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littledreamer9211 · 6 years

Text

Monsters

A/N: Not going to lie, I don’t know what this is. I’m just in one of those moods today. I’ve left it open so you can imagine any guy you like. It is quite heavy so if you feel like you can’t read it then i totally understand. On the other hand if you do read it and want to talk to me about anything then please message me, I’m here for you. You can also message me just to let me know what you think.

Warnings: Mental Health issues - could be triggering. and maybe a couple swear words Word count: 195 ____________________________________

It’s amazing just how quickly a mood can change, with very little prompting. One minute your walking through your life with a metaphorical blue sky, able to face any challenges thrown your way then before you know it the pavement is ripped apart and the smooth path you were once able to see is now disrupted with lava pools and monsters lurking in the corners and bushes. You can’t see them but the utter dread in the pit of your stomach lets you know that they are most definitely there. Waiting patiently for you. No matter how long it takes you to get to their part of the path, they know that the wait is worth it. And that’s one of the scariest parts of the dark path. The knowledge that it doesn’t matter if you make it to the monster this time around because they will happily lay dormant until the next disruption to your blue sky. The fear is enough to make you feel physically sick.

Laying in bed ignoring the shrill screams of your alarm, you could just tell it was going to be one of those days. The only reason you turn to shut the damn thing off was the sudden movement of the warm body beside you. A gruff “morning baby” as he hauled himself from the depths of the warm duvet. The rush of cold air only making you hold on tighter and snuggle deeper into the warm, squishiness of the mattress while trying to cocoon yourself in the blanket once more.

The sound of the shower door squeaking open and the rush of water lets you know that there’s no way to avoid the dawning of this new day or the tasks that the day was impatiently waiting for you to check off of your list. Knowing that once he got a proper look at your face he would know that today is a dark day, you dragged yourself from the bed and over to the wardrobe – shoving on which ever clean clothes came to hand first and not giving a damn what you looked like. Sneaking into the bathroom while he was still singing away in the shower, you quickly brushed your teeth and washed your face while thanking the heavens above that you showered last night so your hair was manageable. Normally the squeak of his voice as he hit the high notes in Sia’s newest song would bring the brightest of smiles to your face but not today. A quick “bye” and you were out the door where you could disappear into the horde of morning commuters and stay lost, just another face in the crowd. It’s always easier around strangers. You don’t have to pretend or explain. You can just be.

You avoid your favourite coffee shop because the friendly smiles might just tip you over the edge. You’re not even sure you want coffee, it’s just a morning habit. No appetite is a normal occurrence on these days.

Finally making it into the office, you place your bag and phone on the desk. Not paying any attention to the 3 missed calls and 4 un-answered texts all from the same number.

A quick glance at the diary for today and you let out a heavy sigh of relief that there were no meetings scheduled. Closing your office door, thankful you were the boss, you sent a quick email to your PA and friend Wanda full of bullshit about how you were snowed under with paperwork and only wanted to be disturbed if it was absolutely necessary. Of course, you knew she would smell bullshit straight away – she’s your PA and knows your schedule and deadlines better than her own. But she was also the kind of friend that would see you needed your space and would respect that. It was one of the many things you loved about her. Nat on the other hand, is the complete opposite but you didn’t have the energy to deal with that right now so decided to ignore the red head for as long as you could get away with.

A couple of hours go by quietly before deciding you should at least let him know you’re ‘okay’. Unlocking your phone, you read the texts which get more urgent with each new one. “Damn it babe, I’ll phone Wanda and Nat. Don’t think that I won’t.” Just as you finish reading this last one, another text comes through. “Just let me know you’re okay. That’s all I ask.”. The rush of guilt that washes over you makes your eyes swim with unshed tears. You don’t deserve this man in your life. His unconditional love and understanding leaves you utterly speechless. The sparkle from the diamond on your left hand catches your eye and reminds you that he said he was all in, for better or worse but it’s hard to believe that when your inching closer and closer to a hidden monster. “I can’t today. Too dark.” Was all you text back.

By now it’s early afternoon and your inability to focus on anything or get any work done would normally have you infuriating by now but you’re numb.

The constant buzzing of voices and office talk creeping through the crack under your office door is starting to really grind your gears. Who cares about the hot repairman that’s finally came to fix the fax machine that you emailed about 2 weeks ago? Or how the new Stark project was “so cool!”. You were surrounded by a group of well paid, nerds. On any other day, you would be out there geeking over whatever they were discussing too but today that just cost too much energy and you had none to spare.

