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Lyric reached for her timecard, there was a sticky note hanging on it. “Please see me after you clock out,” the note read, signed by the manager.

“You wanted to see me, Mrs. Morris?”

“Come in, Lyric, and close the door.” Lyric perched on the edge of the chair, suddenly feeling nervous.

“Is there a problem? I’ve been trying really hard not to make any mistakes…” Lyric couldn’t contain herself, she knew she was babbling.

“No, Lyric, you’ve been doing just fine. It’s just that, well, you see, the economy isn’t doing so great right now and times are tough for our company. We’ve lost several big accounts.” Mrs. Morris had been with the company for 17 years, longer than anyone else.

“I’d heard that, I’m sorry.” Lyric had been with the company only three years, but she’d been promoted several times already and felt she was doing a good job.

“Well, not your fault, Lyric. But it means that we have to cut the budget and let some people go. I’m sorry, but your position has been eliminated. Today is your last day.”

“But, Mrs. Morris…I’ll take a pay cut if that’ll help, I just have to have a job.” Lyric hated the pleading tone in her voice.

“I’m so sorry, Lyric. You were doing a wonderful job for us, we just can’t afford to have so many employees right now.” She came around the desk and hugged Lyric. “I have your final paycheck here, a letter of recommendation and a severance check. It’s all I can do.”

“I appreciate it. Thanks.” She took the envelopes from her manager. “I enjoyed working here, Mrs. Morris, and working with you especially. You’ve been a good friend.” There were tears in their eyes as they parted.

The security guard walked her to her desk – there was a box already waiting for her. It seemed so cold, having security watch her as she cleared the few personal items from her cubicle, as if she’d steal the paperclips or pencils from her desk drawer.

Lyric drove home slowly, still stunned by the sudden and shocking loss of her job. She didn’t know why she was so surprised, there had been rumors going around for the last two weeks of layoffs.

Lyric thought there were others who deserved to be laid off more than she did. She knew who was responsible, Carol had been trying to get her fired for the last two years. The supervisor was a bitter, lonely woman – a free love flower child who couldn’t fit into the corporate world she was forced to work in. She found pleasure in making hateful remarks to the women, commenting on their weight, questioning their morals, or belittling their achievements.

In the beginning, Lyric had no defenses against her – there were many days when she went home and cried over the hurtful remarks. But as she gained confidence in her abilities, Lyric stood her ground against the woman’s tirades. It infuriated Carol that she no longer had the upper hand with Lyric, and began her mission to get her fired.

“It was only a matter of time,” she sighed, pulling into the driveway of the 50’s ranch-style house. “No sense in being angry, it won’t change anything.”

Lyric loved the little house, the front flower beds filled with the rose bushes her mother had planted years ago. All was quiet when she entered, but the ghosts still greeted her at the door. Lyric had done little to update the house, she wasn’t very handy and had her hands full just keeping it in working order.

Although the house was paid off, Lyric barely made enough to pay her bills. She lived in an older neighborhood, but the area had become trendy over the last few years. The house was worth four times what it was 10 years ago when she inherited it, the California housing bubble had seen to that.

But with the increased value came higher taxes and insurance bills. There was no money for new furniture, half the appliances didn’t work, and the house was badly in need of paint. Her car, thankfully a sturdy little Honda Accord, was 12 years old and got Lyric where she needed to go, but it too was badly in need of a little TLC.

She threw her purse on the sofa and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. At least the aging refrigerator still worked, the massive appliance the dull harvest gold color typical of the 70s. Only one burner still worked on the stove, and the microwave was on its last legs, sometimes refusing to work for weeks at a time.

Lyric ran back to the living room to answer her cell phone, she didn’t have a land line in the house any more.

“Why don’t you come join us, Lyric? Tonya and I are going to Reggie’s tonight.” Her friend Matt often called and invited her to join them when they went out to a club, but Lyric always felt like the third wheel. She’d known Matt since high school, he’d lived next door to her back then.

“I don’t think so, Matt. I’ve had a pretty crappy day and I don’t feel like going out tonight, but thanks.”

“Aw, what happened?”

“I got laid off, but it’s ok, I’ll find something else soon.” Lyric tried to keep the panic from her voice, but she knew that Matt would see right through her.

“I’m sorry. You should really come out with us, honey, it’ll cheer you up. You shouldn’t sit home alone.”

“No, it’s ok. I have a book I want to finish.” Lyric was an avid reader, she couldn’t afford cable and thought basic TV was pretty boring, so books were her entertainment.

“Ok, but we might drop by later on.”

Lyric hung up the phone, hoping that her friends wouldn’t stop by. She really didn’t have the energy to pretend to be ok, she just wanted to slip into a hot tub with a really good book.

It didn’t surprise her when the doorbell rang an hour later, just as she was finishing a light dinner of pasta and a salad.

“I’m sorry to barge in, Lyric, but I had this great idea!” Matt pulled his girlfriend through the doorway, she could see the apology in Tonya’s eyes.

“What idea, Matt?” She was used to his great ideas, she’d listened to his plans for 15 years now.

“I know this guy that’s looking for a personal assistant. I think it would be the perfect job for you.”

“I don’t know. What do I know about being an assistant? I know the insurance business, that’s it.”

“How hard could it be? You make plane and hotel reservations, keep his schedule, make sure he gets places on time. I think you could handle that.”

“What’s he do, Matt? A business executive?”

Matt hesitated a moment. “No, he’s a musician.”

“Absolutely not!” Lyric stood up and went to the door, opening it. “I won’t even consider it. No way in hell would I ever work for someone in the music business – and you damn well know that.”

Matt knew he’d overstepped the boundaries when Lyric swore, she never used cuss words unless she was really upset. Her mother, born and raised in a deeply religious southern town, had insisted that no one in her house ever use a swear word, and as far as Matt knew, no one ever had.

“I’m sorry, Lyric, it was just an idea – you don’t have to get so mad at me about it.” He scooted past her, the door slammed shut.