[ WP ] The world is n't as beautiful as the world makes it out to be , despite what everyone says . You try to balance this belief with some positivity , though it 's tough going .

From the moment I walked into the office, I just knew it was going to be one of those days. Cassie the Receptionist half rose out of her chair as the door open in front of me. 
 
 `` Morning, Cassie. Happy Monday.'' She held up a hand. 
 
 `` Uh, Jake, hold on a second.'' I paused. This was unusual. 
 
 `` Sure. What's up? Is something the matter?'' 
 
 `` Well, you see, Jake, apparently with all of the cold weather we've had one of the pipes gave out.'' 
 
 I frowned. `` An interior pipe? That does n't make sense,'' 
 
 `` I do n't know what to tell you. It was like that when I got here first thing this morning.'' 
 
 Now that she mentioned it, there was a water restoration van parked out front, and I could see jumpsuited figures readying their tools. I grimaced. 
 
 `` Well, that *sucks*. How bad is it?'' Cassie was silent a second, eyes big, before continuing. 
 
 `` Well, that's the thing, Jake. It was just the one pipe, so really it's just one office that got destroyed.'' I could see where this was going. 
 
 `` And that office was mine.'' 
 
 `` I'm so sorry, Jake.'' I sighed, rubbing my forehead. It was too early for this. I had n't even had my coffee yet. 
 
 `` All right, all right. I understand. I guess... I'll see if there's anything salvageable, and then I'll set up over in conference room B. Is what it is, you know?'' I gave Cassie a big smile, which she returned, clearly relieved. 
 
 `` Oh, that sounds perfect.Thanks for being understanding.'' Cassie bustled off, and I went to see how bad the situation was. 
 
 Which was *bad*. The pipe could n't have hit my desk more directly if it were aimed, and clearly it had been draining for a while. My computer was trashed. The paper files for the big project I had been workng on ( due next week, of course ) floated dismally around my chair like a halo on an inch of scummy water. I poked and prodded absently, but it was clear that nothing here would be useable. I had just reached that conclusion when I heard a throad clearing behind me. 
 
 Tucker, my boss. A nice enough guy, but kind of a pushover. Currently standing behind me with a look on his face like his dog just got run over. I sighed, dropping the soggy sheets I had been examining. 
 
 `` What a day, huh, Tucker?'' His lip *quivered*. I'd never actually seen a lip quiver before. An unpleasant feeling was spreading in the pit of my stomach. `` But, uh, we'll get by, right?'' 
 
 `` Well, you see, Jake. The restoration is going to be really expensive, and now there's no way your project will make the deadline.'' 
 
 `` Tucker. We still got this.'' 
 
 `` I just got off the phone with the higher ups. They do n't like our prospects. They told me I need to start cutting back.'' 
 
 `` Tucker.'' 
 
 `` You were the last one we hired. I'm really sorry, ok? Hopefully it's only temporary and you'll be back here in no time. I'll be a reference for you?'' 
 
 I stared down at the pink slip he handed me. Tried to stop my head spinning. 
 
 `` Uh.....yeah. Yeah, I understand. I'll... I'll take you up on that then, right?'' I tried to smile. *Even though this sucks, I ca n't burn this bridge. I need the reference. Throwing a fit wo n't change anything. This is just one of those days. Never know where life is going to take you. * `` Well, I guess I'm going to clear out then.'' 
 
 Half an hour later saw me to the front of the building, with a boxful of my damp posessions in my arms. Coffee. It was coffee time. It was coffee time two hours ago. 
 
 And there she was. Stepping out of her car, neatly parallel parked in front of my office. I could n't help it. I dropped the box I held and swept her into my arms. 
 
 `` Oh, geez, Steph, I could n't be more glad to see you,'' I murmured as I hugged my wife. `` Today has been *such* a shitshow.'' 
 
 But that unpleasant feeling was back. 
 
 She was n't hugging me back. 
 
