Presentation Day (Episode 2): Stable People Don’t Take Pills

7:00 am

“I understand… yes sir… I will be there on time. Okay sir, thank you sir” Tony was on the phone with his boss, he was supposed to resume at his office by seven thirty and do final preparations for his presentation with his boss. His boss called him to make sure he was on course and to threaten him some more.

Tony looked at Janet’s lifeless body “Janet… Janet. Please wake up. I am sorry about last night, please just open your eyes” he manually opened her eyes and they stayed open, it freaked him out so he closed them back. He could feel his throat tie up into a nut and his stomach rumble; his shirt was soaked in sweat and his hands and knees were shaky. He couldn’t believe what was going on especially on the day of a very important presentation.

The body was in front of him but he still could not bring himself to agree that the sister he was fighting with a night before was gone and she didn’t just die; she took her own life.

He picked up the empty bottle of sleeping pills and opened it as if there was something inside and looked in it “I can’t believe you did this. How can you do this? All because I didn’t accept your apology? Who does this… who fucking does this?!!… you do this?!!” he yelled at her as loud as he could then burst into tears.

Tony was a mess that morning. First of all, the sister that he loved to hate to love had taken her own life because of him; it may have not been because of him but as far as he was concerned, she took her life because of him. Now that she was dead, was he supposed to call an ambulance and follow her to the hospital? If he did this, then he would miss his presentation and that meant losing his job, his house and his sanity. He looked at the empty bottle of sleeping pills and wished there were some left for him to take and join her; as that would have been easier.

He made a decision. He made the decision to leave her there and go for his presentation; she was still going to be dead when he came back anyway, he was determined to make sure that Janet was the only thing that he lost that day. Tony exchanged his sweat-soaked shirt for a dry one and left, double checking and making sure that the door was jammed shut.

By driving like a formula one driver, he was able to make it to work at seven thirty on the dot; it was a miracle that he wasn’t stopped and penalized for reckless driving as he almost hit two pedestrians and a truck.

“Tony, you are late!” his boss, Mr. Henry yelled. Tony looked at his wristwatch and it was seven thirty one “It’s seven thirty one” “so? You are supposed to be here by seven thirty” Mr. Henry was a man whose face was strategically wrinkled because of constant frowning. He was about five feet nine inches tall and believed that he was a tall man; that is why it truly ached him whenever Tony’s six feet tall body reminded him that he wasn’t as tall as he believed.

“Sorry sir” Tony was always reduced to apologizing to his boss whether he was right or wrong. Everything went smoother than he expected; his reports on the health market analysis were on point and the charts needed only a little correction that Mr. Henry told him about politely “Give me the Federal Medical Health Standard report” Mr. Henry asked him with his arm stretched towards Tony.

Tony searched through the pile of documents in front of him, then his briefcase “I’m sorry sir, I think I…” “You left it at home” he finished Tony’s sentence and went on to insult his work ethic and intelligence “we will stop at your house on our way to the presentation” “sir?” Tony’s expression was begging for an explanation because he was scheduled to go for the presentation alone.

“Do you think I will let you go for that presentation alone? So that you will go and fuck it up. Get everything you need, we are leaving in five”. Tony was not amused by what he heard; the last place he wanted to go in that moment was his apartment and the only thing worse than going to his apartment was going there with another person.

He thought about convincing his boss to let him go for the presentation alone but he already knew that it was going to be futile; his boss hated him and everything he said to him sounded like shit in his ears. So what was he going to do? Rush into his house, get the document and rush out. Surely, there was nothing that was going to make Mr. Henry want to enter his house.