anything and everything

Laila's Life

"hey Laila, where did you put the car keys?" Leslie peeked his head into the kitchen. Laila had been taking care of some dishes there. Both of them could drive but Leslie had the only car. Laila borrowed it to go shopping earlier today.

"Aren't they in the bowl?" Laila asked. They had a little bowl by the door where they kept all their keys.

"No, I didn't see them. Is there anywhere else you could have put them?"

Laila felt her pockets but she didn't still have the keys on her. She felt a familiar sense of dread creep in, making her stomach knot.

She'd been here with Leslie for a couple months now. She knew he'd never hurt her. But those years with Jay ...

Laila shook off those thoughts and tried to ignore her instincts. Leslie wasn't angry and he wasn't going to hurt her. "Can you check the bedroom? I'll look down here."

She'd already put the groceries away but maybe she left them on the counter or something. Leslie went upstairs and Laila looked around, spotting the keys after a moment.

She didn't even realize she was walking towards the bowl until she'd already set the keys in there. That's what she'd do for Jay. Quickly put things back where they belong and pretend they'd been there the whole time. He'd be huffy about it but he couldn't get mad when he missed them.

"Did you find them?"

Laila heard Leslie's voice behind her. This isn't Jay. She picked the keys back up and offered them to him. "Yeah. I brought them to the kitchen with me."

"Oh, great. Thanks, babe." Leslie took the keys and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I just have to run a quick errand. I'll be back in less than an hour."

"Okay. Be safe." Laila smiled at him and watched him leave.

Yeah, this wasn't Jay. This was Leslie. Laila returned to her dishes with a warmth in her heart. She knew she was safe here. Some day her body would remember that too.
*
*
*
*
*
*

Laila walked into the office building and over to her desk. She'd been here for a couple days but she'd been in training. Today was her first real day at her new job.

It wasn't anything fancy. She was a receptionist. But it was a job all the same. She'd lost her old job since it took her so long to recover from her broken arm. Can't do data entry without your dominant hand.

Thankfully she was healed now and back to normal. It wasn't long enough she lost motor controls or anything.

Laila hung up her coat on the rack and took a seat in her chair. She discretely looked at the different sections she could see from here. So many chairs. There must be a lot of people here.

Laila took a Tupperware of cookies out of her bag and set them on the upper part of her desk where everyone could access them. She'd arrived nice and early to make sure she'd be there first. She'd worn a pin with her name too.

Lastly she took out a piece of paper and sketched the layout of the office. As people introduced themselves she'd write down where they sat. That way she could practice their names.

People slowly trickled in for the next hour or so. Most greeted her when they saw the cookies. She'd ask their name and introduce herself as the new receptionist. Overall it was a very casual morning.

Most of her coworkers were older than her but that was to be expected. She was only 22. The man sitting over by himself with the curly hair was the closest to her age as far as she could guess. She had to look at her sheet to remember his name was Cisco. He was very friendly, she liked that about him.