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“Wow that alien encounter sure was crazy, wasn’t it Alan?” Charlie asked, sweeping the floor of its dirt. The smiling friends' break room was weirdly quiet after an alien popped out of the TV screaming “Hello thank you for watching!” on repeat. It was just one example of the nutty things Charlie saw at his job.
“Yeah. It was also crazy that it took us five minutes to find the remote to turn him off.” Alan said in his deadpan voice as he wrote on his clipboard. Charlie didn’t know if Alan was being sarcastic or not, and he didn’t really know what to say next, so he just kept quiet. He wasn’t sure why he was sweeping the floors, nobody told him to do it, maybe it was to distract himself from that alien encounter.
Or maybe it was to distract him from the silence. It was painfully silent, with the only noise coming from the air conditioning and the sound of breathing. Charlie couldn’t put his finger on why this silence bothered him so much, he’s usually one to endorse silence. There was just something that was off, it made him uncomfortable.
Charlie’s thoughts stopped as he heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor. His eyes followed the noise to his best friend, Pim. Boy, he looked rough. The pink of his cheeks was gone. The sparkle of his eyes was absent. The smile that he carried everywhere was nowhere to be found. He just looked so grey and sad. Charlie just stood and watched as Pim slowly got out of his chair and walked towards the front door.
“Heading out?” Alan straightforwardly asked as he looked up from his clipboard.
“Yeah,” Pim breathed as he grabbed his coat and walked out of the door. And just like that he was gone.
Charlie’s heart sank at that moment. The moment Pim walked out without saying goodbye or wishing everyone a good night Charlie knew what was wrong. He knew why the silence bothered him. His best friend, who oozed positivity from every pore, who joked and laughed at the silliest things, who wore stupid smiles during hard times, was nothing like himself today. The silence was awkward because Pim wasn’t himself and the fact that Charlie didn’t do anything about it made him feel sick.
Alan interrupted Charlie’s thoughts with a deep sigh “Ok well uh I think I’m gonna call it for tonight as well, make sure you lock up after, or something,” he pointed at Charlie as he left through the door, leaving Charlie alone with his broom and his thoughts.
—
It was hard for Charlie to sleep that night, his eyes were fixed to the ceiling of his room and they refused to close. His mind went through the events of his day and how bonkers it all was. How he and Pim had to help their recent client Desmond from NOT killing himself, how they showed him all the wonders of life or something, how a bunch of blippis crucified Alan on a cross, and how Desmond shot the crap out of them. Totally bonkers man.
But the one thing that stood out to him the most that day was seeing Pim’s depressed face. My god did feel like a stab in the chest. I mean why was he so depressed? Didn’t they help Desmond by the end? Was he sad that Charlie was flirting with Alan or something? Did Charlie do something wrong? Why didn’t Charlie do anything sooner? Does Pim hate him?
Charlie groaned and covered his face with his hands. He was overthinking like he always does when he’s nervous. Pim is going to be fine he thought, I just needed to be there for him.
Yeah, that’s what Pim was probably missing, his best friend.
Charlie promised himself that by the next morning, he’d confront Pim and make sure that his best friend would smile again. I mean he is a smiling friend, how hard could it be? That thought alone was good enough to help Charlie go to sleep.
—
The air was thick and tense in the smiling friends' break room the next morning. Or at least that’s what it felt like to Charlie as he anxiously strummed his fingers on the table.
He didn’t know why he was so anxious, but the thought of talking to Pim made his stomach churn. Usually, Pim always came to work earlier than him, but today seemed to be an exception. Oh my god is Pim not showing up today? Of course he wouldn’t show up he must feel terrible! Or maybe he’s at some doctor's appointment Charlie didn’t know about? The amount of thoughts overlapping each other in Charlie’s mind gave him a headache.
Just then the sound of a door opening and footsteps snapped Charlie into reality.
Oh my god it’s Pim.
Charlie watched as his pink friend walked through the break room and without a word sat at a chair adjacent to him. Poor guy still looked grey and depressed, which didn’t make Charlie feel better in the slightest. His heart was beating like crazy from nervousness. Now’s your chance to talk to talk to him, man, he thought to himself.
Charlie cleared his throat, “Hey man, everything’s going alright?” He asked Pim.
…no response.
Charlie nervously glanced at him “Well um I hope everything’s going good. And uh, if not then you can tell me. I won’t judge or anything.”
Charlie waited for a response again but still got zip. That was probably a dumb thing to ask. Damn it why does he have to be so bad at talking about feeling?
