I Want To At Least Try

Introduction

He moved the cigarette from his lips to let out the smoke that piled in his lungs. He put the lighter back in his pocket before responding with a simple, "Oh."

"I'm going to have to ask you to put it out."

"Wow, really?"

You twitched a bit. "I'm going to ask once more politely."

He ignored you.

"Aye, asshole!" you shouted, lowering your book and pen. "Do you mind not blowing that toxic smoke into my breathing space? Please and fucking thank you." You forced another smile on your face as the other man he came with laughed. "That was my last polite warning. Would you care to go for rude or is it at all possible for you to put that out?"

You held eye contact with one another for awhile until he mushed the cigarette against the table.

As you formed the perfect stream of cohesive and steady insults in your head, your arm was grabbed and yanked backwards, causing you to stumble.

"(n-name). (name)!" The manager of the restaurant roughly shook your hair around with his hand and began to talk to those at the table for you. "I'm, very v-very sorry for her misbehavior. She's extremely new and still learning the ropes. (name), say sorry."

"But--!"

He put his arm around your shoulders and pulled you closer as he whispered through gritted teeth, "Look, you little shit. Want to possibly live and keep this job? Apologize."

"Uhm! I-I'm terribly sorry for the...inconvenience."

The manager pushed you back towards the kitchen, but not before apologizing for you a few more times.

You were confused. You were only enforcing the rules. Was it your fault the man was a dick? Was it your fault that he was deliberately destroying property? It's not like it was the first time you cussed at a customer or got loud with one for good reason. You felt justified.

You sat nervously as the manager paced around in front of you in his office, seemingly stressed. Other staff members tried to see what was going on while still finishing up their work.

"The hell is wrong with you, huh?" he finally spoke.

"U-uhm."

"I just fucking saved your life, you know that? Maybe! You hear me?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Yes, sir? Yes, fuckin sir? Oh, that's great now. You couldn' have just said that shit a couple minutes ago?"

"I'm sorry," you said. "I didn't know. I'm still not too sure what's really going on."

"Are you getting smart with me now?"

"N-no, sir!"

He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Fuck it. You're fired."

"What?"

"Fired. You heard me."

You rised to your feet and snapped, "This is fucking bullshit! You can't just fire me over this."

"I can do whatever the hell I want, so see ya later."

You balled up both of your fist as you glared at him, gritting your teeth. "Fine. Fuck you and this job!"

#

The next day as you lied out on the couch in your apartment, drowning yourself in self-pity and liquor, you received a knock to your front door. You were reluctant to get up at first, but after awhile the knocking continued followed by, "(name)? (name)! Open the door. It's me."