Cameron didn't come home that night or the next morning, and it had Lori Lynn worried. To add to her stress, Alan woke up with a slight cough and called off sick, as he very obviously had the flu if she didn't realize, and could she get him some tea? No, not that tea, the tea with mint. Where's the honey? How could she bring her husband, on his deathbed, tea without honey when he was sick? Could she make him some soup? And get him another pillow? And more tea, but make it not as hot and don't forget the honey.
Going to work was a relief, which said a lot when she worked in a male dominated workplace governed by posturing, grandstanding, and mansplanation. She worked as an administrative assistant, which translated into personal assistant for everyone there. It honestly didn't feel much different that taking care of Alan.
She texted Cameron during her first break. 'Everything okay?'
His response was almost immediate. 'Sorry about last night. Couldn't be home with him when he's like that, or I'd say shit and make it worse.'
'Where are you? You didn't come home, I was worried.'
Her break was up, so she tucked her phone back into her purse and returned to writing emails for people who had their own email accounts, typing up chicken scrarch hand-written letters, ordering lunch, and entering invoices, the last of which was the only thing actually in her job description. Not knowing Cameron's response made her anxious, so she was dying to check her phone. Cameron had replied, she heard the vibration of it, and now she needed to know what he'd said.
She imagined him sleeping over at some girlfriend's house and her cheeks grew red. She didn't have the right to be jealous, it was stupid, but there it was nonetheless. Unable to handle it, she tugged her purse under her desk and opened it, trying to fiddle with the screen of her phone without looking too guilty.
"Ah, hey, Lori Lynn?" Bob asked, her heart jumping up her throat as she sat up so fast it made her slightly dizzy. He wasn't her boss, but he was the biggest shit-stirrer in the office. "I really hope you weren't using your personal phone on company time, were you?"
She dropped her purse between her feet and looked up at him. "Hello, Bob. Of course I wouldn't use my personal phone at work," she said, trying her best to sound professional and innocent. "That is what my break is for." In her head, she followed it up with, 'unlike all of you other assholes who constantly use your phones for non-work related shit any time you want', but she didn't say it aloud. "I dropped a thumbtack, but I can't seem to find where it went. Blends right in with the carpet and I'd hate to step on it."
"I could take a look," Bob suggested with a smile she didn't much care for.
She forced a smile, trying her best to keep her face from displaying even a hint of annoyance. "I'm sure I'll find it. Can I help you with something?"
Bob wasn't buying it, but she didn't much care. "I was looking for the Dandier account, I'm gonna need you to move some money into the reimbursables..." She stopped listening. He was here to ask her to do his bullshit work. It drove her crazy, it wasn't her job, and she didn't get paid nearly as much as him. He should do his own bullshit work.
He stopped talking, then cleared his throat expectantly. "Of course," she answered congenially. He smiled, then slid something over the desk to her. She took the file and put it on top of a pile that was nearly identical, a leaning tower of manila files. "Have a nice day, Bob."
Whenever she told her coworkers to 'have a nice day', she was really saying 'go fuck yourself'. It was satisfying, but only for a minute. Once his ass disappeared from her space she pulled out her phone again.
'Didn't mean to worry you. Stayed with a friend from school. I'll be home tonight.'
It killed her, she wanted to ask if his friend was a girl. Wanted to so much. Which was wrong, because she was his step-mother. She was supposed to be, at least. Something he'd said last night came back to her suddenly. "I've never thought of you as my mother." Well, obviously he hadn't thought of her as his real mother, but never even as family? Her heart shrivelled and she winced at the pain of it.
She needed to stop this thing with Cameron, whatever it was. He didn't even think of her as... Why was he messing with her at all? Was he frustrated? Between girlfriends? Was he just messing with her because she was available? As a way to get back at his father? The thoughts circled through her head until she got home, when they were replaced by the demands of the man-flu she'd forgotten about.
She was done with the day. All she wanted to do was have a glass of wine and relax at home, but Alan made it so impossible that by the time she'd gotten him a new pillow, a different blanket and started the wash with his other one because it smelled 'stale', made him two cups of honey mint tea, made him another bowl of soup, and picked up the accumulated mess of junk food boxes and wrappers strewn around his infirmary couch, she knew she needed to leave.
The sound of a car in the driveway caught her attention and, hoping it was Cameron, she ran to the door. They could go out, grab some dinner, she could get away from the house before she held a pillow over Alan's face just long enough to get him to pass out. She opened the door just as Cameron got out of his car, then stepped outside and shut it behind herself.
"Lori Lynn?" Cameron asked, looking up at her as he grabbed his backpack out of his backseat. "What's-"
"Your dad is sick and driving me crazy. Would you wanna go out and grab dinner with me? I can't stay here or I'm gonna do something to make him actually sick."
Cameron looked at her with a questionable look, then snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, dinner would be good. You wanna, you need some shoes, and probably a jacket. I can wait if you wanna run back inside?" he asked, looking at her sock covered feet.
"I can't go with you, it would be suspicious if he noticed my car was still here. I'll meet you somewhere, text me where you wanna eat and I'll meet you there. I'll leave in ten minutes, is that okay?" She looked over her shoulder, Alan was calling for her. She grimaced.
"Yeah, sure," he said, giving her an unreadable look.
She nodded, then turned and went back into the house. Alan was looking a bit pink, but she thought it was probably more from the electric blanket he had on than an actual fever. "Did you need something else?"
Alan gazed at her suspiciously. "Who was that at the door?" he demanded.
She shrugged. "Mormons. Wanted to know if I'd heard the good word, you know how it goes."
"I didn't hear the doorbell..."
She moved around him, tucking the blanket around his legs. "I saw them coming up the sidewalk, didn't want them to disturb you so I headed out to meet them. They really were the nicest people."
Alan's face bunched up. "Mormans," he growled, rolling his eyes.
She shrugged. "Listen, I'm gonna go out and have dinner with Julie, she asked me the other day and it completely slipped my mind. I haven't seen her for a while."
"You're gonna leave me all alone when I'm this sick?" he whined. "Who's gonna take care of me?"
"Did you need me to get you anything?" she asked. "You've already got soup, and tea. It's just dinner." She put her hands on her hips, trying to show him how childish he was acting.
