Okay, Daphne thought as she put her bag down at her cubicle. I can do this.

“Good morning!” Landon exclaimed cheerfully, smiling brightly.

“Good morning,” Daphne replied smiling a little back at him. She took off her jacket and the scarf she had grabbed to help combat the chilly weather.

She sat down in her chair, and pulled open her to-do list for the day, scanning it over. If I don’t ask for help today, I will for sure work late, she thought reading through the sheer number of tasks that were on her list.

“Another busy day ahead of us?” Landon asked.

Daphne swallowed hard. Here’s my opening to ask for help, she thought.

“Sure is,” Daphne answered, trying not to grimace.

“Got some easy things for me that I can get off your to-do list before we get slammed with meetings?” Landon asked.

“Sure do,” Daphne replied with a smile.

Thank goodness I didn’t even have to ask, she thought.

She sent him over a stack of documents and instructions to get him started and then pulled out her cell phone.

I’ll just send Gary a quick text, she thought. If Landon and I destroy this list today, I’ll for sure get off work on time. Besides, he won’t be awake yet.

Good morning, Gary! She wrote. Hope you are having a good start to your day. I was thinking that it would be nice to meet up tonight if you’re available.

She put her phone down, off to the side and began trudging her way through her to-do list.

About twenty minutes later, she heard her phone vibrate. She snatched it up quickly to see that Gary had replied.

Good morning. It is going okay so far. I am available tonight. Is everything okay?

She raised her eyebrows at his response, tilting her head to the side a bit. Why is he asking me if everything is okay?

Everything is fine, she replied with a smiley face. It’s just been a little while since we’ve seen each other.

She went back to her task, but much to her chagrin, Gary responded back nearly immediately.

I figured he would be happy and say yes to spending time with me immediately, Daphne thought. I didn’t expect to have a whole conversation about it.

You’re being surprisingly clingy, Gary had written.

Daphne felt like she had been punched in the gut, and her stomach was swirling around in circles. I’m being…clingy? She wondered, frowning. Then why did he say we didn’t spend enough time together when he broke up with me?

Her phone vibrated again in her hand. He had sent another message through.

We just saw each other only three days ago.

Daphne squinted her eyes at the message. Something is…fishy, she thought.

But I miss you, she typed, adding a sad emoji to the end of her message. It was intentionally out of character for her. She wasn’t even sure if she actually did miss him.

Daphne’s heart sped up in her chest as she saw that Gary was replying back almost immediately. If I need to exaggerate my feelings a bit to get him to stay with me, it’s worth it.

Cringe, Gary had replied. You’re being really clingy today.

Daphne’s heart dropped in her chest. She bit her lip, curling her toes in her shoes and turning back to her work.

I don’t understand, she thought. Why would he have said that to me in the…possible future…if he would have responded so negatively when I ask to spend time with him?

She heard her phone vibrate across the desk again, and bit her lip, trying to resist the temptation to see if he had said anything additional.

“Everything alright?” Landon asked next to her.

“Everything is fine,” she replied, pulling out her professional smile. He smiled back, but didn’t look like he quite believed her. She twisted her hands in her lap.

No longer able to resist the temptation, Daphne grabbed her phone. It was another message from Gary.

All I ask is that you find a different way to ask in the future, he had written. But let’s meet.

Daphne felt all of the tension in her muscles fall away. So, it was just the way that I asked? She thought, more confused than she had been before.

“Seems like there’s something going on,” Landon replied to her movement, a twinkle in his blue green eyes.

“Ah, yeah,” she replied, putting her hand on the back of her neck. “I’m trying to make plans with my boyfriend, but he’s being confusing.”

Daphne thought she saw a flash of disappointment cross Landon’s face, but the speed at which it was gone made her wonder if she’d misread it.

“That’s surprising,” Landon said calmly. “I feel s though its usually girls who are being confusing.”

Daphne let out a small laugh. “I suppose you would see it that way,” she said.

Do you want to do dinner at seven? Daphne typed back to Gary.

Sounds good, he answered immediately. Don’t be late.

