The Freezer

Day 1 - Monday

         Janice woke up to her alarm blaring. She was immediately aware that Greg was on her mind. They had broken up the night before, and she was upset about that, but she knew that she had a job to do and that she must do it. 

         She headed into the bathroom and took a hot shower. Once she was dressed and made up for work, she headed to the kitchen. As she cooked herself a couple of eggs with toast, she gazed out the window, trying not to think about Greg, but unable to not do it.

Day 2 - Tuesday

         Once again, Janice awoke to her alarm. Still, no Greg. He hadn’t called or emailed or texted or come by the house. Her heart was broken, but she had a job to do, so she once more got dressed and headed to work.

         Janice’s boss approached her, inciting her and Greg to a cook out at his house on Saturday. Janice respectfully turned down the invitation, claiming that she and Greg already had other plans. She knew that she shouldn’t lie, but she couldn’t bring herself to say that she and Greg had split up. It was just too fresh.

Day 3 - Wednesday

         Once more, Janice awoke, but this time it was to the phone ringing. Her alarm was about to go off anyway, but it was still quite annoying to be awakened by the phone. 

         Greg’s boss was on the other end of the line. He said that Greg had not shown up at work on Monday or Tuesday, and he so far hadn’t shown up today. He also wasn’t answering his cell phone and the boss was concerned. Janice quickly made up a lie, telling him that Greg was in bed with the flu and could barely talk. She apologized, saying that she was supposed to call in for him, but she had totally spaced on that particular task. The boss was understanding and said that he hoped Greg felt better soon.

         At work that afternoon, a co-worker invited her to grab a couple of drinks after work. She called and spoke to the answering machine as though she were talking to Greg, and then agreed to go out with her friend.

         Once she returned home, she was exhausted. She cleared the answering machine and headed straight to bed. She slept like a rock until the alarm rang.

Day 4 – Thursday

         Up and off to work once more. While taking food from the freezer for dinner, Janice noticed that the freezer was making a funny squealing noise. Any other time, she would have just told Greg about it and he would have handled the problem, but she couldn’t do that anymore. She decided that Saturday she would call a repairman.

         While she was at work, she received yet another invitation for the weekend. This time someone wanted she and Greg to go on a fishing trip with them. Again, she respectfully declined, citing that Greg was under the weather.

         Returning home, there were messages from both Greg’s boss and his mother. Apparently he wasn’t picking up the phone for anyone. The break-up had been his idea, but he didn’t appear to be taking it too well. For a moment, Janice considered calling him but then decided better of it. Let him suffer.

Day 5 – Friday

         Once more, Janice got up and got ready for work. When she went to get food from the freezer, it was positively screaming. She decided that she would definitely have to call a repair man. She damn well wasn’t calling Greg.

         After work, a group of colleagues invited her out for drinks. She thought about it and decided she may as well join them. She made it home around ten and she could hear the freezer when she walked in the door. She decided that maybe she should unplug it until a repair person could come and see about it, but she was too drunk to handle those basement stairs tonight. She would do it in the morning.

Day 6 – Saturday

         Janice slept in until a little after nine in the morning. When she awoke, she stretched and yawned and dragged herself into the waking world. For a split second she reached for Greg, then remembered that he wasn’t there. 

         She got up and made herself a huge breakfast. She was famished. While she was eating, she realized that she couldn’t hear the squealing scream of the freezer anymore. That couldn’t mean anything good. She went down to check and sure enough the motor wasn’t running anymore. She went to call a repairman, but just as she picked up the phone it rang. It was her mother.

         She tried to explain that she needed to call someone about the freezer, but her mother ignored her and continued to talk until well into the afternoon. By the time she finally hung up, all of the repair places were closed. Janice decided that she would have to call into work on Monday and call a repairman then.

Day 7 – Sunday

         Janice normally went to her mother’s on Sunday for lunch, well that is to say that she and Greg usually did that. Normally, they would join her mother for church services and then go to her house for lunch. Today, however, Greg definitely would not be in attendance. When her mother asked about him, Janice lied and said that he was at home working on the freezer.

         Janice returned home around five in the evening. She decided to relax in a nice warm bubble bath and then watch a movie while having some wine. Her bath, however, was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. The caller, which turned out to be Greg’s mother, refused to leave a message but instead just kept hanging up and calling back.

         Janice finally got out of the tub and answered the phone. She explained that Greg was down with the flu and had been sleeping basically around the clock. She told his mother that as soon as he was better she was sure he would call her.

         Janice popped herself some popcorn and settled in to watch her movie.  

Day 8 – Monday

         Janice awoke to her alarm, got dressed, and called in to work. She told them that she had to get a repairman out to the house and that Greg wasn’t up to dealing with anyone yet so she would have to take the day off. Her boss was very understanding. Janice rarely took off work, and always came in early or stayed late if needed.

         She had some breakfast and called several repair places. No one could come out until Wednesday. She sighed. That would be another day that she had to take off of work. She went ahead and called in to make the arrangements.

Day 9 – Tuesday

         Another day of work. Janice headed in, ready to work harder than usual due to her days off that she was having to take. She was, however, very put off by her desk phone ringing when she discovered that it was Greg’s boss calling. Once again, he was checking in on Greg. Did she have any idea when Greg would be able to return to work? Had he seen a doctor? More and more questions. Janice gripped the receiver so hard that her knuckles turned white. 

         The answer that she wanted to give this meddling pill of a man was that she had absolutely no idea about Greg or any condition that he may have. She wanted to tell him to just fire Greg, already, and move on. But she didn’t have the heart to do that. Instead, she gritted her teeth and attempted to maintain a professional tone while telling him that she would try and get Greg to get up long enough to call and talk to him. He thanked her and hung up. She slammed the receiver down hard enough to make a jangling noise.

Day 10 - Wednesday

         Janice got up as usual and got dressed. She went down to grab some bacon from the freezer and immediately noticed a horrible smell. Oh, dear, she thought. It must have gone out completely and everything must have spoiled. 

         Trudging back upstairs, she resigned herself to cereal and toast. The repairman arrived around ten and she immediately apologized about the smell that he would be encountering. He told her it happened all the time and he was used to it. 

         Once the repairman got downstairs, however, he had to admit to himself that this smell was quite a bit worse than what he was used to. He walked over to the freezer and opened it. He moved a few things around. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Janice watching him from the top of the stairs. He gave her a thumbs up and went behind the freezer. After tinkering around back there for a few minutes, he told her that he would have to go and get a part from his truck. She smiled and walked away.

         The repairman headed for his truck. When he got there, he began rooting around as if he were looking for something. He made a phone call, and then headed to the front door. Janice met him at the door and asked where the part was. He notified her that he would have to go get the part from the store, but that he would be back in about thirty minutes.

         A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Janice furrowed her brow, wondering who on Earth could be at the door. Opening it, she saw two police officers standing on the stoop. Immediately, she thought of Greg. Had something happened to him? One of the officers escorted her to the living room, while the other asked for permission to look around, which she granted. She advised that he not go down where the freezer was, though, because everything in there had spoiled and it smelled horrible.

         The officer headed that way anyway, and found exactly what the repairman had said he would. There, in the freezer, amid the steaks and chops and ground beef was Greg. He had been there for a while, it appeared. If she hadn’t packed him in so tight against the vent, he might have been in there a lot longer. 

         As Janice was escorted away, she wore a look of bewilderment on her face.  She had no recollection of the night that they had split up, and none as to how he had gotten into the freezer with his throat cut. However, she did offer up the information that Sharon, the receptionist at Greg’s office, might have some idea.

         She was still professing her innocence as they locked her in the little white room and walked away.