Page 7 of Lost Times

I’d worked for quite a few that punished you for doing it…

Without thinking, I added on. “With how you act with all of us, I figured you’d be irritated with me not getting my work done more than my coming in while sick.”

He shifted, his arms uncrossing then recrossing after a second. After a loaded minute, he sighed. “I know I have a reputation, but there’s nothing more that I hate than overworked and underpaid employees. Yes, I demand a lot of you all, but I also never expect any of you to work in conditions that aren’t at least passably decent.”

Then he frowned again, deeper this time. “And what exactly do I act like with all of you?”

Through the exhaustion dogging my brain, logic rose up, forcing me to not answer that. He was my boss, a jerk definitely, but still my boss. I needed this job and that meant I couldn’t throw caution to the wind and insult him.

So, instead of telling him what I thought, I shook my head. “Nothing. I take it you’re going to be enforcing your want for me to stay home tomorrow?”

His eyes narrowed, displeased with my changing the subject clearly, but he allowed it. “I will. You’re not allowed in tomorrow at all. If you’re feeling well by the day after, then come back.”

I didn’t respond, gathering my things and pushing off the desk again. This time the world didn’t spin and I took my win where I could. Before I made it out the door, Ludwig called after me, his tone heavy with something I couldn’t name.

“Take care of yourself, Ms. Thomas.”

I nodded, not turning around. Frustration with his insistence on this fueled me all the way to the car, keeping me steady through picking up Jasmine, but when I walked through the door to our humble abode, I dropped into the nearest chair and felt the exhaustion hit in force.

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have gone into work today, but I’d gotten my work done and that’s what mattered.

Jasmine raced upstairs, a wide smile stretching her lips, and I eyed my phone. There’d been a missed call from Naomi and I should get back to her…

Hitting the dial on her name, I waited for the rings to stop, and after a second her voice drifted through the line. “Hey! How was your day?”

I rubbed a hand over my face and groaned in answer. “I’m getting sick, and my boss was an ass about it.”

She made a low noise of sympathy. “What, did he insist you stay and work through it? I think there’s a law against that.”

Before she could start pulling together some kind of lawsuit or other insanity, I cut her off. “No, I went into work and stayed there willingly, but when he found out I was sick helecturedme about the policy and how I should have stayed home. He even demanded I take tomorrow off despite the work I still have to do.”

The frustration from before came back at his stubbornness, but before I could sink into it, Naomi spoke again, hesitating.

“Just to make sure I’ve got this right, he insisted that you not come into work while sick, and you’re…angry at him for it?”

I scowled, leaning heavily on my hand as I grumbled. “Of course! I have a mountain of paperwork to do, and this is going to put me behind by a lot. I was fine and I don’t appreciate him forcing me to take time off, as if I’m some child.”

Naomi sighed. “Thalia, I love you, but in this one case, I think you’re overreacting. He has a policy that says you can’t work while sick and I have to admit, I’m impressed by that. Most companies don’t care about their employees and while yes, he’s a strict jerk, he also isn’t the worst he could be.”

I knew that, but did she have to point it out? I wanted to be irritated with him. Being irritated was better than mooning over what would never be or worrying about him figuring out what happened all those years ago.

Rubbing the bridge of my nose again, I eased a tiny bit. “I know, it’s just… When he’s not buried in paperwork himself, he’s always pointing out what we’re doing wrong. He never throws a compliment, never admits when we’re doing something right, just constant negativity. It rubs me wrong sometimes.”

It was work, and he was the boss. To a certain extent I knew he needed to stay on top of things, but did he have to be like that? There was no harm in occasionally telling someone they did a good job. Kelly did the work of two or three people some days, and I’d never heard him so much as thank her for it.

Naomi hummed. “Sounds like he has high standards and is used to them being met. Try to keep your head above the water, and don’t give him a reason to start in on you. Take the day off tomorrow, relax, and go back in when you’re feeling better. That’s all I can really offer on this one.”

Leaning back in the chair, I reluctantly gave in. “Fine, fine. I’ll take some medicine and rest until the cold passes. How is everything with you?”

The subject change was painfully obvious but she went with it gracefully. “Things are going perfect. Robby and I are planning a picnic soon. I love the parks here, they’re so scenic…but before I talk your ear off for the next three hours, I’m going to hang up. Get that medicine and sleep, Thalia.”

I hummed my agreement, muttering my goodbyes before hanging up and resting my head on the cool wood of the table. I’d just started to drift off when my phone blared, only this time with a different ringtone. Mom’s.

Answering, I pulled on my best ‘everything is fine’ tone and spoke. “Hey Ma, how are things with you and Dad?”

A beat passed, then she answered. “Fine, but don’t try to fake that you’re okay if you’re not. I raised you, Thalia, I know when something is wrong. If you don’t feel like talking about it, that’s fine, but don’t try to hide it from me either.”

I should have seen that coming. “Sorry, work drama. The new boss is stubborn, has no hesitation in pointing out every flaw he sees, and forced me to stay home tomorrow because I’m sick.”

---