Dousing the Flame

First Fight

/Yugi's thoughts/

Yugi burst through the library doors gasping for breath; his body drenched in sweat. He had completely forgotten he was scheduled to work for a few hours that Sunday. He was 15 minutes late when he ran in the door.Additionally, his supervisor was going to be doing his review that day. The cherry on top of that crap cake of the day.

"I am so sorry Mrs. Whittmore!" Yugi exclaimed as he ran over to the circulation desk and his supervisor.

The normally friendly woman frowned at him as she looked down at her watch, "15 minutes late, Yugi."

His amethyst eyes suddenly found the patterns on the carpet very interesting, "I'm so sorry. It won't happen again."

"I hope not," she signed; her eyes traveled over Yugi's sweaty and disheveled appearance, "take a few minutes to go to clean yourself up in the bathroom."

He placed his backpack down under the desk and whispered, "Thank you. I'll be back soon." 

He hurried to one of the employee bathrooms in the back and locked the door. He loved that the employee restrooms were individual rooms, they were not stalls which provided so much more privacy and solace. He used paper towels and hand soap to give himself a quick scrub down and a few more paper towels to dry off all the while returning his breathing to normal. When Yugi was thoroughly cleaned off, he returned to the circulation desk.

He sat down in the chair next to his supervisor, "Thank you for giving me a few moments to clean up."

Mrs. Whittmore nodded curtly, "Let me get one of the others to cover the desk and we will go over your review."

Yugi's throat instantly went dry and he felt the pitter-patter of his racing heart against his rib cage. He licked his lips and swallowed to try and add moisture to his scratchy sandpaper covered throat.

A few moments later, a brown eyed middle aged brunet woman with her hair pinned up in a bun sat in the other seat next to Yugi. She smiled at him, "Okay, you can go see Mrs. Whittmore now."

Yugi nodded and gulped again, "Thanks Yessi," Yugi managed to choke out. He stood and made his way back to his supervisor's desk, "Are you ready?" he asked as he peaked his head around the corner and into her office.

"Yes, Yugi. Please take a seat," She said using her arms to indicate one of the two chairs on the other side of the desk. Yugi could feel his entire body shaking as he sat across from her and he knew why. His performance over the last month had not been good. "There are several things that we need to discuss, Yugi."

Yugi nodded slowly at her, "I understand."

"First thing's first, your review. You started so well here. You learned quickly, you were always on time, if not early, you always did your work, and provided extra help to anyone who needed it. Additionally, you always cleaned and organized the circulation desk and the shelves that hold the class reserve books. But lately, your work habits have dramatically changed. More recently, you are often late, your lunches and breaks often exceed your allotted time, and the quality of your work and reliability have gone down. I'm afraid, Yugi, that if you do not straighten up your act and quick, we will need to let you go."

Yugi bit his lip, "I understand, Mrs. Whittmore."

"Also.." Mrs. Whittmore hesitated, looking over the tri-colored youth before continuing, "Also, we are very worried about you. Your friends have come by and mentioned something about your boyfriend abusing you or controlling you. Is this true? Yugi, are you in some kind of trouble? Do you need help?"

Yugi shook his head, "No, no, that is absurd. He is perfectly good to me. He doesn't abuse me at all," Yugi's gaze met Mrs. Whittmore's, "We are happy together."