I should have heeded the warnings the world had given me since waking up this morning. The first of which was my damn alarm taking a few extra minutes to go off. I checked the settings of the thing. It was set correctly; it just didn’t go off when it was supposed to.

Then the shower refused to get any warmer than lukewarm. Followed by a car that wouldn’t start. All adding up to me having to walk to work. Did I mention that it was raining? Sheets of the stuff pelted down at random intervals.

I guess it was a good thing I worked somewhere where customers only ever saw your shirt because my pants were soaked by the time I got to the bank. Waving to the security guard standing to the side of the door, I said “Hey, George.”

“Hey, Ria,” George nodded in my direction. “Weather is as temperamental as ever I see.”

“You’re not wrong there.” I laughed as I moved further into the building. His statement reminded me of a quote my mother liked to repeat. ‘If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.’ It was fairly on the nose for this region.

Nearly as soon as I reached my desk, one of the people in line raced over. It took everything in me to not roll my eyes at just how desperate some people could be. It wasn’t like I would be able to help them any faster if they raced over before I was even logged in.

I ignored everything she said as I typed in my login and got set up. They must have realized I wasn’t going to help them until I was ready because they started to fidget. At first only tapping a finger before adding a leg and finally glaring. Finally, I spoke, “Welcome to Chicago Financial. What can I do for you today?”

“Finally,” She huffed as she repeatedly tapped at something on the table between us. “I need you to deposit this check.” Pulling it out from under her fingers, I looked at it and had to suppress my gut reaction to tell her to get with the times. There were multiple ways to deposit a check that didn’t require her to even enter the building.

Flipping it over, I found that she had forgotten to sign the damned thing. Making sure to speak with my best customer service voice as I passed it back and held a pen out. “Sure, but I will need you to sign here. Also, may I see some form of identification and get your account number?”

“I don’t know why you need any of that.” She scoffed, “No one else has ever asked for those things before.” Yes, we have. If we didn’t, we would be fired on the spot.

Taking the now-signed check and her driver's license, I pulled up her account. It was no wonder she was in a rush. While she wasn’t in the red, her last transaction would put her into the red. Given that the check was for the exact amount needed to prevent that, I was sure that she knew this.

Scanning the check into the system took a few minutes. Then I attached the information to her account and passed it off to the automated systems to do their job. A window popped up before I even had a chance to put the check into my pouch. The notification was one I had never seen yet was talked about in training. Mostly as a worst-case scenario. Her check was no good. I don’t mean it simply bounced. I mean the account it was trying to pull from was non-existent. Quickly pulling up the information the computer had gleaned from the photo, I compared it to what the check had. They were the same.

“Well?” She demanded. “Did it go through or not?”

“I am going to have to ask you to wait here,” I replied as I stood to go find my boss.

Her face twisted into one of confusion. “Why?”

“I am new here I just need to verify something with my boss is all.” I lied as I scrambled into the back room. “David, I need you to come verify something for me.”

“What did you do this time?” His deep voice filled his tiny cubicle. The bits it didn’t fill were filled with the rolls of fat that spilled off the chair.

“Nothing.” I insisted. “I just need you to verify if I am reading something correctly.”

“If I get out there and it is something stupid again then you will be out on your ear.” He had been threatening me with that ever since I got this job. Well, ever since he had been the one forced to train me.

As soon as we came into view of the woman, she shot me a glare but spoke to David. “Are you her boss?”

“Yes, ma’am.” His tone was deep and soft as he spoke to her, unlike when he spoke to me. “What seems to be the problem?” My gesture toward the computer screen was all the answer I gave. He held a hand out for the check, comparing the numbers and scoffing at me. “I thought I told you to double-check the numbers if there is ever an issue?”

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“You did and I did.”

He pointed at two numbers in the middle. “These are different.” To me they looked the same, but I wasn’t going to say that. His fingers tapped away at the keyboard for a second, changing the numbers and resubmitting the information. The window disappeared and didn’t return. “I am sorry for that. The problem is all fixed.” He said as he got up. Passing me the check, he practically growled, “Come see me when you go on break.”

I hid my shiver by sitting back into my chair. “Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

“No.” she sneered as she plucked her driver's license off the desk. It had been on my side and I should have called her on it but I just didn’t care. As she walked off, I waved for the next person to come up.  

He was on the phone and half paying attention. Passing over an out-of-state driver’s license, a slip with his account number, and his request. Reading the amount requested, I sighed, “I am sorry sir but you cannot withdraw this much at one time.”

