With Good Intentions

Andy worked for a furniture removal service with his best friend Ben, while finishing his college studies. Not a fun job, but it paid basic bills.

One day they were called into a large loft to remove an old leather couch that the owners were going to replace. A beautiful brunette opened the door, leaving Andy speechless.

While moving the couch that turned out to be incredibly heavy, he was running through some jokes in his head, trying to say something funny and impress her. Instead, he was sweating profusely from shyness and physical efforts.

They regretted not bringing the third mover, when the couch got stuck in the doorway. Suddenly an upstairs door opened, and a muscular guy came down chuckling. “Seems like you guys need some help here.” The joint effort proved to be successful.

“Where did you find these nerds, they are useless,” whispered the guy to the brunette, but sounded like it was also meant for Andy’s ears. She blushed, without saying anything. Usually the guys would get $20 in tips each, but the husband just pushed a crumpled fiver into Andy’s hand and shut the door behind them.

“Wow, cheap!” explained Ben and spat on the sidewalk. That didn’t help Andy’s humiliation at all. He also couldn’t stop thinking about the brunette all the way to the landfill.

Traditionally, they would check all the items before disposing of them. Andy stuck his hand deep inside the couch, moved it left and right, and suddenly his hand met some solid object. He grabbed it and pulled out a massive engagement ring with a round diamond on top.

“Dude!” Ben almost jumped for joy. “Karma is a bitch! Let’s take the ring to a thrift store or to a jeweler and split the money. I am no connoisseur, but it’s easily 5K right here.”

“No!” Andy grabbed the ring and dropped it into his pocket. “The girl wasn’t mean, and she’s probably going to look for it everywhere. I gotta return it...”

“Man, are you serious? Her husband talked shit about us right in front of our faces and gave us 5 bucks in tips! They are fucking rich, did you see that loft? He can buy her a new one anytime!”

Under normal circumstances Andy would probably agree, but he wanted to see the brunette again and impress her with his good deed. The only thing, he really wanted to catch her alone and prepare for a conversation.

He waited two days, until Sunday, planning every word, dressed up and sprayed some cologne on his shirt. Then he jumped in his car, drove back to their building and parked across the street.

The blinds on the large windows of the loft were still open, so he could see everything clearly. Seems like she was alone, but moving around a lot. At some point, the front door opened and she came out with a sizeable suitcase. Was she leaving on a trip? Andy jumped out of the car and rushed towards her.

He could immediately see traces of tears on her pretty face. She stared at him in confusion. “You are the guy from the other day? I am sorry for the bad tips from my fiancée. Or rather ex-fiancée. I am moving out. If you want to ask for more money, you gotta wait for him.”

She started walking, but Andy grabbed her by the elbow. “I am just bringing back what I found inside your couch. Looks like it could be your ring.”

She couldn’t believe her eyes and kept moving her stare from Andy to the ring and back. “What? You stole it? James broke up with me because of this fucking ring! He thought I sold it and pocketed the money! What’s going on? I am gonna call the police on you!”

“Wait, wait, slow down!” Andy stepped away from her. “We always go through furniture at the landfill, so I didn’t find it until we got there! I waited a couple days to return it because I think you are beautiful and I really wanted to look great and be dressed up and rested up and it’s only possible on weekends! I didn’t steal! Here it is!”

He pushed it into her hand and walked away. All her beauty suddenly seemed to mean nothing anymore...

Next day, when he showed up at work, the boss was standing there with his arms crossed. “You are fired. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson called and reported you, saying you stole jewelry from their house. Good thing you returned it and they are not taking any legal action, but I don’t want you in my company anymore!”

On his way back home, he drove by the brunette’s house. He wanted to yell at her, but couldn’t find the right words. She was reading a book outside, while sipping on her coffee. Something sparkled on her hand, when she was putting the cup down, and that’s when he couldn’t breathe anymore and had to drive away.