“How long will you be able to keep doing that?”
“Until they stop giving me credit,” she joked.
“I can’t help but feel you are being stubborn for no reason.”
“Well I’m sorry you feel that way. Let’s talk about something else. How is work?”
“The same as it was yesterday,” he abruptly replied.
“Are you upset with me?”
“No.”
“Why does it sound like you’re upset with me?”
Viktor sighed and then finally admitted, “Because I’m upset with you.”
She wasn’t expecting his honesty. It was the first time he had ever admitted he was unhappy with her and it set her back a little. She didn’t know what to say and the line went quiet.
“But I love you and I’ll get over it,” he added.
“I feel like maybe I shouldn’t talk to you about my finances anymore,” she replied.
“My reaction shouldn’t come as a surprise, Amanda,” he said with a tone she had never heard from him before. “How can I listen to your troubles and not want to help? If the situation was reversed, would you not want to help me?”
The line was silent for nearly a minute before Amanda replied, “You’re absolutely right. If I had extra money and you needed help, I wouldn’t even hesitate to offer it.”
Viktor wasn’t sure he could believe his ears. “Does this mean you’ll let me help you?”
“Let me see what the mechanic says. If it’s way out of my range, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay,” he agreed. “But at the risk of losing what little ground I’ve gained. Could I not also help you if the amount is small?”
“I suppose that would be reasonable,” she acquiesced. “And the tow truck just arrived.”
“That was quick,” he remarked.
“Yeah. He must have been close. I gotta go.”
“Okay. I love you. Call me later.”
“Love you too. Have a good day.”
After her car was on its way to the mechanic, Amanda called for a cab to take her to work. She arrived almost 2 hours after her shift began. She felt like her entire life was becoming a money pit and she still hated the thought of Viktor helping her. She tried to push it from her mind and focus on her work for the time being.
The mechanic called after lunch to inform her that the engine control module in her car went bad and that it would cost almost a grand to repair but also they weren’t entirely sure why it malfunctioned in the first place and were running some checks to rule out an electrical issue. It was not good news. Amanda wanted to just cry. She thanked the mechanic and then texted Viktor with the update.
He replied, Text me your account number. I’ll wire the money.
As uncomfortable as it made her to do it, she texted him back with her bank’s routing number and account number. As soon as she did, she regretted it. She just didn’t feel right accepting money from him but she felt stuck because she had agreed to it.
It will be in your account tomorrow, he informed her.
You don’t have to do this, she texted back, hoping he might change his mind but knowing that unlikely.
I love you, was all he said in response.
All she could do was say it back. Love you too.
Amanda couldn’t make it to the mechanic in time to pick her car up that day so she went the next morning, losing more time from work. They never did find a cause for the module malfunction so they replaced it and hoped for the best. Amanda was glad to get her car back but worried that it could happen again.
When she checked her bank account later that morning she saw that Viktor had wired $3,000 to her account. 3 times what she said it would cost. “What is he doing?” she mumbled to herself. She wanted to call and yell at him for sending so much but she was inundated with work on top of the fact that her cubicle offered little in the way of privacy.
You sent too much, she texted him.
He replied, I sent extra in case it was more and to help offset the time you’re missing from work. You can buy me dinner when you get here. :)
She shook her head telling herself she should have seen that coming. Fine. But it’s going to be a big dinner, with wine and dessert.
Of course, he replied along with a smiley face.
The rest of her work week was uneventful with the exception of Randy’s weird antics which made watercooler talk most interesting. Everyone had a story to tell and every day Randy offered up new material for them to work with by way of the really strange things he would say and do. He told his shift supervisor that he went on a date with a girl he met online and partway into their evening she asked if he was a serial killer and then left. He told another coworker that he took apart his truck and put it back together. But then later, when discussing cars with someone else, he didn’t know what the function of a clutch or a fuel injector was.
His habit of staring wasn’t limited to Amanda. He did it to everyone. Some joked that he was an equal opportunity stalker. As the company began to field complaints from customers about Randy’s odd way of handling things, everyone knew his days were numbered. Some in the office purposefully would engage him to get more fodder for their stories while others just tried to steer clear and ride out the storm until he was let go.
Amanda was among the latter and avoided him like the plague. His behavior was sometimes troubling and she found it difficult to respond politely when he would ask her strange things. Like when he randomly, out of the blue asked her if she washed her clothes in a laundromat or whether she thought one day computers would take over