You’re about to email Wanda and tell her to make everyone shut the fuck up when suddenly you hear a soft, deep mumble of a voice just on the other side of the door. It’s a voice that you would be able to recognise anywhere. He’s here. He seems to be having a conversation with Wanda and you hear her muffle of a reply before there’s a soft knock at the door. From the second the knock rings around the silent room, it’s like time freezes and you can’t breathe.

Like slow motion, the door opens and the light from the hallway seems to frame his silhouette in a golden glow. Your own personal guardian angel. Fuck…you loved this man. You watch, unable to move or say a word as he softly closes the door behind him and takes in the scene in front of him. You didn’t realise how much you had trashed your own desk until you see his eyes flash surprise, which in turn fades into concern and a hint of something else…was that heartbreak?

But you don’t care…can’t care. About the state of your normally overly organised desk, the fact that you’ve made no effort to open a blind or even turn on a light, or the fact that you’ve unconsciously ran your hands through your hair so much that it looks like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards. He doesn’t say a word as he walks towards you slowly, never breaking eye contact. As he gets to the side of your desk, he cautiously pulls back you chair and turns it so that he can kneel in front of you. Saying nothing as his hand moves towards your face pushing the hair out of the way and cradling your cheek in his palm. You don’t realise that you are crying until his thumb gently strokes the tears away.

His warm skin against yours feels so right and you didn’t know how much you needed it until just now as he hesitantly brings his other hand to cradle your other cheek while bringing your head forward to lean against his own. Both of you close your eyes as he lets out a gentle breath at the contact. Your hands finding their way automatically to his wrists, gently tracing themselves up to link your fingers with his, finally able to let out a shuddery breath of your own. “Hey there boss lady, whatd’ya say we get out of here?” His voice hesitant to break the silence, the whisper fading out into the dim room. One small nod of agreement from you and he places a soft kiss to your forehead. Nothing more is said as he reluctantly lets you go and grabs your phone and your bag in one hand and waits patiently for you to stand. As soon as you’re as steady as can be on your feet, he pulls you close to his body with his free arm and cradles your shaking form to his side, letting you lean all your weight on him. A soft squeeze to your shoulder and he’s leading you out of the room.

You don’t make eye contact with anyone as you leave the building but you feel as he nods towards people in acknowledgment also knowing that the look on his face will stop anyone in their tracks should they try and talk to you. Even Nat and Wanda.

You can see his car abandoned at the side of the road and another wave of guilt rushes over you as you can tell that he was more worried about getting to you than a parking fine or even wiping out other cars in his panic. He seems to sense your new wave of emotional distress as his hand rubs soothingly up and down your arm. Your head turns to bury you face into his chest but he hears you just fine as you mutter a small “I’m sorry.” He just tuts and kisses the top of your head as he whispers back, “Silly woman…got nothing to be sorry about”.

Unlocking the car, he quickly throws your bag into the back seat before opening the front passenger door and helping you climb up into the black SUV. Once he’s sure that you are safely strapped in and going nowhere he runs around the front of the car and jumps in the driver’s seat.

You both sit in comfortable silence as he speeds through the streets and its not long before the tall, suffocating city buildings start to disappear from view and finally it seems a little easier to breathe. The open fields and clear sky making you feel a little less claustrophobic.

As your tense shoulders seem to relax a small part of your brain kicks in and you realise just what this wonderful man has done for you. Without being asked, without being told how to, he has saved your life. Not just this one act of kindness but by loving and understanding you, by always being there for you and by being your best friend.

Turning your head to look over at him, you find that he’s already watching you. It’s not much, but you give him a small smile and slowly reach over to take his free hand in both of yours. Bringing it up to your lips as you gently kiss each knuckle individually before linking your fingers between his and bringing his hand down to rest in your lap. He shoots you one of his dazzling smiles and squeezes your hand in reassurance at the same time.

You were in no way ‘fixed’ nor were you ever likely to be but at least you knew you had found someone in your life who could help you slay the monsters one at a time, carry you over the lava pools and be your light at the end of the pathway. That’s all anyone could ever ask for.

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Let me know what you think.

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mystical-flute · 6 years

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Come Sail Away Ch. 6

I’m so excited for this chapter ngl.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

You've been summoned to headquarters. Be here by 3:00.

