A Small Gesture

An ant crawled down the wall slowly. I wondered how long it would be before he reached the floor. I thought about just squishing him, but why? It was my only entertainment since they cut the power yesterday. Linda walked in with a basket of clothes, she let out a frustrated huff as she saw me.

“So I guess you’re not getting up today either,” she said sarcastically.

“Why bother?” I asked. “Home sucks, life sucks, everything sucks.”

“Yeah, yeah, Josh. You lost your job, we moved into your friend’s run-down rental. Get over it,” she sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed to fold clothes.

It was obvious she was over my woe-is-me attitude by this point. I knew I'd been moping a lot lately, but I couldn’t help getting upset at her words. After all, she didn’t lose her job.

“Easy for you to say!” I snapped at her.

“Yeah, really fucking easy, Josh!” She shouted, throwing a half-folded shirt into the basket angrily. “I only have to work a waitress job forty hours a week, pay all the bills, cook, clean, and, oh yeah, take care of you. But hey! Who cares about Linda and her problems when poor baby Josh gets to pout in bed all day? Good talk, I got work!”

She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her as she left. I covered my face with the pillow. I knew she was right. Compared to her I didn’t have anything to complain about. That’s why I felt so terrible. I didn’t marry her for her to take care of me like this.

I heard the front door slam a moment later. She was probably exhausted. I knew I should be helping more with the housework, especially since I wasn’t working, but every time I saw a dirty dish in the dripping sink, or clothes piled on the worn-out carpet it just reminded me of how low I’d fallen and I lost the will to do anything. Even get out of bed.

I didn’t really have a choice though. I heard a knock at the front door. Linda might have forgotten her keys or something. I sighed and forced myself out of bed, the last thing I needed was her getting doubly pissed because I left her locked out. I stood up and walked to the door. I heard the knocking again.

I expected to see Linda and get a snarky remark about how I finally got up, but instead I was met with a man in a dark suit. He held himself in a very professional way, dignified. He looked like a lawyer or something. I just couldn’t figure out what he was doing here.

“Umm, can I help you?” I asked.

“Actually, I’m here to help you,” he said, smiling. “Did you ever dream about getting you wanted most in this world?”

I rolled my eyes. He was either selling Jesus or a pyramid scheme. Either way, I wasn’t interested. I started to close the door, but he stuck his foot in it. Jeez, did people actually do that? He wiggled a bit to shove himself into the house. Great, like I didn’t have enough problems.

“Look, buddy-”

“I know, this sounds like some kind of scam,” he said, raising his hand to silence me, “but that’s not what I’m here for, Josh.”

I paused. Did I tell him my name? No. This was my friend Matt’s place, maybe he knew the guy? 

“Did Matt send you here or something?” I asked.

The guy shook his head again. He walked over to the ripped up sofa and sat down, he motioned for me to the same. I really had no clue what was going on, but I sat like he wanted. He reached inside his suit and pulled out some papers, he felt around inside his pocket until he pulled out a pen. He set them on the table.

“There,” he said cheerfully, “just write out your terms and we’ll be good to go.”

“My terms?”

“Right!” He said, laughing. “I didn’t explain. I’m a… businessman, of sorts. I go around helping those in need get back on their feet. What I do is give you some assistance, in the form of your choosing, and in return, I collect a small… compensation for my troubles.”

I stared at him and crossed my arms. “Are you a loan shark or something? Look I don’t have any money, buddy.”

“No, no,” he said, waving off the idea. “It’s nothing as shady as that. I really want you to succeed, Josh. I just want something in return. That isn’t so unreasonable, is it? Look, as a gesture of good faith, I’ll give you what you want first, and then we’ll sign the papers. So what would you like?”

“How about you get me my job back,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Done,” he said simply.

I was about to kick him out when the phone rang. Great, what did Linda need? I knew it was her, no one else had our new number. 

“Hello?”

“Josh, it’s Kyle, from the office.”

My heart skipped a beat. The office? What did they want? 

“Hey,” I said nervously, “I don’t work there anymore, so-”

“Actually, that’s why I’m calling,” he said cheerfully. “You won’t believe it, but Dan was embezzling! Corporate wondered why he was firing employees when the office was doing so well, so they looked into it. Turns out he fired a few of you, but never officially terminated your contracts, he was pocketing paychecks from about three of you! Well, he’s in hot water now, but corporate promoted me to temporary manager and asked me to offer you guys your jobs back. So, what do you say?”

I froze. My job back? I looked over at the man, he was grinning ear to ear.

“Josh?” Kyle asked.

“Uh, yeah, yeah! That’s great!” I said, still stunned. 

“Great, start back on Monday. Your normal shift,” he said. “By the way, the company seized Dan’s assets and determined it was only fair to compensate the employees who were wrongfully terminated, so you’ll be receiving the money from all the paychecks he stole. It might just be their way to cover bases and avoid lawsuits, but it’ll still be one heck of a bonus!”

