Hamliza One Shots (She Used to Be Mine)

She Is Hard On Herself

Narrator POV:

Eliza and her husband Alex both own a law firm in the middle of New York City. Both of them are always swamped with work, and things only got harder once they had their bundle of joy, Philip.

They were constantly up all hours of the night, either tending to their 10 month old, or working late in their office again. Most night, it was both; but things were especially hard for Eliza.

She would spend hours making sure that every single paper was perfect and in order. Even if it meant she had to be awake all night and have to hold her baby in her arms, she would continuously work until everything was in order.

Alex constantly begged her to rest. He knew that insomnia was terrible for him, but it was worse for her. Ever since she had Philip, her mind has been scattered. She could focus on work or Philip easily but if she had to focus on a movie or cooking, she would lose interest or simply walk away mid-task. She just couldn't handle all the stress.

"It doesn't need to be perfect. It's good enough as it is!" Alex argued with her one night. "'Good enough' doesn't cut it, Alex. This absolutely needs to be perfect or else I'll feel like I've failed!" She argued back, making Alex freeze as he held their little baby.

"How long have you felt that way?" He asked her and sat in a chair near her desk. "All my life." She mumbled and tried to keep her focus on the work in front of her. "Is it because your parents had high expectations for you?" He asked and looked at her carefully, examining her posture and how fast she was writing.

Eliza shrugged a bit. "Maybe. They are the ones that pushed me into law school..." she said as her writing started to slow down. "Do you think you kept those expectations they set and raised them too high as you continued in your studies?" Alex asked.

Eliza had to think about how she was going to answer that. On one hand, she just thinks that that is how her mindset is now. She just has to work the way she does  on the other hand, she agrees with Alex. She believed her parents are the reason her expectations are so high for her work. She feels like she constantly needs to please her parents. Or, everyone for that matter.

Eventually, Eliza gave in and nodded. "It's probably my parents fault..." she admitted, although she hated every second of it. She felt like she was letting them down just by saying that, but she knew it was right. And her parent's can't do anything about it because... well, they're dead.