HOPE

By

J. N. Wdowski

Friday Night

All she could hear was her heart beating hard in her chest, and a fog horn at times in the distance. Jenny, only thirty-two years old, felt the sea breeze and her tears on her face. She looked down at the darkness of the tidal waters beneath her, rushing out to sea. The blackness and depth of the water far below her; reflected how she felt. Both her hands tightly gripped the cold steel railing behind her. She was ready to let go and take the plunge.

Five Days Earlier - Monday

The sunlight enters Jenny Romano’s bedroom. Jenny is alone in her bed as she turns her head to avoid the shaft of morning light of a new day. Seeing that she was refusing to face the day, Fluffy, her white toy poodle jumped up on the bed and began licking her face. Gently pushing Fluffy aside she looks to her clock seeing the time is 8:50. She jumps out of bed and pulls on the same clothes she left on the floor the night before. She rushes into the kitchen with Fluffy nipping at her heels.

“I know.” She responded to her dog as she pours fresh food into her dish on the floor. She then heated up a mug of coffee in the microwave for herself. Waiting for the “ding” of the microwave she took Fluffy’s water bowl to the sink and filled it with fresh water.

After eating, Fluffy looked up a Jenny seemingly concerned.

“No time for my breakfast, Old Girl.” Jenny tries to explain to the dog as she takes the mug of steaming coffee out of the microwave, rushing out the door of her apartment.

Fluffy chases after her only to have the door closed in front of her. She sits and whimpers for Jenny as she paws gently at the closed door.

Jenny is in her cubicle, one of a hundred cubicles on just one floor of the large corporate office building. She is checking spread sheets, one after the other. She takes a moment to look up at the clock on the office wall. It reads 10:18. She sighs, returning her attention back to the spread sheets on her computer monitor.

Focusing on her work she pays no attention to the activity of people moving about the office floor. Far behind her, in the distance, Ted Fink walks off the elevator. He is forty-five years old; the suit he is wearing looks as if it is half his age.

Helen, dressed in a pants suit, is suddenly standing above Jenny’s cubicle wall looking down on her. “I needed that Richardson account on my desk this morning.” Startling Jenny, the fifty-year-old demanded with an artificial smile.

Jenny sheepishly looked up at her supervisor. “I am sorry, Ms. McDowell, Mr. Porter gave me two more accounts this morning that he told me he needed A.S.A.P.”

“Ms. Romana, my projects are always your primary responsibility.”

“It’s Romano. But, Mr. Porter is a higher manager than you. Shouldn’t I take his projects as my priority?”

Helen McDowell was not amused by Jenny’s reasoning, yet forced her smile to widen, “I want to be your friend, Miss Romana. I am different than other managers. I care about my subordinates. Yet, they must show the respect my position deserves. Mr. Porter is not your direct supervisor, I am. If I do not have that Richerson’s account now, you will make me look bad.” Her fake smile tightened into a silent anger. “I will not accept blame, due to your incompetence. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Ms. McDowell, I will get it to you right away.”

The moment Ms. McDowell left, Jenny’s computer chimed, that she just received an email.

Miss Romiano:

Please find attached the Torrington Inc., Alter LCD, and Mostly Inc. accounts.

Please have them completed before noon. These are high priorities.

Thank you for your attention.

Ms. White

East District Manager

Ms. Raintree then approached her and dropped a file on her desk. “Miss Romino, these need to all be redone.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, nothing wrong. The client at the last minute decided to change the budget.” The twenty-eight year old, very attractive account manager explained with a perfect smile framed by her full red lips, “They want this done, yesterday.” She giggled. “They take months to make a decision, and when they finally do, they want it yesterday. Go figure.” Still giggling as she walked away, her tight skirt highlighting her girlish curves. 

Jenny opened her door. Fluffy was sitting there as if she had never left the spot since morning. Fluffy had her tongue out and would be wagging her tail if she had more than just a stump.

“Good evening, old girl. Hope you had a better Monday than I did.”

She walked in, shutting and locking her front door behind her. Looking across her apartment to her large living room window, she could not see the horizon, due to so many buildings blocking her view. She could at least notice the change in the color of the sky to a dark orange as twilight descended on the city.

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