Love Potions for the Devoted (TLOU N/A)

Embarrassment, Exhaustion and Eagerness

Slow droplets of rain filled the cloud infested skies of Boston, Massachusetts. Thunder blowing throughout the horizon as if it were an airplane, barrel rolling through the sky off the runway...

A young woman, by the name of Anna Williams, peaked through the window of her office as she sat back in her chair, her back practically screaming at her to stand up and stretch.

She had just returned back to the hospital after taking a three year break from work. She was awarded her promotion to the boss as a result, because she would occasionally drop by whenever there was a nurse shortage to help out. Even when she didn't have too, unlike most of her employees...

Amongst those employees was Marlene. Anna's lifelong best friend who wasn't "best friend" material anymore.

Everything involving their relationship went to hell when Anna shared the news of her pregnancy with Marlene and they hadn't been civil ever since.

Now, just to be condescending, Marlene had began flirting with Anna daily since she returned to work. Something she had never done before Ellie was born.

Anna had far too much on her plate currently. Obviously, there were the regular "adult duties." Bills, household management, having a job and taking care of a two year old full time... A "break" was a foreign term in Anna's vocabulary.

Although, she took the professional route, looking past their differences for the sake of her job.

Unlike Marlene, who always found it necessary to ruin Anna's day with something as little as a waist grab...

And to Anna, Marlene had a face worth punching. Something she would've never seen herself do years ago, but maybe firing her was just enough...

Luckily, Anna had someone waiting for her at home. Her adorable, dinosaur obsessed, intelligent little girl.

Ellie was the living embodiment of the perfect little girl, almost never threw temper tantrums, entertained by something as small as a new toy and hardly ever did anything wrong... She was Anna's baby, that was all there was to it.

Of course, it was difficult for Anna to adjust to her new schedule, but she couldn't imagine how hard it was on poor little Ellie. Thankfully, Anna's ride or die best friend, Joel, had offered to babysit for her 5 days a week for free.

Joel was an odd duck. A few years older than Marlene with a 10 year old daughter named Sarah. He was 28, Anna was 22, and Marlene was 24. All three of them had kids, which might've explained part of why Marlene always felt the need to make Anna feel inferior.

Now that Anna was back in the workforce through, she made sure to pay Joel weekly. $50 for every day he babysat, totaling roughly $250 a week. She didn't have to do this, but it made life easier for Joel while he was unemployed.

Anna sat at her desk, her eyes growing heavy the longer she stared at the seemingly never ending emails.

She was only on week four of this return to work, but she finally had a good routine down. Going home and seeing her little girl made the long hours worth it. However, it did take a toll on her body...

Not only was Anna suffering pretty severe eye strain, but she also endured weeks of constant soreness, and was bordering on physically ill. It didn't help that she was on that time of the month too, so "slightly on edge" was the understatement of the century.

Glancing down at her cellphones clock for the hourly time check, she whispered the answer to herself, "Midnight. I've been here for 18 goddamn hours..." She whispered, her body basically screaming at her to go home.

Her fingers tiredly typed out that last tedious email, her fingers yearning to crack. Only when Anna stood up did she realize how long she had been sitting down.