Usually the only true misery Eric got was from his girlfriend of two years but these fucking one baggers were getting there. Then maybe again, it could be because he lost a whole month's wage yesterday when the Atlanta Falcons blew a 25 point lead.

I’m going to have to drink bud light and black velvet for the next four months.

Thank someone’s god Lexi doesn’t know how much money he lost. Eric hadn’t been able to go to his bar and bitch about it to the bartender because he was stuck working the overnight shift for the past six days. Some whiny pieces of shit didn’t get their vacation time and decided to go to Human Resources about it. Now he was stuck working the shift because he’s boss was an asshole. Eric thought his current boss was probably the biggest cock sucker that he had ever met or had ever encountered.  He told him this personally in an elevator late at night when he forced Eric to work a previous overnight shift. He had suggested that if he hadn’t come in that night, a random drug test would be in his immediate future. This normally wouldn’t have been a problem but last week Eric was drunk at a bar when Bob showed up with coke and Eric did a line in hopes it would make their relationship better, because what relationship doesn't get better with a line coke.

“ Hey Bob! Can I tell you something?” Eric asked.

“ Of Course.”

“ I think you're the biggest cock sucker I have ever met.”

Looking a little flustered at the comment for a moment he replied with;

“ I just wanna thank you for coming in tonight. You’ve really saved the team this evening. And I want you to know that I’m going to go home and fuck my wife, not losing a second of sleep knowing what you think of me. Just get the fucking job done.”

They rode the remaining time in the elevator down in silence, getting out together.

“ Have a good night Eric!” he said as he patted him on the shoulder.”

These one baggers only come in on Mondays, with one bag and little money to be made on them.They usually have few requests. But this Monday was different.

“ Sir, I'm late for a meeting. Can you please take my bag to my room.”

“ Why isn’t there a shoe shine man?”

“My dog pissed on your shoe shine booth.”

“My dog pissed in the elevator.

At 36, life had been fair to Eric for the last ten years. His girlfriend however constantly nagged him about going back to school as though his day time job is to bag groceries. Kurt Warner bagged groceries and he turned out to be great. Perhaps that's what all people need to do before they find life’s true calling. After all,there was only so much fulfillment in delivering ice buckets.

        Eric found himself doing the dishes one evening after he mentally calculated how many of the dishes were a result of his doing to which he found none. Nevertheless, doing the dishes would help in being able to have sex tonight. The last time he tried to fuck Lexi she was angry that he was drunk which wasn’t his fault. She drank as much as a monk but her anger problem was her whiskey,only she didn’t enjoy it. Eric had always thought that Lexi’s anger problem was quite bad. Eric could never really grasp the concept of anger that stemmed from nothing that was actually affecting you. Eric was the opposite of angry and had always quietly prided himself on his patients. The most angry he got in the last year was at himself when he cut himself with his kitchen knife. He had just opened a new one and was hand cleaning it. He was lucky to only get his middle finger cut and his anger immediately came from how stupid he felt.

“That's what the fucking dishwasher is for” Was Lexi’s response to the situation.The couch was the last haven of his relationship with Lexi.

“ You only come to bed when you want your dick sucked, you piece of shit.”  

She knew him all too well.

First time Lexi got mad, Eric thought he did something wrong. The second time he thought women were bad shit crazy and he would never date again. The third time; he knew she was the bad shit crazy. Unfortunately Eric had grown up with bad shit crazy and had learned to handle bad shit crazy. No matter how mad shit crazy and angry she got, the company was still nice.

 He had spent many nights on the couch in the last six months in efforts to not piss her off after drinking at the bar. His couch was comfy but the peace and quiet of it was what really drew him in. Eric knew his relationship with Lexi was on its way out. He considered just lying to her by stating he had cheated on her and then maybe she would just leave. This would bring too much of a climatic end to the relationship and he feared she may do something extreme. He never put anything past her. His bartender had suggested that he simply ghost her. He had thought about that option more and more.

“ Can you believe that fucking game” Eric said two steps into the bar after his long hiatuses of six days.”

The bar that Eric chose to drink at was the first bar he happened to go into when he moved to the city. It was a bar that other people in the hospitality industry went to so they could blow off some steam about their jobs as well. The same bartender had been there since Eric started going there. There had also been a handful of other people that went there that knew him really well. The bar itself was a nice shiny wood top that Eric had slid empty bar glasses at the end of the night to the bartender for cleaning multiple times. Like the hotel, the bar was busy some nights and completely empty on other nights. He had on more than one occasion kept the bartender company on these empty nights.

