I did...didn't I?

Jay hung up the phone with a loud thump. "Oh My God," she yelled as she started to find her folder with her papers in it. Her roommate Stephanie jumped up from her book and came out of her room to see what the commotion was. It was only a few moments ago when she had woken up Jay to receive her uncle's call.

"What's up," Stephanie asked.

"Remember how my Uncle Jeremy said he would take care of my tax papers for me and send them off?"

"Yeah, I remember you saying something about that," she replied as she recalled Jay getting mad about owing this year. "What happened?"

"Well, apparently he lost my W-2 and now I have to go down to IRS and file an extension so I have time and can get a replacement W-2," she said in a heightened voice.

"Damn, that sucks," with a lack of anything helpful to add. Stephanie knew her roommate well enough that if she said much more or gave her advice Jay would go off the deep end.

"You’re telling me," she snarled as she grabbed her folder and car keys before she took off out the door. It was six p.m. now so she thought she would at least try to get something done. Stephanie had no intention of telling her about the slippers Jay was still wearing as she left.

Jay got in her 2004 Jeep Cherokee and slammed the large black door. Putting the car in reverse, you could hear the engine straining before she took off her emergency brake and her bumper hit the sidewalk as her vehicle bounced. Then with little effort she peeled out into the street and went through the stop sign at the end of the court.

"God damn, stupid..." she mumbled along with some strong explicative under her breath.”Damn my uncle," she said while pounding the steering wheel as if it was her uncle's face. To a passerby driving along side, Jay would have looked like a 20-something-year-old woman head banging and beating along to the music but on the inside there was a whole other beat going on.

Jay couldn't believe the disorganization of her uncle. He had been a CPA for years and had a long list of clients. With those given credentials, she would have thought her taxes were safe and she could have forgotten about it and let him deal with it. Jay told herself she should of known better than to let someone else handle such a high responsibility without following up with them sooner.

Staying focused on her dilemma she drove down highway 50 to the Watt exit; not paying attention to the fact she was going over 20 miles over the speed limit before taking the off ramp. At every red light, she cursed out, "figures," or "come on," while thumping her column before anticipating the light to move on. When she finally tore into the parking lot, she scoured the lot to find a parking spot; seems she wasn't the only one not relaxing at home tonight. She knew the office would be open till midnight tonight for those last minute filers and was thankful it was only six thirty p.m. with time to spare.

She scurried into the office and pulled her number while checking out her competition for help and the amount of clerks on stand by. While waiting for her number to be called, she looked around at the forms...maybe she would be lucky and could find the one she needed. To her luck, most of the forms were missing from the stand and only the place holders for the forms remained.

Jay decided she would just find a seat and wait. She looked around the room again and found a seat next to a guy. He didn't appear as psycho as the others so she sat down. One by one the numbers were called. Jay fidgeted, turned, and tapped her feet to try and rid her of this anxiety. She just wanted the form so she could get home and relax. Tomorrow she would deal with getting the W-2.

Finally, her number was called and she went up to the clerk. She explained her situation and the clerk came back with the form she needed. He told her to fill it out and bring it back up and he would time stamp it for her. About time, she thought as she grabbed a spare pen and moved to fill out her form. Once she completed the forms, she went back to his window.

"That should do it. Now as soon as you get the W-2 send it in with a copy of your return," he instructed her. Jay left and went back home. This time, with not as much urgency noticing it was already nine forty-five p.m. She got home and she went back to her desk and began writing her paper again. Before too long, her eye lids got heavy and her head found the spot between her desk and keyboard; the darkness behind her eyes.

"Hey Jay," Stephanie yelled.

"What," she questioned as she stretched her torso and tried to open her eyes. "What is it?"

"It's your uncle Jeremy," she replied.

"What's he want now." Jay said in a terse tone. After the last call with him, she really didn't want to speak to her uncle right now.

Stephanie thought Jay’s behavior was kind of peculiar. Usually Jay was happy about talking to her uncle. "He said it was about your tax return. You did get it filed didn't you...today is the 15th, tax day," she told her.

Jay looked at her in a quizzical fashion and then noticed the clock behind Stephanie. It read six o'clock. Did she just dream all of that? "I did...didn't I." she asked in a confused state. Lord knows she didn’t want to have to repeat her nightmare.

WC: 997