Disclaimer: I do not own "Hey Arnold," or its characters. They are property of Nickelodeon and Viacom Entertainment.
"Miriam Against Drinking"
By TwilightSparkle3562
Chapter 1
"A Successful Businesswoman"
Easter Sunday: a day that our lord and savior was reborn after he was arrested, scourged and finally crucified to save us all from Satan's power when we had gone astray. As I sit here in church praying on this holy of holy days, I think back to all those days where I was at the lowest moment of my life. As many of you have known, I, Miriam Pataki, had to battle an enemy so evil for many years that I had to understand that my demons had to be fought.
Of course, one of those demons was my despicable father-in-law, Joseph Pataki and another was my husband, Bob Pataki. Bob has since freed himself from the demons that plagued his mind and now, after I was kidnapped and humiliated by three of his former employees, has become more supportive of me and what I chose to do.
But, we all have demons that continue to stay with us for a very long time and that is where my story begins. It all started on Ash Wednesday, when I was just getting used to my new role as Vice President of Bob's beeper emporium. It had been a stressful week for me as I was dealing with idiot customers who wanted a set of beepers out a few days before we had a chance to finish them.
"You mean that you are not going to get those beepers out early?" asked a customer angrily over the phone. "Look, lady, I spoke to your husband and he said that he would get them out early."
I wasn't going to stand for this and I clearly remembered Bob saying that the beepers that these people wanted, was going to be out when we finished making them.
"Listen to me," I replied, trying to sound stern, but polite. "Bob never said that he would get them out early. We are running a business and we play by the rules. I would much rather have a decent product out on the market than one that is not going to work all the time."
"Are you trying to tell me how to be patient?" retorted the customer. "Just for that, I'd like to come over there and give you a piece of my mind or two."
"Try me," I snapped and I threw the phone back down on the receiver, cutting off the ignorant customer on the other line. I never lost my temper in the workplace, but sometimes, there were people who wanted to push my buttons and this was definitely one of them.
Just then, I heard a knock at the door and I allowed the person to enter and it turned out to be nothing than my friend and colleague, Anita Rogers, who had a stack of papers in her hand.
"Hey, Miriam," she said, walking into the office. "Your husband wanted me to give these to you before you headed home tonight."
As she handed me the stack of papers, Anita could see that there was something indeed wrong with me and was curious to know why. We may have been close friends for a short time from our days when she was my boss at Wal-Mart, but it seemed that we were getting to know each other more and more.
"Miriam, it looks like something is bothering you," she said, looking down at me. "Has it been a rough day?"
I was silent for a minute and wondered whether I should tell Anita the truth.
"You can say that," I replied, placing my feet on the top of my desk, as I tried to recline and stretch out my back. "Some customer wanted to get our beepers into our story ahead of our completion date. I tried to reason with him, but it was no use."
"So did the customers at Wal-Mart," chuckled Anita. "I'm pretty sure you could remember those times."
"I'm used to it," I said, taking a heavy sigh. "I'm used to being yelled at all the time. Ever since I was kidnapped by those thugs of his, I have tried to tell myself to be strong and willing to endure whatever brunt comes my way."
Anita smiled at me, knowing how far I had come since starting at Wal-Mart. Of course, working here while Bob was injured had made me understand the value that I possess within me now.
"I was also wondering if you wanted to swing by the bar near here and get a bite to eat," asked Anita.
"Sure," I said. "I just have to get these orders out to a few more customers and I will meet you there. How about 7:00 when I get out of here?"
"Sounds fine with me," Anita replied and she left my office. Once the door was closed, I took my feet off of my desk and pulled down on one of the drawers. I used to keep a bottle of wine inside for when I got stressed and this was another day where I needed it the most. I also used to hide the fact that I was a lover of wine, although everyone knew of the smoothies I would always consume when I was unemployed.
A few hours later, I finished the orders and closed up the emporium for the night, as I started to feel the effects of the wine that I had consumed. Walking past several employees, I tried to cloud up the fact that I had just drunk the wine.
"You all right, Miriam?" asked an employee, worriedly. "You look sick."
"I'm fine," I replied, feeling slightly drunk. "Just get those orders done before you go home. See you in the morning."
I then left the worried employees behind and made my way to my car that was in the parking lot, in the reserved spots for me and Bob. So, still feeling tipsy, I drove off to the bar where I would meet Anita.
Of course, a slight turn of events would change my life forever and would start my own temptation against the devil…