15th of November, Sunday morning.
Inside the one-man room Nathan rented. A groggy figure slowly awakened from an incredibly long slumber. This figure belonged to no one other than Nathan himself, and his sleepy eyelids slowly opened.
‘Is this real?’ He couldn’t help thinking and half-heartedly turned to stand up. Searching the bedside table for his phone, Nathan quickly realized he had fallen asleep with his clothes on, jacket, coat, jeans, and all. ‘Well, that wasn’t smart,’ he chuckled inwardly, disbelieving at the mess he had created while asleep.
Nathan didn’t dawdle anymore and got to searching amidst the pile of clothes, bedsheets, and blankets. ‘At least I removed my shoes.’ Irrelevant thoughts crossed his mind as he, at last, discovered where his cellphone was. Unbeknownst to him, it seemed to have rolled out of his coat’s pocket and slipped into the bedsheets.
Tapping on the screen, Nathan’s blurry eyes burst open as he stared at the time. It was a little over 9 AM, quite late if you asked him. “It’s actual fuckin’ Sunday?!” Nathan shouted at the top of his lungs, scaring away the pigeons resting by the window’s edge.
“Shut the fuck up!” An angry man’s yell came from the room directly next to him, followed by a loud banging on the wall. Nathan was too engrossed in his phone’s screen to care about the cement dust falling from the ceiling. ‘I actually slept for two days straight?’ He pondered inwardly while his hand moved to lightly pinch his cheek. ‘This isn’t a dream, alright,’ but it still felt and sounded unreal.
*Rumbleee*
Having been stirred by Nathan’s sudden movements, his empty stomach made loud uncomfortable noises to remind him that humans weren’t supposed to fall in hibernation. ‘Figures…’ Touching his empty belly, Nathan stormed the small fridge for anything edible. Two egg toasts and a leafy salad later, Nathan was still feeling a little hungry. Sadly, these were all the leftovers he had in the fridge.
With only mustard, ketchup, and some other spices around the kitchen, Nathan would have to go shopping today.
‘Crap… It’s Sunday!’ He pinched his forehead in annoyance. How was he supposed to go shopping when most of the shops were closed for the day. Thankfully, there was a mini-market he had some open business with, so he might as well resupply there.
With that being said, Nathan took a shower to refresh himself and got to cleaning the house. It was Sunday morning after all, and he was feeling oddly great for some reason. ‘It has to be the extra sleep,’ thought he as a mild smile surfaced on his sunken facial features.
~~~
It was the middle of the day now, and Nathan was finally done cleaning up the house. His next stop? The mini-market he used to work at.
Looking at the cloudy November sky, Nathan regretted his choice to not bring an umbrella with him. It was most likely going to rain today, meaning he would have to hurry if he didn’t want to get wet.
*Clink-ga-ling!*, the mini-market’s doorbell moved back and forth as the door was slammed open by Nathan. Just like before, Mrs. Anne was standing behind the counter, waiting for any potential customers to come inside the store. “Uh, oh… Na-” Her voice was cut off mid-speech as Nathan questioned. “Is Henry inside?” And, like the scaredy-cat she was, Mrs. Anne nodded after some slight hesitation.
Nathan said nothing in return and just casually walked inside. His destination? Henry’s office. Opening the door to the staff room, the foggy veil of smoke greeted him like usual. This time he was prepared though. Without wasting any time, Nathan rushed to open the window, letting in a cold current of fresh air.
“The heck are you doing Anne?! How many times do I have to repeat myself? Keep the damn window closed!” Henry’s hoarse voice resounded from inside his office like it always did in such cases. “It’s not Anne boss, don’t worry I won’t take too much of your time,” Nathan said, his voice cold like ice. Henry was silent for a moment but, it didn’t take him long to respond. “Even if you beg me now, I am not going to rehire you again.”
A red vein seemed to pop on Nathan’s forehead as an awful lot of memories surfaced in his mind. ‘Don’t rush this, stay calm and focused, Nathan.’ He chanted silently in his mind as a dangerous glint flashed across his eyes.
Ever since Nathan woke up this morning, the raging emotions buried deep inside him were once again beginning to catch on fire. Nathan tried hard to keep a calm front, telling himself that everything was fine. He planned to tackle each and every one of his problems. Anything and everything that he had suppressed for so long, Nathan would resolve them all. Only, he would do so one at a time. For it was impossible to get everything done in one go.
Taking in a deep breath, Nathan suppressed his emotions and took the first step towards Henry’s office. “Don’t worry boss, I wouldn’t come back to this shithole even if you begged me to.” Said Nathan before adding. “I am here to get my last paycheck and then I’ll be out of your feet.”
Kicking the door to Henry’s office open, Nathan demanded the two week’s worth of pay he had yet to receive. “With the overtimes and everything added in, you owe me 168 pounds in total,” glaring at the fat man before him, Nathan prepared himself to dodge, just in case Henry got in a bottle-throwing mood like last time. He could see blue veins start popping on his greasy forehead, but, different to Nathan’s expectations, Henry didn’t lash out.
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He fished out a thick half-filled wallet from his pocket and began counting notes. ‘A few words were all it took for him to cooperate? Henry of all people?’ Nathan thought in disbelief at the sight before his very eyes. Soon enough, Henry was done counting and pulled a pair of notes, throwing them on top of the table for Nathan to take.
“What is the meaning of this?” Nathan asked, unmoving. “Your paycheck,” Henry answered as an evil grin emerged on his face. “As I said last time, we are going through an economical crisis, don’t take it personally, reductions were made on all employees.” Nathan was fuming by now, alas, the more his rage was suppressed, the colder his exterior became.
