Natalie's Entirely Horrible Day

Natalie slammed down the telephone receiver. For good measure, she picked it up and slammed it down again. "Ugh, what a fitting end to an entirely horrible day", she said out loud. Zach, lounging in his favorite spot on the kitchen counter, slowly raised his head and gazed in Natalie's direction. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he closed his eyes and returned to his nap.

"Just like a cat", Natalie scoffed, "a spoiled cat at that, eat and sleep, sleep and eat." At once she felt contrite. "Oh well, this day is not your fault, why am I taking out my troubles on you?" She reached over to pet her faithful cat of five years. At the same time Zack decided to yawn and stretch, his extended claws collided with Natalie and scraped down her right arm like chalk on a blackboard. At once, four long red streaks welled up and started seeping blood.

Grabbing a kitchen dishtowel and wrapping it around her arm. Natalie hurried down the hall to the bathroom. Tossing the bloody towel into the bathtub, she pulled antiseptic and bandages out of the medicine cabinet and sat on the edge of the tub examining her wounds. "It's not terrible", she thought to herself, "but it sure drew a lot of blood." From where Natalie was sitting she could see the red trail leading out the bathroom door and down the hallway. "Wow, that looks pretty nasty, something else to clean up."

As Natalie set to doctoring her arm, she thought back over the day, beginning with that morning.

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Running late as usual, Natalie jumped in her car, turned the ignition, and...nothing. After trying to start her car repeatedly for twenty minutes or so, she gave up, went back inside and called the number for a garage. She had never used them, but a magnet was in an advertisement that had come in the same stack of mail that included a letter from her sister. Lisa had sent the latest picture of Scott, her adorable two year old nephew. So she had used the magnet to post the picture on her refrigerator.

Luckily for Natalie, the man on the other end of the line said he could pick up her car within the hour. They also had a service that would take her to work, if she didn't mind riding along in the tow truck. Grateful, Natalie said that would be fine. An hour and a half later, she finally made it to work, with a promise from Mike the mechanic that she would receive a phone call later to let know about her car. Natalie didn't even want to think about what that would cost.

She had barely gotten settled into her office, which was really cubicle with three portable walls, when a head popped up over the wall she was facing shouting "Hey there Nat!"

Startled, Natalie exclaimed, "Ted, how many times have I asked you not to do that. Can't you just walk to the doorway like everyone else?"

"Yeah, but I'm not like everyone else, Nat. Besides it's so much easier just to stand on my chair. Actually Nat, you know what would be easier? If you would just stop turning down my offers for lunch, or dinner, or even riding to and from work together. If you don't give in sooner or later Nat, I might just give up one day."

"I'm waiting for that day Ted. I've also asked you to stop calling me Nat. It sounds like I am a flying insect."

"You sure have a lot of rules", Ted mumbled. But being Ted he was still smiling. "Nat, I just wanted to give you a heads up. Old man Charming was looking for you. He's been through here twice already this morning."

"That's just great, how did he look. I mean could you tell if it was good or bad?", Natalie asked. "And you better stop calling Mr. Charmington by that nickname of yours before he hears you."

"Well, first of all", said Ted, "if the old man comes down here at all it's not to say thank you Nat, and second of all...."

"Second of all what, Mr. Bickson?"

Startled, Ted turned around and seeing Mr. Charmington staring at him, promptly fell off his chair hitting the floor with a loud thud. Natalie sat at her desk, hoping against hope to go unnoticed. No such luck, old man Charming told her to be in his office in fifteen, sharp.

"This cannot be good", Natalie cried. "Ted, I hate you", she said as she marched down the hall.

"Hey Nat, what did I do?" asked Ted, still sitting on the floor of his cubicle.

Thirty minutes later, marching back down the hall, out of sheer frustration, Natalie cried, "Ted, I hate you more."

"Again, what did I do?", asked Ted, now sitting back his desk.

Natalie heard the wheels of his chair moving, "and don't stick your head up over my wall either." Natalie heard the wheels of Ted's chair moving back toward his desk. Natalie knew she was hard on Ted, but he made it so easy sometimes. He was a pesky guy, but always in a good mood.

Silence. "That's not like Ted, but good", Natalie thought guiltily. "I could use some quiet time." But all she could really do was think about Mr. Charmington's offer, or was that a proposition? At any rate, she turned him down flat. As politely as she could of course. When she turned and left his office, she missed the steely cold eyes that stared daggers in her back.

