Sometimes it's better to be alone

Will somehow doubted asking more about her boss would lighten the woman’s mood, it’d probably only crash it further with the reminder of all the wrongs he or she had done her. “I’m Will by the way,” He introduced himself. It was only polite given that they were conversing as they were, to be give his name. A smile tugged at his lips at her kind words delivered to him by her. “Thank you,” He said. “Thats very kind of you to say.” Especially given, from the impression he was getting, she worked as something important. 

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      “Meg,” she introduced herself absently. It felt like she was always having to introduce herself to people she didn’t want to, but unlike most men, Will had at least been nice and not weird. That was a plus. “Anytime.” She replied casually. Meg had never had any problems voicing her opinions, especially when she knew it would improve things for others. “What do you normally work on?” She asked, eyes moving to look down at his hands. 

     “That’s why I really like my job, even if it is only part time while I’m studying. It’s kind of a one man operation, the only person I have to make sure if doing their job is me” Sylvia explained, nodding gently. Getting in trouble for somebody else’s incompetence or having to take on more work because of it sounded horrible, especially if it would take her a long while. “Your boss isn’t a man by any chance?” Sylvia couldn’t help but ask, although she suspected she might be right already. “Nice to meet you, sorry it’s under such stressful circumstances, though. I mean…if there’s a way that I could help, I could..”

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     “What do you do?” Meg asked curiously. Working for herself sounded like a dream that she would never achieve. Even just working under someone else would be better than the man she was currently working for. If there was another big hospital in town, she would have moved by now, but it was this or move. It was something she had considered a few times, but hadn’t actually pushed herself to do it yet. “He is, how could you tell?” Megara let out a soft laugh. “It’s okay, story of my life.” Every day was this stressful, it wasn’t a one off. 

Walle brought out their over the shoulder bag and placed it on the table. They began rummaging through the pockets until they found what they were looking for. They smiled at the light pink rock shaped like a heart and placed it on the woman’s table. “I think you need it more than I do,” they said with a supportive nod.

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        Megara watched as the stranger pulled up a bag and placed it on the table, looking through it for something. Looking down at the rock, her brows pulled together as she reached out to touch it. Picking it up, she was shocked by how smooth it was. She turned the rock over in her hand, inspecting it. “Thank you.” She looked back at Walle with a soft smile, trying to ignore the fact that the rock was in the shape of a heart. Love always put a sour taste in her mouth. 

With one hand, Belle broke off pieces of the blueberry muffin she’d ordered at the cafe, the other hand holding a book open. She turned the page with a flick of her thumb, hand going out to grab another piece of muffin – only to meet the ceramic plate instead. Belle sighed softly and got up, book still parked in front of her nose. Spotting a pair of feet about to cross with hers, she stopped neatly like a dancer on her mark before they collided, not looking up until she’d finished the page. “Oh, sorry,” she said, offering the woman in front of her a sheepish little smile. “Are you okay?”

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         Megara looked up from her phone, hearing a woman’s voice. She had been texting and walking, something that always seemed to get her into trouble no matter how skilled at it she became. “I’m sorry.” She apologized back, knowing that it wasn’t all the other woman’s fault. Meg was at least partially to blame. “I’m fine. Are you? I should have been looking where I was going.” She showed the stranger her phone before slipping it in her pocket without finishing her text. Vincent could wait.

     Sylvia blinked as she looked up from her book and saw that the other had actually been talking to her. It had been hard not to overhear the rest of her conversation, but she had done her best to mind her own business. “Oh, I agree with you” Sylvia nodded, folding her book closed. “Everyone is born to be good at different things. I’ve never understood why people chase jobs that they don’t really hold any passion for. I mean, what’s the point, right?” she leaned over, extending her hand towards the other with a small smile. “Sylvia. Hopefully you don’t have too much to catch up on now, I’m sorry”

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      Megara turned to the woman, happy to have someone that she could vent to and forget about later. It was a good way of getting it out before she had to face Vincent at work. “Thank you!” She exclaimed, pleased to have someone agree with her. “They don’t do their job and I get in trouble. That’s the point.” Reaching out and taking the other woman’s hand and shaking it firmly. “Meg.” She introduced herself. “It’s fine, I’ll figure it out. I always do.” 

Walle’s lips pulled together into a line, not really sure how to respond. She seemed stressed out, which Walle understood, but their ways of de-stressing was probably different than hers. Still, they wanted to try to help. They held eye contact for a little too long before asking “Would a pretty rock make you feel better?”

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       Meg’s brows raised at them, not sure how to respond when they asked if a pretty rock would make her feel better. It was a question she hadn’t been expecting. Blinking, she let her brows fall back into place. “It might,” she shrugged. 

“I can’t say your employer sounds ah-” Whats the word? “Bearable.” Will had his own fair share of employers that were much the same as she described. Speaking of moving mountains like it was making a kettle of tea, expected you to anticipate their thoughts before they even had them, and got furious when you didn’t meet their demands. “There’s no pleasing that type, and no changing them either.” It was a dismay to learn but life had taught him that lesson thoroughly. People in power didn’t particularly care to change, especially once they get away with whatever they want to do. There was no way about it sans excusing yourself from their proximity. “Often times I find someone without experienced is hired because people with experience demand more. What many refuse to realize, is that they are worth more.” Many things were worth more than met the eye. “Though the are just the opinions of a lowly mechanic,” He added hastily. “Take them with a grain of salt.” Will hadn’t meant to overstep (he was usually better at containing his opinion, the comfortable environment just gave him too much comfortability. He needed to be more cautious, he noted to himself).

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         The laugh that escaped from between Megara’s lips lacked any humor as she nodded at the man. She couldn’t have agreed more. Vincent was anything but pleasant. Sometimes she thought he was the devil in disguise, sent there to make her life a living hell. “That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.” She had never had a worse boss and that was surprising considering how many bosses she had been under. She could believe that people with experience demanded more. Megara demanded more of her coworker and maybe if her coworker had more experience they would demand more to get her the results she needed. “I don’t think being a mechanic is lowly.” Meg had grown up poor with a single mother. The only reason she was where she had made it to today was hard work. 

Walle mostly came to the Lucky Cat Cafe for the atmosphere rather than the food. They were one of those people who would basically eat anything put in front of them, while also feeling like food was just fuel to keep them going throughout the day. So they were simply eating their sandwich, listening to their music as they were wont to do. 

“So please be sweet, my chickadee, And when I kiss you, just say to me, “It’s delightful, it’s delicious, It’s…It’s de-lovely”.“

The song had just ended in time for them to hear the other person’s words. They paused their music and looked up at her with a slightly spaced out look in their eyes. “Is everything okay?” they asked.

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      “No,” she huffed. The frustration was clear as day written across her features in the way her lips curved downwards and her eyebrows pulled together, forming a crease in the center of her forehead. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll figure it out.” She would have to. It was that or lose her job, and she didn’t exactly enjoy the idea of being unemployed after working so hard to get to where she was now. 

         Meg dreaded going to work for nothing more than the simple fact that she hated her boss. The man was practically unbearable with his demands, expecting her to be able to move mountains and things no single human was capable of. Meg always found a way, though. She was hoping, as she did every morning, that he would call out by some miracle. The universe had never favored her, and she held the strong belief that if there was a God, they hated her too. “I needed it yesterday. No. No, you don’t understand.” She sighed heavily into the phone she held to her ear. “I need it now.” The answer was that she wasn’t going to get what she needed today. Frustrated, Megara hung the phone up and tossed it onto the seat next to her with an eye roll. “Some people just shouldn’t be hired for jobs they can’t do.” She vented her frustration to the person sitting at the table next to hers.