What Life Throws at You

Author's notation 1: As the title says, it's funny what life throws at you. I joined this site a little while ago and actually had a whole line of stories I wanted to put out. Not that I don't intend to still, but "inspired by real (and recent) events" (as the movies sometimes state), I felt this was more deserving as my first set of stories before I moved on to something more imaginative. Especially since this will be a bit slow and long. (Not all the upcoming stories will be slow)

Notation 2: Something you will notice in my stories is a lack of actual dialogue. Personally, when reading this kind of material, I've always found it distracting to focus on the action with constant interruptions of people "speaking". Maybe I'm the only one. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. And now, on to the story.

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I caught my drink as the cup started to tip over. But as I did so, I noticed some had gotten in the front vent system of my computer tower. After a moment, the computer stopped responding. The mouse would move, but that lasted for about a minute after clicking around and getting no response. Then it too froze. I sighed, pressing the power button on the tower and holding it until it shut down. I then opened the tower and took a look inside. It was just what I suspected. Some of the juice got inside and got to the hard drive. I cursed to myself. Just what I didn't need right now. I tried booting up the computer anyway, but it was a no-go. Gave me an error screen.

I disconnected the hard drive and looked at it. More juice had gotten in it than I thought. I didn't bother trying to look for ways to save it, I already knew it was done. Leaning back in my chair, I sighed to myself. I wasn't entirely angry, there was nothing on the drive that was either so important that I should be upset over losing or that I didn't have backed up on another medium elsewhere. My golden rule when it comes to computers: Data you don't have two copies of is data you don't care about. However, having a non-functioning computer is still an inconvenience. Especially so in my case since it was the biggest source of entertainment I had. I had no TV. I don't listen to the radio. Any console games I had was hooked to the computer. I had my phone, which came in handy to ordering a new hard drive. But the best I could do with that is watch YouTube all day.

I sighed again as I stared at a blank computer monitor. Sometimes, it really sucks to be me. I know, depressing. But it does. I don't have much in terms of money. I don't own a car, so therefore I don't drive. Most of my so-called "friends" are on the other end of whatever app I happen to be using to talk to them. And for the most part, I lead a pretty lonely existence. In a situation like this, most people could call up some friends and hang out somewhere. I didn't quite have that option, lack of local friends really. Don't feel sorry for me, I've made my peace with it.

It was already dark anyway. I glanced at my watch. 6:38PM. Late in terms of my daily schedule. I'm usually asleep by now. Did I mention I work nights? No? Well, I do. Just not this night, which right now pretty much sucked since I couldn't do much with a dead computer now. Joy. I guess now was as good as time as any to hit the sack. I could at least head out in the morning and do something then since I was off the next night too. With that, I did exactly that, turned out the lights in my place and went to bed.

----

It was about 8:30 the next morning. I was already dressed to head out even though the bus I needed didn't come through for another half hour. I was just confirming it with the bus tracker on my phone when I heard a knock at the door. At my door, which was interesting because if you knew anything about my place, you would know that knocks directly on my door were unusual. A little background on my place: Picture a regular two-story house you'd see on a normal neighborhood block. I'd say that's my place, which wouldn't be a lie, but wouldn't be accurate either. You see, this house is split into four sections, or living units, each with its own arrangements: living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom. I lived in the rear section of the first floor. In other words, if you were not looking for me specifically in that place, you wouldn't find me. Also, to get to my direct door, you would need to go through a one-way locked back door. And only 5 people have the key to said door. In which case, whoever was looking for me was either the landpeople or had to live there as well.

In any case, I went over to answer the door. On the other side was a small redhead in a black puffy jacket, tight jeans, and black boots; dressed for the windy late winter weather. Her name was Sharon, she was my neighbor who lived in the basement section of the house along with her boyfriend Craig. Of all the other occupants of the place, I got along with them the most. I barely see, let alone speak, to my front neighbors, and I never even met the upstairs neighbors. But I would run into Sharon or Craig every so often since we both had to use the same back door to enter either of our places. It was usually when I was coming home from somewhere in the evening and one or the other would be outside smoking since the landpeople didn't allow smoking inside.

I greeted her upon seeing her. But upon my greeting, Sharon did all but nearly break down and started crying. I didn't know how close she would allow me to be initially, so I placed a hand on her shoulder as I repeatedly asked what was wrong with her. After a moment of getting her to calm down, she explained how much of a mess she was. Something about government-assistance checks and now not having any money. She had asked to borrow my phone to call a friend who said she'd loan her some money, but that ended up being a bust since the friend didn't answer. Sharon went on to explain how she hadn't eaten in a couple days and hadn't been sleeping well either. When I had asked about what Craig was doing to help, the immediate response I got was a glare. Apparently, Craig was doing next to nothing to help. Neither of them had a steady job. Sharon didn't have one due to an internal disability, hence the government-assistance checks. Why Craig didn't have one could be called to question. According to Sharon, every time someone mentions about places hiring, he starts complaining about being in pain. And so it seemed, this had been going on for some time. Now, the checks that she gets is unable to support them both. After rent and essentials, they didn't have enough to make it through the month. In fact, she went to tell me that they had been behind on rent because of this.

