Needing Patience

“Two sugars, he says. Like I haven’t made this exact tea for him a hundred times. I swear sometimes he can be so annoying. It’s no wonder nobody here likes him.” Patience mumbled, stirring the hot brown liquid in the ceramic mug on the counter. She inspected the hand-painted red and pink flowers drawn on the side of it. The thick, confident lines and droplets of stray paint dotting the background suggested a child had painted it. She rotated the mug around, looking for a signature from the artist. Trying to place the name of the prospective parent working in the office. “There’s no way the reaper has kids. He probably stole this mug from someone he fired recently. He’s not the type of man to settle down and make a family.” Patience winced as the spoon pinged the side of the cup and resounded throughout the office. 

“Patience… Really that again? How many times do I have to tell you to pay more attention to what you’re doing?” Vincent’s icy tone carried, making the hair on the back of her neck stand. 

Her shoulders sagged as she watched vapors float from the cup and disappear into the air. There was a part of her that was jealous of the escaping light wisps. She balled her fists on the counter, pressing her chin into the crevice of her collarbone, feeling the chain from her necklace bite into her skin. A reminder that her Mom was proud of the woman she’d become. This job is more than a paycheck, but is a way to give Mom the house she’s always deserved. Patience bit her lip, fortifying herself in the quick minute it took the mug to cool enough to be carried. The last bits of her sanity warned her to approach him with caution because he was angrier today.

“How long does it take in order to make a single cup of tea around here?”

“I’m coming, Reaper. There’s no reason to go biting my head off.”

Patience knew the staff in the entire office felt her pain. She had been working there six months now and even though she wasn’t the newest person anymore; he still picked on her the most. Making her do the demeaning intern’s jobs on top of her own. Most days, Patience was the second to arrive and the second to last to leave. The Reaper won first place in both instances. Rumor had it he lived in the office and even slept on a Murphy bed hidden in the janitor’s closet.

Patience plucked the mug from the counter, centering it between both hands, and enjoyed the soothing warmth relaxing her overworked palms. The ball of anxiety in her chest released, flowed down her arms, and vanished into the heat. Today is just another day. Nothing special. I got this. Taking in an air of false courage, she raised her head, keeping her chin parallel to the floor, and sauntered into the reaper’s lair like she had done many times before. 

Bright afternoon sun trickled in through the blinds behind him, casting harsh shadows on his face and neck. His dark clothing blended with the same shadows marking the birth of his nickname, Reaper. If it wasn’t for the blue light reflecting from his reading glasses, he’d look like a faceless monster. His broad shoulders, cut sharp by his lavish blazer, didn’t help with his ghastly appearance. Numb to his domineering presence, Patience waited for his command, knowing approaching without being welcomed would be rude.

He motioned with his fingers to an open spot next to some papers on the large oak desk. “Just set it down and leave.” His tone sliced deeper than normal and she flinched in response before taking a hesitant step forward. “I think your Mom named you Patience so that every time she called you, it reminded her of what she needed to deal with you.”

Her body temperature rose with his rude remark as red tinted her cheeks. She was used to being made fun of because of her name, but talking about her mom was unprofessional, wrong, and simply uncalled for. Without thinking about the repercussions of her brash actions, she slammed the mug on his desk hard enough that some of the tea spilled onto the loose papers stacked near it. “There’s your tea. I hope it burns the wickedness from your mouth. Oh, and if you don’t like the way I do things, then stop picking me to do them.” 

His eyes broke from the screen as his jaw dropped. The spilled tea had already begun blurring the words on the documents, which infuriated him, but he found himself speechless. Never had one of his employees been so crass with him.

Patience whipped around on her kitten heels and stomped out of his office with a galloping heart and burning cheeks. When the latch to his door closed, nervous sweat trickled down her jaw and dotted her pink blouse. Coworkers from across the open office floor peeped up over their cubicles before retreating like nervous meerkats whenever she glanced in their direction. Everyone had heard her justified declaration. 

Patience adjusted her brown waist clincher, so it sat a little higher on her abdomen as she dropped into her office chair. Throwing her weight into the support piece in the back and the armrests. “Well, I suppose I should pack my things now. After that, I am fired.”

A thick aroma of roses and lavender announced Bridget’s presence, drawing Patience’s attention to the mid-thirties woman standing in the middle of the walkway. Her round face alight with amazement. “I can’t believe you just said that to the Reaper. The entire office heard you and honestly, I speak for all of us when I say we couldn’t be more proud.”

Her best friend’s words carried a weight of tenacity but would mean nothing if she got fired and could not find another job. She still had bills to pay like everyone else and couldn’t afford to be jobless. She bowed her head, already regretting the words she spat at him. “Thanks.”

Loud alarms covered Bridget’s follow-up words as flashing red and yellow lights illuminated the office. Patience jerked her head up, more interested in the odd sound. “What’s going on?”

“I think there’s a fire or something.” Bridget was no doubt thrilled at the idea that she’d get the rest of the day off for free. “I think it’s another drill.” 

When panicked faces and darting eyes returned, Patience’s wondering stare she knew it wasn’t. “I don’t think it’s a drill, Bridget. We’ve got to get out of here.” She wasted her words as Bridget took no time and flocked with the others towards the emergency exits.

In the opposite corner of the office, near the break room, black clouds of smoke billowed up. Already flailing, orange embers floated towards the ceiling. Immediately, the overhead sprinklers kicked on, spewing rain from above, attempting to nullify the growing fire. Patience’s eyes grew wider seeing the last of her coworkers exit the building, Bridget with them. She snatched up her purse in a hurry to join her. Smokey fumes fogged the office, muddying her vision. She slowed her hastened retreat, fearing being trapped and burned alive if she tripped on something.