Reika exhaled slowly through her nose as her gaze flickered up to the time in the corner of her cell phone's screen. It was two-thirty, and she sat outside the meeting room she'd been led to. The wording of the text from Kenji was certainly… an interesting one. Summoned to headquarters instead of just needed at headquarters probably wasn't a good thing.

"Reika!" Akio called, running up to her and pulling her into a hug. "I was so worried about you! Well, I still am considering you're sitting outside of the meeting room but…"

"That damn newspaper let it all slip," she joked. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I didn't disobey orders. But – oh, can you watch my phone for me? I don't want it with me. Too distracting." She'd be fidgeting too much with it in her pocket.

Akio nodded. "Of course I will."

It wasn't long before Reika was sitting in front of the higher-ups in the organization. Looking around the room, she then started to feel nerves beginning to form. So this was why the wording of the text had been so ominous. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong, but still, the stares of the more-experienced adults that had taken her under their wing looking at her like she had committed the worst crime in the history of the organization, well, it was hard not to feel like a child who had done something wrong.

"Reika Mutou, do you know why you've been summoned here today?" Yume, the director of the organization in Domino, asked.

"Because you all believe that I snuck onboard the ship to Duelist Kingdom despite being ordered not to," she said calmly, despite the fluttering of her stomach. "However, I did not. Pegasus kidnapped me after I left the meeting."

The six pairs of eyes narrowed in confusion. Kenji finally broke the silence that had settled over the room. "That… explains the strange email I'd gotten this morning. I didn't think it had anything to do with this but… Reika, why did you tell him – "

"He already knew. That eye of his? It can see into other realms. He saw the Pirate Dimension, and then he found my key card in my purse. But why he even knew where to look I still don't know… but it was blackmail. He threatened to make everything public," she closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, trying to think. "But I didn't tell Pegasus everything, and he couldn't see into my mind. My Millennium bracelet stopped him."

There was some murmured discussion among the older members at the table with her, before Yume spoke again.

"Miss Mutou, I know you aren't an employee of Kaiba Corporation or anything, but would you happen to know who – if anyone – was left behind after Gozaburo was removed from power?"

Well, that was a question Reika couldn't say she expected to answer today, and she cleared her throat before answering. "The Big Five. They're major shareholders in the company. Roland and Fuguta are two of the Kaiba brothers' closest bodyguards. And then there's Kemo. He was the one that kidnapped me. He was another bodyguard at Kaiba Corp but he was working with Pegasus and the Big Five."

Yume exchanged a look with Kenji, and as Reika opened her mouth to question it, Akio began pounding on the door, her voice muffled through the wood. "Yume, you have an urgent call from The Boss."

The Boss. Their mysterious figurehead of the organization. There had been many throughout the years, but this one seemed extra cautious to never show his face or name. Actually, Reika wasn't sure if they were a man or a woman.

"Very well. Miss Mutou, you're free to go. Make sure you get your reports done," Yume said, giving her a small smile before exiting the room, followed by some of the other big shots.

Reika let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and looked at Aiko with a smile. "Told you I'd be okay."

"You sure? Because your phone rang five times while you were in your little meeting," Akio said, sliding her phone over to her as her heart sank.

One missed call and a voicemail from Mokuba. One call from Grandpa. One from Yugi and two from a number she didn't recognize, plus a voicemail from the unfamiliar number. Frowning, she put the phone to her ear.

"Reika, it's Mokuba. The Big Five kidnapped Seto! He's locked in a video game. I hope you're home because I don't know where else to go!" Mokuba's voice whimpered from the other end of the line. Her blood went cold as she moved to the next voicemail.

"Hi Reika, this is Téa. Yugi gave me your number, I hope that's okay. Um. We're at Kaiba's secret testing facility and Joey, Yugi, and Mokuba went into the virtual world to rescue him. I'll keep calling you to update you on what's going on."

She tensed, waving Kenji over frantically. "The Big Five are trying to usurp Seto Kaiba again. They have him trapped in some virtual reality or something. Mokuba and Téa weren't very clear. I know there are at least four people there," she told the man. "I know this sort of thing is handled by the police usually but – "

"I need you and Akio to go to where Mokuba is. I'm sending the rest of your squad to take care of the Big Five," Kenji said immediately, cutting Reika's sentence off. "And keep us informed on what happens."

She didn't hesitate to move with Akio, rushing out of the building as fast as the elevator could take them.

