One - Badluck

It’s crazy how life can turn around in one moment. It’s interesting, rather. One moment, you’re sitting under the sun, admiring the penguin-shaped cloud and next you are being hit by an asteroid heading towards Earth. I’m glad I’m not “you” though. I’m not sure if I’m glad to be me either.

My name is Claire Wordsworth. You can pretty much tell I’m your average girl by my name. Maybe if my parents gave me a name like “Zendaya”, I would be busting ass. But they didn’t, so I’m the white girl named Claire. I’m half Italian and half Hungarian. My Italian side comes up whenever I’m pissed off or in an argument—I’d start flapping my hands in the air and yelling. My Hungarian side is just mainly in the looks. I look like a younger version of my mum, Susan. Same wavy brown hair and blue eyes.

I had a really weird dream this morning. I was back in middle school and my teacher had asked me a question when suddenly, she turned into a whale and then I was in a field; it was raining apples in the field. My grandma, Beatrice said that all dreams have meanings. My grandpa died a couple of years ago and since then, grandma moved in with mum and dad. That’s why we’ve moved all the knives to the kitchen drawers, away from my dad.

I couldn’t stop thinking about my dream. What could it mean? It could mean that the world is coming to an end for all I know! God could be trying to tell me something. I’m Catholic but I don’t go to church every Sunday and my mum says I’d go to hell for it. I don’t think I would because God won’t talk to me if I would.

“Good

morninggg!” Aniyah said in a sing-song voice. She looked colorful today not that she doesn’t look colorful every other day.

“I know why you can’t get your eyes off me, girl. Pink is definitely my color, right?”

I narrowed my eyes at her, “you break this office code of dressing everyday, how do you not get sanctioned?”

She leaned down over the computer in front of me, “if they do, I’d hit them with the racist card,

baam!”

Aniyah Roman is an eccentric big black woman. By eccentric I mean she’s in love with neon colors and clothes that are two sizes too small. Her hair was dyed bright pink today and she was wearing a pink two piece suit that showed a lot of cleavage and was a few inches below her

hoohaa. She was wearing stilettos too.

“I read my horoscope and it says, something amazing will happen soon. I’m so excited.”

“You believe those things?” I asked her.

“Why not?”

I shrugged. Horoscopes and zodiac signs were like fiction to me. C’mon, when I was eight, I thought I was going to be a doctor and now I’m a secretary and I hate my job. I’m not going to let the moon and the stars give me false hope.

“You should get yours read too.”

“Speaking of horoscopes, I had a weird dream…” I went ahead to tell her my dream about apples and whales.

“That’s bad luck, girl. I’m no dream interpreter but when I was a kid, my mum had this friend that read dreams. I picked up a thing or two from her.”

“It’s not bad luck, Aniyah.”

“I know what I’m saying—”

Nathaniel Carter walked past us. I froze. I’ve been planning on asking for a raise, I’m two months late on my rent and I’m old enough to have fun—I’ve gotten to fat to fit in my jeans and I need new ones. And now, my boss just saw me talking to my assistant instead of working.

“Good mor—” He ignored me and walked straight into his office.

“That man has a fine ass!” Aniyah exclaimed, “even in my days as working as a ‘ho, I’ve never seen an ass that fine.”

She used to work as a ‘ho. That was how we met. I was helping a friend who’s a bounty hunter look for a fugitive. We came up to Aniyah’s stand and I left my card with her in case she heard about the fugitive. Later that night, she came banging on my door. She had known about the fugitive all along, that night, he had visited her stand and raped her and beat her up brutally. That was back when she used to live in the hood, she still does but in a less shitty street.

She quit being a ‘ho after that and I got her a job here by going on my knees and begging Nathaniel, the man who just walked by. The man who just caught me talking with my assistant who I begged him to give a job.

His office door opened slightly and I saw his expensive black suit before I saw him as he stepped out.

“Claire.” My name tumbled off his lips and my heart rate picked up. “Can I see you in my office?” If my heart had pumped blood just a little bit harder, I could’ve had a stroke. Before I could say anything, he stepped back into his office, leaving the door slightly ajar.

“Bad luck.” Aniyah whispered as she tiptoed her way around the counter. I narrowed my eyes at her. I certainly couldn’t ask for that raise now, who knows, I could even get fired. The thought scared me shitless. I wasn’t looking forward to being jobless and moving back in with my parents. They have only one bathroom and my father takes forever every morning.

I pulled the door open and slipped in. I cleaned my sweaty hands on my pleated skirt and cleared my throat but before I could say anything he said;

“Have a seat, I have something to discuss with you.”

I cleared my throat again and tried to pretend to be brave. My mum used to call me a lion when I was younger and called my sister a dove. I didn’t like being a lion, I wanted to be a dove. My sister, the dove, is now married with three daughters and I, the lion, am about to loose my job.

“Claire Wordsworth, twenty-seven year old Italian, single.”

He looked up from the paper in his hand and looked straight at me. I held my breath.

“You parents are still together, am I right?” He asked.

“Their bond grows stronger everyday.” I swallowed. He nodded and ran his hand through his hair. He had thick black hair that looked overgrown and needed immediate attention. His hair always looked overgrown even after he just got a haircut.

“Claire Wordsworth, will you be my wife?”