An ear-splitting crack blared over the alarms, freezing Patience in place as an overhead beam swung down and crashed in front of her. She fell backward, avoiding being burned from the showering fire that cascaded down with it. Peeking through the hot tears biting her eyes, she watched smoke smother the red letters of the exit sign. Unable to move forward, her head whipped around, surveying her surroundings, looking for another escape route. Dancing villainous flames mocked her at every corner, overpowering the sprinklers. The cracking and popping sounds it made roaring out like deafening laughter.

With nowhere to go, she turned, seeing someone had left the Reaper’s office door opened and, even drenched in sweat, she shivered spotting an odd black object crumpled on the floor between the desk and the door. Her breath caught in her throat as a stray flicker brought color to an outstretched hand laying before the doorway.

She recognized the expensive gold watch around his wrist. “Vincent?” She called out for him, clambering in his direction, struggling to get his attention. Inviting hot air to trail down her throat and burn her lungs. A pain she ignored seeing his body remained lifeless. “Please don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.” Patience placed the back of her hand up to his mouth and nose and focused, exhaling as a small, shallow breath brushed her hand. “Good, you’re still alive. Although if we don’t get out of here, you won’t be for much longer.”

Strange popping noises filled the office as various things caught fire. Patience flinched as each new sound lashed out, wondering if she’d be the next thing to burn. She returned her attention to the reaper laying unconscious on the floor, her moral compass telling her she had to remain strong for the both of them. 

She grit her teeth and shoved her arms into his armpits, coming into a half-standing, half-crouching position, pulling his dead weight up with her. “I’ve got to get you away from the door.” He was heavier than he looked and her legs shook with each staggering step backward. Her adrenaline carried them a few feet from the cabinets near the windows before they both toppled over. “I’m sorry, but this is as far as I can go.”

“Patience… Don’t leave me.” Vincent’s words were soft and if she hadn’t been laying on the floor next to him, she wouldn’t have heard them escape on his ragged breaths. His brows furrowed as his eyes moved violently beneath the lids.

Tears flowed from her eyes as her heaving chest threatened to burst into flame from the intensifying heat. Her heart steadied as her adrenaline faded and the last sleep threatened to steal her life away. I can’t die like this. Not here. Not now. Her fingers roamed like lonely spirits searching for a companion, intertwining when they met up with his.

Orbs of bright lights penetrated the darkness Patience drowned in, bringing her back to reality. Shivering coldness washed the numbness from her body, leaving a dull ache in its wake. She blinked multiple times, turning the hazy images into clear ones until she recognized the hospital room she was in. Grimacing, she drew in a haggard breath, coughing as the clean air scraped her insides. When she brought up a hand to cover her mouth, a foreign object pressed into her cheeks. She looked down, using her free hand to analyze the oxygen mask banded to her face. “I’m in a hospital?”

A pleasant woman dressed in scrubs approached her bedside, peering down with a smile. “You need to leave that oxygen mask on for a bit. You and your friend both inhaled a lot of smoke.”

Patience attempted a smile, but felt the dry skin of her lips crack. Instead, she nodded. “The man with me… Is he…?” She couldn’t finish the question before a lump swelled in her throat and she bit back the growing tears. She didn’t like him, but she didn’t want him dead either.

The woman nodded, tilting her head at a closed privacy curtain at the bed next to her. “He’s doing much better now that we’ve taken care of his allergic reaction.”

Patience cocked an eyebrow, not understanding what the woman meant. He wasn’t human; he was a reaper and reapers couldn’t have allergies.

“Excuse me. I’ll be right back. Now that the two of you are stable, he has a visitor.” Patience’s palms grew sweaty, unsure of who would come to visit the reaper. Imagining a sophisticated woman that could pass for his wife or a burly older man dressed in a suit that could be a disapproving father. When the nurse walked back in escorting an adorable little elementary school-aged child, Patience couldn’t help but stare as they disappeared behind the privacy curtain. Images of her little red, swollen eyes pricked at Patience’s heartstrings.

“Kayla.” Vincent’s voice came out raw and he coughed before speaking, “What brings you here? Why were you crying?”

“I’m so glad you’re ok big brother! I was so worried about you. I thought you had died.”

He choked, clearing his throat. Adoration swelled in Patience’s heart, hearing the tenderness for his sister carry in his tone. “I’m ok. And I can’t thank you enough for the mug. It made me smile.”

“Well, Mr. Johnson, from here on out, I suggest you use that mug for flowers or something.”

Vicent voice the question everyone had been thinking. “Why?”

“As it turns out, you have a very rare allergy to the clay itself.”

Patience’s jaw dropped. So he collapsed because of the mug? And not because of the fire?

“So I made Vinny sick? I am so sorry, big brother!”

“It’s ok. You couldn’t have known. Heck, I didn’t even know. By the way, Miss, do you mind -?” Patience didn’t hear the rest of his question. Instead, the nurse pulled back the curtain separating the two of them. Crimson painted Patience’s cheeks as the beeping of her heart monitor increased at the sight of him. Vincent looked nothing like the stern reaper she knew him to be. His brown eyes were serene and pierced into the depths of Patience’s soul. He had an angelic appearance dressed in the white hospital gown instead of the dark colors he normally wore.

Wrinkles formed at the corner of his eyes with his genuine smile. “I wanted to say I’m sorry for what I said about your mother earlier. It was unprofessional, and I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

Awestruck, Patience nodded numbly.

He balled his fist and closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling. When they fell without his permission, he reopened them to face her. “You saved my life and I can’t thank you enough. It turns out all I needed was a little Patience.”