I knew I had to call my work, but a sense of looming dread kept me from doing so for as long as possible. I still wasn't sure what exactly Nicole had told my boss and that made me nervous.

"Just call, it won't be the end of the world. I do this all the time so I can't imagine you would get into trouble because of this," Nicole attempted to reassure me. We were seated at our kitchen table, Nicole, with her signature coffee cup in hand, laptop in front of her open to her favorite video streaming site, yet for once, listening to only me.

I heard Rob grumbling from the hall right outside. He had not spoken a word to me since I had arrived. Instead, choosing to glare from a distance.

"Alright," I agreed, resigned to meet my fate. I grabbed my phone, and snuck past Rob on the way to my bedroom. With a strong exhale, I eased the door shut and lowered myself onto my bed. I dialed the number I'd hoped never to have to call, raised the phone to my ear, and waited.

"Reina," Rhianna said cheerfully, yet with a smidge of underlying tension. "I was wondering when I'd be hearing from you."

"I'm sorry," I launched in immediately, forgetting everything I had ever learned about dealing with these situations and instead becoming the teenage girl in front of her mother and awaiting punishment once again. "I know that I was supposed to call if I can't make it in, even though there is no acceptable reason to not be in, and I know that Nicole called you and I'm sorry for whatever she said, I'll take all the blame. It was all my fault. I'm so—"

"Are you done?" she interrupted. "You're fired, of course. So there's no need to apologize quite so much."

"I'm really fired?" I asked, shocked.

"Yes." It was exactly what I expected to hear, and yet, somehow it shocked me and still hurt so much. A fire in my stomach rose through my body, warming my face and hands which I knew were red without even needing to look. Tears formed in my eyes and fell leaving wet stains on my lap. A few sniffles. I was done. It was over. Where once, the idea that I would no longer have to come in would have brought me nothing but pure relief, it was now a new stress. One that weighed down harder than any of the others.

"Oh, there's no reason to cry," Rhianna said in a voice softer than I had ever heard her use. "You are," she was choosing her words carefully, "a very talented and beautiful young woman. I'm sure you'll find another job."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked her. Frustration boiling in my heart.

"I won't lie, Reina, I had taken quite a liking to you, and I'm sad to see you go."

"Right," I said. I pulled the phone from my ear and into my lap. A single jab of a button before my phone was flying across the room and landed hard, after hitting the wall. A few bounces on the floor and it came to rest in the corner.

"Argh!" I screamed. Life was so hard. The times when I was little and wished that I could be an adult so that I would have an easier time at life seemed so laughable to me now. Having to take care of not only yourself, but also those around you, was so much harder than my mother had made it out to be. The only option was to keep pushing forwards anyways, even when it seemed impossible to do so.

"Reina?" Nicole peaked around the doorway at me. "Are you alright? I heard crying."

"I'm fine," I sniffed. "I just... I got fired from my job, so it's going to be fine."

"You got fired?" Her hand flew to her heart, aghast. "How? What did you do?"

"I don't think it's about what I did," I hinted.

"What was it then?" She didn't get it, and if she didn't get it, she wasn't going to so there was no point in forcing it.

"Oh, she didn't say specifics, but I'm sure it was just that someone better came along."

"That must be it," Nicole agreed. She had slowly made her way across the floor and lowered herself onto my bed. Her arms wrapped around me, pulling me close to her in a tight, comforting squeeze. "It's ok, Reina. You can let it all out," she told me, patting me on the back in response to my sniffle.

"I don't want to cry. I'm fine. It's fine. Everything is fine. I have to be strong for us." I blurted.

"Reina, it's so obvious that you're not fine. And let me tell you something: Mama always told me that only the strong women cry when they've gotta. The weak ones stuff down their emotions until they explode. And you're strong, girl. You're my strong Ray Ray. I wouldn't be anything without you, ya know? We girls gotta stick together in this job world."

"Ok," I replied. I wanted to say more, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead, when I opened my mouth, a horrible, primal moaning was released as though the bandage was getting torn off an open wound. Tears streamed down my face like the never ending cascade of Niagara Falls, splattering onto my lap like the water would on the rocks leaving me uncomfortable, yet comfortable at the same time.

All the while Nicole held me close, to her heart, running her fingers through my tangled hair and whispering that "shh, everything is going to be alright."

After what felt like days the tears finally stopped and I was able to lift my head to look Nicole in the eyes. "This is my first time ever getting fired," I told her honestly. "I'm scared. This is something new that has never happened to me before."

"It's not going to be the end of the world, hun," she reassured me. "I've been fired loads of times, and while it kind of sucks, it's also an opportunity to just pick yourself back up again and move forward. Everything happens for a reason, Reina. It's all part of God's plans for us."

"I guess."

"You'll be fine. Now get into some comfy pjs and come join me on the couch for a movie. I'll call out of work for you for tonight. We need another girl's night."

"No," I stopped her before she got to the door. "Don't... don't call anyone. I want to go in. Thank you for the offer though."

"Of course," she responded. Then walked out of sight. I was halfway through changing when Nicole poked her head back into the room. "Rob left by the way, apparently. Make sure you call him later ok? He was really worried about you."

"I will."

That night, I paid my driver, clocked into my work, and sat down at my backroom desk, ready to protect my girls from anything. The bouncy pop tune from the radio was echoing in my head, but not in an annoying way. In fact, it put a little smile on my face. I was feeling good. Nothing was going to ruin my evening.

My phone lit up on my desk shaking everything.

Nicole: hey btw ur gonna have to get another job because im actually not sure we can afford the rent im so sorry

"Ugh," I groaned out loud turning the phone over and shutting it off. Ok, so nothing else was going to ruin my evening. I was just going to sit here until it was my turn to keep an eye on the room. There were going to be no incidents, and then I was going to go home and get a nice sleep before snatching up the first job that came my way in the afternoon.

"Reina," The door to the backroom flew open and slammed hard into the wall. I cringed, sure the wall was going to have a door handle shaped dent in it now. "We have a situation."

"What's up?" I asked, already at my feet.

"There's a situation. Some crazy drunk guy is screaming and trashing the place. I'm thinking we're going to have to call the police."

"Has he harmed any of you girls?" I asked, running through my mental checklist.

"No. He's actually been leaving everyone alone he's just... screaming about the Earth being flat and throwing things. Oh, and he's got a giant jug of water that we're going to assume has alcohol in it that he's just carrying."

"Huh. That's a new one. I'll go scope out the situation. Can you give the police a call?"

"Ah do I have to?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"I mean, if you can't find someone who can, but I think you can do it."

"Ok," she said, and raced off.

"We need to get the customers out of here and all of our employees to safety." Our sole security guard, a kind old man named Scott raced up to me completely winded.

"Of course," I replied. "You take a quick breather and I'll start clearing people out, ok?"

"I'm right behind you," he replied.

When I entered our main room, all I saw was pure chaos. Customers were racing around trying to avoid a random barrage of drinks, food, and chairs that came flying through the sky and leaping over overturned tables. The bartender was on his knees behind the counter, praying for his life. My girls were no where to be found so I could only assume that they were already to safety.

"I need everyone to get out of here," I hollered, heaving open the emergency exit door. "Let's go people. Clear out. It's for your own safety and yes, refunds will be awarded if you come back tomorrow night."

As the crowd cleared out slowly and I got a better view of the situation, I was finally able to track down the water jug carrying, flat earth mantra screaming maniac that was the cause of all of this.