JANET'S POV
FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 8, 2019.
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Walking inside of my workplace, my watch read: 5:24am. I know it was extremely early, but I figured that I would beat the odds. I was absent yesterday and I know I have tons to get done. Clocking in, I went to the break room and fixed myself a cup of hot, herbal tea before I went inside of my office, turning the lights on. Of course, I was met with a stack of papers that I could bet came from Celestine. Whatever work she felt was too overwhelming for her, she passed the burden onto me.
Yawning, I put my purse into my filing cabinet. I wasn't tired, at all, so I didn't know why I was yawning. When I signed into my laptop, there were 99+ new emails and letters that I had to read then respond to. As I suspected. Sitting back down, I grabbed the stack of papers and looked through them. It wasn't that bad, just needed a few grammar corrections and signatures. I could knock this out in no time..
***
A few hours had passed and the rest of my coworkers were now coming into the building. A few of them passed by my office with a greeting, while the others went straight to their desks. Looking up at the clock, it read: 9:07am. I didn't even realize. I've had my head buried into these folders for four hours straight.
Hearing a knock come to my door, I lifted my head and looked into Celestine's face. "Hello stranger. What time did you come in, today? Your car was freezing, when I touched it," She came into my office, sitting down in one of the chairs, in front of my desk.
"About four hours ago but good thing I did. I was greeted by this beautiful stack of paperwork.." I said with an eye roll, starting back on them.
Celestine laughed. She knew that I knew she was the one who put it on my desk. "Girl, you are crazy.." She said before walking out of my office.
I got up and closed the door, stretching my back out. I was due for another intense massage. My back has been killing me. Walking to my seat, I saw that my phones screen was lit up, meaning I had a text message. Sitting down, I grabbed it and looked at who it was from. Dwayne. I slowly sat the phone back down.
He had been trying to call me all of last night and some of this morning, but I've been ignoring him. I know something isn't right with him and it's making me uncomfortable that I can't lay my finger on it. Not giving it another thought, I finished up the last few folders and fixed up the stack, pushing them back at the edge of my desk. Feeling my phone vibrate, I sighed and picked it up. I called him back and it took less than three rings before he answered.
"Hey, honey," He says and I cringe. I hated being called honey. "Did you make it to work safely?"
"I did.."
"Okay, that's good. How come I didn't wake up to you this morning?" He asks. I sigh and put the phone on speaker, putting my focus onto my laptop. "Baby?"
I rolled my eyes out of irritation. "Yes, Dwayne? I am trying to work.."
"I'm sorry. I'm only trying to check in with you," He trails off. "I miss my wife.." He continued. I didn't believe that, one bit.
"Do you really miss me or do you just miss your punching bag?" I asked him and it seemed to have caught him off-guard. He began stuttering and laughing, nervously. Just as I thought.
"I will call you, another time. I have work to do," I say as I picked up my phone.
"Okay. I lo—"
I hung up the phone and sat it back down. I've heard all of it before. He's only being nice so I could let my guard down, around him. He has taught me that doing it will only lead to him abusing my mental and emotional health. Ever since then, bringing my guard down has been an issue. The only people that I am most comfortable with are Erica and Kierra. They're like my babies. The very first time Dwayne hit me, they vowed to protect me and have my back through whatever. I'll always remember that.
