The Good Life

Walter Johnson sits at the kitchen table, in his modest apartment, in a white t-shirt and boxers, finishing off the last cup of coffee. He takes the last gulp from his favorite "I Hate my Boss" mug, rises and heads toward the bathroom to perform the three S's. He brushes his teeth and shaves. When he's done shaving he stares into the mirror wondering "who is this guy?". He runs his fingers thru his hair revealing a receding hair line, pulls his skin taught to flatten the frown lines and wrinkles and inspects his yellowing teeth. He raises a pale, scrawny arm and he flexes his bicep. "Damn!" he swears under his breath. He turns and starts the shower running.

Walter takes one last glance around the apartment, grabs his glasses off the table by the door "can't drive without these" he says as he pulls the door closed and makes his way down to his car. He passes the old lady with the yappie little dog that runs up and snaps at his ankles every morning. He hustles past it muttering under his breath "damn yappie dog!" As he approaches his nondescript, late model, sedan a flashy red car with two cute, young girls in it goes by. One of them looks his way and he quickly glances away. He puts his briefcase, brown lunch bag and thermos in the car, gets in, fastens his seat belt and turns the key. Elvis is part way thru "you ain't nothin' but a hound dog.

He pulls into the parking lot of the boring, beige building where he works. "Damn!" someone has taken his favorite spot, again. He exits the car, grabs his stuff and walks toward the building. On his way in he passes the "Employee of the Month" parking spot with a sexy little sports car parked in it. Paul Winston's name and picture on a plaque hang from a hook on the sign. "Big deal" he grumbles as he walks by. A portly, grey haired security guard greets him at the front door, "Mornin' Walter" Walter brushes past him with a curt nod.

As he enters the office of Grimes and Kimball Accountants he's met near the door by Jen, The pretty, young, single gal who had started working there about a month earlier. She grabs his arm and he perks up. "Isn't it wonderful?! Paul finally made employee of the month!" she says in a throaty half whisper. "He's really makin' a name for himself...won't be long 'til he gets promoted. She looks over her shoulder and sees Paul coming up behind Walter. She breaks out in a big smile and Walter musters up his best grin just in time for Paul to slap him on the back, hard, sending his glasses sliding down his nose. "Hey Walt! How's it hangin'?! " It's Walter" Walter starts to reply. But Paul has already directed his attention to Jen, "Recovered from last night" he asks in a silky tone. Jen flushes and tries to explain "we all went out for drinks last night..." but by now Paul is dragging her off to the middle of the office, to hold court. "Who's employee of the month? oh yeah, it's this guy!" A little round of applause follows as Walter trudges off to his desk. He puts his briefcase on the desk bumping his "Supervisor" plaque, puts his lunch and thermos in his desk and settles into his chair. He pulls out a file and gets to work.

Later in the day Walter hears several employees standing around the break room door." That poor girl...I feel so bad for her...I wonder what she'll do now?" Walter feels his blood start to boil. "Am I the only one who ever does anything around here?" he mutters to himself. "Are any of you people planning to do any actual work? Or are you just gonna stand around and gossip?!" he hisses. "Uh oh! we're in trouble now" Paul chuckles. The women in the group giggle. Paul slaps one of the guys on the shoulder, winks at Jen, jerks his thumb in Walter's direction and exclaims "back to the salt mines". The group brakes up and Paul makes his way over to Walter's desk. He slaps Walter on the back, which causes his glasses to slide down his nose, again. "Walt! What's up!" Walter's face turns crimson, he pushes his glasses back onto his nose and quickly looks to see if Jen is watching. "Been on any hot dates lately?" Walter stiffens and clenches his fist. Paul leans down and whispered "or are ya savin' yourself for Jen there? He straightens up "Hey Jen! Walt here thinks we should meet up at The Torch after work for a few drinks". "Do a little dancin" he makes a couple of pelvic thrusts "huh Walt?!" Paul leans down and after he makes kissing sounds in Walter's ear, he slaps him on the back, dislodging his glasses again!, starts laughing and saunters back to his desk. Walter seethes as he watches him high five a co-worker and settle into his desk.

It's 11:50 and Walter has his brown bag lunch ready to go, so he can beat it out of the office ahead of the rest of the crew. He stops at the food truck, gets a drink, pours it in his thermos and walks to the nearby park. Everyone else will head for a trendy spot but he prefers solitude. He'll find an empty bench and eat his lunch enjoying the quiet, free from Paul's constant needling. Today is no exception. As he sets out the contents of his brown lunch bag, he notices a guy he has never seen before lurking around. Walter has come here every day for lunch, for years, and this guy definitely seems out of his element. He's a buttoned down Wall Street type carrying an expensive brief case. Mr. Wall Street looks around, then settles in on a bench near Walter. Walter's curious about this newcomer and watches him from the corner of his eye. A self defense tactic he's learned since Paul descended on his office. Mr. Wall Street seems nervous, fidgety, like he's anxiously awaiting someones arrival. He puts his brief case on his lap and starts rummaging around in it. A small package "accidentally" falls out and the guy reaches down to pick it up. Instead of picking it up though, he sticks it to the bottom of the bench!. Now Walter's curiosity is piqued. "Who is this guy? What did he put under the bench? and who is he waiting for?" "Nothing that involves me" he tells himself and he goes back to eating his lunch. A little while later he glances over and the guy is gone. Just like that.

