I opened my eyes to a new day. Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky" played on my phone at full volume to wake me up. I didn't want to get up. I only got four hours of sleep the night before because my boss hadn't bothered showing up for the day so I had to stay late.
As soon as the guitar kicked in, my German Sheppard woke up too. Her deep barks now filled the room, ensuring that I would now get up-as if I had any other option to begin with.
I let the song continue to play on my phone. I stretched out my arms and got up out of bed, the sudden cold of the air now just hitting my almost-naked body.
I walked up to the window in my bedroom and opened the shades to view a dreary and glum morning. The song promised a sun shining in the sky, but the reality was only dark clouds and rain.
I made my coffee and let Sasha, my dog, out. I checked the clock on my phone. 45 minutes before I had to leave for work. I went through my morning routine, feeding Sasha, showering, and shaving.
After I was done shaving, I took five minutes to do my morning workout, which was just pushups and sit-ups. At age 39, my body was trying to get me to accept a dad bod, but I fiercely resisted, trying to maintain my good physical fitness.
When I finished, I checked the clock again. 15 minutes. I had been unusually fast today. I picked out the suit, shirt and tie I would wear today for work. My wardrobe was not big, so it didn't take long.
I almost never had this much time in the morning, so I decided to give myself a treat. I grabbed my phone, pulled up some porn and started jerking off.
And of course, as soon as I begin, I get an alert on my phone. There's been an accident downtown. Heavy traffic.
"Fuuuck!" I audibly screamed out, causing Sasha to come running into my room.
I headed out the door as quickly as I could and sped to work, trying to minimize the delay. It wasn't successful. Even with all that time I had to spare earlier, I showed up thirty minutes late to work.
The elevator doors opened to my company's floor. I immediately moved my sight to my boss' office. Her lights were off, so she wasn't in yet. It was uncharacteristic of her, but I wasn't complaining. The crisis was averted.
I walked up to our receptionist, a 32-year old obese woman named Martha who was an absolute sweetheart. Sitting behind her was a young girl.
"Hey, Martha, might I ask who this little one is?" I asked, having never seen a kid around the office before.
"This is my daughter, Belinda. It's bring your daughter to work day," she responded.
"Oh," I said, surprised. "I didn't even know we had one of those."
"Just instituted this year," Martha replied.
I walked away and took a quick peek into some of the cubicles. Sure enough, there were more young girls throughout.
"This is going to be hell," I thought to myself, imagining the amount of noise that such a crowd could generate.
"Well, well, well, glad you finally decided to join us, Greg," a voice behind me shouted out. I immediately recognized it as belonging to my boss, Erin.
Erin was a total bitch of a boss. She never did much work and always yelled at anybody for any small mistake. Instead of taking the blame of things, she threw her employees under the bus. I absolutely hated her from the moment she was transferred 2 years ago to the branch I worked at.
To make matters worse, Erin was also really hot. She was 46, but age never caught up to her. No wrinkles adorned her face, and she still looked like the absolute bombshell she once was. She could have easily passed for someone in their late 20s. Her chin-length blonde hair was always styled immaculately, and she wore short skirts to show off her nice legs.
Standing behind Erin was somebody that I hadn't met before. It was a woman, or girl rather, who looked about 18. I assumed it was Erin's daughter, because their faces were very similar. She had long, wavy blonde hair, and was even prettier than Erin. Her entire body was perfectly tanned, giving her an alluring appearance. She could have easily been a supermodel.
"Do you have nothing to say for yourself?" Erin asked me, snapping me back to reality.
"There was an accident along the highway that-" I started.
"It was a rhetorical question. My office-now!" Erin interrupted.
She briskly walked past me and to her office. Her daughter followed close behind.
I joined the two women in Erin's office, shutting the door behind me.
"Tiffany, sit on the couch," Erin snapped to her daughter. Tiffany obeyed, lying down and disinterestedly getting on her phone.
"Listen, Erin," I began. "I'm sorry that I was a little late today. There was a big accident on the highway so traffic was stopped-"
"I do not want to hear your excuses!" Erin cut me off. "This marks two times in the last week that you have been late."
"The other one was because I had to take my dog to the vet! You can't blame me for that!" I insisted.
"I already told you that I want no excuses, Greg! Your work is going downhill, and you are not doing yourself any favors by being late. Get your act together and get back to work!"
I opened my mouth to protest again. Our company had nearly doubled in size recently and I was now doing the job of two people. Of course the quality of my work is going to slip.
"Is that clear?" Erin asked before I could speak.
I sighed, knowing that it was futile to argue.
"Yes, Erin."
"Good. This will not happen again. Now get to work and get out of my sight!"
I immediately left Erin's office and slunk back to my cubicle.
I stared deeply at the blue computer screen on my desk. I was sick and tired of getting yelled at. I was a defeated man. I slumped in my chair, allowing my head to rest on the desk. I slowly found myself slipping off to sleep...
I awoke sharply when my phone rang. I groggily wiped my eyes, still feeling the effects of working late the night before, something else Erin had done to torture me.
I briefly checked the time on my computer, realizing I had only napped for seven minutes. I checked the caller ID on the phone, and saw it was Erin. I begrudgingly picked up.
"What's up, Erin?" I asked in a very annoyed manner.
"Listen, Greg. I feel like I was rude to you and unnecessarily abrasive. Please come to my office again and we'll talk about it."