“Is that so?” Nathan said in a flat tone as he pocketed the two fifty-pound notes before adding coldly. “Glad doing business with you, Henry.” Nathan knew, arguing with Henry would get him nowhere so he turned to leave. But he was not done, and boy was he ready to make a mess.
Walking out of the staff room, Nathan glanced at Mrs. Anne before halting his steps. “Can you give me the luggage bags underneath the counter?” With a smile plastered on his face, Nathan looked as harmless as a mouse when he asked. ‘Why did he have to come now? Couldn’t it be on someone else’s shift?!’ Mrs. Anne’s eyes darted from one side to the other, but in the end, she handed the plastic bags over to him.
“Wha… What will you do?” She asked hesitantly, her voice breaking a little. “Nothing much, just shopping.” Nathan returned, a harmless smile still plastered on his face. With the bags in hand, he started filling them with all kinds of ingredients one at a time. ‘Eggs, pork, canned beans, olives? Sure, I’ll take some olives. What else, what else?’ Bag after bag was filled to the brim and placed on top of the counter, all for Mrs. Anne to scan.
Five bags and a satisfied Nathan later, he decided to ask. “How much do we have until now Mrs. Anne?” And to that, she hurriedly mumbled like the robots they had thought them to be. “Eh... Ah, your total will be 71 pounds and 38 pennies…”
Thinking he was about done, Nathan told her to get him the receipt and got to the counter in order to pay. Taking out his wallet, Nathan fished out one of the few notes he had inside and handed it to her. “This… This is?” She asked in a trembling voice. Since earlier, she’d had this weird hunch that Nathan was up to no good, and, true to her thoughts, that was indeed the case.
“This is a five-pound note…” She hurriedly added, in hopes that Nathan had taken the wrong bill out of his wallet. “Yes, it is a five-pound note.” He confirmed. “But… But, your total…” Nathan stopped her midway as he playfully asked. “What do we do in case a customer doesn’t want to pay for the products?” and to that, Mrs. Anne instantly responded. “Call the manager!” Nodding at her answer, Nathan continued. “Then go fetch your manager for me.”
Fumbling her way behind the counter, Mrs. Anne rushed towards the staff room, making Nathan think. ‘At least lock the front door before you leave.’ Splitting the heavy bags in both of his hands, Nathan patiently waited for Henry to come.
Loud yelling could be heard behind the staff room’s closed doors. Henry’s heavy footsteps echoed as he reached for the door with a loud bang. “The fuck do you think you are doing, you little piece of shit?!” He shouted angrily as he pointed in Nathan’s direction with his fat and dirty finger. “Shopping, is there a problem?” Nathan’s tone couldn’t get any more pugnacious than that. Henry was beet red as he huffed and puffed loudly, the journey from his office all the way to the front entrance must have been really tiring for him.
“That’s it! I am calling the police you little rascal!” He said exasperated. “Will you now? Sure, please do call them, and don’t forget to explain how you hire underpaid employees without any insurance whatsoever, refuse to pay them, and send them back to the streets when you are done with them.” Nathan said matter of factly, but Henry was having none of that.
“You have no evidence of such things!” He said smugly and took a step closer to Nathan. Alas, before he even had the time to take the second one, Nathan fished the phone out of his jeans pocket and tapped here and there. Soon, the sound of two people talking could be heard coming out of the cell phone’s speakers.
“Even if you beg me now, I am not going to rehire you again.”
“Don’t worry boss, I wouldn’t come back to this shithole even if you begged me to.”
“I am here to get my last paycheck and then I’ll be out of your feet.”
Nathan had come prepared for everything, pressing the pause button, he said. “You know how the rest of the story goes, right?” Henry was literally fuming now, “You actually recorded me?” Snorting in disbelief, Nathan answered. “Of course I did! Did you expect me to just take the hit and go?”
“You… You will go to jail for robbery!” Henry uttered in a last attempt to dissuade Nathan.
“And you will go to jail for all the other things you did once I sue you. Who do you think looked after this junkyard while you were drowning in alcohol and cigarettes inside your office?”
“You! You! You!” With nothing better to say, Henry’s gaze was locked on Nathan’s. He knew better than anyone of his wrongdoings, but he had no clue just how much Nathan was aware of. ‘My bluff actually worked?! Turns out I misjudged him… Henry, oh Henry… You really are rotten to the core.’ Little did he know that Nathan was calling a calculated bluff on him.
Turns out the rumors he had heard from the other employees turned out to be true. He didn’t have any reason to believe them at first, cause obviously, he didn’t want to lose his job, but now it was different. Now he had a reason, and Nathan never let a hidden card go wasted.
With a mad grin on his face, Nathan asked playfully as he took one step at the time towards the shop’s entrance. “So, listen to what we’ll do now. I will take my leave with the groceries, go home, and pretend none of this ever happened. You paid me what you owe me and I left your store as a happy employee. We’ll never cross each other’s paths again and be done with it.” Angry as he was, Henry didn’t utter a single word in refusal.
“Good, I’ll take that as a yes. Mrs. Anne, feel free to keep the change,” Nathan said matter of factly, and Henry wanted to cough blood at the mere sound of the word ‘change’. With one foot out of the store, Nathan turned to regard Henry for the last time.
“Oh, yea, I almost forgot.” Nathan’s icy pitch-black gaze was locked on his former boss’s small and beady eyes as he finally said the words he had been holding in for a while.
“You are a real dick, Henry.” His words thundered in Henry’s ears as Nathan’s figure finally left the store for good. Looking at the cloudy sky that was ever so slowly turning dark, Nathan closed his eyes in thought.
‘I will tackle them all. One problem at a time!’