Too Unlucky To Be Lucky (3)

By Wolfie Steel.

I stand before my bosses desk and watch as he sorts through the many memo's and post-it notes on his desk, this is a nervous time for me because no one is ever asked to see the boss unless it is for something important, the Dalmatian looks up from his paperwork and locks eyes with me.

"Okay Tanner, I'm going to come straight to the point, you have worked in this office for ten years now and in all that time you have been driving that beaten up old speeder, always complainin' that you ain't got the spare credits to get a new one, so you can imagine my surprise when I see you this morning getting out of a brand spanking new speeder, a pretty decent model at that, so now I have to ask the question, how many offices have you stolen from to pay for that?"

At first I am taken aback by my bosses comment, and then my mind begins to work again.

"Excuse me boss, I am no thief, the new speeder was bought for me because my old one finally threw in the towel on the way home from work last night"

A snide smile spreads across his muzzle; he obviously does not believe a word that I have just said.

"So not only are you a thief but a liar too, you are just compounding so much shit here right now, but okay I'll bite, who in their right mind would go out of their way to purchase a speeder for you?"

I can now feel my fur as it begins to bristle, sure I may be on the lowest rung of the work ladder, but that doesn't give this asshole the right to call me a thief and a liar, I manage to keep my cool as I make my answer.

"I don't take kindly to being called a thief and a liar boss, as for the speeder well that was bought for me by Mister Grant on the top floor, he was driving home last night and happened to pass my stricken speeder, he found me at home and took me back to the speeder to try and get it going again, but all he could do was to get it going long enough so that I could get it to the nearest junk yard, he then took me to the new speeder show room on I35 and bought me the new speeder"

The Dalmatian lets out a huge belly laugh in response.

"Mister Grant on the top floor, as in THE Mister Grant one of the partners in this company has taken pity on a low life like you and bought you a new speeder huh? Do me a fuckin' favour, please grace me with some brains, you have either stolen stuff from the offices to sell to get the credits for the speeder, or you have been through the pockets of everyone's jackets and lifted their credit chips, or worse still you have stolen the fuckin' speeder, either way I don't want a thief and a liar working in this office and so with immediate effect you are fired, now go home and change out of that uniform, and then next time that you are in the area you can drop it off at the security hut"

I bare my teeth at the Dalmatian and give out a growl, but then I realise that no amount of growling and teeth display is going to make this asshole change his mind, I guess in his mind I am guilty until proven innocent. I turn around and head for the door, before I open it to exit the office, I use my balled up right paw to smash the glass panel of the door, I then turn back to the shocked Dalmatian.

"Just be fuckin' thankful that wasn't aimed at your shit eating face"

With that said I head out of the office and then to the open air in front of the company building. I look down at my paw and notice that I have a few cuts from the shreds of glass. I look up and across the street I notice that the pharmacy has just opened for business, I know that they have a doctor on for customers who need advice, and I know that he can take care of my now bleeding paw.

After a few interesting questions I walk out of the pharmacy with my paw bound up with a bandage, the wounds having been cleaned and then dressed. I head back to my speeder and then I just sit in the pilot's seat, thinking about everything that has just happened.

I'm pulled from my thoughts by the sound of my communicator, I pick up the device and notice that it is Axle calling. I place the communicator in its driving cradle and accept the call.

"Hey Tanner, why aren't you at work? Please don't tell me that you have broken down in the speeder or had some sort of accident?"

I let out a deep sigh as I compose myself enough to answer.

"Well Axle, I'm just about to head home owing to the fact that I no longer have a job"

There is a moments silence and then he speaks again.

"Sorry hun, must be a bad connection, say again because I thought I just heard you say that you are heading home because you have no job"

I sigh again as I reply.

"No Axle, the connection is just fine; you DID hear me say that I am now occupationally challenged"

I bring the speeders thrusters back online and begin my journey home while still talking to Axle.

"What! Why? Were you late for work or something?"

A tear trickles down my cheek.

"No Axle, my ex boss fired me because of the fact that I have a new speeder, he is of the mind that I have been stealing from the guys in the offices so that I can get this new ride, yeah nice eh, being called a liar and a thief in the same sentence, look Axle I'm gonna end the call because right now I'm not very sociable, I might see you later once you finish work"

I end the call and continue my journey home. As I lower the speeder into my allotted parking space at my apartment my communicator begins to buzz to announce that I have missed messages, I climb from my vehicle and head towards the door to my apartment while reading the messages.

