I’d sent all my stuff to Forks ahead of time, and hired some movers to bring all of it to my apartment. Growling about my rotten day, I just collapsed on the couch, not bothering to put my bed together or anything like that. I’d unpack tomorrow after work, after this day my luck could only improve.

The woman I’d first met when I went in for my interview was Samantha Grey. She was in charge of my department, and as such, she kept an extra close eye on her newest underling. I was working on an inspirational poster, the theme being “Persevere and you will succeed!” Not exactly a great topic for me to tackle after all I’d been through so far. I have to admit, I was the talk of the office, however. Several times while I worked away, Hector the body guard had come out of King’s office to glare at me, his fists clenching and unclenching. One guy, Roger, made it a point to make fun of me at break. “So that’s how you got your job, eh Orious? You and Hector an item or something?” He chuckled. 

“Yeah, he wants to nail me alright…probably to a cross or something. What’s that guy’s problem? Why does he always look so damn pissed off, and what have I got to do with it?”

The others shrugged. “I ain’t got a clue, good buddy, but if I were you, I’d stay as far away from that guy as I possibly could! He probably found out you were a Cleveland Browns fan! Ha ha ha ha ha!” Roger quipped, causing the whole rest of the office to burst into laughter.

“Are you kidding me? After I first became a Browns fan, I wanted to beat myself up!” I joked. Again the office exploded into laughter, with Roger slapping me on the shoulder. We finished up on break, and headed back to our cubicles. When I arrived at mine, I was shocked to see $15.00 lying on my desk! Alicia popped in from behind the cubicle and smiled shyly at me. “What the fuck are you doing here? How did you find me?” I gasped. If this was still a practical joke, someone was taking it to the extreme.

“It wasn’t easy. My family has friends in high places. One of those friends managed to track you down for me. I came to give you back your money that you left, and to apologize for everything that happened.” She replied, her face becoming extremely serious. “My cousin and his girlfriend wanted to apologize too, but they were too embarrassed to come with me. I can hardly believe I found the courage to come.”