A Photographer's Viewpoint

Meaningless Banter

I S A B E L L A

"I need you to review this."

And just like that, a thick stack of paper was placed in front of me. I look up from the computer screen and see Eleanor giving a look of superiority; standing tall, arms folded, judging eyes and her overall body language screaming 'I'm better than you'.

I glance down at the stack of papers and scoff when I saw what it was. This woman was either trying to embarrass herself or trying to mock me. I look back up at her and sure enough, the second option seems more reasonable by how she now found her painted nails more interesting.

"Eleanor," I start of with a smile, "I believe this belongs to Mariah."

I'm a family lawyer.

What she gave me was information regarding real estate.

Even after working together for quite a long time, I still don't understand how the hell she doesn't know that.

"W-what?"

Her composure falters when she heard my words, so I repeat them.

"I said, this belongs to Mariah." I tell her in a more serious manner and point at the stack of paper, "Next time double check things before you hand it to anyone. Someone's personal information is in here, meaning it needs to be handled with care."

She quickly picks them up and leaves without a word. I watch as she walks away with her head held down, most likely embarrassed with the few side-eyes she got from some of the people who walked passed.

I don't care about Eleanor but it concerns me how she can sometimes be so negligible. I bet she didn't even bother looking at those papers and just walked up to me when she got them in hand. I understand that she's trying to get back at me but that doesn't necessarily mean she should involve work. Not only does it infuriate me but also keeps me back from my duties. Her personal grudge towards me should be handled outside the workplace. I'm not exactly sure what I did to offend her and I honestly couldn't be bothered to try and figure that out, but my patience is running low for her child-like antics. It's not just annoying like before, it's gotten to the point where I feel like I'll explode at any given moment.

At times I believe I think too highly of myself whenever things like this occur. At first, I thought that I'm looking to much into, but, it started becoming more frequent which made me realize that it was done deliberately.

Luckily, I finished my work before time and clocked out early with Allistor. We decided to head to a nearby bakery to buy some pastries before going our seperate ways home.

Upon arriving at Cake O'Clock–the bakery–we saw that there weren't that many customers and that someone was actually busy putting some freshly baked cakes and bread on display. A sigh of relief took over when I saw that there was quite a selection to choose from outside. Usually the place was always filled with people and barely anything left to choose from by the time we arrive.

Walking in, my nostrils were met by the different aromas drifting in the air. Allistor immediately made his way to the bread that was recently placed inside one of the many baskets. I made my way to the counter where cakes and other sweet treats were displayed behind a glass barrier.

I felt my mouth salivating from all the desserts that were neatly aligned, either coated with a chocolate and caramel sauce or sprinkled with coconut and powdered sugar. I gulp down and mentally stopped myself from asking one of each and a slice of each cake.

"Anything I can help with?"

I look up and see a girl leaning on the counter with a small smile.

"Anything you'd reccomend? I have a hard time choosing." I reply as I glance back at the pastries.