My Dream Come True

I sighed and threw my head back with a groan. My mother was wandering around the house, completely naked, and throwing newspapers and magazines all over the place. I didn’t have time for this. I was supposed to be at work half an hour ago.

“What are you looking for?” I asked for the tenth time.

“I told you!” she shouted. “The car keys!”

“I lost them,” I lied, shoving them deeper into my purse.

She spun and glared at me. I waited for the slap and didn’t even wince when she slapped my cheek.

“How am I supposed to get to the liquor store now!?” she yelled but I didn’t answer. “Oh, you’re useless! I’ll just walk there!”

“At least put some clothes on first,” I sighed, steering her to her bedroom. “I have to go to work. Try to behave, please.”

“Just go, you ungrateful brat,” she snapped.

I shook my head and left, closing and locking the house door behind me. I had changed the house locks so they couldn’t be unlocked from inside. It was an inconvenience but was safer for everybody; especially my mother.

As I drove to work, I started to cry. The nurse had come over yesterday and I was still haunted by the conversation we had. My mother was on one of her rants and tearing up the house much like she had today. I had to struggle and clean up while still trying to convince the nurse that we were doing just fine.

Before she left, the nurse handed me a brochure with a pitying smile.

“It’s time, Rose,” she had whispered before leaving.

I pulled into the parking lot but didn’t get out right away. I put my forehead on the steering wheel, trying to stop crying. I had looked through the brochure and it seemed like a good place. My mother was only in her 50’s but looked like she was 80 thanks to the damage of the alcohol and drugs. Perhaps a home – the nurse’s polite way of saying rehab center – was best for her….

“You’re late,” my boss said with a frown when I finally walked in. “You’re never late. Is everything okay?”

I sighed, throwing myself into my chair and putting more force than was necessary on the power button for my computer.

“I’m just fine, Mr. Pope,” I said through clenched teeth.

He took the hint and went back to whatever he was doing.

I logged into my account and pulled up my call log and list of clients. I immediately got a transfer as soon as I logged into my phone. After spewing a string of profanities under my breath, I put on my headset and pressed the answer button.

“Thank you for calling HP Help Support. This is Rose. How can I help you today?”

There was silence for a moment. “Rose?” a familiar voice asked and I dropped my pen, my mouth hanging open. “Well, this is a surprise.”

I struggled to find my voice. “Uh-Um, yeah I could say the same,” I breathed. “H-How can I help you, Mr. Parrish?”

“You can begin by calling me Andrew,” he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. “And then you can tell me why in the world Windows 10 has completely deleted all of my saved files.”

I winced. “We’ve been getting that a lot, I’m afraid,” I sighed. “I have to go through this process with you so bear with me.”

“As long as it’s you, I certainly will.”

I blushed. Mr. Pope cleared his throat. He was smirking at me, listening in on my call again. I turned a darker shade of red and spun back to my computer.

“First, have you tried turning your computer on and off again?” I asked and Andrew laughed.

“We are in the 21st Century, my dear. Of course I have.”

I cringed. “Again. Required question. Okay. Did you check your backup files?”

Silence. “Back up files?”

“Yes,” I said. “Were you in Microsoft Word or Excel?”

“Yes,” he said slowly and I resisted the urge to laugh.

“Tell me, Andrew, have you opened those two yet?”

“Er…. Well, no. I just went to File Explorer.” I covered the microphone to hide my giggle. “Oh, go ahead. I know you want to laugh.”

“I would never laugh at you,” I lied, my lips quivering. “Do me a favor and open Microsoft Word.”

“Okay,” he said, his voice business like again. “All right, I have it…. Oh, good Lord. Are you serious?”

I laughed, unable to stop myself. “Did your computer crash recently?”

“Last night,” he confirmed. “We had a power outage. I got that bloody building you convinced me to get.”

“Hey, I never told you to get it,” I said. “Don’t go blaming this on me.”

He laughed. “What does that have to do with this?”

“Microsoft has an Auto Save feature,” I explained as I typed in my notes. “Think of it like if you’re playing a video game that saves for you. On the left, you have that that display and, when you click on whatever documents are there, it’ll open it up to wherever the program saved it last.”

He sighed. “Why must Microsoft keep changing things?”

I smirked. “Actually, Auto Save has always been there.”

“God. I feel like an idiot.”

I snorted. It was getting hard to hold in my laughter and I looked to Mr. Pope. He was smirking at me.

“At least you don’t press the power button when trying to play a game and it says ‘press any key to continue,’” I said and Mr. Pope threw his pen at me.

Andrew laughed loudly. “Did you have that call?”

“The other day,” I confirmed. “Well, is there anything else I can help you with, Mr. Parrish?”

“Hmm…. You could join me for dinner again.”

I shut my eyes, embarrassed, and turned my back on Mr. Pope.

“Er…. Um…. Is now the best time?” I asked, my voice high pitched.

“Of course it is. Your boss is listening in.”

I groaned and Mr. Pope erupted into loud laughter, not bothering to cover the mic.

“Hello, Rose’s boss,” Andrew said pleasantly.

“Hello, Mr. Parrish,” Mr. Pope snorted. “So, you’d like to take my employee on a date huh?” he asked, raising his voice so everyone could hear.

I groaned as everyone looked. “Perhaps we could talk about this later,” I said through clenched teeth.

“No,” Andrew said. “Now’s as good a time as any. Yes, Rose’s boss. I would definitely like to take your employee on a date.”

“Hmm,” Mr. Pope said, his eyes glinting at me and I glared at him. “She was late today. Oh, and she just gave me the finger.”

“I did not!” I yelled indignantly as my coworkers laughed.

“I wouldn’t put it by her.”

“Hey!” I shouted, glaring at the computer. “Whose side are you on!?”

“I must be on your boss’s side, dear Rose,” he said as if it were obvious.

I threw my head back with another groan and waited.

“What do you guys think?” Mr. Pope asked to my coworkers. “Should we let Mr. Parrish take Rose on a date?”

“This is so unethical!” I shouted as Andrew laughed in the background. “Shut up, Andrew.”

My coworkers all agreed and Mr. Pope sighed.

“Well, even though she was late, I suppose she could go out on a date.”

“It’s not even your choice,” I retorted. “I’m a big girl.”

“It’s settled,” Andrew said as if he hadn’t heard me. “Which fancy restaurant should we go to this time?”

I sighed. “Taco Bell,” I snapped.

“Taco Bell it is,” he said happily. “Thank you so much for your help today, Miss Rose, and I shall see you tomorrow evening.”

“Just go,” I grumbled and he snorted.

I hung up and the call center erupted into applause and cat calls. I groaned and put my head on my desk, covering my red face with my hair.

“Congratulations, Rose,” Mr. Pope said. “That was your 100th satisfied customer!”

“In more ways than one,” Carrie laughed and everyone joined in.

“Ugh. I could so report you for this,” I said, slamming my finger on the clicker on the mouse.

“Ah, but you won’t,” Mr. Pope said. “Now, let’s go to Facebook and see what Mr. Parrish looks like.”

“Asshole,” I grumbled. “Unprofessional asshole.”