A small smile spread across Daphne’s lips. He knows me too well, she thought.

“Seems like you’re really excited,” Landon observed.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I am,” Daphne replied with a little giggle.

“It all worked out then,” Landon replied softly. “I’m glad.”

“It did,” Daphne replied.

They worked alongside one another for another hour or so, when Daphne heard Fiona’s voice.

“Daphne?” Fiona said in her nasally, snotty voice.

Daphne had to hold back a look of disgust as she turned to look at the red head. “Fiona?” she replied, trying to keep her face as impassive as possible. “What is it?”

Fiona didn’t keep the look of hostility off of her own face. “Trevor is looking for you,” Fiona said, rolling her eyes and sitting down at her cubicle.

Daphne blinked her eyes a few times, feeling a bit untethered from her body. Was Fiona always this way? Did I just not pay attention to who was telling me the boss was looking for me? Daphne asked herself.

“Did he say what he wanted?” Daphne asked, standing up and looking over the edge of their shared wall.

“I don’t know,” Fiona replied as if she was some sort of valley girl.

“Didn’t you just come from meeting with him?” Daphne pressed. “Shouldn’t you know why he’s asking to meet with me?”

Fiona looked up with a look of contempt written all over her face. “Why don’t you just go ask him yourself?” Fiona asked.

It took all of Daphne’s power to not mock Fiona at that moment.

She set her jaw, biting her tongue. “I’ll be right back,” she told Landon.

His eyes were full of concern. “Alright,” he replied.

As she walked across the office towards Trevor’s office, Daphne’s insides began to feel as though they were filling up with lava.

I just need to set boundaries, Daphne was chanting in her head, reminding herself of Maggie’s advice.

She reached Trevor’s door and took a deep breath. Her heart was thundering through her chest. Every cell in her body was screaming that it wasn’t going to be okay, and that setting boundaries wasn’t going to be enough.

What choice do I have though? Daphne thought. I can’t just blow off my boss.

She gently tapped her knuckles on the door. “Come in,” she heard Trevor’s voice say through it.

Daphne bit her lip and opened the door, closing it behind her.

You can do this, she thought to herself. Make Maggie proud of you.

“Hello,” she said, looking over at Trevor, who was sitting at his desk, playing around on his phone. “Fiona told me that you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yes,” Trevor said. “She told me that she was overloaded with her responsibilities, and she needs to offload one of her projects. I figured you might be able to take over for her.” He didn’t even look up from his phone, and Daphne saw the smirk on his face as clear as day.

This prick has been taking advantage of me this whole time, Daphne thought, feeling her fists clench. Fiona is the least busiest person on the entire team.

“I see,” Daphne replied.

“She said that she’s too overwhelmed and can’t get anything done. We can’t have that, can we?” He finally put his phone down and looked up at her. Daphne couldn’t help but notice that it was a phone game that he had open on his screen. “Besides, she already told all the stakeholders that you’ll be taking over,” Trevor added.

What the fuck? Daphne thought. Who promoted this dick into a manager if all he does is fart around on his phone and yell at people?

Daphne felt her ears flaming, and she bit her lip. “I’m sorry,” she finally managed after a long pause. “I’m also overwhelmed between training the new employee and all of the other projects I’m working on. You’ll probably want to find someone else to take over for her.”

During the time that she had been talking, her eyes had slowly lowered down until she was studying the carpet of his office. But now that Trevor wasn’t responding, Daphne could feel her insides twisting as she slowly looked back up at Trevor.

His face was dark red. She flinched, already knowing what was coming. I should have never listened to Maggie about trying to talk to Trevor first, Daphne thought.

“What the fuck makes you think you can tell me no?” Trevor shouted, standing up at his desk. His hands were clenched into fists.

Daphne shrank even more under the size advantage that Trevor had on her.

“’No’ is never an acceptable answer,” Trevor continued. “The only thing I should ever hear from hear from you is ‘yes, sir.’ Do I make myself clear?”

Daphne looked over at him, the sudden drop in volume nearly deafening. Trevor was breathing heavily.