"My car is this way," Akio said as they ran through the parking lot in the pouring rain. "What do you suppose they're having us doing this for? It's not like we can arrest them or anything."

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with The Boss calling earlier… but I know I was going to take off anyway regardless of permission…" Reika replied with a shrug as her phone lit up again. "Téa! I was just about to call you. What the hell is going on? Where are you?"

Téa's voice was whispered as she spoke. "W-we're at this little research lab or something about a mile away from the docks. You can't miss it. A-and there are some guys trying to find us to Tristan and I are setting up a blockade on the door."

The color drained from her face as she muttered the directions to Akio as the car sped down the road. "Téa, listen to me. Stay where you are and don't let them find you. I'm on my way."

"Okay – "

The call was cut off suddenly as the car screeched to a halt in front of the building. Reika was halfway out the door before it came to a complete stop, bursting through the already opened gate as she heard Akio behind her.

"Ready for round three you pointy-haired bastard?" she called when she saw Kemo standing in the doorway of where she could only presume Téa and Tristan were. Kemo turned, startled, as Reika aimed a punch at his face, which connected with his cheek.

Kemo staggered back, Akio rushing into the room to help Tristan. "You again?" the disgraced bodyguard snarled, eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses.

"You keep trying to hurt people I care about so yeah, me again," she retorted, taking her fighting stance and narrowing her eyes. "But this time you're not escaping and neither are the Big Five."

They circled each other in the hallway, neither paying any attention as one of the other guards was thrust out of the room by Tristan, collapsing against the far wall with a groan.

She grunted in pain as Kemo managed to punch her shoulder as she tried to dodge his attack.

"Why are you so against the Big Five? Mr. Lechtier took you in like you were his own after your parents went missing. Is that any way to treat a man who acted like your father?" Kemo asked.

"That man has never been, nor will he ever be, a father figure to me. Not after what he's done!" she shouted, her foot colliding with Kemo's stomach.

"Kemo, we gotta go! The brats are awake!" one of the other men suddenly called, breaking the tension in the hallway.

Reika exhaled as the goons ran like hell back down the hallway and looked at her cousin and his friends with a smile. "Everyone okay?" she asked, trying to hold back the grimace of pain as her shoulder began to throb, frowning when she saw Mai walking out of the connecting room. "Mai?"

"Hey Reika. Turns out the Big Five weren't exactly happy that I helped you out back on Duelist Kingdom," the blonde explained, running a hand through her long hair and shaking it out.

"Oh my God. Mai, I'm so sorry. Iwould neverd have asked you to help if it meant you were going to end up kidnapped!" she groaned.

Mai waved her hand. "Don't worry about it Reika, really. I was happy to help you. I'm just glad Yugi, Joe, and Mokuba showed up to help me."

Reika wanted to protest this, but she had a feeling if she did, the argument would never end, so she simply nodded. "I'm just glad you're all okay."

Mokuba looked up at Reika with his big eyes. "Seto must be awake now too. We should go see, Reika!" he said, already making his way out the door as Reika trailed along behind him, pulling out her phone when she felt it go off in her pocket.

The Big Five escaped. We've called another meeting for tomorrow morning. You need to be here by nine o'clock, Kenji's text read. Her blood ran cold, but she forced what she hoped was a real-looking smile as she looked at Mokuba.

"I think that sounds like a great plan, Mokuba, but – "

"But I'm more than happy to give you guys a ride back to Kaiba Corp. We don't want you running around alone in case those goons come back, do we?" Akio interrupted as she caught up to the two of them as they reached the exit.

"See you later, Yugi!" she called to her cousin and his friends, watching as the group started making their way back to the game shop.

The drive to Kaiba Corp headquarters was a talkative one – Mokuba had always been the more outgoing of the two brothers, and Reika smiled as he filled her in on all of the things he and Seto had done while she'd been gone, even though Seto had told her about them when they'd happened.

Akio grinned as they stopped. "Okay Mokuba, we're here."

"Thanks, Akio," Reika said as Mokuba darted out of the car with a wave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have a good night, Reika," Akio grinned, winking as Reika grabbed her back out of the back seat with a blush.

She put her bag on her shoulder as she moved into the building, waving at one of the receptionists that was getting ready to go home.

"Mr. Kaiba is in his office, Reika," the older woman said with a knowing glint in her eye that had Reika ducking her head and practically sprinting to the elevator.

She let out a puff of air as she was whisked up the elevator to the top floor of the building, knocking quickly on the door before entering.

