Chapter Text
Working for Jojocorp honestly wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
It provided enough money, it had stable enough hours, and there wasn’t much overtime or short staffing. The work itself wasn’t even the hardest thing- it was easy once you were taught what to do.
Now, that didn’t mean Michael didn’t fucking hate it, of course. It was a routine- one he desperately longed to get out of. Every day, the same stupid work, the same stupid task to fulfill, the same end result, the same paycheck. Nothing was out of order- everything was perfectly the same.
He felt like a tiger pacing around in a zoo cage; waiting for his next meal, his next day, the next time he could sleep. When did he ever have time to himself?
He would come home, well, to his shared home with his friend. Amber had been his roommate, but at the very least a not annoying one. That is, if you counted being up at 3 am and occasionally questioning the existence of aliens as not annoying if you too were riddled with the ever so often insomniac night. They were both tired- though he found that he was more than they ever happened to be with how they generally had some energy compared to him. Returning drained, it felt as though the only path he really had was that to his bed where he would fall over and rest if he could.
The only time he had to himself was spent thinking about when he could really get more time to himself. The weekend? Not really. That barely offered much- he would find himself in weekend shifts most of the time, and when not doing them, he found himself busy with trying to spend time with friends rather than stuck at home. What did he ever do alone that made him happy? Nothing.
“Hey Michael, you out of it today?” A voice brought him back to where he currently was, being that he was still sitting at a computer, typing away for another stupid article aimed at prepubescent teens to get their money and sell them stupid useless, wasteful consumer goods.
“Huh? Oh, sorry.” He was quick to get back to work, quick because of a silent panic that lingered in his brain to remind him to do so at the sight of his boss. The soft hum of the keyboard of his computer as he typed away provided something to zone out quite easily to.
“Look at you, mister hard worker. Make sure that report gets to me tonight, alright?”
“Uh-huh.” His mindless response was more of him focusing on the fact his article was nearly done, that is, until he noticed the odd shaking of his desk. What on earth?
Stopping typing, he lifted his fingers over the keyboard, hearing the vibrating once more. Clearly it was coming from within the desk- but what the hell was it? Observing the vibrating once again, he reached for the handle of one of the cabinets, pulling it out to see his phone, the screen bright and alert with a message.
Stupid Mineral Bitch: HEY
Stupid Mineral Bitch: YOU CAN FINALLY QUIT YOUR JOB
For a very brief moment in time, he forgot he had Amber saved as such, and questioned his naming within his phone system. After seeing the sequential message they had sent, he immediately recognized who it was, before scrolling through the rest of the chat.
Stupid Mineral Bitch: DONT ASK WHY I KNOW THIS BUT
Stupid Mineral Bitch: I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE GOTTEN AN ENTIRE FARM HOUSE
Stupid Mineral Bitch: do you want in or not you stupid cowboy fucker. I know you see my messages
Stupid Mineral Bitch: you WILL reply to me, little man. I will kill you. That is not a threat, that is a promise.
Looking around briefly to see if anyone was looking at him, he snuck his phone out, typing out a message back to his roomie.
Cowboy Baby: jesus christ lol wtf
Stupid Mineral Bitch: did you not read anything i just sent you son of a bitch
Stupid Mineral Bitch: with the strength of ten crackheads i promise ill kill you
Cowboy Baby: alright damn calm down ok so. wait. are you deadass about this
Stupid Mineral Bitch: i’ve never been more serious in my entire life the farm’s town is pretty damn small and right next to the ocean so worse comes to worse we can just live right by the fucking shore and never have to succumb to capitalism again. Its free farmer real estate.
God, he wished they stopped quoting stupid jokes every two seconds.
Cowboy Baby: i mean. Shit dude. Are you sure???? Do we even have enough money? How the fuck did you get this house?
Stupid Mineral Bitch: worse come to worse i can steal from my parents we’ll be fine tho lol
Stupid Mineral Bitch: ill explain later how i got it lol but tldr; my grandpa was a farmer
Stupid Mineral Bitch: quit your job and come with me to absolute bumblefuck. Do it
Sighing, he lifted his head up from his phone, looking at the room around him. Did he want to get out of here? Yes. Desperately. The continued hum of keyboards around him bothered him- and it all seemed to be much worse with the sight of more people he had realized he recalled growing up with. These same people were content with such a lifestyle?
These same people were just showing him what he would become if he didn’t do anything about it now. Succumbing to his desires, he stood up, logging out of the computer and grabbing his stuff. He typed quickly into his phone, before putting it away and leaving altogether.
Cowboy Baby: if you lied to me, im gonna fucking kill you
“Michael? Where are you going? Your break isn’t scheduled for another 3 hours.”
He dodged the question his boss posed at him, staring at him in confusion. After all, he had been so obedient up until this point- what had drove him to go rogue? “I’m taking my own. I’ve had enough.”
“What?”
“I quit. You can keep your fancy little desk and whatever. And,” Michael added as he rounded the corner, reaching the front desk receptionist with his boss still trailing behind him, “I’m taking all of these. Now kindly fuck off.” He picked up the small bowl of mint lifesavers, unwrapping one and popping it into his mouth before heading over to the elevator of the building, pressing the button and waiting for the queue to get to the ground floor, take the bus back home and wait for Amber.
He had either just made the stupidest decision of his damn life, or the best. And for now, he couldn’t help but wonder if it had been the former.