This wasn't the first I heard of this. Mind you, not that I didn't believe her. It's just she had asked if I had any food a month ago that I could spare for her since at that point, she hadn't eaten in about 3 days. I had managed to scrounge up a few things for her to help them get by for the month. I saw now that it must've lasted a bit until they got the check since this was a month ago. But now, with Craig being a lazy shit, it was starting to, or maybe had long since, wear down on Sharon and she had had it. She told me she was kicking him out and his parents were coming to get him today. But in the meantime, there was the issue with her hunger and the fact she had no money to work with.

Looking at my watch, I made some mental time calculations. Figuring that I could adjust to make a bit more time, I offered to treat her to the Burger King around the corner. That was an idea she all but agreed to with much enthusiasm. So much so that she actually moved in and hugged me, breaking down again in my arms. I held her close to me, something she seemed comfortable with despite our size differences. I remind you she was a small woman. Not a midget, just small. A least a full foot shorter than me, and I was 5'10". And I couldn't imagine her being more than 115lbs soaking wet whereas I was pushing 240. But in either case, she held on to me, burying her head in my chest as she cried. I shushed her, holding her with one arm and brushing the side of her face with the other. After getting her to calm down again, I grabbed a jacket and we headed out.

----

Burger King. Barely a five minute walk from our place. We had long since gotten our order and was sitting down, munching on the food. Once she managed to get some food inside her, Sharon started talking about the money issues she was having. She needed money for more than just essentials like food and such. Apparently there was a hold on her disability checks coming in, which would keep her from pretty much doing anything unless she got a job. And that, of course, would be difficult with her internal disability. The hold had to do with a custody situation, the details of which, you could say, I conveniently forgot since I didn't feel it was truly my business to know so much about it. She needed money to settle it, and in doing so, it would release the hold on her checks and they would start coming in when they should. She was afraid to ask me since she didn't like having to ask for help from most of anyone, which I could empathize. Not to mention she thought I was doing more than enough by taking her out like this.

I knew how she felt when it came to asking for help. Like me, she prefers to be independent, doing things on her own. Finding her own way out and that sort of thing. I respected that, but having been in a hole similar to this before, I recognized how important a helping hand was to a person. And when I offered to loan her whatever money she needed to get by and pay this situation off, she almost broke down again, thanking me over and over. I stood as she did and she hugged me again, pressing herself tight against me. Since she was intending to kick Craig out today, she offered to let me drop by and hang out for a while after he was gone. Also like me, she had very little friends too. So with Craig gone, the idea of being lonely scared her. And with my computer down, I almost literally had nothing else to do, so I agreed to come by after I came home from my little excursion.

After Burger King and having given her the money she needed, we parted ways. She headed back home, I stood at the bus stop waiting for the next one to show. She had hugged me for the third time in that hour after I gave her the money, promising me that she would return it in a little less than 2 weeks. It may have seemed foolish, but I trusted her. Especially since if push came to shove, I did know where she lived. I was hoping that the money I gave her would help her through her troubles until she got back on her feet. But in the meantime, I pushed the thoughts of the situation aside and focused on enjoying the rest of my day.

6:00PM had rolled around. From what Sharon had told me, at this point Craig should've been picked up by his parents and now long gone. In which case, I headed out from my place and walked downstairs into the basement. The basement apartment didn't take up the whole basement, only about half actually. The other half was mostly empty save for some old appliances and the apartment's coin-operated washer and dryer. I headed the other way, away from the appliances and such, and towards Sharon's door. But as I got closer to the door itself, I noticed hearing a double set of voices coming from the inside. I frowned. One was clearly Sharon's, the other I could only assume was Craig's. Wasn't he supposed to be gone by now?

Not wanting to make a potentially bad situation worse, I turned back towards the basement entrance. However, behind me, the door opened. Shit. I glanced back to see Craig with a garbage bag in his hand. He greeted me before asking me what I was doing. Having to scramble for an excuse, I told him I was dealing with some quick laundry and heard them talking. Being a concerned, and maybe curious neighbor, I wanted to make sure everything was alright. Whether he bought my excuse or not could be called to question, but any attempt to do so was cut off by Sharon having noticed and inviting me in.

They were cooking at the time, pork chops I believe. Craig had set the garbage bag outside the door for the moment and came back in. I asked if everything was cool, to which both in their way said yes. They gave no indication that anything was amiss. I noticed they barely touched each other the whole time, but they seemed to be able to converse peacefully. For Sharon's sake, I said nothing about anything that happened this morning since it didn't appear that Craig knew anything about our brief interaction. Like me, they didn't have much in furniture, so they allowed me to sit on their bed which was in the area that could've passed off as the living room as they sat on the floor and ate. They offered some to me. I declined, wasn't hungry.

We sat and hung out for the most part, watch a movie to pass the time as we talked among each other. Shooting the breeze mostly. Eventually, Craig stepped outside to properly dispose of the garbage and to have a smoke. It was then when Sharon explained to me that Craig's parents hadn't shown up yet, being on vacation or something in Wisconsin. Which explained why Craig was still there. Also explained why he was talking to me like he was still sticking around since Sharon hadn't actually told him that I know the truth. I didn't blame her. Truth be told, it really wasn't my business. Sharon made it so, but it still didn't give me the right to throw it in his face. She didn't need to beg me to stay quiet about it, I did it willingly.

