D.I.D. You Know We Love You?

B Bit It

I get up again. The alarm next to me carries on as I stare at it in distaste. I feel the bile rise in my mouth as I walk down the hall and make myself a cup of tea to soothe my stomach. I stare at my box of cereal with a frown of dissatisfaction and settle at the table with just the tea and a banana. This is killing us.

I sigh heavily when I bring the cup to my lips and realise it is empty. It is getting harder to smile, so I save it for when I leave the house. Instead I get dressed in the uniform of the employed in silence. I don't bother to look up as I twist my tie into place. You mean our noose.

I grab my phone, my wallet and my briefcase. I pause at the door, staring at the bland expression on my face in the window for a second. Do we have to go? I want to stay home and watch porn or something. I work my mouth a little and twist my lips up into that dead smile of mine. There.

I push open the door and make it almost to my car before I hear the neighbours' door screech open and a yapping bark as the little dog comes running across the yard at me. I pretend not to hear the next door lady as she calls out and just climb in the car. I slam the door just before the dog reaches my driveway.

I pretend to arrange things on the seat so I am looking away when the lady tries waving at me. You are such a fucking faker. Just flip her the middle finger and tell her to fuck off. The dog will be dead in a year or so anyways. Maybe we can slam his head in the car door and pretend it was an accident.

I pull out of the driveway a minute late today, drive the same direction and miss all the lights, and then park at the end of the lot because for some reason it is full today. Behind my smile my teeth are clenched, but I still manage to answer folks the same on the way in. Fuck. Should have stayed home.

"Denis, darling, won't you be a dear and catch up that filing for me?" My new boss stares at me with a sickly sweet smile on her face and flips her hair innocently behind her shoulder as she prances into her office. Goddamn lazy bitch. How long did you leave it this time?

I drop my things in my bland little cubicle and go to the filing room. The stack is at least half a foot high and I start pulling out sheets to put in the sorter. Once it is in alphabetical order, I pull out the drawers and start putting them away neatly. Can you kill yourself with a papercut? I wonder if you can slit someone's throat with cardboard from a file.

"Hello." I glanced up to see a slightly older boy sitting on a chair just inside the door. He was sitting with his feet on the seat, elbows to his knees, head in his hands, and watching me. I raised a brow at him. Seriously? It's been awhile, little thief.

"Hello." I replied calmly as I put away another set of papers. He watched me for a second and then huffed.

"You moved." He grumbled. I blinked at the words and looked over at his blank expression. So? What does that have to do with anything?

"Yes." I said back without stopping what I was doing.

"What are you doing?" He asked with a tilt of his head. Annoying shit, what does it look like?

"Filing." I replied. He nodded like last time, though I doubt he knew what I was talking about.

"Why?" He asked curiously. I cleared my throat and grabbed the next stack. Because apparently nobody here knows how to put things away properly. Jackasses.

"They need to be put away." I responded, gesturing to the remaining pile. He looked surprised.

"Wow. Are those all yours?" He flopped over a little on the chair and I smirked.

"Nope." I told him. I only had a little more to go. Thank the devil, my back is killing me.

"Um. Then why are you putting them away?" He asked with a frown. I shrugged at the room in general.

"My boss told me to." I told him. The stupid lazy bitch. Everyone knows she doesn't like us. He got up with a huff and came close to me, staring into the filing cabinet I was working in.

"They should put their own papers away." He announced to me. I nodded in much the same way he had earlier.

"Maybe. I was asked to do it though." Because it's a shit job that no one else wants to do. I finished the papers in that drawer and he watched me keenly as I slammed the drawer shut. I went to the next.

"Why doesn't your boss make them do it too?" He asked as he poked at the folders stacked inside the drawer with one finger. I didn't even glance at him, instead checking for eavesdroppers. When I was sure there were none, I bent down next to him.

"Because they are lazy and she hates me." I watched him turn and look at me unsurprised. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Then you should find another job you like." He told me with an exaggerated pout. I sighed and shook my head.

"It's not that easy kid. Anyways, money is money." I straightened up and grabbed more paper as a slightly older woman come bustling in the room and grabbed the boy by the arm. The kid flinched a little and leaned away from her. Smart kid. That woman is horrible.

"Richard! Quit bothering the workers. Let's go." She shouted, not even acknowledging my presence as she dragged the now sullen boy out the door. Nice to meet you too, ugly hoe.

1022