blogwithvalor

Stephanie never assumed she was the smartest person in the room. She was clever, she knew how things worked. After all, she was an appliance technician. But she never tried to pretend it made her an expert in anything else. That’s not how Jeromey acted. Apparently, his ability to fix appliances derived from his high IQ. He was an unofficial Mensa member, he would constantly say. She was driving the work van, and he was sitting next to her, going off on another tirade about how their manager didn’t show him enough respect. She generally tuned him out when they were driving. He never seemed to notice her lack of response. At least they were on their way back to the shop.

Stephanie generally appreciated her work. Everyone had appliances in their home, and she saw the usefulness in knowing how to fix them. She liked knowing she had a place she fit in. She liked to fit people into the world like puzzle pieces. Her manager, Karen, wasn’t great, but she did the basics to run an appliance repair team, and that was enough. Customers were a big piece in the puzzle. They bought appliances, misused them, and gave Stephanie work. It was an odd ecosystem she could appreciate. Jeromey didn’t fit that ecosystem though.

For all his talk about how smart and great he was, he never really did much. Any job he was put on would take 3 to 4 times as long as anyone else. He slowed everyone down. Customers complained more about him than everyone else combined. He’d been paired up with her recently because Stephanie generally got along with everyone. In truth, she just liked listening to other people about their lives. It helped her see how they fit into the world around her. Jeromey was the most ill-fitting person she had ever met. Listening to him obnoxiously lie about everything drove her crazy. She had tried to talk to Karen about rotating Jeromey between a few other technicians, but there had been enough verbal confrontations that cancelled everyone else out. It bothered Stephanie that Karen refused to let him go too, some bureaucratic nonsense.

“That’s why I don’t give a fuck what Karen tells me. I do things my way. I told her she can shove it.” Jeromey was finishing his rant as Stephanie turned the van off.

“Did you actually though?” Stephanie blurted out. She’d never really questioned him before and it came out before she could even think about the argument that would follow.

“You don’t believe me?!” Jeromey was starting to raise his voice. “We’ll walk into her office RIGHT THE FUCK NOW! She can tell you with her own dumb face.”

Stephanie immediately regretted saying anything and stepped out of the van, determined to walk away from the entire situation. He jumped out and jogged in front of her. He was staring her down as best he could. He wasn’t a big guy at all. He barely stood taller than her by a couple of inches. His slim frame was the result of bad nutrition and a severe lack of activity. He talked a lot about his PC setup and things related to that, which Stephanie really didn’t care about. Stephanie liked hiking, cooking, and her job. She never backed down to moving large appliances. She wasn’t someone you would consider large, but she could handle herself. So, when he stood in front of her trying his hardest to make his height difference intimidating, she walked straight into him. Jeromey fell flat on his back and screamed.

Karen had Stephanie in her office almost immediately. Jeromey was taken to the hospital. The incident was assumed to have been work related. However, Stephanie told the truth about knocking him down after he tried to block her path. She didn’t like lying. Karen fired her shortly after.

Stephanie drove home that day furious at the whole situation. Part of her was mad at herself for letting Jeromey goad her like that. She was almost always calm. Most of her anger, though, was reserved for him. He was the most useless technician she knew. Hell, he was one of the most useless people she knew. She sat in the garage below her townhouse, her car still running. Stephanie had finally come to the realization that she was going to kill Jeromey.