“Great, I’ll see you Monday!” I said excitedly.

The line went dead. I looked over, the man hadn’t budged. He kept smiling, watching me.

“Good news?” He asked.

“How did you do that?” I asked nervously.

He waved it off. “Doesn’t matter, but about that contract...”

He motioned towards the papers. I froze a bit. How did he manage to do this? More than that, was it really safe to make agreements with a man who had that kind of power? He frowned a bit as I hesitated. He crossed his arms and shrugged.

“I did so as a gesture of good faith,” he said coldly, “but I have no problem taking back my end of the bargain if you won’t fulfill yours.”

I paused. Could he? I really didn’t want to take that chance. My job back. Not only that but with a bonus. All those paychecks I’d been missing. That would be enough to get us out of here, to start our lives again. Linda would be thrilled! We could leave this dump and never look back. He watched me intently. I hesitated a bit before picking up the pen. I glanced at him.

“When do I have to pay?” I asked cautiously. “Because I don’t get paid until-”

“Don’t worry. I’ll collect my fee later,” he said with a smile.

I didn’t really have a choice. It was this or being stuck in this dump watching ants crawl along the walls all day. I signed my name at the bottom of the paper. He snatched it up quickly and stuffed it in his pocket. He nodded to me briefly before walking out the door. 

I was still stunned by what had just happened, but I tried to push it to the back of my mind as I thought of the positives. I ran to the room and began packing my stuff, I got Linda’s ready too. She'd be thrilled when she got home tonight.

Things would be different now, better. No more fights, no more stress, back to the good old days. I could barely contain myself when I heard the front door open that night.

“Lin, you’ll never believe what happened today!” I said excitedly as she came into the room.

She glanced down at the basket of full clothes. I guess in my excitement I forgot to pack them.

“I’ll get those later,” I said, shrugging it off. “But Lin-”

“And the dishes, you’ll get those later?” She asked flatly.

Did I forget the dishes? I guess I did. It seemed so unimportant compared to getting our lives back on track.

“Well, yeah, later. But anyway-”

“Did you even bother to heat up some pizza rolls in the microwave?” She asked sharply.

“Lin, what the hell do pizza rolls have to do with anything? I’m trying to tell you something important!” I said, exasperated.

She glared and glanced down at her packed suitcase. She grabbed it and turned away from me.

“At least you did one thing for me today. Goodbye, Josh,” she said coldly.

I grabbed her hand. “Linda, wait! Where are-”

“I’m leaving, Josh. I can’t keep doing this.”

“Lin, no. We don’t have to do this anymore! I got my job back. Everything’s going to be okay now!” I said excitedly.

She didn’t even turn towards me. She let out a deep sigh and shook off my hand. She grabbed the suitcase and started walking towards the front door. I chased after her.

“Linda, didn’t you hear me?” I asked.

“I don’t care, Josh!” She said angrily. “The job wasn’t the problem, the money wasn’t the problem, the problem is you.

Do you realize I’ve been going through just as much as you have? That I’ve had just as many fears, worries, and sleepless nights? But who’s there to comfort me? To listen to me? To help me? No one. 

Dishes untouched, clothes right where I left them, and you can’t even make me some microwaved crap to eat after work? A small gesture. Something, anything to show me you care! That’s what the hell pizza rolls have to do with this. I’m done, Josh. I’m just done.”

She couldn’t be serious. She couldn’t leave now. I had just fixed everything, she couldn’t leave like this.

“Linda-”

“I’m done listening. I’m leaving.”

“Where will you even go?”

She paused a moment. It took a while before she could finally say the words.

“I met someone today,” she said quietly. She almost sounded guilty. “It’s nothing serious, yet, but he offered to let me stay with him a while.”

“Y-you just met him today though,” I could barely get the words out.

“And somehow I already feel more appreciated by him than I ever did with you,” she bit her lip and paused a moment. “Why couldn’t you just do the damn dishes?”

She sighed and walked out the door. I didn’t call out to her. I didn’t even know what to say. I just watched as she headed towards a dark-colored car parked in front of our door. She opened the trunk and struggled to put her bag inside. The driver’s door suddenly opened. A man came out. My blood ran cold as I saw his dark-colored suit. He handled the bag while Linda got into the passenger side.

“What are you doing here?” 

The words could barely have been a whisper, but he seemed to hear them clearly. He turned to me and smiled. He put her bag in the trunk and closed it. As he passed me he paused a moment.

“Collecting my payment,” he said simply.

He got into the car and a moment later they pulled away. I watched as the car drove away. I got exactly what I asked for, just like he promised. 

My mind ran a million miles a minute, my head was spinning, but one thing stood out to me more than the others. Linda. I thought having my job would fix everything, would fix us, but she was right. The problem was me. It was always me. Her last words echoed in my head as the car became a speck on the horizon. Why couldn’t you just do the damn dishes?