Page 14 of Soothed By Daddy
“We are, but it doesn’t matter. If there was someone else I thought could handle it, I’d have pulled you off by now.”
“So I’m being punished for being competent? Yay me.” The rational part of me recognized that my boss was as frustrated as I was, but in the moment, that was cold comfort. “How much time do I have now?”
“I can get you another couple of weeks,” my boss offered sheepishly.
“Two weeks! That’s an impossible schedule.”
“Now you see why I can’t get anyone else to do it.”
“Ugh.”
“You’re the best, George.” Nice, but at this point, I’d settle for mediocre so this project would be someone else’s problem.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” I appreciated that my boss understood my complaints had nothing to do with him and everything to do with me venting.
I love my job. I love my job. I love my job.
Crying wasn’t professional. It’s still where I wanted to end up.
Instead, I gathered the stale heels from the bread bag, the last bits from my peanut butter jar, and the remaining honey I could find in the cabinet. If this was all that I had to eat, the cats would eat me. They’d find a way.
I wrapped my sandwich in a paper towel and moved to the front porch steps. I had intended to eat lunch, but then the tears started, and I didn’t know how to make them stop. My hunger evaporated, and all that was left was sadness and frustration.
If I could finish the darn thing, I could move on to something much more pleasant and satisfying. And even if the new project wasn’t technically better, it would be an improvement over this bag of awfulness. My sandwich lay abandoned next to me on the steps as I lay my head on my knees and tried to cry quietly. Thankfully, the bushes around my house weren’t trimmed very well, so no one could see me.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’s the matter?” Cyrus asked as he gently placed his hand on my shoulder.
The smell of sawdust was unmistakably him. He must have some kind of quiet magic because the second he touched me, the stress began to bleed away. The small circles he rubbed on myshoulders after he plopped down on the steps next to me took away even more.
“What are you doing home?” I rasped from my half-curled position.
“Some permitting issues came up, so they sent everyone home early, and I don’t argue with the boss lady.”
I liked how Cyrus rolled with hiccups. Maybe he’d teach me how to do that?
I didn’t trust my voice a second time, so I nodded instead but didn’t look up. He let me cry it out. By the time my sobs subsided, he’d cuddled me into his side.
“Can you tell me what happened yet?”
“This dumb, stupid, yucky project.”
“Please don’t tell me they changed it on you again.”
“Yep, they did.”
“Those fuckers. I’m so sorry. You’ve got to be so fucking frustrated.”
“Yeah, I am. When I can concentrate properly, I’m going to email the boss and tell him that this is the last one, and I don’t care how it shakes out.”
“Will that put your job in jeopardy?”
“It’ll make me unpopular, but they’ll get over it. The only reason I haven’t yet is that I genuinely like my boss and don’t want to make his life harder.”
“You’re a good boy for caring about your boss, but I don’t like that it’s upsetting you this much.”
“Just frus…fustr…ugh. Mad.”
“Yeah, I get that. You came out to eat lunch?” I nodded. “It looks like you’re feeding the ants.” A fresh wave of tears took over when I saw the ants feasting on my sandwich. I hadn’t even noticed. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make it worse.”
