I hope you are having a good week. For those of us who are dealing with everyday life events under different and unusual circumstances, I hope things are improving. I hope a little fiction brings an escape for all of us. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy Part 2.
PART 2
JENNIFER OPENED HER EYES and blinked. Her face was wet and sticky. She was weak. The smell of vomit hit her. She lifted her head and tried to breathe away from the vomit. Nausea had subsided. But the vomit odor was bringing it back.
She rolled to her left and laid on her side. What time was it, she wondered? She could not stay there all day. Her presentation was early afternoon. Missing it was not an option. Calling in sick could be a nail in her coffin when it came to her promotion.
Competition for the Vice President position at the company was tough. Then the firm hired Melanie. She was a thirty-eight-year-old black woman. The firm hired her to create an inclusive work environment. Top management said that more minorities needed to be represented at the firm.
At first, no one in the running for the VP position considered Melanie a threat. She was hired to fill more of a quota. But within two months, people’s perception of Melanie changed. Everyone saw her creative side. She was a marketing genius. She was smart but downplayed it. She was on her way to that VP position.
Jennifer could not make a mistake. She wanted to take medicine for her condition—migraines, dizziness, forgetfulness, nausea. It was ruining her life. She wanted to feel normal. But the medication that helped her made her loopy. It made her unable to think in detail. She could not afford to be that way around Melanie. Melanie was like a Tiger, waiting to pounce. Jennifer admired her and feared her. That was why she had to get her ass off that floor and into the shower.
Jennifer rolled out of the vomit and onto her stomach. After a few breaths, she pushed up onto all fours. She stayed in that positioned and counted to five. On count five she brought one foot up under her and paused for a second. Then she pushed hard with the back foot and pushed herself up and off the floor.
She stumbled toward the bathroom. But this time she could see. The door frame was coming at her. She turned her head to the side and missed it by a few inches. But that threw her balance off even more. When she turned to the front, the bathroom counter met her. Right into the stomach. She gasped as it knocked the air out of her. As her knees were giving way, she planted the palms of her hands flat on the counter. They squeaked as they were sliding off it.
Her butt hit the floor. An electric shock shot through her tailbone and up her spine. It incapacitated her. She laid back and spread out on the floor. Her head was pounding. Her tailbone was probably broken or severely bruised. Numbness ran down both legs and across her lower back. Her lower back was probably injured in the fall. She felt warm under her butt. The feeling was moving down the back of her legs.
She lifted her head. “Why?” she asked. “Why me?”
Have a good week.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Stephen Wallace
Stephen Wallace 