"Reika."

He looked tired as he sat at his desk, and she didn't blame him. He probably hadn't slept well the night before, having been dealing with the Big Five, and she gave him a small smile as she walked over to him and hugged him. He pulled her onto his lap and exhaled into her hair.

"Thank you," he murmured. "For helping protect Mokuba."

"I didn't do much. Tristan and Téa were there longer than I was," she told him with a small smile. "And Yugi, Joey and – "

He let out a groan, rolling his eyes. "I know, I know."

"Where is Mokuba anyway?" she asked, only just realizing that the younger boy was gone. He hadn't gotten that much of a head start on her, had he?

Seto chuckled against her hair, sitting up slightly. "He went to go greet Roland. He just got back from a vacation with his wife."

Well, that explained how Seto had been captured by both Pegasus and the Big Five with little effort. If Roland had been there…

She forced those thoughts out of her head and smiled slightly in amusement as she leaned against his chest, fighting back a wince as pain shot through her shoulder. "How are you doing?"

"I'm so tired…" he admitted, and from her angle on his lap, she could see the circles that were beginning to form under his eyes.

"Then go home and get some rest."

"You sound like Mokuba. I can't. I have to figure out what I'm going to do about the vacancies the Big Five left, and then I have to finish the algorithms for the new duel disk system I designed," Seto said. Reika could see his jaw and throat muscles trying to fight back a yawn.

"Seto. .." she sighed, standing up and in front of his computer. "You need a break, or you're not going to make the right choice about who to pick for your shareholders and you're not going to figure out the right algorithms for your duel disk if you pass out at work. Believe me. I've seen it happen where people don't get enough sleep at night and they end up passing out at their desks and suddenly they fail an exam or a project…"

He exhaled. "I see your point. "

"I just think we could all use a night to decompress from everything, that's all."

Seto suddenly got a glint in his eye that Reika found… dangerously alluring. Her pulse quickened as he smirked at her and stood up, wrapping an arm around her and leaning over her, her back pressed against the desk.

"Decompress, hm? I'm sure you and I could think of a few ways to decompress…" he murmured against her ear before straightening up at the sound of the door handle turning. She kept her back to the door as Mokuba burst into the room, trying in desperation to control her flaming red cheeks and racing pulse.

The rest of the day was a blur, and before long she was resting against Seto's chest, shivering as his fingers danced along the skin of her back, feeling his heartbeat slow as they both drifted off to sleep.

She was on board the Going Merry, standing on the deck as the ship moved swiftly through the water, her crewmates milling about nearby in the bright, warm sunshine.

A perfect day at sea.

"How much longer until we reach the next island, Nami?" she asked, looking at the navigator with a smile.

"According to my calculations, it should only be another day. I expect if the weather holds, we should get there around this time tomorrow," the navigator said, spreading a map on the table in front of her. "We should start making lists on what supplies we're going to need."

"I know I'm going to need some more arrows. That last fight nearly drained my supplies," she said with a small frown as her stomach gurgled impatiently, knowing there was food cooking away in the kitchen, sure to be a perfect meal from Sanji again.

Usopp looked over at her. "Your arm feeling okay?"

"Yeah, it's feeling back to normal now. Chopper did amazing work as usual," she said with a smile, hand brushing against the bandages gently. "Thanks, Usopp."

"Okay!" Sanji called from the galley. "Lunch is ready!"

Captain Luffy nearly bowled the poor doctor over in his eagerness to get into the dining room; Reika shaking her head in amusement as she followed, but as she crossed the threshold, the galley fell away, twisting and warping until she was left standing in a familiar hallway.

"Hello…?" she called. "Anyone home?"

"Reika!"

Her blood ran cold at the voice, and she refused to turn around. This couldn't be happening.

Footsteps ran up to her, a hand grabbing hers and tugging her toward one of the rooms. Her feet automatically knew where despite her mind screaming at her to stop, to run.

"Come on, Reika! Father got me some new music books and I want you to accompany me!" the boy said as they went into the great room, where the instruments were stored.

She finally found her ability to speak, forcing herself to look at the boy. "I haven't played in years. I don't know if I can – "

"Sure you can! You did have the best teachers, didn't you? Just like me! It was father's pleasure to allow you to learn alongside his son," the boy said, picking up his violin as he shoved her toward the piano bench.

She took a seat, fingers hovering over the black and ivory keys as she looked at the music. "What's this piece called? There's no title on the page." Violet eyes lifted to the boy with the violin.