Message from Axle Grant.

"Tanner don't do anything stupid, I will go and sort things out, I will call you once everything has been smoothed over"

Message from Alan Jenkins (My ex boss).

"Oh great, now you have told Mister Grant that I have fired your mangy ass, I'm just on my way to his office now, he probably wants to congratulate me for firing a no good dirty thief, I guess there will be a promotion in it for me, so thanks for that. Have a nice life"

By now my blood is pretty close to boiling point; I open the door to my apartment and storm inside, the door closes behind me and I head straight for the kitchen and the fridge, where I know a can of my salvation awaits, I open the fridge and take a can of beer out, using a claw I rip the ring pull from the top and begin to guzzle the contents within.

My communicator buzzes more and more, and then the house computer activates.

"Sir, Axle Grant is most insistent on talking with you; shall I activate the com system?"

My ears perk up a little and I stare hard at my now half finished can of beer before giving my answer.

"Go ahead computer; put Mister Grant through please, audio only"

There is an audible beep as the com circuits are activated.

"Hi Axle what can I do for you hon?"

Axle replies and I can tell that he is not happy.

"Well for starters you can answer your communicator when it buzzes, and then you can get your sexy ass back to the mail room, it seems that we are two guys down"

I activate the video link so that I can see Axle's face.

"What do you mean two guys down; I'm the only one that got fired hon"

The brightest of smiles now adorns Axle's face.

"Well hon, a position has opened up in the mail room as the head of operations, the job is yours if you want it hon, as I have just dispensed with the services of Mister Jenkins, it seems that he didn't believe your story about how you came by your new speeder, he then called me a liar and said that he thought that I was sleeping with you which is why I was ready to back up your story, okay yes I am sleeping with you but that is beside the point, and so he just had to go"

At that particular moment I could have kissed Axle right on the muzzle in full view of everyone at the office, but now was not going to be the time for that, I had to get back to work so that I could begin my new job.

I dump my empty beer can into the recycling chute and then head back out to my speeder, fortunately for me I hadn't yet bothered to change into my civilian clothes. I fire up the speeders thrusters and head cautiously back to the office, well let's face it, getting stopped by the cops for DWI while on my way to my new job wouldn't go down at all well regardless of my relationship with one of the partners.

I arrive back at the office and head inside once I climb from my speeder, I get to the doorway of what is now my office and I notice that my predecessor is still clearing out the desk of his personal things.

"You know Alan, if only you had believed me in the first place, none of this needed to happen"

I collected the letters and parcels to make my delivery round, I might now be the mail room boss but I still want to keep my round.

"When I get back here Alan, which as you know will be in roughly one hour, I want you out of my office, and out of my sight, otherwise I will call security, and then have them remove you by force"

I head out of my office and begin my delivery round. After twenty minutes I find myself at Axle's office, I can hear through the door the fact that Axle is talking to someone on his communicator, and so out of respect I gently tap on the door and wait for the all clear to enter.

After a couple of seconds Axle calls me in, and then continues his conversation, I open the door to his office and enter making sure to close it again afterwards. I deposit Axle's mail into his IN tray, I then begin to turn to head for the door when Axle motions for me to take a seat, I do as asked and I cannot help but overhear the rest of the conversation.

"...Look I'm sorry that I had to fire Alan Mrs. Jenkins, there are things that this company just will not tolerate, such as homophobic behaviour, calling two respected employees lying sons of bitches, and he most certainly didn't have the authority to fire someone from the mail room without running it by one of the company partners first. I am not going to lie to you madam, but Alan's behaviour has been causing concern for some time now, I'm just sorry that he couldn't control himself enough to keep his job...as for him getting another job here I will talk to the other partners about it, but if we do give him another chance then his attitude needs a major reboot...of course Mrs. Jenkins, as soon as I have spoken with the partners I will get back in touch with you, I'll speak to you soon, goodbye"

With that Axle ends the call and mutters under his breath.

"Fat chance of him getting back in this company"

Axle then looked at me and smiled.

"Well if it isn't my favourite delivery guy"

Axle stands from his seat and walks around his desk, he then leans down and plants a sweet, wet and warm kiss on my muzzle, I let out a gentle snigger and then kiss him back. It sure looks like today isn't going to be a bad day after all.