Chapter One: Just Another Day

Another day and another day to be passed by and forgotten.

“Hey Jane!” Ted smiled.

“Janet,” I replied.

Ted and his friends were at all times picking on me. We worked at a large publishing house, and I was one of the nerdy editors, as they called me around the water cooler.

“Whatever, plain Jane,” Ted said as he high-fived one of his friends and walked away.

“You’re Thirty-two, not thirteen!” I yelled back at him.

I couldn’t believe I was still here. It started as a job out of high college. I had been in the college newspaper and wondered I would be the next prominent journalist, but that never happened. Now I was stuck behind an editor’s desk while Ted and his friends got all the significant publications.

Things had never gone right for me, not ever.

I was at all times the nerd, even in college, playing games with my friends in the basement or pretending to be the next superheroine. The guys at all times laughed at me.

Then I went to high college, and nothing changed, I tried to be among the famous crowd, but with a name like Janet and not blossoming as most other girls did, the name plain jane followed me everywhere.

Even now, the Teds of the world made fun of me, and the women weren’t any different.

“Janet!” Rebecca shouted, awakening me from my dream state. “I need these done by tomorrow,” my boss said, dropping a stack of papers on my desk.

“But…” I started to say as I hadn’t gotten through the last stack of papers she had put on my desk yesterday.

“But nothing,” Rebecca said, stuffing another chocolate éclair into her fat mouth.

She at all times gave me the hard things to do and everyone else the easy stuff, especially Leslie Grand, another big woman sitting in another office next to mine. The two of them were at all times making fun of me because I was skinny and they were big.

Why did women have to be so mean to each other over body types? It never made sense to me. “Well?” Rebecca said as she snapped her fingers in front of me.

“Sure,” I nodded.

Rebecca smiled and exited my office. Sometimes I wanted to leave and never come back, discover a better job. There were plenty of other jobs I could get and was suitable for, but none of them had him.

“Hi Hank,” I smiled as I sat in the break room for lunch.

Hank was the janitor, as well as the maintenance man. He could fix everything. I watched as he stood on a small ladder and was changing out one of the lights.

“Janet!” Hank smiled as he changed the light and came down from the ladder.

The others also made fun of Hank because he had a slight stutter. But he made my day every day.

“Got something for you,” he said, stuttering as he talked.

Hank at all times gave me things he made out of crap people left around.

“Hank,” I said as I looked at a small man holding a makeshift baseball bat. Hank had made it out of toothpicks. “I love it,” I said.

“Hank!” Rebecca shouted. “The bathrooms are clogged again, I thought I told you to clean them.”

“He is on break!” I shouted back as I grabbed Hank’s feeble hands and sat him down.

This was the reason I stayed. Hank had been here longer than anyone, and I promised our old boss before he retired that I would look after Hank. Everything I put up with was so this older man could keep his job until he retired in three months.

“It’s okay,” Hank said as he tried to stand up.

“Sit,” I said calmly as I looked at him.

I unpacked a box from my bag. “Tuna!” Hank smiled as he looked at it.

“You shouldn’t have,” he said as he looked at the sandwiches I made. “Now you take your time and eat up,” I smiled.

I grabbed his tool cart and wheeled it to the breakroom door. I stared at Rebecca. “I will take care of it,” I said as I pushed past her.

I knew what she and the others in charge were doing. They were trying to make it look like Hank couldn’t perform his job, so they could let him go without his retirement pay. That was gonna happen over my dead body.

Our old boss Gregg was so much better than the current bosses, but our publication got bought out, and they forced him to retire early or lose everything.

“Hello Gary,” I said as I finally got home.

Gary was my St Bernard, who at all times greeted me with sloppy kisses and lay on my lap as he used to do when he was a puppy. “You’re not a puppy anymore,” I said as I pulled my hand from underneath his large body to grab the remote.

This was how my life was, rinse and repeat. Work then straight home. I had no real friends other than some online friends I had made while trying to write a book; Gary was my only companion.

My parents were dead, and my only sibling didn’t talk much after we settled the last will, which was fine with me. I liked being the loner.

“Three more months,” I said as I looked down at my large dog panting back at me. “Then I will walk in there and tell them to shove that job where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Hank was the only reason I walked in there day after day. And I was counting down the days until he left.

I was getting down to watching my favorite television show when I heard Barry across the hall screaming.

“What is it this time?” I said as I got up from my chair.

Barry was a pain in my ass. Well, everyone on this floor hated him. I opened my door and saw him yelling down the hall at his flavor of the day or week, whichever she was. She was walking down the hall and giving him the finger.

“Janet,” Barry said as he stared at me. “Just having a little talk with my friend.”

“You mean she realized what a waste you are, and decided to leave,” I said as I folded my arms and stared at him.

Barry was a male dancer and at all times brought home some woman he picked up. The same thing often happened: they would walk out after being disappointed by Barry’s lack of performance, and he would yell at them.

