Broken Lives On

Broken lives on 19

As I made my way through the bustling streets of New York City on my supposed day off, the cool weather did little to alleviate the suffocating feeling that enveloped me.

Each step I took seemed to be met with a sea of faces, all rushing past me with a sense of urgency that grated on my nerves. The demands for my presence at work, rather than polite requests, only added to my annoyance.

Why couldn't they see that everyone deserved a day to themselves, away from the chaos of the city? Despite the cool breeze that nipped at my skin, I couldn't shake the feeling of being suffocated by the expectations of others.

Finally the tall towering hotel started coming into sight. I sighed heavily slumping slightly.

'This isn't supposed to be happening, am supposed to be in my room reading my new book!'

I mentally snapped as I finally reached the building. Inhaling sharply, I stepped inside the hotel and made my way down the hallway towards the staff room when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Gibbs with his usual expressionless face.

I turned around swiftly to see Gibbs. He had his usual boring, blank but tense face on. No sign of emotion crossing over his face, just a dark void.

'Man, can you smile?'

"Morning," I said mastering a fake grin.

He looked at me blankly for a moment, scanning my face in a way I had to admit wasn't comfortable. After blankly staring at me, Gibbs forced a big, ugly smile and greeted me with a sarcastic "Good morning, Miss Leroy." He then coldly stated, "You are late."

"Well, considering today was my supposedly day off, I don't think I was supposed to be here any earlier," I said with quite implacable confidence.

Annoyed at being called in on my day off, I glared at Gibbs and expressed my lack of mood for the situation. He narrowed his eyes at me and I only smiled a bit more. They couldn't do something as simple as asking me nicely to come.

“Go fill in the paperwork for covering for Miss Kingsley,” he said and I scrunched my brows in confusion.

"Since when do I fill in the paperwork for filling in for someone?” I asked rather curiously.

“Since Le Délice got a new boss," he said in a duh tone before turning in the other direction. “Just fill the damn paperwork, Leroy. Today was supposed to be my day free from you as well,” he said with annoyance visible in his tone.

I rolled my eyes, folding my arms over my chest. "Well, maybe we both could have been in a better position if you hadn't chosen me to fill in for Carly,” I said in a uniform tone as his.

"Ha,” he chuckled and went on, "you wish, you're lucky I didn't have a choice to choose. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been you,” he said, and just like that, he was gone. Frustrated, I complied with his request and muttered about our forced interaction

'Great, that leaves one person in the whole universe who has me filling in for Carly.'

I sighed in discontent as I reflected on the situation that if it weren't Gibbs demanding my presence, it was none other than the new so-called boss. “Ugh! Can my life get any more exciting?" I said ironically before striding towards the stairs.

As I trudged through the hallways on my supposedly precious day off, annoyance bubbled within me like a persistent itch. The cool weather outside did little to soothe my frustration as I was met with the suffocating atmosphere of demands.

There was never a formal process for filling in for someone through paperwork signing. Now all of a sudden, he  had changed everything.

As I approached the office door, I couldn't help but find it amusing how nervous I felt being called to this particular office while Mr. Griswold was or wasn't present. It reminded me of being summoned to the principal's office back in high school.