To be continued... || Mick Schumacher

Vierzehn | Fourteen

It was 17:55, five minutes before Lotte's shift ended at her internship. And gosh, she was longing for the moment the clock ticked 18:00. She pretended she was typing some emails, but in fact, she was playing Pac-Man on Google. There was nothing left to do, there were no emails, she already had finished her tasks, and the open tasks were too big to start five minutes before the shift would end.

"Lotte?" Samantha asked.

Lotte paused the game and straightened her back to look over her computer screen. She and Samatha still weren't best friends - Martina announced she wouldn't return to the store, so Samantha took it over. However, Lotte and Samantha were on good colleague terms now. "Yes," Lotte politely said.

"I know it's almost six o'clock, but the poster isn't finished yet," Samantha mentioned.

"Okay, I will pick it up the first thing tomorrow." Lotte started to write it down on her to-do list.

"Actually, it has to be done today," Samantha said and kept looking at Lotte. "It has to be sent to the printing office before nine o'clock tonight."

Lotte could feel in what kind of direction this was going. She bit her lip, trying to stop her facial expressions from happening. "Ow."

"I have to go home now, so can you do it?"

"I actually have to go home too..."

A sigh rolled over Samantha's lips, and she lowered her eyebrows, she clearly was already annoyed by it. "We need the posters tomorrow."

And? I have the right to go home now. Besides, I have something planned. Lotte stayed silent, she really wasn't looking forward to doing this. She only noted some ideas and drew a quick version of the poster, she hadn't even started yet. The document was empty because this did not have any priority.

"And can you also pick them up tomorrow before coming to the office?" Samantha stood up from her chair, putting on her coat. "You can send me a photo once you're done, and I will see if it's good. Can you also shut down everything once you leave?"

Lotte frowned, why does she thinks I am okay with this?

"You can write double hours since this is outside of your work hours. You can send me a payment request for your dinner, we pay that for you."

Tears flowed into Lotte's eyes, this was the last thing she wanted and needed today. She was tired, perhaps even exhausted and barely keeping it together. She sat close against a breakdown, and now this... She looked down, she was pulling all her strengths together to say she wouldn't do it today. But when she looked up, Samantha was walking out of the office. She was speechless.

Lotte's eyes closed, and she let her head fall back until it reached the backrest of her desk chair. She glided down, it started to hurt her back. The muscles in her chin began to tremble, and more she gasped for air. She knew how important the posters were, so she couldn't leave, but four minutes before the shift would end?

"So ein Misthaufen," she said and took a deep breath, this is just bullshit. Her eyes opened, something she regretted doing. Tears left her eyes. She chewed on the inside of her lip and stared in front of her. "Ich bin wirklich nicht-"

"Fijne avond, Lotte. Ben je er morgen weer?" One of the bakers walked into the office, wishing Lotte a good evening and asking if she would be at the office tomorrow in Dutch.

Lotte quickly sat up and dried her eyes. She plastered a smile on her face. "Only in the morning," she replied in Dutch. "Have a good evening too."

The man looked worried. "Are you okay?"