get another one soon.”
“Mhm…”
I walked into the elevator to get to my floor.
When I walked out, I could hear the distant sound of suction cups… Of course. Pretty much everyone at work knows about that guy, even if they haven't seen his face. Boss seems to really hate him. I can see why - that sound gets annoying after a while.
Walking into the sales department, I could hear the familiar sound of keyboards clicking and indistinct chattering. Another debilitating day at work, I suppose.
“Hello?”
“Hi there! My name is Remora, and I'm calling from—”
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
I sighed in frustration. Why was everyone hanging up on me? That stupid beeping sound was practically engraved into my mind at this point.
“I hate my life…” I mumbled to myself. I don't even know what I was doing wrong.
Glancing at my watch, I decided to go on break. I just needed to relax and then try again. That would surely help.
After leaving the room, I made my way over to a broom closet nobody used and went inside. This was the place I always went to when I needed to take a smoke and contemplate stuff.
I pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of my pocket. If anyone opened the door, they'd probably be poisoned from the amount of nicotine smoke in the air. The room didn't really have air conditioning.
As I smoked, I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through my photos. Most of them were of my son. His 7th birthday is coming up, and I really wanna make sure it'll be amazing for him. Moving to a new town and school wasn't easy, so hopefully it would cheer him up.
Eventually, I scrolled down farther than I should have, and I reached a point of which I hadn't gotten to in a while.
A face appeared in my gallery that I hadn't seen in person for years. I clicked on the image.
It was a picture of me and the man I once loved years ago. We were at a coffee shop, sitting next to each other closely. I remember that day so vividly. He was talking about his dream of becoming a professional mountain climber, and that he'd get super rich and famous. I thought it was stupid. I still do.
Sometimes, I think about what our family could've become if he hadn't left. How my little boy would've grown up. Maybe I'd be a stay-at-home mom. Maybe we would've had another child. But unfortunately, he's gone now, and so are my chances of seeing him again.
That man used to be so sweet. I wonder what happened to him, or how he's doing now. Probably starting another life in Tijuana or something. He was always getting up to trouble.
I looked at the time on my phone. This was probably around the time I should be getting back to work. Sulking in here all day isn't gonna do anything.
I threw my cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it under my shoe, then left to get back to work.
When I walked out, I saw my boss in the hall, so I politely greeted him “Hey, boss.”
“Oh, Remora! There you are!” He walked towards me. Oh no. Was I in trouble? I don't remember doing anything wrong…
“Uhm, hi…? What's up?” I turned around and nervously waved.
“One of my employees told me you've been having trouble at your job.”
Am I about to be fired? Oh god.
“And I could understand why that is.”
Excuse me?
“So, to help, I've decided to let one of my new employees guide you.”
Oh. Well, I guess there could’ve been worse outcomes
“Uhm… Thanks. What's his name?” I asked, walking back to my department, Mr. Business following behind me.
“His name is Craig Raisins, and he's very good at his job. So I think he'll be a lot of help for you.”
I could tell he was proud of himself, because he had that smug smile on his face. He must really like this “Craig” guy.
“He's in the cubicle on the left to yours, so just say hi. I let him know he'd be helping you.”
I smiled and nodded. “Thanks.”
When I walked into my department, I could already tell things were a bit different. It seemed more busy since I had left. Didn't know if that was good for me or bad for me.
For some reason, as I made my way over to my cubicle, I felt some sort of dread overtake me. I don't know why. There was just… this sort of vague sound I could hear that was making me anxious. But I couldn't put my finger on what it was.
Eventually, I made it to my desk. I turned to the left to greet my new colleague. “Hey, are you Craaaiiiiiiiiiiiii…”
He turned to me. “Oh, hi! You must be Remora. So glad to be working with you.”
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My vocal chords betrayed me in attempting to speak. He seemed confused and a bit concerned when I didn't respond, noticing my horrified expression.
The man sitting in front of me was my ex-husband.