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Natalie finished taping her arm. Looking at her reflection, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her hair was a disaster, her blouse in disarray and her arm wrapped in enough gauze for a MASH unit. Natalie walked back down the hall to the kitchen, carefully avoiding the drops of blood which were quickly drying on the floor. "I'll fix a cup of tea, unwind a bit, then clean up the mess and call it a night."

Lost in her thoughts again, Natalie went through the motions of getting a teabag from the box of Celestial Seasons Sleepy Time and reached for her favorite mug off the cupboard shelf.

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After her 'meeting' with Mr. Charmington, or John as he suggested, and Ted's unusual silence, Natalie actually got some work accomplished for a couple of hours. Her phone buzzed an incoming call. Natalie picked up the receiver, "good morning, this is...."

"Ms. Singer?, this is Mike, from over at the garage?"

"Yes Mike, did you find out what the problem is with my car and how much..."

"Well, Ms. Singer..."

"Please, Natalie is fine."

"Well Natalie, we haven't exactly found the problem yet, we're going to need to keep it for a while longer. I was actually calling to see if you needed a ride home this evening?"

"Oh gosh, I was hoping it would be something simple..."

"Uh, Ms., I mean Natalie, it probably is, but we've been kind of busy this morning. I haven't really had time to look it over as thoroughly as I'd like to. I wouldn't want anything to happen because I didn't do my job right."

"Well, yes I can understand that."

"I promise I'll work on nothing but your vehicle tomorrow", Mike said hurriedly. "How about that ride?"

"No, thanks anyway, but I have a way home. I'll call back in the morning. Is there anyone else I can....I should ask for when I call? I mean , I don't want to keep pestering you", Natalie stammered.

"No just me and my brother, but he doesn't do so well with customers. Are you sure...?"

"Yes, I'm fine thanks." Natalie hastily hung up. "That was a little creepy" she thought, but immediately brushed it off. "Hey Ted, do you think...?"

"Sorry Natalie, I'm busy."

"But you just said.."

"Sorry."

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The tea kettle blew its steam and whistled. Startled, Natalie's mug slid through her hand and shattered on the floor. "Well, so much for that." She looked down at the jagged pieces of her mug. The 'I' was at the tip of her toe, a piece of the heart under the counter stool. Natalie looked around the floor, but all she saw was 'ickey'. She moved to get another cup. "Ouch", looking down, more blood on the floor and the 'M' protruding out of her instep. Reaching down she yanked the piece of glass out of her foot and limped to the stove and cautiously poured the hot water into her cup.

After making her way safely to the sofa, she sank down into the cushions and propped her feet up on the coffee table, not even caring about the blood on her foot. Natalie felt like, well she wasn't sure what she felt like. Her day had been exhausting, first her car, then Ted, then John, uh, Mr. Charmington, Mechanic Mike, a taxi that she couldn't afford to bring her home from work, the phone call this evening. Natalie couldn't believe he actually called her at home. Her home. She looked around, it looked like a crime scene.

Natalie looked at the clock on the fireplace mantle. "Seriously? It can't only be seven o'clock. I'll finish my tea, get up and clean this mess and then throw myself under the covers. Forget dinner, forget this day ever happened. The warmth of the Sleepy Time tea and the cozy cushions had almost lulled Natalie to sleep when the doorbell buzzed. It took Natalie a few seconds to shake the cobwebs out of her head, the doorbell buzzing continually.

Getting up off the sofa, Natalie thought "this person obviously does not know the day I have had." Still limping, she made her way to the front door and looked through the peep hole. "You have got to be kidding me. How does it this guy doesn't understand no? Well, he will certainly understand this time." Natalie swung open the door ready to give it to him with both barrels.

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A few hours later.....

"Jeez Sarge, this place looks like a crime scene!"

The sergeant shook his head, rookies. "It is a crime scene Officer Johnson, and how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Sarge? It sounds like a comic strip character."

Walking into the kitchen Johnson picks up a piece of the broken mug, " 'ickey'? Who has a cup with 'ickey' written on it?"

"Don't disturb the evidence you dunce. Don't they teach you guys anything in basic training anymore?"

"Hey Sarge, look a cat!" Johnson exclaimed. "If only cats could talk, then we'd have our killer."

The sergeant just shook his head, "I'm going to have to talk to the recruiters", he silently told himself.

Zack, still lounging in his favorite spot on the kitchen counter, slowly raised his head and gazed in the direction of the two officers.

"Yeah, if only", Zack thought. He closed his eyes and returned to his nap.

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