My One Night Alone with The Boss

I woke up with a terrible headache, with tears in my eyes. I knew crying wouldn't help me right now in this situation. I had to face the cruel reality of my dire circumstances that I had been left alone in New York City. I didn't know anyone here and was embarrassed to call home and ask for help. But I barely had enough money to pay another month's rent. My body, mind, and heart were painfully exhausted, but I had to force myself to think. Repeating over and over, I wasn't going to cry.

Instead, I climbed out of bed. My throat felt painfully dry. I went to the refrigerator, and staring back at me were one bottle of water and half a carton of eggs. I opened the cabinet, and they were empty except for dry seasoning. All I had now was a half-empty apartment that would keep me off the streets for the next month. But nothing else, no electricity, no food, no money, and no job. Shaking away the tears, I asked myself how I got into this situation.

I went into the bathroom and took a hot shower. A few minutes later, I patted myself dry, wrapping the towel around my aching body. Then, I began combing the fingers of both hands through tangled hair. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes and holding back the burning tears behind my eyelids. I brushed my hair several times to remove the evil thoughts from my mind. I eventually secured my hair at the crown with several large pins.

My eyes finally made a connection with the mirror over the bathroom sink. It had been days since I looked at myself. I had been too ashamed and hurt. I noted the swelling and dark rings that had developed around my eyes. I thought about how people always made remarks about my looks. I'm sure they would notice the

slightest puffiness under my eyes. My first instinct was to open my makeup bag. To cover my shame and pain. Shaking away the tears, I thought about what had happened. But I still couldn't believe it. I had been so naive and gullible.

A few weeks earlier:

I took a deep breath before turning the doorknob to the apartment manager's office.

'Please let this work,' I uttered as I opened the door and entered the office.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am… My name is Sinclair Martin. I'm Mr. Johnson's roommate from apartment C."

The lady looks me up and down suspiciously. I stood there trying to look pleasant. I planted a smile on my face because I didn't want to remove my sunglasses. I couldn't let her see I was on the verge of falling apart and had been crying for days.

"Yes, he told me about you. You're the young lady from Florida. How have you been enjoying your stay here in New York?"

"It's been nice; I love New York. It's very different from Florida. I'm considering making New York my home. I'm on the verge of getting hired at a very elite company in Manhattan, VW International Inc."

She was immediately impressed. But I couldn't reveal to the apartment manager that I had only sent a resume to that company and had yet to hear from them. So, I stretched the truth a tad. But it was all part of my scheme to keep a roof over my head. I refuse to go back home a failure. So, I had to learn how to start looking out for myself.

"Wow! That's great! Only a few women get that opportunity to work at a company like VW. But, of course, they've been around a long time. I heard they were from overseas, had opened a new office, and planned to open some stores here in New York. But congratulations to you, so how can I help you?"

"Thank you." I clear my throat. "I know Mr. Johnson has a lease on this apartment in his name, and I don't know if he's made you aware of it yet, but he doesn't have intentions of renewing it."

"No, I have yet to hear a word from him. It's in the lease agreement; he must let me know at least two weeks in advance. You know, so I can get things ready for the next tenant."

"Oh really! He hasn't mentioned it at all to you. Well, I know he's planning on moving in a few more days, and he mentioned to me just today that he wasn't interested in renewing his lease. So, I was wondering, since I love this place so much, if, Ma'am, you would be interested in renting the apartment to me."

"Well, Miss, I still need to hear from him that he intends not to renew the lease agreement and is moving out. So, I can't just rent the apartment to you without his verification."

"Hmmm. Is a note or letter enough verification? And you can compare the writing to the lease agreement's signature."

"I guess that would be sufficient, and if need be, I can call him."

"Look, I have this note from today. Confirming that the current tenant plans on leaving as soon as tomorrow."

I showed the Landlord the note he had left me. Then I proceed to persuade the Landlord further, saying.

"Ma'am, if you just call him, I'm sure he'll confirm this note and his intentions regarding moving."

The Landlord pulls up his lease agreement and gives him a reluctant call. I smiled reassuringly at the lady. So, the Landlord decides to call him to confirm the note, especially with a potential tenant standing right before her. I pulled out a wat of cash! $2000.00 I held in my hand, counting it before the Landlord's face. I knew she wanted to rent the apartment.

"Yes, Mr. Johnson, this is your Landlord. Do you have plans to renew your lease? It's about to expire in two days?"

"Uhm...no, ma'am. I was going to contact you tomorrow morning to inform you that my roommate and I will be moving out and that I would pay the late penalty."

"Okay,

I'm glad I called. But, unfortunately, there is a late deposit penalty for not giving me two weeks' notice.

"How much is the penalty, ma'am?"

"Thirty percent of the deposit amount."

"That much! Alright, okay, alright..."

"Have a good day, sir, and I will deposit the remaining balance into your account."

I stood there, trying to contain my tears of hot anger even more. 'That dirty dog had the nerve to answer the phone for a landlord and not me!' I was so angry as I stood there as my fist began to ball up. But I had to remain calm.

The Landlord asked, hanging up the phone. "So, ma'am, are you interested in renting the place? He said that both of you would be moving out."

"Yes, ma'am, I want to rent the place. I'm not moving. I have my first month's rent, and can I pay in advance and sign the new lease, too? Correct?"

"Yes, sure. But the new lease doesn't go into effect until tomorrow."

"That's fine...Thank you, Ma'am."

I got the new lease and asked for a copy. Then I went back upstairs with thoughts of doing all sorts of things I had never thought of ever doing before. So, I quickly changed into one of my jogging suits and tennis shoes.

There was no time to waste. The clock was ticking, and I knew he would be home soon after receiving that phone call from the Landlord. But what I was about to do next was shocking even to me!