Twenty Pounds Lighter

Twenty Pounds Lighter

BUR, BUR, BUR…BUR, BUR, BUR…Angela blindly fumbled for her cell, knocking it off the night stand.
“Crap,” she muttered, as she squeezed her hand inside the bed frame feeling for her phone.

BUR, BUR, BUR…BUR, BUR, BUR…Angela got more frustrated with every BUR, threw the covers from her body and turned on the lamp. She leaned over to inspect the trapped cell situation further. After locating the problem she pulled it from the crevice. BUR, BUR, BUR…BUR, BUR, BUR…as she heard the tone again she contemplated throwing the problem against the wall. Better not, I’d be more pissed if I had to buy another phone. Angela decided to swipe angrily at the screen turning off the alarm instead of playing catch with the wall.

She blinked the last bit of sleep from her mind and made her way to the bathroom. Turning on the light she looked in the mirror hoping to see something, or someone, different. Angela had always had low self-esteem, who doesn’t nowadays; but lately she had been feeling a bit more critical of herself. Staring at the reflection she wished she could just push the EASY button and lose those forty extra pounds or maybe just twenty…yea twenty would be a good start. Angela also took note of the rather large pimple staring back at her from her forehead.

“I heart pimples,” she chuckled to herself as she went to work destroying that facial vermin with a pinch.

Her forehead now a nice shade of freshly-popped-pink she decided this was going to be a make-up day. Using a few pointers of concealer and foundation application she discovered on YouTube she completed her masterpiece. Angela felt a tad better about her reflection as she dressed for work. BUR, BUR, BUR…BUR, BUR, BUR…”Really?” she yeld from across the room. I’ve really gotta change that alarm tone…her thoughts trailed off as she stared hard at her phones screen.

“Crap again!” Angela realized it was her BE DRIVING TO WORK alarm which meant she only had 15 minutes to get to work. That’s fine she thought, but traffic was always bad around this time. She began to panic, frantically looking for her other shoe she eventually ended the search with an alternate pair, grabbed her keys and headed for her car.

Angela had been working at the Fender Musical Instrument Company (FMIC) for the past 5 years and she very much disliked it to say the least. She felt underappreciated for all her hard work and resented the program hi-jacking the company under appreciated her for. She hadn’t made a big fuss about it because any complaint made would have made her look like a whiner. Being thirty-five-ish she decided to let the incident go. Her co-workers, particularly Lisa her BCF (Best Co-worker Friend), always tried to show Angela she was an important member of the team, pointing out the multiple Excel spreadsheets Angela herself had incorporated into the International shipping accounts for Fender. Angela appreciated Lisa’s adda-boys but never really took them to heart until today. Angela’s boss, Jessica Smart, which Angela gathered she wasn’t, decided to give Angela an important task. She was to assist Jessica with an accounts receivable problem the company had been having. Of course Jessica was completely mind boggled by the problem and took it upon herself to lay it all on Angela. Quite literally actually, Jessica piled the notes, account information, and apparently every fax sent and received on Angela’s tiny cubicle desk.

“Look through this mess and see if you can sort out the problem. I’ve got a headache from it all,” Jessica rubbed her head as she spoke.

Angela wondered if she was faking the headache, then confirmed the farce when Jessica saw her own boss, the Director, and quickly moved in for the chance to darken her nose further. Angela cracked a smile in spite of the daunting task in front of her. By lunchtime Angela had sifted through almost every scrap of paperwork on her desk.

Lisa scrambled over to Angela’s now cluttered workspace and frowned. “Wanna grab some lunch, my treat?” Angela didn’t think twice about the offer and sprouted up from her desk like a plant late for Spring.

After lunch Angela developed a severe case of the Itis (eye-tis) and ransacked her desk drawers for the half-full 5 hour energy she knew she still had. Angela found the wily energy bottle hiding in her pencil holder. Funny she didn’t look there first, but her mother did always say she was a terrible looker.

“If it were a snake it would’ve bit you.” Her mother’s words bounced between her ears as she took the last swallow.

Angela completed the task Jessica had pawned off on her and compiled the findings on an Excel spreadsheet. She loved creating things. Pleased with her work Angela emailed the file to Jessica and just to make sure she received it she called her office.

“Ms. Smart,” Jessica's voice seemed perky; I guess her headache’s gone, Angela thought.

“Jessica, it’s Angela, I figured out the accounts receivable problem and emailed you a copy of my findings. Did you get it?”
“Let me see here…ah yes I got it! Thanks for being a team player.” Click.

“Okay bye,” Angela spoke into the dead line. Seeing a lull in work she decided to finish the drawing she had been working on. Angela hadn’t drawn in years because her ex-husband had always been overly critical of her work. What did he know about art Mr. I can draw better than a 5th grader. Angela laughed out loud at her funny quip and suspected she should write her originality down.

Angela scratched and blended in her artistic zone. She drew an old Native American adobe, logs sticking out of mud, clay walls and beautifully rounded arches hugging the air. It was brilliant. She had forgotten how much delight she had gotten from the feel of smooth pencil between her fingertips. It was her magical wand by which she flicked and fluttered all of her worldly cares away. As she finished that wonderful thought she heard Jessica’s boss, heir Director, call everyone to gather round. “This ought to be good," Angela said almost too loud.

“As always I appreciate everyone’s hard work here and I appreciate knowing that you are all willing to go that extra mile to take on challenging tasks; having said that, I would like to personally congratulate Ms. Smart on a job well done. I’m sure you are all aware of the issues we have been having with accounts receivable. Ms. Smart has managed to coordinate some data on a spreadsheet which will enable us to not only rectify this issue but also possible issues in the future as well.” The director waved to Jessica. “Everyone give her a hand.”

As everyone began to clap Angela could see Jessica smiling, especially since she was looking right at her. Angela couldn’t believe she had been duped AGAIN; first by through her hi-jacked program and now by her hi-jacked hard work. Well, that’s it, the last straw. “I’m done!” Angela's mouth blurted out, but she didn’t care. With a sudden sense of freedom blowing at her back she quickly, but methodically, gathered every piece of personal property from her small space and glided to the elevator.

“Where are you going Angela?” Her words dug the knife deeper into Angela's back.

“Ms. Smart, I quit,” she said attempted to hide her anger.

“Well you can’t just quite Angela, aren’t you forgetting about your two weeks’ notice to the Director?”

Angela laughed right in her face. “I’m sorry Ms. Smart, but I think you have a little something brown on your nose!”

The elevator doors opened and she saw her escape. Angela turned around and just before the doors closed, she saw Jessica standing there with a bewildered look on her face, rubbing her nose with her finger.

6 months later…Angela awoke to the gentle humming of her cell. She listened peacefully and decided to let it play its beautiful melody. She stretched the restful night’s sleep off, rose to her feet and walked blissfully to the bathroom smiling at all her fabulous drawings along the way. Angela had gathered them together for shipment to the art gallery where they were going to be on display. She turned on the light, studied her reflection in the mirror and smiled…twenty pounds lighter.

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