Joe, a chef at age forty-two, is jogging to work since he is over an hour late to Olive Garden. “It is a humid day with a forty percent chance of rain and slight overcast,” said the weather guy on the radio station Joe was listening to. He was walking over the highway when he thought,  Gee, wish I could stand here and peacefully get a view of all these beautiful cars rumbling beneath my feet . He continued on his way to the restaurant.
Today however, getting to work was quicker than usual. Every time Joe hit a crossing, the light would turn green and he would walk across. He thought he could get there in time but soon realized that it would never happen. Joe was a couple of blocks away from the restaurant when he heard a loud horn. As he turned his head toward the sound, he saw a flash of red speeding toward him. He jumped out of the way, just skimming his shoe on the red. Joe’s vision cleared just in time to see that the red flash was a rash driver being chased by two black sedans. “I’m fine,”he said as he got up and continued to jog. He looked at his watch and realized he wasn’t going to hold his job. He was late by an hour and about 10 minutes.
Joe hurried down the block as fast as he could. As the building came into view, he increased his pace and didn’t stop until he was at the door of the restaurant. Getting to the restaurant was the easy part, but opening the door, that was much harder. Joe reached for the door and noticed his hands trembling with fear. He pulled it back and took deep breaths to calm his nerves down. After the wild run here, Joe decided to open the door. “I went through so much to get here, and I will accept the fact that I will be fired,” he said to himself. He opened the door and walked in as straight and rigid, his bones feeling like they were made of iron. But the moment he walked in, his boss, Bill Steward, walked out the kitchen door. “Man, Bill’s gonna kill me for being this late,” Joe thought as he stood there. Bill saw him and gestured him toward his office for a talk.
Joe found the gesture rude but followed him down the aisles toward a large glass window embedded into the wall. Bill let Joe enter his office and started talking about the importance of not being late.
“Joe, you do understand the importance of your job, right,” asked Bill as he sipped his coffee.
Joe thought about this question deeply before answering, “Yes, I do sir.”
Taking another sip of his coffee, Bill asked,“Then why are you always late?Tell me the truth Joe.”
A long silence took over their conversation in which they could hear only loud talking and laughing voices from the cafeteria.Finally breaking the silence, Joe said, “I can’t time myself and getting here is a hastle. Say like today, I almost got hit by a car.”
“I see. Is there any way I can provide transportation for you?”Joe thought of the pros and cons of this opportunity. Taking his time, he finally answered, “Thank you sir, but no. I would like to walk and keep myself healthy.”
“Okay then. Since you have been late too many times, I can’t guarantee you job tomorrow. However, I can give you a chance to work just for today.”
The certainty of losing his job instantly was rejected by the exact words Bill just said .“Thank you, sir. I will make the most of it,”replied Joe as he tried to force down the tears now pouring out his eyes.
“By the way, is there any chance you can give suggestions for other jobs, just in case I need a new one?”, asked Joe recovering from his outburst of emotions.
“Sure, why don’t you come in at lunch and I will have some for you,” said Bill as he got out of the lush green chair to refill his cup.
“Thanks again, sir.”

With that, Joe left Bill’s office and headed for the kitchen. The adrenaline he had inside himself on the way here was now gone, replaced by a gloomy sadness in his heart. Weighed down by this, Joe couldn’t focus on anything but he tried his best to make the meals people placed their orders for. Many of the orders turned out either burned up or partially cooked. However, as the day went on, he got better at making meals and was soon making perfect meals for the customers. Having lost track of time, Joe was alarmed when the lunch bell went off. The staff cleared the kitchen as new staff came in. 
They went to the cafeteria and the tables filled up much faster than normal. By the time Joe came in, there was only one table left empty. Joe walked over and hurt his butt as he sat hard onto the bench. Joe spent most of  lunch just sitting there, not moving a muscle, thinking of the next move he should make. A group of chefs noticed him and came over. “Dude, you okay man? You seem gloomy,” said one of the chefs. Instead of answering, Joe just looked at them with wide eyes. After what seemed like several minutes, Joe snapped out of the dream and looked at them with normal, less-widened eyes. “Yeah, just thinking about something,” said Joe. “Oh, sorry for interrupting your thoughts.” “Nah, don’t worry about it. They weren’t important anyway,” Joe said as they moved on.
Just as they went out of sight, Joe got a the feeling he was forgetting something. The moment he stepped out of his chair, Joe remembered that he had to go to Bill for the jobs he had promised me. 10 minutes huh, it’s now or never Joe. He ran out the double doors, down the hall, and straight to the office. Bill saw Joe just as he hurriedly opened the door. “Do…you… have the…jobs?”, Joe asked, trying to catch his breath. “Ah, yes I do. Here you go Joe,” said Bill as he handed him some printouts of flyers and a list on copy paper.

“Good luck Joe. We’ll miss your meals.”
Joe felt like bursting into tears but he held back the urge. He replied, “Thanks Bill. This place was truly a dream to live.”
“Could you do me a favor and not tell the folk here that I’m leaving. I would hate to see sad faces on the way out,” said Joe.
“Sure thing Joe.”
“Oh yeah. Bill, could I borrow your car so I don’t have to walk home with all this stuff?”
“Well. Since it has been sitting out in the lot for about a month, I guess you can put it to good use by starting it up. After all, that old rustbucket was temporary now that I have my very own.”
“Thanks again Bill.”

Leaving the conversation at that, Joe left the restaurant using the back door and hurried to the car to pack up all his stuff. He came back to check for any lost belongings of his and left. As he was leaving the restaurant, Joe looked in his mirror to get just one last look at this place. After an emotional goodbye, Joe focused his attention back on the road. He was wiping tears out his eyes. He gunned the engine and rolled out the lot. “I sure will miss this place,” he said as he continued down the road. “Now what should I do next,” said Joe looking down at the flyer while driving. I know! I’ll just get another job! Ah, who am I trying to fool. I’ll probably be out on the streets in a week or so. Lost in his thoughts, Joe hadn’t noticed he was riding on an interstate with the vast blue ocean stretching its boundaries to the right. He wasn’t able to hear the screeching noise coming from his car. Suddenly, his car lurched to the right, plowed through the unusually empty lanes and smashed through the side of the freeway. Taken by surprise, the last thing Joe saw was bright light reflecting on the teal, blue ocean speeding toward him.
--------------------------THE END-------------------------