Hiding in Daylight

Chapter 1

"Only ten more mails left for today, then I can leave.", Lena thought to herself with a sense of relief, as she closed the service request she had been working on for the past half an hour. She looked over to the clock on the corner of her screen, which said it was 16:30. "Just glad I am able to leave a little early for the teacher-parent meet up this evening, or I'd never be home with the traffic nowadays."

She stretched herself, trying to loosen the tense shoulders she had been suffering from the past days. Grabbing for her coffee mug, she noticed the light weight of it and peaked into the glaring emptiness of it. "Ah well, better hurry and finish my work for today. I can still grab a cup on my way out."

As she resettled on her seat and opened her personal inbox, she was confronted with a cruel reality. "What, why are there now 18 fucking mails here?"

She noticed a notification on her messenger and opened the chat with her boss.

<<Hey, Theresa was caught up on a difficult request earlier and it looks like she won't be able to fill her quote for today. Can you be a champ and take one for the team and help her out? Thanks!

I was so free to already drop off some of the critical ones in your inbox. You know how important our Service Levels are to Mr. Strawhair, I wouldn't ask this of you, if it wasn't so important.>>

Lena could feel how the fury wailed up in her and she had difficulties to keep her composure. Her inner voice raged, as she bit her lip. "This fucking bitch, are you kidding me? Why do I have to suffer for this incompetent bitch, only because she is to stupid to do her work properly? I can't fucking believe it!"

But even though she desperately wished to quit immediately, she gathered herself and succumbed to her fate. She sighed heavily, still fighting the current of her emotions, while searching for the cigarettes in her pocket.

"Oh right, I quit almost a decade ago." She mumbled and sighed, before she grabbed her empty mug. "I really need a coffee now."

The flickering fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as Lena hastily shut down her computer. Glancing at the clock, 18:12, she winced at the time. The parent-teacher meeting was in full swing, and she was already running late. She muttered a quick "see you later", to her co-workers and grabbed her bag, feeling the weight of the day on her shoulders.

Lena hurried through the maze of aisles, the distant hum of keyboards and people talking on the phone fading as she made her way to the parking lot. The setting sun painted the sky in hues of pink and orange, casting long shadows across the asphalt. Her steps quickened as she fumbled with her car keys, searching for the right one among the jumble of keychains.

Unlocking the door, Lena tossed her bag onto the passenger seat and slid into the driver's seat. The engine roared to life, and she sped out of the parking lot, tires screeching against the asphalt. Glancing at the dashboard clock only fueled her anxiety – every minute that ticked away was a reminder of her tardiness.

As Lena navigated through traffic, she couldn't shake off the guilt gnawing at her. She had promised herself that she would make a good impression in front of the teachers, yet here she was, racing against time for a parent-teacher meeting she should have been at 15 minutes ago.

The evening sun cast a warm, golden glow over the city as Lena navigated her way through the labyrinth of slow-moving traffic. The streets were filled with vehicles, each inching forward in a synchronized dance of impatience. As she merged onto the main road, a sea of brake lights stretched ahead, creating a seemingly endless line.

Lena's hands tightened around the steering wheel as the minutes crawled by in the sluggish traffic. Each brake light ahead felt like a miniature jab at her growing impatience. She could feel the tension building in her shoulders.