Barry could play an actor in that top-rated movie about male dancers. He had the looks and a great body, but what he didn’t have was stamina. After the third week of moving into this apartment complex, I found that out.

I was entranced by his good looks and his wit and charm. One night I gave into that charm and went to bed with him. Having him on top of me as he pushed his sizeable cock into me made me want to climb the bed, he fucked me hard, and when I wondered it was gonna be the best sexual experience I ever had, it was over.

Barry lay on top of me, convulsing and grunting as he came. Luckily I made sure for him to use protection because there was no time between him putting it in me and him finishing for him to pull out.

I know I don’t sleep around, so I am used to guys saying I am tighter than most, but Barry was a repeat offender. Three times and the same thing happened each time.

“No, it’s not like that,” Barry said, shaking his head.

“It’s definitely like that,” I nodded.

“Okay, maybe with you,” Barry shook his head. “Because you can’t even put a toothpick in there, without it snapping! But….”

I slammed my door shut as I went back inside. Barry was the last man I had slept with over three years ago. Some would call me a prude, but I didn’t just open my legs to just anyone.

I lost my virginity to my best friend on our eighteenth birthday, well, his eighteenth, but my birthday was the day before his, so it was like it was mine also. We laughed afterward at how fast it was over and thought why people made a big deal out of sex.

After he went to school and I went to work for this place, it was Michael, we dated for four months before I got into bed with him.

Two days later, he was found fucking one of the ladies at his workplace, he tried to play it off that it was a mistake and he was addicted to sex, but I knew different. Then there was Barry, three guys, and not one good sexual experience between them.

“Asshole,” I said as I got back in my chair. Gary immediately jumped back up onto my lap. “You’re the only guy I need in my life.” I said as I patted him on his big head.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~

“You have to come,” Melanie said as we sat for lunch.

Melanie was the only person at the job besides Hank I could stand to be around.

“No, I don’t,” I shook my head.

“Janet, it’s my birthday,” Melanie said as she tried to pout and make herself look cute.

“I have a dog,” I shook my head. “He makes the same face anytime I order pizza and I tell him the same thing, no,” I said as I ate my lunch.

“You have a walking rug,” Melanie shook her head. “That thing should be paying for half your rent.”

“Gary is fine the way he is, he keeps all the assholes out of my life,” I shrugged. “Speaking of which Barry had another one walk out, last night,” I smiled.

“Sheesh, when is the guy going to get the hint, a sexy body doesn’t mean great sex,” Melanie said.

She had also fallen victim to Barry’s charms and good looks. She had come by my apartment a few times, and even though I had warned her about his less than a minute action, she still went to bed with him. Just like me, she was left unsatisfied.

“He blamed me for his short comings,” I smiled.

“Well,” Melanie said as she looked at me.

“What?” I asked.

“I mean your snatch hasn’t been properly broken in,” Melanie said. “So, any guy that puts his cock in there will be bursting at the seems in seconds.”

“Not my fault, I haven’t got the dick downs, that you have,” I said.

“Hey!” Melanie said. “I don’t go throwing it around like that,” she said, shaking her head.

I looked at her with my ‘I don’t believe you look,’ which was working.

“Okay, so I am a bit more promiscuous than most,” Melanie said, “Sue me.”

Melanie was one of the reasons big women got a bad reputation. She was more significant than Rebecca and Leslie; whenever she went on a date, she at all times went to first base at the minimum. Sometimes she rounded second and was heading for third.

Melanie at all times said it was her nature. I knew it was because she didn’t like how she looked and was making up for it by sleeping around a lot.

“I am waiting for the right guy,” I said.

“Newsflash the right guy doesn’t exist, hell the right woman doesn’t exist either,” Melanie said. “We all have our problems and bad traits; we all are just waiting for someone to come along and accepts them.”

I nodded to that, I had a ton of bad traits, so I was sure that whoever I found would have them also.

“Well, here is the place, in case you change your mind,” Melanie said as she slid a card across the table.

“Nope,” I said.

“Janet!” one of my co-workers shouted at me. “It’s Hank he had an accident!”

I ran to the elevators and frantically pushed the button.

“I’m okay,” Hank said as they put him on a gurney.

“You’re going to the hospital,” I said as I looked at him.

He had a large gash on his head and looked like he was in pain. He had fallen from a ladder fixing one of the smoke detectors.

“I will meet you there,” I shouted as the paramedics took him into the elevator.

“I am fine, I swear,” Hank said as he looked at the two men walking with him.

“He is a liability,” Rebecca said.

“He got injured on company time, doing his job!” I said as I turned to her. “You were supposed to hire someone to help him.”

“No one is applying,” Rebecca shrugged. “I can’t hire someone if no one is applying for the job.”

“Of course,” I nodded. I knew she was lying. She was at all times lying.