Now, Walter has never been a risk taker. He follows the rules. Always wears a seat belt, never drives over the speed limit and stays out of other people's business, normally. He's a squeaky clean, straight arrow Accountant. Something he takes a lot of guff for at work. His curiosity begins to get the better of him however, and with Paul's latest humiliations swirling in his brain, he makes a decision. Today he is not going to be a wimp! He's going to be bold! brave! and before he knows it he's sitting on the bench Mr. Wall Street just vacated. The one with the mysterious item taped to the bottom of it. He glances around nervously to see if anyone is coming towards him or might be watching him. Nothing...he opens his lunch bag and pulled out a napkin. Oops! He drops it and quickly bends down to scoop it up. With a quick maneuver he snags the object, wraps it up and slips it into his lunch bag. His heart is racing! He quickly gathers up his stuff and leaves the park. The rest of the day drags on for what seems like forever. At one point Paul notices him checking his watch for the millionth time "Walt! you gotta hot date?!" this gets him a quick round of laughter. When it comes time to go, Walt bolts for his car and heads for home. Once safely inside his apartment he hurries to see the contents of his lunch bag. His hands tremble as he pulls the bundle out of the brown bag. He slowly unwraps it and reveals a small, black, leather, ledger. He slowly opens it and begins to leaf through it. He can't believe his eyes!

Walter has been an accountant now for nearly 20 years. He had wanted to be an artist but his parents had pushed him to "have a backup plan". He had been good at math in high school so his guidance counselor suggested he become a CPA. He gave up art and went to work at his current job right out of college. He moved into his apartment believing that he would meet a nice woman, get married, buy a house, get a dog and have a couple of kids. He dated a woman for a few years but it went nowhere and she eventually moved on. He was on a dating site and went on a few dates here and there but never found the "right one". He has established a comfortable routine and has resolved himself to a ho-hum life. Things would be fine in his world if that obnoxious Paul would just leave him alone. Things had been relatively quiet in the office until Paul burst onto the scene. He's a loud, rude, braggart with no redeeming qualities as far as Walter can tell. This mysterious package is the first exciting thing to come into his well maintained life in years.

Walter flips thru the ledger and begins to chuckle. He knows exactly what he's holding. It's an accountants ledger. But it's no ordinary Accountants, ledger. He takes it to the table, pulls out a chair, sits down and begins deciphering it. It's not long before he realizes that his ledger is actually a sort of treasure map. There are multiple entries for very large amounts of money in several offshore accounts. His excitement eventually begins to turn to concern. He closes the little black book and begins to rub his forehead as he tries to figure this thing out. "I can always take it back in the morning" he tries to reassure himself. Then he stands up and begins muttering to himself as he paces the floor. He suddenly stops pacing, grabs the book, goes to his computer, sits down and begins working furiously. "I must be out of my mind", "Out of my mind!", he mutters to himself a few times. After a while he stops working at the computer, scoots his chair back and lets out a huge sigh. He gets up, goes to a kitchen cupboard, takes down a bottle of cheap bourbon and pours himself a stiff drink. The first one in a long while. He downs the drink, takes the glass and bottle and heads down the hall toward the bedroom.

The next morning Walter wakes up with a decent hang over. He fumbles for his cell phone and speaks to HR at the firm. "yeah, I think it's something I ate... thanks...I'm sure...ok...bye now". He heads for the bathroom and gets cleaned up, gets dressed, grabs the book, and leaves his apartment. He looks around cautiously for anyone who seems out of place, gets in his car and drives off. He drives to a bank, walks in and comes out with a small bag, which he puts in the trunk. All the while his head is swiveling around as he scans for anyone who might be watching him. He makes a couple more stops before heading home. Once inside the apartment he takes the bags to his room and stashed them in the closet. He calls HR again "yeah, still not feeling great...I'll do that...ok...bye, bye...He sits down on the edge of the bed and begins to chuckle. Soon he's laughing out loud. He flings himself backward on the bed and covers his face.

Walter rouses from sleep, stretches and yawns. He sits up on the edge of the bed and a female voice says "you up already?" He leans back and plants a kiss on Jen. "I am, but I could stay in bed a while longer and roll around with you" she laughs and they climb under the covers. Giggling and smooching sounds soon give way to a round of love making. Afterwards Walter pads into the luxurious bathroom of their luxe penthouse. He looks in the mirror and is pleased with what he sees. The hair plugs, color and cut look great. He runs his fingers thru his hair then looks at his teeth. The veneers are a perfect shade of white, so natural. A few nips and a couple of tucks and no more lines or wrinkles. He checks out his new tanned body in the full length mirror. The diet and exercise routine his personal trainer Raul has him on, not to mention those testosterone pills, are really doin' the job!. He's tan and fit and life is good! He's a new man, literally. He brushes his teeth and hair and stops in the bedroom to get dressed on his way down to the kitchen. "I'm heading for the club. When you get your butt outta bed come have some brunch. There'll be Mimosas"he says in a sing song voice. Jen giggles "well in that case I won't be far behind you". Walter puts on a pair of shorts and a shirt, grabs a gym bag, stops in the palatial kitchen for a glass of orange juice and heads out the door. He goes down to the garage, where the valet brings him his little sports car " Good morning Mr. Johnson" "Good morning" he replies as he tips the young man, and he drives off.

When he gets to the club he tosses his keys to the valet "Good morning Senor Johnson!" " Yes it is!" he replies as he struts inside. He stops and visits with a couple of men sitting at a table having breakfast, and shakes hands with a couple more as he makes his way out to the pool. He picks a spot and plops down in a lounge chair. He closes his eyes and smiles to himself. Soon he hears footsteps and a shadow falls across him. "Hey Baby...make yourself comfy and then we'll do a few laps...you wanna Mimosa?"...silence "you there?"...he shields his eyes from the sun and looks up expecting to see beautiful Jen. Instead he's surprised to see a very well groomed and dressed middle aged man who leans down toward Walter. He speaks to him with a slight accent. The man whispers in a menacing, husky voice "I believe you have something of mine". "Damn!"