The boy tuned the violin, not meeting her gaze. "It's called Betrayal. Just like what you did to me."

Oh God.

He began to play, and after a brief moment, she followed, her fingers awkward and clunky against the keys. The melody was making her skin crawl, the air becoming colder.

"Why do you think I betrayed you?" she finally asked when the keys became too cold to touch.

"You replaced me! As soon as I died you were suddenly around those two orphans when you should have been sad about me!" the boy cried, the piano and violin fading away as they stood in the frigid, empty room.

"Noah – "

"You thought you could push me out of your mind after my death, but I'm not dead, Reika. I'll never be dead. Not as long as you're alive. You can't push me away anymore, Reika."

"I never pushed you away!" she protested. "I never stopped thinking about you! Your father told me not to – " she reached for the door handle, only for it to vanish.

"You can't escape me."

"Noah, let me go."

"Never," Noah replied, beginning a laugh too cold and too cruel for a twelve-year-old to have.

She shot up out of her sleep, hearing someone call her name and she clutched her ears, knees pulling toward her chest. "Go away, go away, go away!" she whispered as Noah's voice rang in her ears.

"Come back. Come back Reika…" a new voice cut through the laughter. This one warm and concerned.

"Seto…" she croaked, trembling as she looked up at her boyfriend's wide blue eyes, her violet ones filled with terror and dread. "Oh God…"

He sat next to her on the bed, pulling her close against his chest, rubbing circles into her back. "It's okay. It was just a dream. He can't hurt you."

Slowly, the tremors stopped, her flight-or-fight instinct settling as she leaned against him. "It feels like he can…" she whispered.

"It was an illusion, nothing more." He meant well, and she knew it, but that wasn't what she wanted to hear after a nightmare like that.

"He was so much more than that."

Seto's thumb stroked against her cheek. "Then tell me who he was…"

Her mind reeled. Gozaburo had warned her not to say anything. To never mention Noah Kaiba to Seto and Mokuba, under threat of being cut off from their friendship. But then again… Gozaburo was dead, right? Seto had more than taken care to make sure of that. So the threat that had hung over her was gone, wasn't it?

"His name was Noah. He was a friend of mine when I was a kid… but then he was hit by a car when we were twelve. He died."

Seto said nothing, but his brow was furrowed.

She sighed. "I tried not to think about it because it was too hard, and then I met you and Mokuba, and before long, six years passed… I guess everything with the Big Five rattled all of those memories." She glanced over at the clock, which read 6:00, and took in Seto's already dressed for work form. "I'm going to shower."

She stood, beginning to make her way toward his master bathroom when Seto stopped her again.

"What happened to your back?"

Reika paused at the door to the bathroom. "Remember when I told you about my friend that almost died?"

He blinked. "Yeah?"

"I was protecting him."

With that, she closed the bathroom door and stepped into the shower, letting the warm water relax her muscles and the bruised shoulder. The nightmare had rattled things she'd worked so hard to build up over the years, but in the end, she knew Seto was right. Noah was long dead, which meant he couldn't hurt her.

…Right?

#yugioh #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #yugi mutou #tea gardner #joey wheeler #tristan taylor #mai valentine #noah kaiba #kaiba x oc #come sail away #fanfiction

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mrsteveecook · 5 years

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I work from home and my coworker wants me available 24/7

A reader writes:

I work at a small company with about 10 employees. Because it is such a small team, and most people have been there for a long time (10+ years for most), it is a very relaxed environment — and unfortunately, this has bred some bad habits and toxicity into the culture. Nothing especially groundbreaking, and for the most part it was being ignored since most of the negativity was coming from one source — our main admin, Karen.

This fall, an opportunity opened up for me to work exclusively from home, due to the nature of my particular position, and I jumped on it. I go into into the main office about twice a month, and for the most part, it’s been a dream. I am vastly more productive, work hard to ensure that I maintain good work-from-home habits, and have found that my mental health has improved drastically.

Since the transition, I have done everything I can think of to set clear expectations as far as when I am available. I have specific, set hours when they can expect me to be at my desk. I use Google Hangouts’ away messages to say if I’m up from my desk for a quick break to stretch my legs, use the bathroom, etc. (with a time I’ll be back). I also always have my personal cell on me in case it’s a (rare) emergency.

I do most of my communication with clients and our team via email, but I do have a VOIP phone that dials out with the main office number, and I can be inter-office paged via this phone as well.

