Dec 1, 2025
Why can't my job understand that I can't work Sundays! I have two jobs and the one has Sundays from me and I told the other one that Sundays isn't available and yet it still puts me on on Sundays when I told them I can't. I hate it here.
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Why can't my job understand that I can't work Sundays! I have two jobs and the one has Sundays from me and I told the other one that Sundays isn't available and yet it still puts me on on Sundays when I told them I can't. I hate it here.
Day 10: “It’s My Name On The Line.”
Original Fiction
Summary: When Klaus gets home tired from a mistake at work, his girlfriend Jenna has a confession to make about its cause.
Comments: This is the second piece I wrote today. It’s over 1000 words! So I’m pretty excited about it. The warnings are probably a bit over the top, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Enjoy!
Warnings: (Nonviolent) domestic disturbance, potentially(?) toxic dispute/argument.
Story:
Keys jangled in the lock as the knob of the door caught and twisted, the dark oak opening up to the broad shoulders and exhausted face of Klaus as he dropped his briefcase unceremoniously on the couch, kicked off his shoes, and plopped himself down in the nearest recliner with a heavy sigh of relief.
“Bad day?”
Jenna stood just across the room from him, a half-empty basket of laundry balanced precariously on the edge of the mahogany coffee table as teetering piles of clothes lined the loveseat by the window.
Klaus sighed again. “Not particularly, just… difficult. There was a misunderstanding at work today, and it’s making my head spin how it could even have come about in the first place.”
Tossing the keys casually across the room onto the marble island countertop in the kitchen, Klaus leaned back in his seat and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. “I think I need to take a couple of days off.”
“What happened?”
The couch dipped slightly and groaned as another body settled next to his, the soft leather screeching quietly against the strain. Jenna’s warm, gentle hands settled themselves on his shoulders, and he found himself leaning into the relief.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know how any of this could have happened. None of the papers ever came into sight.”
He nestled into her embrace and felt her hum against him.
“What happened?” she asked again, softer this time, so as not to disturb what little peace he could find.
A weary sigh released from his bones. “Somehow – I don’t know how – my name got signed to papers that I know for a fact I’ve never seen before. Important papers. Papers defining a new structure that’s to be taken to the board for discussion of a new management. Papers that I expressly requested come straight to my office with no delay, and that have the power to make or break my entire reputation. I ordered them with direct instructions to be handled with the utmost care. I couldn’t afford for anything to happen or for them to slip my radar. I was just asking Bernice about them when Mr. Goldfer came up to me with the two-fingered point and requested a little ‘chat’ in his office.” Klaus sighed again, leaning his head back into the headrest of his seat and closing his eyes with a groan. “Somehow, my name got on those papers, and now it looks like I’ve approved an entirely new concept of management that I never even had the chance to question or review. And if the board decides that it’s ludicrous, well…” He opened his deeply expressive eyes, examining every line, every curve of her face before giving a sad half-smile and fluttering his hand in the air. “Bye-bye law career. Hello grocery boy.”
“Oh, stop. It wouldn’t be that bad, would it?”
“I kid you not, Jenna. If this order falls through, an order that I had no say in despite evidence to the contrary, I could very well be looking at a downgrade in my career. Or in life.” He blew a breath through his lips and scuffed a strand of hair which attempted to fall into his eyes. “Whichever comes first.”
“Klaus… what if I knew how that little mistake came to be?”
Like a dart, his eyes narrowed, and he paused, appearing to be taking in her features in an entirely new light.
“What did you do?”
“Promise you won’t be mad, okay?”
“What did you do, Jenna?”
“I just-I had been in your office waiting for you the day Bernice brought in the papers. You were swamped! Papers and files stacked up on your desk, you had dark marks under your eyes that made it look like you hadn’t slept in weeks. You hadn’t come home to me in over three days, spending your nights at the office, and the only way I was sure you were eating was when I brought you food myself. I just… I wanted to help…”
Klaus pulled away from her, seating himself several inches from where she sat, and eyed her with a look akin to disgust.
“What did you do, Jenna?” His voice was angry and cold.
“I… I signed the papers myself.” Tears began beading in her eyes and falling down her cheeks as shame washed a bright red tint over her face. “When I looked them over, they didn’t seem to be that important! And I’ve learnt how to do your signature because of all the signatures at the bank we’ve had to do. I thought-I thought I could ease your load, just a little!”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” Shooting up from the couch, he ran a hand through his hair and began pacing the room. “Do you have any idea what you might have cost me in that stupid decision of yours?!”
“I’m sorry!” Sobs wracked her body freely, and she curled in on herself on the couch. “I thought I could help! I thought it would be better for you! You could continue rising up, making a name for yourself, without all of the stress and exhaustion that was eating you alive! I thought-”
“But you didn’t really think, did you? Think! Do I go around signing your name on papers that I have no idea about? Papers that could make or break your career just with the simple flick of a pen. Huh? Do I?”
