Locked Up

My heart was pounding across my chest. My body was heating up. I couldn’t focus. Concentrating was hard when I was blacking out and coming back in my chair. The air felt heavy and was It was hard to breath. I was in hell. I had been working at this firm for 20 years now. In those 20 Years, I took no break. I worked from Monday to Sunday and repeating without stopping. Wife needed a better house, a better car, a better body and I gave it all to her. 

“Charlie, when is that paper going to be due?” Asked James, my cubicle neighbor.

My ears were now ringing and I could only see his mouth moving but could not hear what he was saying. “Say that again?”

And he did, yet nothing again, only ringing. I went to staring at my side of the cubicle and sat there for an hour. By now people were walking by and staring at me and went their marry way. 

“Charles, Mr. Cromwell needs you in his office.” Debra, the secretary said. Looking at her, I realized why I always felt so uneasy around her. Her face had always bothered me. Her nose was as sharp as a knife, her chin sharper than her nose. Nothing on her face was round and soft. By now, the ringing had subsided and I could here her faintly. Smiling, I said okay and she sharply turned around and stomped away. I slowly got up, organized my cubicle, tucked my wallet in my back pocket and headed towards the exit. 

*

My heart was pounding more now and i felt uneasy. Looking out the window, I saw a billboard that had a man relaxing at the beach. In huge fonts it said, “Get Away” . That’s when I decided to get away. I got out my cheap car, ran into my expensive house, scared my expensive looking wife, and ran into the bedroom to grab clothes and threw them into a cheap bag. 

“Charles, what are you doing here so early!” She yelled, concerned.

“I’m going to gone for a while.” I mumbled while shoving clothes away. 

“Where u going?”

“On vacation.” I replied. Saying that was like a gut punch. 15 years, no break, and now I think about that. 

“O MY GOD! It’s been a while since I went on vacation! where do we go? What do I wear? Omg, I gotta call my girlfriends and tell them!” She excitedly screaming while running around to look through the closet.

“We are not going anywhere Alice. I’m going by myself.” 

That’s the last thing I said while she questioned, cried, and fumed and I packed and drove out in my cheap car. 

*

I had been driving for an hour and my pounding heart had stopped, my phone was off because of all the calls I got from work and Alice. I didn’t know where I was going. I made it a mission to stop only when my has ran out. 5 hours in and the car’s gas was out. I was in the middle of nowhere. I stepped out my car, walked for a 1mile and on my walk. A dog was following me. I had a few snacks in my back and gave it to it. It seemed the dog had no collar so we walked together. While walking, we came across a run down hotel that had open still flashing. I came into pit, and there was one person in there. “I need a place to sleep please.” I said tiredly. “We only have one room open. But your going to have to share it with someone.” 

I wasn’t going to argue with them or try to find anything hotel so I payed, got a key, and me and the dog went to our rooms. 

*

“I don’t like dogs.” He said, the second i had walked in. 

To shut him up, I said, “the dog shouldn’t be your problem, I could kill you in your sleep.” 

And that’s how we started off/ and ended our night. 

I woke up to two sets of eyes watching me. One of the stranger from last night and the dogs. 

I got a woof and a lick from the dog, and a “you didn’t kill me” from the guy. 

I groaned, and went back to sleep only to get slapped awake. 

“Dude, what the fuck?” 

I can’t open the door and the dog is moving around like he has to take a shit or pee. 

That got me out of bed real fast. I tried to pride the door open and it was shut. We yelled and banged at the door for the owner to come in and nothing. “Aren’t there other people in this hotel who can here us?” 

“I haven’t met anybody here yet and I’ve been here for a week now.” He replied while staring at the dog. “Hey, just so you know, I don’t mind being stuck here with you. But I don’t want to be smelling dog shit or pee while I’m in here with you.” 

“ I don’t either.” I agreed. The dog was whimpering more now and we tried to get it into the bathroom and toilet but it resisted. Looking out the window, It didn’t seem like a huge drop. “Okay here me out, we tie the dog up with the bed sheets, lower him out of the window let him use the bathroom, and then bring him back up when he’s don’t using the bathroom. We looked at each other for a while, then the dog started to squat and we rushed to tie him up with my bedsheets, and put him through the window. We were on the second floor and as were lowering the dog, the owner walked out and stood right under the dog and some messy shit sprayed right on top of his head. Looking up, he was showered with dog piss and we quickly pulled the dog up. After the owner finished throwing up and before he ran inside. We shouted, “Our door is locked. Do you mind coming up and opening it.”