Cimorelli Oneshots

Overworked (A Lisa Story)

Lisa sat in the corner of the room, clutching her head. She knew something was off, but she couldn't figure out what. Whatever it was, it didn't really matter. Nothing she felt mattered. Lisa heaved a sigh and dropped her arms to her sides. She fiddled with her hair, tucking and retucking the dry strands behind her ear.

A few moments passed, and then she sighed again, deep and longing. A melancholy feeling had fallen over the room, dark and foreboding. Even though the sun was shining softly through the window and the birds were chirping playfully, the room felt  dreary. Lisa could only think about how appealing it would be to throw herself through the window. But it was not to be.

After a long pause, Lisa shook her head, attempting to clear the gruesome thoughts from her brain. Practically, she knew that there was no time for any of that nonsense. After all, she thought, her lips twisting into an ugly smile, there's no time for death when you've got people to impress.

Lisa sighed once more, then slowly stood up, her arms flailing as she tried to stabilize herself. She closed her eyes, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Once she felt grounded, she walked over to her journal perched on the reddish brown mahogany desk. The sight of it immediately brought her fast-growing to-do list to her mind.

Clean the kitchen for Chad, record harmonies for the band, help Christina organize the list of songs, take some pictures for Amy's Instagram, help Lauren with the track for her song, talk to Grace, scrub the bathroom, repaint the kitchen chairs, take a shower... Lisa's thoughts were interrupted by a voice hollering her name.

"Hey, Lise?" she heard from the other room.

"Yes?"

"When will you be done arranging the harmonies for the new cover?"

Lisa's face fell. She had forgotten about that. And what else had she forgotten? She didn't want to think about it. All she knew was that there was a new item on the to-do list. Yippee.

"Soon!" she called back, attempting to sound cheery.

"Great! I'm excited to see what you come up with!"

Another day, another job. Lisa sighed. Well, I'd best get to work.

Hours later, Lisa sat back in her chair, satisfied. She had finally finished arranging the harmonies and vocals. Now all she had to do was a couple dozen more things, and she would be good to go.

After a few minutes of turmoil and revisiting the long to-do list, Lisa decided to check on the kitchen. She peeked into the light beige room to confirm the dinner plan for that night.

"Hey, Chad. How's it going? Do you know what's for dinner tonight?"

"Oh!" Chad looked surprised. "I'm doing pretty well, thanks for asking. But I thought you had dinner sorted out." He pointed to the magnetic calender on the fridge. "Thursday's your day, remember?"

Lisa faked a smile, nodding brightly. "Oh yeah, of course, I just forgot. Love you!"

Chad smiled back at Lisa, then planted a kiss on the top of her head. "See you later, bubbadaboopbop!"

Lisa grinned at the silly nickname. At least that smile was genuine. But the happiness didn't last.

Lisa kept up the facade until Chad had left the room. Then she let it fall. Her stomach was twisting into angry knots, and she had a pounding headache. When had she last eaten? Or slept? It doesn't matter, she told herself. It doesn't matter.

She busied her hands by chopping garlic, onions, and peppers, trying to push away the sinking feeling in her stomach. For she knew that there was something bubbling right under the surface. Anger.

Lisa was angry at everyone else, for constantly asking her to do so many things. Everyday there were dozens more requests, jobs, and tasks to complete. It grated on her nerves, but she always pushed the feeling away.

But she was also angry at herself, for bending to their needs rather than her own. She never remembered when to eat, when to take a shower, when to journal. And now she was falling apart.

This conclusion had never fully formed, had never become a true conscious thought. But it was still there, constantly simmering at the edges of her mind.

Eventually, Lisa would have to face the truth. For the truth will always appear. It would wait for her patiently as an obedient dog would, watching, longing, waiting, to be released once more.

And whenever she chose to open her eyes, she would see it all. But for now, she would chop and sautee to her heart's desire, ignoring both the truth and the pain that came with it.

3 months later

(A call)

(Tense) "Please come over to the hospital now. Lisa's there."

"As a patient?"

"Yes. I found her in the recording studio passed out cold."

"Wait- what? How?"

"I don't know, just please come quickly. I'm calling the rest of the girls."

"Okay, I'll be right over."

Call ends

In the hospital, outside Lisa's room, quietly discussing.

"But how could this happen? How did she get hurt? Or injured?"

"I don't know, I just found her like that. And I don't think she was injured exactly."

"What do you mean? She seemed fine earlier. And how could she not be hurt?"

"Well, earlier isn't now. And she's clearly not okay. And... well..."

"..."

"You know how she's said that she works hard to please others? She does things for other people? And she doesn't take care of herself?"

"Yeah..."

"I think that that's what happened. She's mentioned to me a few times that she's been feeling weak, dizzy, or sick. Recently. And last night she texted me saying that she... well..." (mumbling)

"Oh."

(Softly) "Yeah."

"Do you, d'you think she'll survive?"

"I honestly don't know. She didn't look good when I found her. And she hasn't taken care of herself at all."

"Oh..."

(Continues, agitated) "And I can't believe we hadn't figured it out already. I mean, she's done this so many times before! It's never been this bad, though. I guess all we can do is hope and pray that-"

She fell to a hush as the doctor walked out of Lisa's room and into the waiting room. He looked down at the girls and bobbed his head in a quick acknowledgement. His expression was serious, yet kind.

The girls waited with bated breath, both terrified and desperate to hear the next words.

"Well, I have some news..."

Hi! I hope you liked the story. The end is for you to use your imagination. So... what do you guys think might have happened? What was the news? Comment your ending if you want :)

Like and comment if you feel like it. Also, thanks for reading! I really appreciate it :)

Did you see the lyric I put in there? It was kind of obvious, but oh well.