Anger Management

She was running late, and damn, had just put her finger through her last pair of tights.
It would have to be trousers and pop socks today.
Dirty dishes lay in the sink and nothing had been laid out for her breakfast, so she sighed, grabbed her car keys and headed for the door.

Traffic was horrendous. Some idiot had shot the lights and hit another car, so she was going to be even later as the police were diverting the flow.
Shit.
What a start to the day.

Yeah, what a day indeed.
No card, no note, nothing to wish her Happy Birthday after Rick had gone to work.
Fifty. Bloody hell.
Today she was fifty, and so far the day sucked.

She pulled into the car park.
Dammit!
Some bastard had parked in her parking space. Not that it was actually allocated to her, but she had parked there on her first day and every day thereafter for the 2 years she’d worked for the Company.
Damn, she’d have to park further from the back door, and it was starting to rain.
Brilliant. In her rush this morning, she’d forgotten to pick up her coat.

Letting herself in with her security card, she walked across the lobby to the lift.
‘Morning George,’ she said to the young guy behind Reception.
‘Morning Mrs E! Happy Birthday!’
As she said thanks, the doors closed, but she heard the kicker
‘It’s not every day you reach your half century!’
Great.

Luckily, she wasn’t that late, only ten minutes.
She went into her personal office, turned on her computer, and as it was firing up, headed for the coffee machine.
Amidst choruses of Happy Birthday from her co-workers, she picked up her mug, and returned to her desk.
There were a few cards, but nothing from Rick.
How could he forget? But then he had been preoccupied lately.

‘System Error’ greeted her on the screen and she swore.
Reaching for the phone, she dialled 171 for Computer Support, only to be told that the entire system was down and would be for about two hours.
Damn!
She was beginning to wish she’d stayed in bed and pulled a sickie.
That was the trouble these days. Everyone relied too much on technology.
She couldn’t read her email as that was on the computer.
She couldn’t make any business phone calls because the accounts and database were on the computer.
Hell, she couldn’t even check her bank balance because that was computerised too!
Damn, damn, DAMN!
If she’d had something to throw, it would have been flung across the room in frustration and shattered into a million pieces against the back wall.

There was a tentative knock on her door.
Looking up, she could see a huge bouquet of flowers with feet, and beckoned the messenger in.
She relaxed. So Rick hadn’t forgotten after all.
Reading the card, her smile slipped somewhat when she realised they weren’t from her husband.
‘Happy Birthday Kiddo, you old cow! Love and Kisses, Andy’
Well, that was a surprise, Andy forking out to send her flowers, the tight git.
Mind you, being her twin, he could hardly forget her landmark birthday could he?
Her boss came in and grinned.
Looking at the flowers on her desk, he said
‘They’re beautiful. Happy birthday Stella. You look a bit down though. Aren’t you pleased and surprised?’
‘Yeah, sure’, she sighed.

It was a long and frustrating day, the highlight being cakes (at her expense) for the office and eventually access to her mail where there were a few ‘singing cards’ from her family who years ago had decided snail mail was totally unreliable and electronic messaging was King.
Still nothing from Rick though. Pig!! How could he forget today?

At 5.30, she was glad to turn her computer off and head for home.
That damn car was still in her parking space.
She’d make it her business to find out who it belonged to first thing in the morning and put them straight. She was Senior Management after all!
Head down, she walked to the end of the row furthest from the back door and screamed.

Somebody had stolen her car!
OK it wasn’t flashy, but some bastard had pinched it and they were going to pay!
Oh hell yeah, they were going to pay BIG TIME when she caught up with them.

It was the final straw.
She stormed back into reception positively fuming and hovering about two inches off the ground.
‘What’s wrong Mrs E?’
‘My car’s been nicked! Call the police! Dig out the CCTV footage! Call Harrison in security upstairs! Call my husband! Call me a bloody taxi!’
‘Are you sure Mrs E? I mean, it’s still there in your parking space.’
‘That’s not mine! Some fucking bastard parked there this morning and I had to park near the gate! Where’s Harrison?’
‘But Mrs E, your husband came in and explained everything.’
‘Rick? Why didn’t he come up then? Eh? Ha, I’ll tell you why! He forgot it was my birthday and didn’t want to face me!’
‘Mrs E, calm down.’
‘I am bloody calm! Someone’s stolen my car, and you’re telling me to calm down?? Where the hell is Harrison??’

The lift doors opened and Harrison got out, all smiles.
‘There you are Stella! I’ve been looking for you’.
‘Somebody’s nicked my car from the bloody car park! Hey, it’s no laughing matter! How the hell am I suppose to get home? Some bloody birthday this is!’
‘Stella, your car is outside in your usual parking space.’
‘No it’s not! That black BMW is NOT mine! You know I drive a mini!’
‘Stella, Rick dropped this off for you earlier but you were in a meeting. Perhaps it’ll help.’ He offered her a white envelope.

Inside was a BMW fob attached to a single key and a note.
‘Happy birthday Darling! Drive safe. All my love always, Rick. xxxx’
The two men looked at her.
‘Oh,’ she said, and burst into tears.

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