Daddy's Boy

Lost Boy

"Look Miss Sharon! I got a 95 on my test!" I ran in to the front hall and stopped dead at the suitcases piled in the hall. She was trying to smile through her sniffles.

"That's great sweetheart! I'm so... so proud ofyou." She sobbed at the end and gave me a swift hug before walking out thedoor. The butler grabbed a couple cases and followed her out with a sigh and afrown. I might have been sad if it had been the first time I saw one leave, butit was at least the eighth. I watched dispassionately as she rode away in a taxi. I looked curiously at the suitcases still piled in the hall. I was turning to leave when the butler stopped me.

"Don't bother going up to your room. All your stuff is in boxes. Your parents are closing up the house so they are sending you to boarding school. It's the best in the nation, never fear, and you will have your own room. A liaison will be here after dinner to take you to the airport." He turned to one of the staff that was waiting for him, leaving me to stand there helplessly lost.

"The numbers for this quarter were above our projected estimates. You have exceeded our expectations again, Brendan. That having been said, we would like to offer you the position of Manager in Division G. That requires you to move, of course. I believe your parents have a house near the office and they have already mentioned that you are welcome to make use of it if needs be. Shall I make the necessary arrangements?"

The man stared at me as though daring me to refuse. I just smiled brightly and shook his hand. Like I had a choice in the matter. Never mind all the work I had put in for the past year, I was being shifted along my parents' chosen path.

He said I exceeded expectations. That was a laugh. Mother was constantly saying I should be doing more for the company than just a lowly employee's position, low on the totem pole. I wasn't meeting their expectations because every time I got ahead they simply rose the bar on me. Over and over again until I wanted to scream.

I wasn't a high jumper, I was a human being that just wanted to go to work and come home at the end of the day to relax. I hung out with friends occasionally, but who could keep friends when you were constantly moving around and busy? All my friends were online acquaintances that would fade away the next time I moved. I was never in one place long enough to make real, lasting friendships.

I wanted to be though. I wanted to have a partner and a few goods friends to hang out with on the weekends. Was that too much to ask? I felt like my parents were isolating me from everyone. The people in the office, the people I should be meeting in my nonexistent spare time. All the times they yanked my caregivers when I was just getting comfortable with them came back to haunt me.

 I was so tired of this. Never having a stable home. Never knowing what I will be doing next or with whom I'd be doing it. Shunted around like a piece of furniture in the wrong place. Pawned off on others when it was convenient for them. I wanted stability. I wanted to have a job I enjoyed for longer than a year. I wanted to learn my coworkers' names and faces. I wanted freedom from my family.

I just didn't know how to start.