Day Of

As I wake up on Monday, I can't help but feel a bit of dread. "Monday… the worst day of the week" is all I said to myself before getting ready for work. As I look at my watch it reads: 4:45 AM, "Perfect." I said in a satisfied tone. I've had this routine since I became a Seal, and as my contract ended, I found myself sticking to it. Wake up at 4:45, take a shower, eat breakfast while watching the news, brush my teeth, and get dressed. And today was no different, as I put my shoes on however, I suddenly hear "breaking news" come from my tv. "Russian president Vladimir Putin and the kremlin have broke off all communication with the west and its own allies. However, there is no need to get alarmed, a trusted cnn source has stated that this is only a drill to see how the Russian government could respond if it lost all communications to the world, but as we've seen in Ukraine, this could be a disaster. Coming up nex-." As I turn my tv off and walk out to my car, I ponder the thought of what the reported said " this could be a disaster." I thought of what could happen from absolutely nothing to nuclear war as I drive to work. As I pull up to the entrance, I have my I.D ready for the gate guard. "Morning Mr. Blihts, you see the game yesterday?" He said in a friendly tone. "Of course John, I wouldn't miss the Vikings game for anything." We both shared a laugh as he handed me my I.D back. "Ain't the the truth." He said. As I drive to my designated parking spot, I see Janice having trouble opening her trunk. As I get out to help, the cold air makes me second guess myself before ultimately going over to her car. " Mornin Janice, need some help?" I asked. "Omg yes please, thank you Jordan." She said happily. It took a bit longer than I wanted it to but within a minute I had her trunk opened, inside I saw a somewhat clean but still messy trunk, clothes in a bag with some spewed out, a gallon container which I assumed was for emergence gas, and a briefcase which Janice grabbed before hurriedly closing the trunk and gesturing towards the door. "Come on, I'll buy you a coffee inside."Once inside we scan our badges on the electronic lock before being granted access to the main lobby, from there we made our way to the little kitchen/café. "What kind of coffee do you like?" She asked. "One with a lot of creamer and sugar." I said. She looked at me with a slight smile before ordering our drinks. Once seated we talked for about 15 minutes, nothing special, although one thing she said I did find a little weird was "Did you see the news this morning? Looks like putin is scared, the way he cut off all communication lines with the world, what do you think he's doing?" This caught me off guard a little, I've known Janice for 5 years and not once has she mentioned anything about the news or what was being broadcasted, she always talked about her daughter and how she hates this bitch or how she loves this movie, but it was a good question, what was mad Vlad doing, "Well the reporter said it was training so he's probably in some bunker going over different scenarios." I said. She looked at me and for a moment, just a moment, I saw disappointment in her eyes, but just as quickly as it came, it was gone, and in its place was a friendly look. "Yea, I guess so, it would be interesting if he wasn't though." That was an odd statement but I brushed it off thinking nothing of it. "Well, thank you for the coffee." I said getting up. "I'll make sure to return the gesture soon." I said as I take one last sip before realizing it was gone. My job is nothing crazy, all I do is handle the paperwork for the company I work for. ULTRA is a joint military and space company that provides intel for Ukraine, so when I say I "handle the paperwork" I really mean the stuff the important people want destroyed or filed away. Not the most exiting job, but when you have ptsd, you don't really get to chose where you work in a company like that. As the work day comes to an end, I bump into Janice again, remembering the trouble she had this morning, I offered to help open her trunk again, to which she happily accepted, we don't really talk much on the way down to her car or when I'm opening her trunk, (took me less time to get it open) after it's open she thanks me and gets in her car to drive away, as she's baking up, she stops and rolls down her window, she looks serious and her voice is not the friendly voice I'm used to hearing. "Watch the news extra careful tonight, you're going to want to pay attention to it." And before I can get a word out, she drives off. Standing there dumbfounded by what she said, I can't help but think about what the reporter said this morning. "This could be a disaster."