The rest of the night passed by in a blur and Kyle found himself back home wondering what the deal with the lady he encountered in the shop was.
People in Los Angeles were typically disrespectful but not only did she make a mess of the shop with her wet clothes and muddy shoes, she was rude at that.
Kyle didn't understand why it was so hard for people to be kind but he didn't care much as long as they didn't bother him like this lady did.
She walked out of the shop after receiving a call soon after he forbade her from smoking but something told him that she would have done whatever she wanted either way.
In hindsight, if it was anyone of prominent stature then he would be in trouble even if he was in the right as the store owner would most likely side with them.
Celebrities were everywhere in this city and they always got preferential treatment but with so many upcoming people in the industry, it was impossible to keep track.
Kyle didn't understand the worship but once again, as long as his bills were paid.
He didn't care about anything outside of his immediate sphere.
The one-bedroom flat he lived in barely had any furniture, just a chair and a table with an old TV hung on the wall.
It wasn't like he was getting any coochie so there was no point spending more money than needed as he didn't even have time to have a social life.
Kyle heard his stomach rumbling like an earthquake was about to tear it down and at that moment, he realized that he hadn't gotten dinner.
He was supposed to pick up leftovers at a discount from the restaurant, they did this for meals that weren't touched or barely eaten.
It was against restaurant policy but Kyle used the neat old "it is for my dog" trick to escape judgment.
The fact that they resold it to him, however, was strange but Kyle didn't complain because he knew the cost of these things.
"Fucking hell… Universe 7. Kyle 0," Kyle said under his breath as he unwillingly took himself to his fridge but he already knew that there was nothing there to eat.
He just opened it and stared at it, all there was milk that he didn't even know was good or not with leftover food that wasn't suitable for human consumption.
"You do only live once…" Kyle thought to himself, weighing the option before him before quickly pushing the idea out of his head.
"I guess no dinner tonight…" Kyle muttered to himself in defeat, dragging his feet across the floor as he crashed into his bed.
But his phone buzzed, Kyle already knew who it was as he didn't have anyone that check up on him.
He had no friends and just as he thought, it was his landlord threatening to evict him if he failed to pay rent this week.
Kyle couldn't be mad at Mr Jones, he was a kind man that has been understanding of his situation and even waved a few payments but he wasn't running a charity, he was running a business.
Kyle was living paycheck to paycheck, if he missed a month's paycheck, he had no idea what he would do if he lost his job but the good thing about the life he lived was that nobody would miss him or even notice if he suddenly disappeared.
Kyle slept on an empty stomach because he knew that he would rectify this dilemma tomorrow.
-
The night passed by in a blur and Kyle was ready on time, he wasn't looking forward to this but he needed all the shifts he could get. Each day he lived, it felt like something inside of him died.
He lost the ability to feel shame, he would do everything in his power to make money even if it meant walking down the street butt-naked.
Kyle walked to work but this time, he made sure to carry his umbrella to avoid another mishap.
His place of work was a few minutes from where he lived, the bustling street of Los Angeles never slept.
"Hi Kyle, you're in early today," One of his coworkers greeted him, he was a young college student with everything to live for but even with that, he was getting paid more than Kyle due to his looks.
His presence alone brought certain customers because he was attractive and was good with his words so women kept returning to have a go at him with his wavy blonde hair dangling just above his shoulder with his ocean blue eyes making a certain place rather wet, it was no wonder he was an eye candy.
Sex appeal was something that has always sold, be it in commercials or movies, attractive people had advantages that average-looking people couldn't even dream of having.
Kyle didn't particularly care about him because he was a part-timer but he always had one question, why did he choose to work here?
The day progressed as it normally did with Nate ending his shift by noon and heading out but with the lack of customers the store generally had, the man had to cut corners in terms of labour meaning that it was Kyle who was going to be in the shop for the rest of day.
But his day was about to take an unexpected turn, a man opened the door for a lady to walk in, and Kyle instantly recognized her as the lady from the night before but the man that held the door was huge.
It looked like he was some sort of bodyguard and Kyle immediately tightened up.
"Hello, can I help you with some-!" Kyle was shut down when the lady screamed at the top of her lungs.
"I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER!" She screamed and this startled Kyle, he had to take a step back because he found this situation threatening.
The man that held the door soon joined her but before things could escalate, the manager came from his office. And Kyle instantly knew that he might be in trouble, he was right.
"Calista Wave!?" Mr. Ryder was a bit too excited but Kyle understood that this woman was someone famous but for what? Being a bitch?
Mr. Ryder was a divorced man in his late forties that almost got wrecked by his last marriage but he was standing at 4' 11 as opposed to Kyle, who was standing at 6' 0.
Calista rolled her eyes at the attention she got, in reality, Calista was a small-town actress who gained a little popularity due to a nude scene in a low-budget film that didn't even make it to the cinema.
One could liken it to softcore porn but it said a lot about Mr. Ryder that he knew who she was but who could blame him?
He was a divorced man in his late forties, he didn't exactly have many options in the dating market.
"Your man boy here ruined my bag and I request a full refund!" The lady barked at Ryder and only then did Kyle see that this bag had a Louis Vuitton logo embedded on it but he was sure that it wasn't the same bag she had brought here the day before.
However, he knew that no one would believe him so he wanted to see how his boss would react to this news.
"That bag… It probably can feed me for a month or two…" Kyle thought to himself, realizing that there was no way in hell he could afford that bag and would go into debt if he tried.
"I-I'm so sorry! I will make sure he pays you every penny this bag's worth!" Ryder said and the disgust Kyle felt building inside of him was unlike anything he had felt.
This was his life, people thought they could take advantage of him whenever they pleased but who could blame them?
He had no way to fight back and the man with her, Kyle noticed he had a badge on him so this was a policeman.
"Do you have any evidence?" Kyle asked, he was soft-spoken to the point that people mistook him as timid.
"What?" Calista questioned, her tongue ready to lash at him at any given moment.
"I asked if you had evidence?" Kyle repeated himself and that was when the police officer brought a device and showed Kyle a video that he couldn't even recall happening.
The video showed Kyle being aggressive towards her by basically ripping her bag strap.
"What the fuck is this?" Kyle thought but little did he know that this was how far AI had come.
This was a struggling actress and she couldn't exactly sponsor the life she lived so she had to find other means for that lifestyle to be maintained.
Kyle didn't even know how to defend himself and wasn't to, no one would believe him.
"That is fine… How much is it to sew back the handle?" Kyle said but this was the biggest mistake he could have made at that moment.
If he denied it then they would have to have a proper investigation but the fact that he accepted it acted as a confession.
"Luckily for you, Miss Calista is not interested in pressing charges as long as you get her a new bag," The officer said and Kyle simply chuckled.
"Did he say something funny!?" Calista barked, of all the people to scam she chose him but Kyle knew that this was payback for stopping her from smoking in his shop.
"Oh right, let me just get out the $6,000 I have lying around gotten from my luxurious job…" Kyle mocked her but this only made his situation worse.
Long story short, the police officer allowed Kyle to transfer everything he had in his account to her, which was barely up to $1,000 but that wasn't the worst of it, Kyle also lost his job.
And that was how he found himself at the edge of a bridge, ready to end it until an event that changed his life transpired came to pass.