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34
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Ed returned home, sad that he had no more job and also ashamed about what had just taken place in the dishwashing room. He didn't know what had gotten into the heads of all the women he had been meeting lately, and he supposed that he didn't want to know. He only hoped that it would stop because sooner or later Kathy was going to find out about one of these 'flings' and then who knew what would happen...
He was greeted upon entering his house by Kathy. He gave her a kiss and a hug, following routine, but just didn't feel good. He made his way to the couch and sat down, Kathy following behind and sitting next to him.
After a moment's silence, he finally said, "Poodle... I lost my job."
Kathy looked at him, stunned. "What? How? Why? Ed, we need that money!"
"I... I don't know. It just all happened so fast. I'd really rather not talk about it if that's okay with you. Can you just go and get our bankbook?"
Kathy nodded, got up and went to get the bankbook, then returned and handed him the book. Ed took it and flipped to the last page. He added up the numbers, then announced, "We have two hundred and ninety four dollars in the bank. Do you have any money on you? If we find six dollars, we can pay our fee!"
Kathy's eyes widened. "Really? Two hundred and ninety four dollars? I didn't know a dinky little dishwashing job could pay off so quickly. I'll go get my purse." Kathy got off the couch once more and disappeared into the bedroom.
She returned some minutes later, holding an opened purse, which she was looking through as she walked. "Uh... I've found four... twenty-- no... forty... sixty... ssss... seven. Four sixty seven."
Ed bit his lip and nodded. "We need a dollar thirty three." He made a face of concentration, reaching into his pants pocket and feeling around for anything available. When he brought his hand out, he established that he had a quarter, a dime and a nickel. "Okay. Ninety three cents... We can do this... we can do this." He reached into his other pants pocket and brought out a dime, two pennies and a button. "Eighty one cents. Okay, we're almost there. This is possible."
He stood up from the couch, then began tossing the cushions onto the floor like a madman. Kathy surveyed him awkwardly, but did not say anything.
"Aha!" Ed yelled, giving Kathy a fright. He turned to her, holding out three quarters. "Six cents. Oh my gosh, I know we can do this!" Ed walked away from the scattered couch and went to the loveseat. He threw the cushions off as well, then began rummaging through the cracks of the piece of furniture.
All in a moment's time, he fell to the floor and let out a long joyful sigh. Kathy came to him and from his lying spot on the floor, he held out a dime to her.
"We did it," he said simply, a drowsy smile on his face. Kathy smiled back and gave him a kiss. Ed had forgotten about Carlina, about Nadia, about everything he needed to remember, then passed out, happier than he had ever been in the last few months.