“We will take care of all his injuries and his needs, but the news from upstairs is that we will have to let him go,” Rebecca said. “I’m sorry.”

I was pissed, but I kept calm and went to the hospital.

“He will be fine,” one of the nurses said as I walked into the room.

“Thank you,” a young lady said.

I stood staring at her as she had her hand on Hank’s bed. “I told you that you can come live with us, we have room,” the lady said as she stared at Hank.

“Janet,” Hank smiled as he saw me standing in the doorway.

I walked into the room, and the young lady stared a hole through me.

“So, you’re the reason he won’t leave that damned job!” she said as she stood up.

“What?” I asked.

“No, it’s not,” Hank started to say before stuttering again.

“It’s okay grandpa,” the lady said, comforting Hank.

I shook my head. I didn’t know Hank had a family. He never talked about them. I was told he lived alone and was alone with no one in his life.

“Grandpa?” I asked.

“Yes,” the lady said. “I am Charlotte, and you’re the bitch that won’t let him leave.”

“First,” I said as I stood close to her, “Don’t call me that, second I didn’t know he had anyone.”

“You two need to take it outside the room and let him rest,” one of the nurses said.

“Gladly,” Charlotte said. “I will be back.”

Charlotte hastily walked out of the room.

After the name-calling and the shouting calmed down. I found out Hank had been staying at the job to take care of me. He could leave anytime. Charlotte and her husband had made an extension on their massive house for Hank to stay in and were quite happy to take care of him.

I walked back into the room and stared at Hank, who smiled at me.

“No,” I said, shaking my head.

“You seemed so miserable there, I thought I would help lighten the mood if I stayed,” Hank shrugged.

“I am only staying because of your pension,” I said.

“They can keep it,” Hank smiled.

“Good, then it’s decided we will both leave,” I nodded.

Hank nodded along with me.

I couldn’t wait to see the look on Rebecca’s face.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Fine,” Rebecca said as I told her I was leaving. “You know where the door is,” she said without even looking up at me.

I couldn’t believe all the things I wondered of to say and what she would do, went straight out the door.

“Well?” Rebecca said, finally looking up at me. “Want an invitation? Get the fuck out!”

I quickly packed the things from my desk and watched as a group of them laughed and pointed at me as I walked towards the elevator. I wondered this would be a victory, but it made me feel worse.

“I knew you would come!” Melanie said as I walked into the bar where she was holding her birthday. She smiled as I sat down.

I needed a drink after the day I had and wondered if I was gonna drink, it might as well be free.

“Only here for the drinks,” I said as I sat down.

“Sure,” Melanie nodded.

I hated the fact that I had quit my job, and no one seemed to give a shit. I wondered someone would call and say something, anything at all.

Not even Melanie had called me, she still smiled and stared at me as she drank and talked with her friends, but that was it.

“So, is this the prude?” one of her male friends asked.

“Justin!” Melanie shouted over the table.

“It’s okay,” I nodded.

I had a few drinks by this time and decided to let the inner bitch out.

“Why is it when a female doesn’t want sex or is picky about who she spreads her legs to, she is a prude, but a woman like Melanie here opens her legs to any guy and she is a slut or a whore?” I asked.

None of the eight guys at the large table said a word. They all looked at each other.

“But,” I laughed, “Here is the kicker, if a guy is picky about the woman he fucks, his gay, or a simp, but if he fucks around, he is the man, and a guy’s guy, right?”

This time the girls nodded. “Just answering your question, with a question, that’s all,” I smiled.

Melanie gave me a look that told me I had just ruined her party as most of the talking had died down, and everyone was staring at each other or looking away.

“On that note,” I said as I stood up. “I will be going.”

I went outside, walking across the dark parking lot towards my car. I heard a noise behind the bar.

“None of my fucking business,” I said as I kept walking.

Then I heard a woman’s voice.

“Shit,” I said as I ran towards the alley behind the bar.

I saw a man holding a long knife over the body of a red-headed woman. She was lying on the floor, trying to push the man away. I acted impulsively and threw the nearest thing I could discover: a bottle. I had a good aim for someone that had just down five beers.

The man stared at me, and I swore he had the darkest eyes. That’s when she attacked him and pushed him to the floor.

She got up and ran toward me, I wondered she would say thank you, but she pounced on me and kissed me. Not just the regular kiss on the lips but a full-on kiss with tongue and holding my head as she kissed me.

I tried to push her off me, but she held me too tightly and was too strong. Finally, she let me go and then punched me. I was left on the floor while she ran away, the man took after her.

I slowly got up and looked around, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen.

“Ouch!” I said as I felt my jaw.

Deciding that it was better if I pretended that none of that happened, I decided to go back home. I had tried to help her, whoever she was, but the bitch punched me for my good deed.

I slowly walked to the car and got in. I just wanted this day to end.

I looked down at Gary as I opened the door. “This has been the worst day of my life,” I said as he looked back up at me. With those big eyes.