Care to Command

61 Birthday Boy

Any other time this would make me melt, but today is his birthday and it's a little sad. Why didn't he tell me? We could've celebrated. Hell, he could've used it to his advantage.

Maybe that's why he didn't tell me? So I don't feel burdened?

"What's on your mind?" He asks when I stare with a titled head.

"Nothing... I just... PMS." I focus on my laptop, feeling guilty for lying to him.

"Don't worry, I got you." He turns to go to the kitchen. "I'll make you some nice, peach tea in a fancy cup." He walks behind the island and widens his eyes dramatically. "If you do your work, I'll even give you some cookies."

Oh, you're definitely getting my cookies.

"Sound good?" He smiles, filling the tea kettle with water.

"Yes, sir."

~

I need to cry.

Shush and Lev are thirty minutes away and I need to cry so Lucas feels bad and leaves to buy me ice cream.

"Think, think..." I whisper, knowing he's too far to hear me. "Remember when you were an uptight bitch working for Grant and no one loved you? That was sad, right? So sad..."

Nothing.

"Remember when you asked Gia if she was new but she was working with you for over a year? How embarrassing, right?"

Nope.

"Remember when your dad didn't call you on your birthday and then gave you that shitty gift? Let's not even mention your mom, she's basically nonexistent. You have nobody!"

"Are you okay?" Lucas asks and I nod.

"Just prepping for a meeting!"

I type 'videos that make you cry' and watch some short films where a homeless man gets killed protecting someone's store, a disabled son gets a piggy back ride on his mean father's shoulders, and a little girl writes a letter for her overworked, single dad. But nothing works.

Okay, think. What makes Layla cry?

Oh, no. Are we... are we going to go there?

Slowly, I type the name of a cartoon where an abused pitbull befriends an abandoned kitten. The kitten is threatened by the pitbull who tries to play with her, but she scratches him. She hides from the pitbull until later he limps out of the house, beaten to exhaustion. She helps him escape and the two run away, then...

My throat starts to tighten.

A random stranger gives the kitten some food then the pitbull timidly comes forward. The stranger is scared, but the kitten rubs against the pitbull's leg, settling by his feet, which makes the stranger realize he's harmless.

My eyes start to blur and I sniffle.

He flinches as the stranger extends her hand, but as she gently pets his head, the pitbull leans into her touch and opens his eyes.

"Why!" I sob. "Why are people so cruel?"

Lucas turns his music off and rushes towards me, I switch my screen to a spreadsheet.

"What's wrong?" He sits next to me, one hand on the table and the other on my chair.

"Nothing... it's just, I cry on my period when I think of everything that's wrong in the world." Thank God that's not a lie.

"Okay, how can I help." His eyebrows furrow.

"Do you..." I wipe my eyes with the sleeve of my hoodie. "Do you have some ice cream?"