“ Sounds like somebody had money on it.'' Eric just smirked at Earl. The bartender poured  the standard Guinness that Eric normally got and even if he hadn’t ordered it, he would always drink it.

“ Guinness? Can I even afford it? I'm gonna have to switch to bud light, like a fucknig bum”

“ I have a toilet you can clean for five bucks if you want” Earl said.

“ Why don’t you pay me, and I’ll let you blow me Earl.”

“ Does your girlfriend know?”

“No. Thank god. I’m gonna have to make up an excuse as to why I’ve been working six day weeks ”

“ You know you have a real healthy relationship there Eric” said the bartender

“ It really is like a fairy tale.I keep waiting for prince charming to rescue me.” Eric took a sip of his beer.” I blame my loving parents for it” Eric’s phone began to vibrate. It was Lexi. He could ignore it but he didn’t want to get into an argument over text message. Everything turned into an argument with her.

“ Hi”

“ Where are you?”

“ At the bar?”

“ So you and the bartender can jerk each other off?”

“Can I help you with something Lexi?”

“ I just wanted to talk but since you're being an asshole about it.”

“ Yes, I’m the asshole in this situation.”

“I got fired.” She said.Of course she did and of course he lost the bet.

“ Awesome Lexi! Best news I heard all day. What the fuck did you do?”

“ Nothing, my boss is an asshole.”

“ Can we talk about this later?”

” Fine” She hung up without saying another word.

 “ She fucking got fired.” Eric said loud enough for the bartender and Earl to hear.

Laughing, Earl said; “ You are so fucked Eric.”  

“I’ve been worse, I’ve been better, I guess I’m back at even” Eric said taking a sip of his beer.

Later that night Eric and Lexi got in a big fight and Eric on the rare occasion lost his temper. They talked about their relationship problems but Eric kept pointing out that it wasn’t just the relationship. Eric once again slept on the couch. When he woke up he found a note that said Lexi was leaving to go stay with her parents. She would get her stuff over the weekend while he was working. There were only two months left on lease and he didn’t care if he had to pay her half as long as he didn’t have to put up with her anymore.

Eric felt two conflicting emotions the next day when he actually realized she left. On one side he was happy that he wasn’t going to be bothered by her consent judgment and could drink a beer in peace.On the other end he felt guilty that she had to leave and that perhaps he could fix the problems in their relationship. He was the cool hand luke in the relationship. He could help her get back on her feet and then maybe she would change. She wouldn’t though because he had said this exact same thing over the course of the last 2 years multiple times.  The feeling of guilt was new to him though, like he caused her to get fired and for them to get in that argument. He now understood how women could stay with men that hit them. After all, she had gotten physical with him before. One time slamming a door on his toe breaking it.She said she did it by accident but he wasn’t convinced. There must be some psychological term for this attachment to people.He would just have to feel the guilt until it passed because he knew that better the devil you know than the one you don’t.

It was a weird feeling to wake up alone for the first time in 2 years, If you didn’t count waking up on the couch. In the morning that's when he missed a woman's touch most, right before he drank his morning coffee in solitude. He liked that initial caress of his body by a half asleep woman when still in bed while the morning sun came through the window.Lexi hadn’t done that in a long time but he remembered when she had in those first few months together.

Although things were good in Eric’s life he could not help but become bored with life eventually turning his mind into a stagnant horror. He always remembered the struggle to feed himself. Sleeping on the blow up mattress naked because he wasn’t paying extra for his A/C. Looking back at it he wondered if he enjoyed the struggle or did he just enjoy the escape of the struggle. He thought about the homeless man he met at the park. Was this life’s calling for both him and the homeless man. The struggle to get out of the struggle. The fulfillment of delivering ice buckets can only be so fulfilling.

Eric would walk down the sidewalk and look onto the fine dining restaurants knowing he could sit among these people now... For one night every month. That's what he could afford.

He wanted that job but didn’t know the requirements and that was one of the requirements of the job

Back to normal.

So it would always happen that during these great moments of personal depression that a guest would show himself to Eric. As to almost seek him out in his time of need and remind him that above all the money he made, he craved stories and social relationships with people. Much like when he went out to eat and drink; he didn’t care about the service he was given, only the stories that were told.