Arnold sighs. There’s no doubt about it – it’s her. She may hide her face with sunglasses, cover her long hair with a beanie, and put on a different style of makeup than before, but her loud personality always gives herself away. It was hard to ignore her, even in the case Arnold hadn’t known her before, but he knew her – honestly a bit too well, making her changes stand out much more than if she’d never changed at all.
Arnold walked up to the picket line, giving a bit of distance between the crowd, himself, and his ex-fiance, Giovanna. Though he was awkwardly positioned to the left of the crowd, he’d hope nobody would really notice.
“Why don’t you stand in the center and face all of us!” Yells a distinctly familiar voice.
Arnold looks in her general direction, then towards the rest of the crowd. He walks on over to the center, locking eyes with Giovanna. She lowers her sign, looking back with a stern, powerful look. Arnold looks away, smiling at the crowd. “Hopefully this is a good place to reach all of you.” He clears his throat. “I’m going to be as straightforward as possible – The Hank Frankfurters Company has brought me in to negotiate a deal with everyone here. I would like to hear your concerns, your terms, and your demands-”
“How about you tell me why you chose her over me!” Giovanna yells, putting her strong foot forward.
“-Any demands related to the company, please.” Arnold looks around the crowd, which has now grown silent.
“Alright, how about you-” Arnold says, pointing at a bald man in front, “what are your demands?”
“We want higher pay! The salary we’ve been offered barely gives us enough to buy me food for the week!” Says the bald man, with some people in the crowd nodding and yelling “Yeah!”
“Ok, alright. We can work with that. We can offer higher pay. How much are you asking?”
“A dollar pay raise!” The bald man looks behind him. People in the crowd point upwards aggressively. “A dollar and fifty cent raise!” The people behind him grab him, motioning upwards.
“We can do a dollar-fifty. Done.” The crowd groans, pushing the bald man around. Arnold smiles, ignoring the scuffle.
“Ah, cheap as always Arnold!” Everyone turns to Giovanna, stopping the scuffle. “I bet the other girl gets showered with many more blessings than you gave me!”
Arnold shakes his head. “Umm, next demand. What about you?” He says, pointing at another lady in the crowd.”
“My demand is about the new lady. What happened there?” She says, putting a hand on her hip.
“The demands can only be related to the company.”
Suddenly, a rock gets thrown at Arnold, hitting his shoulder. “Then we will continue striking!” Yells Giovanna. “If you don’t care about me, then you don’t care about us!” Giovanna raises her sign. “Strike! Strike! Strike!”
Soon, the rest of the crowd raises their signs, joining in on the chant.
“Everyone, please calm down.” They do not listen to Arnold. Some throw rocks at Arnold, making him back up. His back hits a hard surface, and he turns around, then looks up. It’s one of the security guards, staring him down. The guard smiles at him, giving him a nod. Arnold sighs, smiles, then walks to the center again.
“Alright! Alright!” The crowd dies down. “The truth is, there is no other girl.”
“Bullshit!” Yells Giovanna.
Arnold holds his hand up, before the chant can start again. “I’m serious. There is no other girl.” Arnold sighs. “I say this because the other person is actually a guy.” Loud gasps and murmurs travel throughout the crowd, all putting their signs down.
Arnold holds Giovanna’s hand, and looks at her, as shock paralyzes her face. “Giovanna, I’m sorry it took this long to realize this. Throughout the entirety of our relationship, I loved how outgoing you were, how fierce your personality was. The way you took hold of any situation captivated me so much. From getting mad on my behalf when we were charged an extra cup of coffee, to getting mad at me for not doing the chores, through the negative and positive, I only found beauty in how you acted. But, as you know, I was always shy in the bedroom. It could’ve just been me – at least that’s what I thought for so long.” He lets go of Giovanna, looking back at the security guard. “Then I met Randy. At first, he was quiet and reserved, but the more I talked to him, the more I realized what I really wanted – I wasn’t looking for a strong, fierce woman. I was looking for a man.”
Arnold reaches out his hand and Randy steps forward, holding his hand. They both look towards the crowd together. “The times you thought you saw me with a tall, blonde woman… that was actually Randy. I thought it would be easier on you if you thought it was another girl, than a man this entire time. I’m sorry.”
Giovanna stands in silence, tears falling down behind her sunglasses. She drops her sign, wipes her tears, then steps forward. A backhand glides across Arnold’s face. Giovanna sighs.
“I wish you would’ve told me then. I know you think I’m the strongest woman around, but that hurt, Arnold. Not knowing what had changed about someone you loved, that rips people apart. I wish I could say I’m happy for you, but I cannot say that now. Maybe later, when I can come to terms with it. For now, I will say this – You are an asshole. But I wouldn’t say we didn’t have our moments.” Giovanna sighs. “Goodbye, Arnold.” She steps away, pushing against the crowd, leaving the premises.
Arnold watches her go, then looks towards the crowd. “Was that all your demands? Will you agree to come back to work tomorrow for an extra dollar and fifty cent pay raise?”
People in the crowd nod, heading away from the building. He watches them go, a strange silence covering the space. He feels an arm embracing him from behind. It’s Randy, holding him close.
“Should we go back? To let him know we did it?”
“Let’s wait a while,” says Randy, looking towards the sun, “he’s not going anywhere.”
Arnold smiles, closing his eyes. “You’re right. Thank you, Randy.” The breeze blows, carrying two leaves across the parking lot, landing in the middle, where all the other leaves had gathered up.
Arnold opens his eyes, looking at the sun as well.
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