“No, but-”
“But what? What, Jenna?”
“I just thought-”
“See, here’s what you don’t seem to understand. It’s my name on the line! Not yours, not your father’s, and not that godforsaken crackhead down the street’s. It’s mine! And this-” he wiped a hand across his face, trying to control his temper before he said something he knew he’d regret later, “-this could be the ruin of me.”
The anger surging within him demanded a release, pumping through his limbs until he needed to hit, to kick.
To run.
Jenna’s fearful doe eyes didn’t help the matter, and with a final growl containing all of his self-restraint, he grabbed the keys from off the counter, yanked on his shoes, and bolted through the door, slamming it resolutely behind him, leaving Jenna sitting there. Lost, confused, and alone in their apartment.
When your work hours get cut and you’re truly struggling but at least your hair looks good.
Venmo: @zia-raj
I wish someone had told me how hard it would be finding a decent job after graduating university and earning a bachelor’s degree. I know the pandemic has affected the job search as well but i’ve applied to so many jobs that I’m qualified for and haven’t gotten any of them
When did the practice of medicine turn into spending more time on paperwork than with patients?
When ur already stressed at ur job, having an absolute shit day, and then they try to make u stay over and work another whole shift because no wants to come into work, and u bout ready walk out
So, I may have a problem.
I work at a grocer. I got hired as a bagger but I’m currently the only working sanitizer, which means I spend all day wiping down carts and baskets and telling people which ones have been wiped down.
It’s a great job, really. I have a great manager and great coworkers. Since I don’t have to go to school right now I have an open schedule. It’s close to my grandma’s house, who I see often. It should be close to fucking perfect, all things considered.
But it isn’t. It’s tiring, cart after cart after cart. It’s painful and leaves my feet sore and my back aching and my wrists fucking screaming at me because I hurt one in December and apparently you have to treat injuries or they don’t get better and the other one’s just a little bitch sometimes. And don’t even get me started on the wind and drafts the doors blow right in my face. And god fucking damnit does the cold make all my “little” aches and injuries a whole lot bigger.
It was only today that I found out I got a lunch break, and it was only yesterday that I learned I got any breaks at all between my eight hour shift. Since everyone’s so out of workers they skipped my training entirely and now I’m struggling to catch up. I’m constantly asking people what to do or struggling to figure it out myself and there’s no one around to help me. A common theme in my life, but fucking seriously?
And it’s stressful. If it was just physically taxing I could probably deal, but the mental toll is effecting me outside of work. It’s all I can think about. I try to go to sleep and I’m wiping down carts. I turn my head and I’m daydreaming quitting. I only started a week ago, and I still can’t fucking remember to bring my jacket.
And from where I’m at, I’m constantly switching between total isolation and a bombardment of people. It’s impossible to set a pace for. I’ve already been so wrecked from the loss of my routine (because apparently that’s way more important than I thought).
I keep forgetting the names of things and how to hold a conversation. Yesterday, I couldn’t talk at all for a solid hour, and that’s never happened before in my life. Sure, when I get caught off guard I get flustered and panicky, but it never just stops. Every moment is spent in a mixture of trying to disassociate and having a panic attack while I try to work.
The only fucking thing that’s been helping me get through my day is whenever I see a little kid get sat down in a cart I’ve wiped down because I know it’s safer for them and they’re not as at risk anymore. But fucking god. I don’t even know why I’m doing this.
It’s not like I need the money urgently. It’s not like I need to work now. Honestly, I’m more at risk than most of the people shopping here, with asthma and allergies and god’s shitty sense of humor.
But my dad’s so fucking proud of me and my brother for getting our shit together. My brother’s working at a different grocer and having the time of his life. And I’m supposed to be the one that’s more reliable, responsible, trustworthy. And I like the people I work with, they’re so fucking nice. I’m just not ready to be an adult. (Will I ever fucking be?)
And I tend to do that a lot, to get so hyped up that I jump headfirst into something and overwhelm myself so I have to pull back. But god dammit am I tired of fucking everyone up. I just.
I don’t even know anymore.
I’m behind in schoolwork and I just want to lay down and not wake up for a long fucking time. I’m constantly saying, “It’s nap time,” but what I really mean is, “Can I please not be awake for this?” Everything’s falling apart and the world’s ending and I’m all by myself in a hellscape of my own making. I just want to be okay, but I’m not even sure that’s possible. I don’t fucking know what to do.
Please, for fucks sake
I swear to god, please just hire me, anyone. I just need money for rent, gas and food. I’m about to claw my eyes out because I’m so stressed. Holy shit 🙃🙃🙃😩😩😩👌👌👌👌😎😎✌️✌️✌️