 Cautiously, slowly, I released her and leaned back to arm's length. Her eyes were red, like she'd been crying all morning. 
 
 `` I'm sorry, Jake.'' A knife in my gut. 
 
 ``... W..what do you mean, Steph?'' 
 
 `` I just... I ca n't do this anymore. I ca n't get these dreams out of my head. I love you, but....it's a big world out there, and I've done so little.'' 
 
 The world was getting darker now. Grayer. 
 
 ``... Steph?'' 
 
 She looked up at me with those big red doe eyes. 
 
 ``... It really is n't you. I know that's a stereotype. But it's true. You've been great. I just need to sort myself out.'' I shook my head. 
 
 `` Then, then we can sort you out. Let's talk. We can talk right now in fact, since, ha, would n't you know, I've had quite the morning-'' 
 
 `` I'm sorry, Jake. Maybe... maybe when this is all worked through I'll find you again.'' She turns. Climbs back into the car. Drives out of the parking spot and out of my life. 
 
 Coffee. 
 
 I leave the box of things on the sidewalk where it sits. Ruined, anyway. No sense wasting my efforts carrying that anymore, right? I should put that energy towards something *good*, right? I'm still young, after all. 
 
 There's a coffee shop right across the street. I wait the eternity it takes for the crosswalk signal to turn. Manage to stumble across the white bars on the pavement somehow. My hand is inches from the cold metal handle on the door when I hear a ringing from my pocket. 
 
 It's her! 
 
 She's realized her mistake after all! I knew she would come around in the end. My heart leaps. 
 
 `` Steph, I'm so glad! Listen, we-'' 
 
 `` Jake?'' I stopped. The voice on the other end was not Steph. It was, in fact, unmistakably my mother. But her voice is twisted, somehow. Darker. Grief-stricken. 
 
 ``... Mom?'' I'm frozen in time, hand hovering in space by the door handle. 
 
 `` Oh, Jake. I....There's....something has happened.'' 
 
 It begins to rain. Thankfully, I'm already wet from my office. 
 
 ``... What do you mean? What happened?'' 
 
 `` Your father....he was out in the garden. I was in the kitchen... I..I could n't see him. They say he had a massive heart attack.'' She was crying now. `` You should come home. Today.'' 
 
 ``....Yeah. Yeah. I'm coming, ok? I'll be right there. Soon as I can.'' The phone drops from my limp fingers into my coat pocket. Through the fog of the world that is my mind, there's still a part of me that is icy clear, making plans. Setting routes, thinking ahead. And one thing is clear. This is not a drive I can make without coffee. 
 
 As the door flies open, the warm, cloying smell of the coffee strikes me in the face. Takes the edge off the panic setting over me. I make a beeline for the counter. 
 
 `` One black coffee. Biggest you've got.'' I slap a five down on the counter. `` Actually, give me two of them.'' The girl behind the counter looks up at me. 
 
 `` Did n't you see the sign?'' She rolls her eyes. 
 
 I ground my teeth together. `` Two coffees, please. What sign.'' She points. Sure enough, there *is* a small sheet of paper taped to the glass of the door. 
 
 `` Machine's broke. We've got nothing.'' I gaped at her. 
 
 `` What do you *mean* the machine is broken? It's a *coffeemaker*. I tapped this out with my fist on the counter, speaking clearly and slowly. She glared back at me. Now that I looked at it, there *was* something wrong with the machine. It smelled like hot electric, and the displays on the front were dead. 
 
 `` And it's broke. Sorry, dude. You're out of luck.'' She waved a hand, brushing me off. Turned to walk into the back room. 
 
 The machine sparked. 
 
 
 Report filed - April 20/2017, 10:00am. Officer Robinson arrived on the scene responding to call. Observed Jake Grost ( w/m/30 ) holding Jessica West ( w/f/18 ) by the collar of her shirt and screaming.............. 
 
 -- - 
 
 Well this has been fun in a sick kind of way XD and I have n't had *my* coffee yet. 
 
 ( /r/inorai )
