FIRED

Chapter 5

Arnold

Chapter 4: http://scarletlibrarian.com/corey/chapter4.htm

He knew he had to keep walking, but he even that presented a decision he had to make. Keep walking north along the Embarcadero towards the tourist-laden Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf, or turn right and head west into downtown, a shady canyon of skyscrapers and hotels. He became queasy even thinking about this decision. It was as if he had lost all of his thinking power with the job. His heart raced, trying to figure out the next step, needing to make the right choice, the perfect choice. He was sweating a little bit, but not from the sun overhead, as noon approached, but from his jangled panicked nerves. He felt the churned-up cheeseburger, mixed with warm hops and barley now, trying to make its way back up his throat, and he swallowed hard against his dry throat to keep it down.

“Too many tourists straight ahead, and not much too look at,” Martin decided, so he turned right and walked away from the Ferry Building and towards Market Street. Passing into the strage shade created by the many tall buildings that now surrounded him. People bustled everywhere. He hadn’t seen many people in his travels so far, but now they were everywhere. Men in business suits from the Men’s Wearhouse, men in business casual from Banana Republic, women in work suits from Talbot’s, bike messengers in their thrift store finds, tourists wearing the latest from Wal-Mart, hotel bellman in ridiculous outfits. And, Martin kept walking up the Market Street, in his own suit from Marshall’s that he got for only $89.

He felt both comfortable to be back in this business milieu, but also like a faker in the same moment. Is he allowed in this world anymore? Will someone find him out. He imagined the many business-suited clones stopping in their tracks and pointing at him, their faces slack, as in the great San Francisco thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and wailing an ungodly cry, pointing out the imposter in their midst. That was how alone he felt right now.

He shuffled ahead, keeping his face down just a bit. “That is exactly what I am, an imposter.” He pictured himself in his suit, looking at himself from afar in his own mind, thinking this is not you, not anymore. He looked to the side, and caught his own image in the reflective glass windows, warping his look as he whisked by, but capturing him perfectly. Martin thought he looked like a hunchback in the reflection, a monster.

He couldn’t be a businessman today. He couldn’t be a part of this world, not today. He needed to keep walking, and he couldn’t go home, but he had to ditch this blazer, these slacks, this oxford shirt, these loafers. He had to ditch the whole disguise. This isn’t me anymore, at least for now.

“But who am I? How do I dress?” He also wondered why he kept asking himself these types of questions. How could he not know who he was, what he was supposed to do. Why is this event throwing him for such a loop. In the last hour or two, he has cried, talked out loud to himself, lied to a stranger, tried to bring on a suicidal earthquake, and almost thrown up. Now he wanted to strip out of these clothes, and start fresh. “What the hell am I thinking?” he finally asked himself.

The Gap was straight ahead, about 6 blocks up Market Street, right at the cable car turn around at Powell Street. Tourist central. He was heading to the Gap to lose these clothes, and get comfortable.

The usual crowd of downtown workers was strolling the street, but there was a crowd forming up ahead about a block, by the Virgin Megastore. People were gathering all around, and the crowd was growing. And, it appeared that the street might be blocked off to traffic. There was a buzz of excitement emanating from the crowd as he approached, his curiosity growing by the minute.

When he was about 10 feet from the edge of the crowd, he noticed ropes cordoning off a path from the sidewalk and into the crowd, and presumably into the Virgin Megastore, but he couldn’t see because the crowd devoured the pathway.

Right at that moment, a black Hummer pulls up to the sidewalk, and a police escort hopped off his motorcycle to clear the way. A bodyguard descended from the Hummer and opened the rear passenger door, and out stepped a tall, skeletal woman with flowing brown hair, looking very dignified and smiling like a maniac. “Is that Maria Shriver?” Martin thought.

Maria Shriver reached out her long arm and waved the crowd, and then stepped aside so that a short and overly tan man could get out of the Hummer behind her. With an even bigger smile and even wider wave, Arnold Schwarznegger stepped out of the Hummer and yelled “Hello San Francisco!”

The first thought Martin had upon seeing this odd unexpected sight was, “IS he standing in the gutter?” Arnold Schwarzengger looked so short next to his wife, a statuesque woman who looked more beautiful in real life than on television. But no, Arnold Schwarznegger was not standing in the gutter, he was just short, much shorter than expected. He couldn’t have been more than 5 foot 9 inches. There is no possible way. Martin stood at exactly 6 feet tall and he was looking down on the heroic film star, turned almost has-been, turned surprise gubernatorial candidate.

“Hello San Francisco!” Shouted Arnold Schwarzengeer again. “and I hope you can help this city make Arnold Schwarznegger the next governor of the great state of California.!” With that, Arnold Schwarzengeer and Maria Shirver were quickly escorted down the aisle, and into the crowd. They stopped to sign a few autographs and then disappeared into the San Francisco edition of Arnold Schwarznegger’s restaurant chain Planet Hollywood.

Martin remembered Leah Garchik’s column from the Datebook this morning stating that he would be having a press conference about his campaign today, and this must be it. Too bad for Schwarzengger, he thought, as it looked like most of people awaiting him were tourists, probably from outside of the state. But, he remembered, it is all for the cameras and the television audiences. Martin laughed genuinely for the first time today as he thought about the blurring line between politics and entertainment. And, he continued on his way to The Gap.

Momentarily distracted from his distress over the days events, he simply remembered that he was on his way to The Gap to buy some new clothes. For a moment he forgot why, and was happy, really happy, walking up Market Street, feeling the sun on his face, enjoying the surreal experience of running into Arnold Schwarznegger (and realizing how short he was), and getting pumped up from the brisk walk.

Chapter 6: http://scarletlibrarian.com/corey/chapter6.htm