Under My Boss's Control

I can tell that he’s trying not to sound aggressive because he’s scared of my dog. Boxes are lined up around us as we stand in the hallway outside what was supposed to be my new apartment. But with the way things are going right now, it doesn’t look like that is going to last very long. I glare at him.

“You know you said I could have a dog. You didn’t specify any extra requirements or anything. Even though the lease says no dogs allowed, you said I was allowed to move in here with him,” I snap. “I wouldn’t have come here otherwise, without my Mr. Barker. Plus, he’s not mean.”

Mr. Barker whines at my feet. I try to calm down, but it’s not working. I want to pull out the lease and shake it in his face. I do not need this kind of problem.

“I’m sorry, but I’m free to change my mind. I told you you could have a dog and now I can tell you can’t,” the landlord finally snaps back at me. “The only thing that’s in writing says no dogs. Tough luck, kid.”

“We haven’t even lived here that long. You don’t even know us,” I try to plead.

My German Shepherd is perfectly loveable. Although he’s protective of me, he wouldn’t hurt anyone. He pants happily next to me. The landlord looks us both over.

“Sorry, those are my rules,” he replies again.

Why is he being so unfair?

I feel like everything in life is unfair right now.

This is not how today was supposed to go.

“Fine, I will just take my stuff and move somewhere else,” I reply childishly.

I’m fed up with this man, and I don’t have time to keep arguing about petty stuff right now.

“That’s fine with me,” the landlord replies, and then he just walks away.

Muttering angrily, I grab my boxes, which only takes me a little while, since I didn’t have time to unpack very much.

After I put everything into it, my car is cramped, packed with all my belongings. I make my dog comfortable in the passenger seat and stuff the back with boxes. I climb in and start the car, then peel out and speed away in anger.

I can’t help it. I’m worried now that all this nonsense has made me late for work.

I brake suddenly, almost running a red light. I let out a sigh of frustration and try not to cry angry tears.

“Why doesn’t anything work out for me?” I ask myself quietly.

Nothing has been going right for me lately. This move was supposed to change that. It was supposed to shake things up and make life more exciting. I don’t see that happening now.

Mr. Barker looks out the window happily as we drive. I’m almost jealous – it must be so nice to be worry-free. I reach over and give him an affectionate pat on the head, before sighing in disappointment again.

Everything has gone off the rails. This whole move was supposed to be exciting and fun. I was going to get to explore a new area and meet new people. Between work and unpacking, I haven’t had time to do any of that.

Now I have to worry about finding a new place to live, again. That’s going to be a giant headache.

I have to hurry to get to work in time. After I make a quick detour to drop my dog off at a friend’s house for the day, I realize I’m going to be late.

Hopefully no one will notice. My boss is always looking at me like he has a crush on me, and he’s really busy with work all the time, so he lets a lot slide. I’m grateful for that. It also doesn’t hurt that’s he hot as fuck.

I feel a little calmer now as I come up with a plan for what to do next. I will just apologize as soon as I get to work. And as for another place to live, well, I’m glad I saved the addresses of other possible places to rent from my previous house-searching efforts. None of them are too far away from the office, so I decide that I’ll check them out on my lunch break.

Even though the problem is pretty much solved, I’m still ticked off that the landlord treated me like that. I usually don’t hold grudges, but I guess I’m just so upset at the way things don’t seem to be working out for me lately. At least work is going well for now. That’s the one steady thing I have in my life at the moment.

I’ve already been on edge all week because everyone has been panicking about getting sick. All this unnecessary stress is just making me more of a wreck. It just goes to show you that anything can happen during the day. It’s just my luck that this kind of stuff seems to always happen to me, though.