Fuck, Daphne thought. The whole office probably heard that explosion.

“Yes, sir,” Daphne replied, her voice tiny. Her eyes pricked, threatening to unleash her emotions in front of the man who just brought them about. “I will make sure to do as you say going forward.”

“Good,” Trevor replied, his face beginning to shift back into a normal color. “Now get out.”

Daphne turned and opened the door, closing it behind her. A quick glance around the office filled her vision with the facial expressions of those who were pitying her.

She felt a lump form in her throat. I will not cry, she thought. Her pause made her realize that her whole body was trembling. Her face turned red, and she looked down, covering her face with her bushy hair. She scurred her way back to her desk.

There’s something seriously wrong with that man, Daphne thought as she did her best to not trip over obstacles. People should not be treated the way that he treats people.

Daphne’s heart ached, feeling as though if even the smallest thing went wrong for the rest of the day, she wouldn’t be able to keep it together. She was holding her emotions in with a single thread.

She sat down in her seat next to Landon, still keeping her head low. Daphne expected Landon to say something, but he stayed silent, allowing Daphne to calm the crashing waves of emotion running through her.

Maggie is right, Daphne thought. There’s no way I could stay in this shitty job and still feel happy.

Her stomach was still swirling with her emotions when she heard of the instant messaging app on her computer.

She pulled back her curtain of hair a bit to take a quick peek at Landon. He seemed to be doing his best to give her the privacy and space that she needed.

Instead of looking at the message, Daphne grabbed her phone and pulled it into her curtain of hair. She pulled open her texts to Maggie.

I tried saying no, Daphne typed. It did not go over well with my boss.

Daphne bit down hard on her lip, nearly drawing blood, and feeling her tears sting her eyes again. What the fuck did I do to deserve this kind of humiliation at work? Daphne wondered. I have bent over backwards for this job for years. And this is how I’m repaid?

Her phone vibrated in her hand. I’m sorry, Maggie had written. I guess that means it’s time to start looking for a new job.

Absolutely, Daphne replied.

She put her phone off to the side and heard the instant messenger ding again.

She peeked though her hair once more at Landon, who still seemed to be ignoring her. She took a deep breath and looked around more widely and noticed that no one seemed to be paying attention to her at all at that moment.

She gathered her hair up, pulling it away from the front of her face. She sighed heavily, and then pulled up her instant messenger on her computer.

It was a message from her co-worker Asher.

Hey, he had written. That sounded rough. Is everything okay? His second message added on, saying, I overheard your conversation with Trevor. If you’re overwhelmed, I can take on the extra project from Fiona.

Daphne’s eyes narrowed at her screen. I don’t think this happened in the past, she thought. As far as I remember, I barely interacted with Asher Hawthrone. I would have remembered him offering to help me…right?

Still, she thought, nodding and tilting her head to the side. It would be helpful to have someone else take it on instead of working so late like I usually do.

I think Fiona already told everyone that I will be taking over, Daphne replied. She hit send.

Before she got a chance to write more, another message from Asher came through.

I can just inform them that there was a little bit of a mix up, Asher said. And that I will actually be the one taking over for Fiona.

Daphne swallowed hard and shook her head. If we go behind Trevor’s back, he’ll be furious, she typed.

Asher sent back a laughing emoji. Trevor would be too stupid to even realize what we did, he typed back. He barely pays enough attention to collect a paycheck.

Daphne couldn’t help but let out a little giggle. Though her emotions were still swirling around her, Asher’s attempt to lighten her load was making her feel a bit more normal.

Alright, she typed. Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate it. As soon as I get the information from Fiona, I’ll send it over to you.

Happy to help, Asher replied with a smiley face.

Daphne, still smiling a bit, looked over at Landon. His blue green eyes met hers, and he smiled a bit at her. “Feeling better?” he asked.

“A little,” she replied, feeling her face warm a bit.

“Good,” Landon replied, his smiling widening. “Let’s work hard today so that you can go have a nice time on your date.”

Daphne’s smile widened even further. “Thanks,” she said.