Tender Boss

 Tender Boss

As I walked slowly past her door she looked up and smiled, then a frown crossed her face as she said, “You are not having a good morning are you?” I stopped, “No” was all that I could choke out without crying. “Come in here and sit down” she said “and close the door behind you”. I walked past her desk and took what had lately become my chair. It was not even 8 o’clock in the morning yet and my day started out badly.

               “Do you want to talk about it out just sit there and breathe?” I shook my head and with a shrug of my shoulders I leaned forward and stared at the floor. I tried to speak but words would not come out. Taking a deep ragged breath and trying again I said, “It was a really bad night, could not sleep and when I did all I dream about was what had happened. I know it was not my fault but still….” I let the end of the sentence drift off.  I knew she understood, if any one would she would; she might be my boss but she had also become my trusted friend.

               I knew that I had done everything that I could do, that there was nothing left to try. Still I felt somehow responsible for the loss. “I fed it, water it, and kept it warm,” I said to her while looking at the floor following the wavy pattern with my eyes. “I did not realize that I had become so attached to it.”

 “I know,” she said in that comforting voice, “sometimes you do that even when you know that it may not be a good thing.” She picked up her drink in one hand and swirled it just enough to make the ice clink together. She was sipping with two straws from an emerald green cup that bore the emblem of some team she liked.

 Her eyes were soft and kind while she looked at me. She had brought me in here before when she noticed that my day was going badly. She had once told me that, “I did not want you to be embarrassed by the others looking at you and knowing that you were suffering.” I sat there for a few more minutes, neither of us speaking. The only sounds were her moving her drink in a slow circle using the ice to keep it stirred.

               “Ok” I said as I got up, “I probably should get to work.” Drawing my shoulders back I straightened my back and turned towards the door. “Wait a second,” she said as she came around the end of the desk. She had tissues in her hand; she wiped the tears from my eyes and patted my cheeks. Then placing her hands on both sides of my head she squeezed a little smiling. “As much as my two humans have been mating, I did tell you that I got a new female right? I am sure we will have another one very soon and you are welcome to it once it has been weaned. I really do not want another mouth to feed.”

At that I could not help but smile; knowing that in about two years I would again have a small human all to myself. As I walked out the door she moved her heavy bulk behind the desk waving with all four hands, “try to have a better day today!” it was then that I noted that both sets of lips were of a different color. “I like it” I said as I waved vaguely towards her face. “What?” she said tilting her head a bit. “The different color on your lips, each side matching the color of your claws, looks nice.” She was smiling as I turned the corner and headed out for another day.

4/5/2015