Milan watched Bentlee and Maxwell from a distance as they ate and laughed together. She had been going through some rough times and she needed the comfort of a friend. The only real one she managed to make, she ignored and was indifferent towards.
She couldn't deny that she felt lonely. No one at home was caring enough to be interested in her or her problems.
Her family was a well to-do one, but it lacked the warmth of a home. Everyone was invested in themselves and their business, including her parents.
And to top it all, she was the least liked child. Her family called her a disappointment, after all she was the only one that still depended on them financially.
*Sigh*
She opened her brown paper bag and took a bite of her bagel.
It tasted good but she wasn't in the mood to appreciate the taste.
After three more bites, she placed the leftover bagel in the brown paper bag, seeming to have lost interest in it.
She trashed it and left the cafeteria to her department's office space.
She felt the cool air from the air conditioning unit on her skin, in the halls as she walked.
She wanted to be inside the air conditioning unit and freeze just so she could relax for a while.
She was about entering the office space when her phone rang.
*Ring ring*
Milan paused and looked at the screen of her phone. It was her mother. She really didn't want to answer but knew she would get an earful if she decided not to.
She slid the phone icon to the right to answer the call.
"Hello?" Milan said.
"Your cousins are in town and we will be having dinner with them tonight. 7pm, don't be late" her mother replied and before she could react to the information she had just received, the line went dead.
Her cousins were in town? Now, her suffering was about to begin.
She didn't like her cousins one bit. They were bullies and abusive as well.
She squeezed her left palm with her right hand and took a deep breath, trying not to remember her experiences with her cousins. At least not there, in the hallway.
When she felt more relaxed, she stepped into the office space.
............
Work went on as usual, the sound of fingers tapping on keyboards was what filled the whole space. Everyone was busy.
Some were typing, others were printing and submitting the typed documents.
Bentlee's fingers hurt from typing too much.
She rose her head from her computer and looked around her. Her coworkers looked drained, like all form of life had been sucked out of them.
The scene resembled one of dry bones or skeletons working.
Her eyes searched for Leilani, and as soon as she found her, she gasped.
Leilani looked more unalive than anyone else. She looked like she would drop to the floor at any second.
Mr Richard wasn't in a good mood, as usual, and decided to assign an amount of work that was supposed to be done it a week or more to be done today.
It was obvious, they couldn't continue. Someone needed to speak up. Someone. But who?
Should I? She thought, then laughed at her own thought. If anyone should, then Leilani is the most appropriate one to do so.
Bentlee got up from her desk and walked towards Leilani holding a file.
"You alright?" She asked placing the file on Leilani's desk. Her question was answered with a nod from Leilani.
Bentlee returned to her desk to pretend to work while she waited for Leilani to open the file she had placed on her desk.
Leilani groaned as she sensed more work being given to her, but a she opened the file, her eyes widened and her brows furrowed in confusion.
"What is this?" She mouthed to Bentlee.
"Keep reading" Bentlee mouthed in response.
Leilani kept reading the file. Turns out it was a plain A4 sheet on which a message was written.
"You're the only one who can ask/tell/request/demand for a break. None of us signed up to be worked like horses and we need a break...for the rest of the day. Look around, everyone's withering away second after second", it said.
"No" Leilani mouthed to Bentlee.
After a few minutes, Mr. Richard walked in with more work to assign.
"Ugh"
"Really"
"What the hell"
"I'm tired"
Could be heard along with collective sighs of frustration.
"Sir" Bentlee said. If Leilani wouldn't initiate this, then I'll help out.
"What is it now Bentlee?" He was annoyed already.
"Leilani would like to speak with you" She said.
Leilani looked up from her desk with an expression that screamed"wtf Bentlee" on her face.
"What do you want to say?" He asked rolling his eyes.
How childish, Bentlee thought.
"Well....." Leilani looked at Bentlee and the latter nodded, urging her to continue.
"The work you have assigned on us to be finished today is a week's worth. I believe assignment of excessive work load is a part of the labour rights violation of this company. We need a break, at least until tomorrow" she said with strength in her voice.
"No, the work is important" was all he said.
"But the work is due in 4 weeks.... It doesn't need to be a priority today sir" she responded almost immediately with a strong but polite tone.
"Urghhhh!" He screamed and left with his bag.
He was so emotionally unstable sometimes.
"What does that mean?" A coworker asked.
"It means we can go home now" Tiana said packing her things up.
After a few seconds, everyone else was packing up their stuff. None wanted to be here if the crazy man decided to come back.