“Hold on a second,” he said into his phone. “Just do your job and get me my money.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Now would not be the time to explode on a customer. “The maximum that you are…”

His derisive tone interrupted me. “Just pull up the account.” Sighing, I did as he said and pulled up his account. The screen flashed as the main window minimized and a second window popped up. ‘Please scan User ID.’ That was the first time that the system asked for me to scan in any ID, let alone mine.

Curious, I did as it asked. The picture of both sides of the ID popped up on the screen and stayed there for a second before vanishing. ‘Please scan the customer’s ID.’ Weirder and weirder. Again, I did as it demanded. This time, when the screen disappeared, a simple input box appeared with the words ‘Amount requested.’ Sitting above it.

I took my time to enter the numbers and hit enter. The approved dialog box appeared nearly instantly. He must have seen the shock on my face because he sneered. “What did I tell you? Now, how about you do your job and get me my money.” His tone instantly softened as he replied to something someone said on the phone. “No sir, sorry sir, I didn’t mean you.”

Leaving him to deal with the person on the other side, I moved to the back and started to count out stack after stack of bills. Lucky for me, the machines we had back there made quick work of the job.

As soon as I returned to my desk, the man was off the phone. “One, two, three…” I started. Could I have used the machine to do this? Sure, but what fun would that have been? With every minute I spent counting, his face grew more and more red but he knew he couldn’t do anything. After all, I was just doing my job. Fucking dick.

Twenty minutes, and one thousand hundred dollar bills, later, I was done counting. “Would you like to double-check?” I asked.

“No, I think we are good.” He grit out. “Can I get a bag?”

“Sure,” I gestured to the bags set up to the side as we both knew he didn’t want to carry so much cash in a piece of plastic. “Which one would you like?” Grabbing the nearest one, he slammed it on the table. “That will be five dollars.” The look on his face is priceless and well worth dealing with his attitude as I was sure that he was about to explode.

Taking a bill out of his wallet, he slams it onto the desk before starting to throw his money into the bag. Looking at the time, I figured I could get one more person before going on break. Unlike the last two people I had dealt with, this one tries to joke around as I go over his application to open an account.

When I am finally free, I head to the back. Grabbing a cup of sludge this place calls coffee before heading to see what my boss wanted to talk about. In his hand is his phone but, before I can turn and walk away, he gestures at the chair opposite his desk.

“I recommend we shift everything out of OmniSystems and into OfficeDesk.” He pitches to one of his clients. Taking a second to listen to something the person on the other side said before answering. “I know what others are saying but this drive for the cloud is a short-term fad. It won't last. Not when companies value the security of their data over nearly everything else.”

David stopped for a second before continuing, “On the other hand, office space is becoming more and more expensive. OfficeDesk is poised to take advantage of the growing need for office space. Sort of like the hotel rooms of the office world.”

Something about what he was saying had me on edge. While I had no logical reason, I just knew that such a move wouldn’t end well. Even though I knew this, I tried to keep my thoughts to myself but I eventually broke. “Don’t switch stocks.”

David shot me a glare, “She is an ex-employee. Likely just trying to look smart or something before she is walked out.” And there it was. He was really firing me. I didn’t hear anything else he said as my mind went blank.

His snapping in my face brought me back to reality. “Huh?”

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” He growled. Not that he let me answer. His sausage-fingered hand waving off anything I was going to say. “Actually, I don’t care. You're fired. Your last check will be delivered at the end of the pay period. Now get out.”

Stuck in the seat, I sat frozen as I tried to understand what had just happened. I was just fired. I wasn’t even given a chance to defend myself. He just fired me without even giving me a good reason.  “But. What.” I stammered before finally getting out the simple question. “Why?”

“Why what?” He asked, “Why were you fired?” I nodded. “Where would you like me to start? How about the fact that you failed to do something so simple as to verify the numbers on the screen were right leading to me having to do it, again?” I raised a hand to argue but he barreled on.  “Or, how about the call I got ten minutes ago from an analyst about your behavior?” I rolled my eyes, but again he didn’t let me defend myself. “Or the fact that you interrupted my call with one of MY clients to state that I was wrong?” His face was a deep crimson and slightly puffed out as he finished.

He was clearly angry and there would be no arguing with him. But maybe he was right to fire me. This wasn’t the first time I had screwed up. Hell, I had been on track to break records at the company for the number of simple mistakes one could make. Maybe my mother was right. Maybe I was not cut out for anything but a minimum-wage job. Setting my cup and badge on his desk, I walked out of the building.

Rain still fell in sheets, soaking me in seconds, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t like it mattered. Not when I was going to have to beg for my old job back. God this was going to suck.