We had long since changed the subject when Craig walked back in, talking about the public transit system and how far one could get with a bit of time and patience. I offered to take them around somewhere to show them what I meant. Of course, by "them", I meant Sharon alone, but I didn't want to put Craig under any illusions. We agreed, making it official to be something to do for my next off day. At this point, the movie had ended and all of us were tired. We agreed to call it a night and get together again later in the week.

As I left, Sharon walked me to the door to my place, telling how she was hoping Craig would be gone before the day out happened. I didn't say much about it. It still wasn't much of my business and I didn't want to pry. But I admit, there was a part of me that was hoping he wasn't around either for that day. I didn't want to get caught in some potential relationship drama. We said our good nights and she hugged me again, thanking me for all I've done so far. I hugged her back, not really realizing how good it felt to have someone in my arms like this again. But I put the thought away, she was a friend. One in need, but a friend indeed.

----

The day came for Sharon and I to head out. During the week, we had been texting each other back and forth, checking on one another. Apparently she hadn't been feeling well and I was doing a better job of taking care of her than her "boyfriend" was by bringing her supplies, medicines and such. But by this day, she had gotten over it and was feeling pretty good, looking forward to the day. I headed downstairs to check on her, making sure she was ready. I was ready, dressed in a simple T-shirt underneath a black jacket and some blue jeans. I knocked on the door, expecting to see her ready to go as well.

What I got was Craig answering the door, dressed up in a sweatshirt and cargo pants, looking like he was about to head somewhere. I masked my slight surprise and disappointment under a smile as I greeted him, asking if they were ready to go. He had glanced back at Sharon, asking her as well. As I saw her approach the door, I noted how she was dressed in a red sweater and tight black jeans. She had also grabbed her black puffy jacket as she walked past Craig, a smile her face as she approached us, but when her face was out of view of him, it was quickly replaced with a scowl and a roll of the eyes at me. I had to fight not to chuckle out loud as Craig locked their door up.

I took them to the Golden Corral, which was a 3-hour trip as I promised them. Took us a total of 3 buses and a long train trip to get there. Sharon was excited when we got there as it seems it was one of her favorite places to go. Craig seemed indifferent about the whole ordeal. Neither Sharon nor I allowed it to bother us. His loss, although it was all the same since he was losing her anyway. Which made the ride there all the more interesting. On the way, they barely spoke to each other. Most of the conversations that took place was between me and one of them. When we sat on the buses, I would notice a space between them, almost like an air of contempt. I said nothing about it, trying to make the trip as light and friendly as possible. Gave me a chance to get to know both of them a little more. Particularly Sharon more so because she was more chatty than Craig. Craig would pipe in a word or two here or there about himself, but that was about it. And whenever he wasn't looking, she would give him all sorts of looks and gestures that would make me smirk.

The same thing was happening at the restaurant. Her and I would be talking, he'd say something before getting up to get food and she'd flip him off behind his back as he walked away, giving him a look of disgust. I'd shake my head, telling her that she should just tell him I know about the split so that he could drop the charade. She would tell me that she didn't want to seem treacherous or gossipy, even though she kinda was since she did tell me practically everything after all. I didn't press the issue. I still wanted to keep things light on the trip as this was supposed to be fun even if we did have a spoil-sport of a third wheel.

----

It was mid-afternoon when we started heading back. In order to get home, we'd have to take an L train to pass through the city. If you use public transit in a big city during rush hour even on a once a week basis, you know how crowded these trains can get. And of course, by the time we got to the station, a crowd had formed waiting for the next train. Even worse, the train was already semi-crowded by the time it reached the station, meaning no seats available. We went with the crowd, boarding the train and moving into it as much as we could to let people on. This more or less pressed us together. Being the smallest of the three, Sharon couldn't reach the straps or any of the bars to hold on to. So she opted to hold on to Craig as he held the bar above him to support both of them.

Being the biggest of the three of us, I was able to balance myself pretty well against the sway and flow of the train without much support. There were a couple of instances where I almost lost balance and nearly toppled into Sharon and Craig, but I managed to catch myself before anything serious happened. Of course, the fact that the closer to the city we got, the more crowded the train got and it became harder to keep some decent spacing between us. At the next station, a person need to move past me to get off the train. In order to move, I had to press myself further into Sharon. And in doing so, without me realizing it, the back of my hand found itself pressed up against her ass.

The contact was for more than just a simple second, way too long for her to not take notice. But she made no actual comment about it to either me or Craig. And I didn't notice either until I had moved back into a more upright and found that my hand had been pressed against jean material. It was then when I had realized where my hand was on her and was about to issue a pardon and apology. But as I opened my mouth to speak, I glanced at her face. Her head was still against Craig's chest, but she was looking slightly over her shoulder at me. Her facial expression showed indifference, almost as if she didn't care that I had touched her there.