Same Same But Different

TWO

"Well, next time you put it over my fucking desk!" He raised himself in a jump and crossed the office to take the paper from her hands in the brusquest way humanly possible. "How many times do I have to tell you that when I ask for something, I want it over my desk?" His voice bounced off the walls, and Beth could hear it spreading across the floor and entering everyone else's doors. "Are you braindead? Huh?"

Beth tried not to wince, but it was hard with him towering over her like that. God, she was so tired of his bullshit.

"Are you a vegetable, Wilde?!"

"No, sir." Her voice barely made it out of her throat.

"Then go do your fucking job! Why the fuck are you still standing here?"

She spun around as fast as she could and went for the door. She power walked back to her desk and collapsed over the chair.

Damn it, she wasn't about to cry at work again, was she? Shit happens. Deal with it like a grown person, she told herself.

Her phone buzzed, and she wouldn't have dreamt of looking at it while on the clock - especially after being so loudly yelled at - but a glance was enough to see that it was a text from Mike... And she really needed someone to talk to. Maybe it would keep the tears from running down.

[are you, tho?], the text read.

She replied, taking a look around to see if her boss was still in his office.

[am I what?]

[a wild child]

[can't you tell from our conversations?]

[I'm as wild as one can get, honey]

She smiled at the screen, already feeling her face cooling down and the tears drying out.

[are you lying to me, Wilde? I feel like I'm being misled here]

[No, I'm not lying, I'm being sarcastic]

[oh, right, a trait of the wild ones, I'd say]

[so you're you an expert?]

[on wild ones?]

[you can say I've been pretty wild, once upon a time]

[these days... not so much]

[looking to settle down, are we?]

[definitely]

[that explains why MeetCute and not, like, Tinder idk]

[do you judge me?]

[for what?]

[trying to find love on a dating app]

[I don't]

[is it because you're looking for it too?]

At that, Beth stopped answering for a while. She told herself it was because her boss could see her on her phone and use it as an excuse to shout at her some more, when it was actually because she didn't know what to say.

So, she stared at one of the spreadsheets she was supposed to be filling up with potential clientele information and tried to focus on the task. She couldn't ignore her brain, though, the matter kept nagging.