Charlie sat awkwardly in silence and nervously looked around the room, surprised by the fact that Glep and Alan weren’t in here this morning. He couldn’t decide whether being alone with Pim would be better or worse than having his other coworkers here with him. He glanced back at Pim, whose frown had been bothering Charlie like crazy, and tried to think of what to say next.
Charlie sighed. “Look Pim I don’t know what’s been going on in your life but you've been acting…differently since yesterday.” He scooted his chair closer to Pim and laid his hand on his shoulder. “I know this isn’t any of my business, but you can talk to me, you’re my best friend.”
Charlie was sure that that would convince Pim to open up, but after a few seconds of silence, he sighed and knew Pim wouldn’t budge.
“I understand how you’re feeling man, but right now we should probably start on work, or something,” Charlie got out of his chair and was about to head to his boss’s office, when he heard a small voice next to him utter, “What’s the point”.
Charlie stopped dead in his tracks and quickly turned to face his friend.
“What did you say?”
“What’s the point in doing all of this,” Pim said in a quiet and raspy voice, “we’re not helping anyone by making them smile, and the moment we leave they become sad again. It’s an endless cycle of distracting yourself from the reality of life with cheap rushes of happiness. No one can ever stay truly happy. And Desmond was right, nothing really matters because in the end the sun is going to explode. There’s no point in anything”.
In that moment Charlie’s mind went blank as he took in this information. Pim was upset because of what Desmond had said yesterday, that’s why! Poor guy took everything that he said to heart. He didn’t think he would feel any worse that morning, but it felt like his heart sank deeper in his stomach. At least he knew Pim didn’t hate him?
Charlie walked back and sat down at his seat, and after a few moments of silence, he replied. “Y’know Pim, I don’t think I agree with everything that Desmond said”.
Pim looked over to Charlie for the first time that morning, his eyes widening ever so slightly, “…really?”
Charlie cleared his throat.
“Yeah, man. I mean sure the world isn’t a pretty place, and the sun will explode in a billion years, but that doesn’t mean it should stop you from being happy. Life has so many great things that could make anyone happy, like being with your friends, your family, doing hobbies, setting goals, improving yourself. Hell, one thing that always makes me happy is getting onion rings from Jorb in the Box!” The words flowed out of his mouth without a second thought behind them. Charlie’s overwhelming thoughts died down as he focused on how Pim’s expression became softer.
“I don’t know where I’m going with this, but life is pretty cool,” Charlie continued, “I mean working with your best friend every day while making everyone smile, that’s another thing I’m happy for”.
As soon as those words left his mouth Charlie knew he said too much. Oh my god that was so cringy, Pim probably thinks he’s an idiot and-
“Y-you really think that? About working together?” Pim blurted quietly, his eyes were big and had a slight sparkle behind them as he stared back at Charlie. Charlie’s stomach started freaking out again as his face started getting warm.
“Uuuuhhhhhhm” was all he was able to get out.
Pim let out a tiny laugh. “I guess doing jobs with you is pretty fun. I mean I can’t see myself doing it with anyone else”
Charlie saw a little smile creeping out of Pim’s lips which made him grow a smile of his own too.
“Yeah, man working with you is killer. And also dude didn’t you hear that Desmond’s doing better because he’s working at a job he loves? We DID help someone by making them smile. Well sorta. But you get the point! Our job does matter! Smiles matter, man!”
Charlie didn’t really care at that point if what he was saying was lame or cringey, because deep down he knew that’s how he really felt.
Pim let out another laugh as his smile grew. His face was looking less grey and sad, and a faint pinkness was spreading across his face. “It feels nice to smile,” he laughed.
All of Charlie’s anxiety melted away instantly, it felt like twenty pounds of weight left his shoulders. He smiled as his face grew warmer, his stomach was still freaking out but in a good way.
“C’mon you crazy goofball,” Charlie said as he stood from his seat. “we got a new job from the boss man, I think it’s something about old Timmy getting stuck in a well, or whatever.”
Pim gasped “Poor Timmy! Let’s go out there and make sure he smiles again!!!” he yelled as he threw up his hands.
Charlie felt as if the uncomfortable silence from yesterday had disappeared, the room felt brighter and more alive, even if he and Pim were the only ones there. As he was about to head to his boss’s office for the second time, Pim ran up to him and hugged his side, which almost made Charlie lose his balance.
“Thank you, Charlie,” he sighed cheerfully. Charlie couldn’t help but smile after hearing that. Even if Pim wasn’t at his 100% best, he was just glad that his friend was feeling better, even if it was only a little bit.
Charlie awkwardly patted Pim on the head.
“Anytime, man”.