As always, all characters over eighteen.
I finally found a job because of a selfie Mum sent me on Messenger.
I heard the alert tone from my phone and, as I unlocked the screen, her message appeared next to the bubble.
⟪Outfit check, Honey?⟫
She was a highly sought-after consultant, and she was away on the east coast, having been hired by some corporation to work her magic to fix their nosediving morale. Despite her years of experience and the high praise she'd received for her work, she was still somewhat nervous every time she started a new project.
I opened the app and glanced at the photo, fully intent on sending back a generic reply, telling her that she looked fine. But, as nice as Mum's outfit looked, something at the side of the picture grabbed my attention. Because the shower stall was made of glass, I could see a dildo suction-cupped to the wall.
I stared at that dildo for a long, long time.
And it wasn't until I saw the typing indicator —
⟪…⟫
— show up that I realized that Mum would know I'd seen the photo.
⟪It's bad, isn't it?⟫
I quickly began to type out my reply, hoping to stop Mum's nerves from spiking too much more than they already had.
⟦No! You look fine, Mum.⟧
⟪Then what took you so long to reply?⟫