Almost the whole team is great with this arrangement, with one exception: Karen cannot seem to respect these boundaries. She’ll page me outside of my work hours, or regardless of whether I have an away message set, and if I don’t get to my phone fast enough (I can hear it elsewhere in the house), she’ll call my cell — usually for a very simple question that could have waited, or could have been an email. If I point out that I set an away message, she’ll say, “Sorry, I didn’t see it.” I have even paged her and told her I’ll be unavailable for an hour, and she’ll agree pleasantly, and then turn around and page me 15 minutes later, followed by the usual call to my cell if I don’t pick up. I will also often come back to see that she’s IM’d me in an effort to get my attention, as well.

When I politely point out that I had set an away message/was away for a short time/this question could have been an email/etc., Karen will often reply with, “Well, I didn’t think it was a big deal since you’re already there!”

My position does have a certain degree of needing to be on-call — if certain things happen with my projects at any time of day, I do need to act — but Karen’s questions are rarely about that so much as spellchecking and nitpicking coworkers’ work, which is another problem she has and one of the chief reasons I leaped at this opportunity to keep my job but not work in that office.

I should note that working from home is a perk offered to everyone as an as-needed thing, and there is one other employee who works from home full-time. I asked him, and he says that he has not experienced this level of intrusion at all, and then when he says he’s busy, Karen leaves him alone — no away messages needed. Meanwhile, when I say I’m busy, Karen says, “Oh, I knowwww, we all are,” and continues with her question/behavior.

What can I do differently to enforce these boundaries? I have stopped running to the phone if I’ve communicated that I’m away and I hear a page or IM, but that doesn’t stop the inevitable tide of calls and texts to my cell phone, or sometimes she’ll just page and page and page until I get sick of hearing it and answer, even though I’m taking a break. I pride myself on being just as available now as if I were in the main office, but at this point, I’m being forced into being much more “available” at home than I ever was when I worked in that building.

How do I keep from turning my work-at-home situation into, “Haha actually I just live at work, now”?

P.S. I had this open as a draft, got up to refill my coffee after setting a “BACK AT 10:30” away message — yes, with the all-caps — and what do I hear from my kitchen but a page and a “Hello? Helloooooooooooooooooooooooo?”

I wrote back and asked, “How does the paging work — can you turn it off or mute it if you want to?”

I don’t know if I can mute it — I can turn it down so I can’t hear it elsewhere in the house, and I have, but then I get bombarded with texts and passive-aggressive comments when I come back to my computer. Right now I have it at a volume where I can hear it if I’m up, but it’s not startlingly loud if I’m sitting at my desk, either.

I suppose I’m also worried about drawing the boundary too firmly, and seeming unavailable to my colleagues who aren’t Karen, you know? I can definitely see the value in being able to communicate within the office quickly, and it definitely does make working from home easier. But there have been plenty of times when I’ve tried to page a colleague, can’t get ahold of them in that moment, and either make a note to try back later or write an email if it’s urgent, and move on. That’s the overall staff’s approach (regardless of whether working remote or in the brick-and-mortar building.) It’s just Karen who seems to think that since I literally live at my office, I should be able to respond instantaneously to the pages and IMs.

Karen needs to be helicoptered to an island with no communication devices and left there for the duration of 2019.

It sounds like you’ve tried addressing this with Karen on a case-by-case basis, but haven’t had a bigger-picture conversation with her about it, so that’s what I’d try next. The next time you’re in the office, sit down with her and say something like this: “We need to change the system you’re using for reaching me when I’m working from home. You’ve been paging me outside my work hours for things that aren’t urgent, like X or Y, which means that I hear the page all over my house when I’m not working. And during the day, if I don’t immediately answer your call, you’ll often call my cell, even though it’s not urgent. I need to be able to focus on other projects and I need to be able to eat lunch or stop working at the end of the day without being chased down by the pager or texts. Of course if something is urgent, that’s different — but when something is not urgent, I need you to wait for me to get back to you, rather than trying to track me down in the moment when I may be dealing with something else. Can we agree that except in the rare cases where something is truly urgent, you’ll email me and wait for me to get back to you rather than expecting an instant response and trying to track me down?”

(Alternately, you could just call her the next time this happens and do it then, which might have the benefit of conveying “I am at the end of my rope with this and we need to talk about it now.”)

If she balks at this, then say, “It’s affecting my ability to focus on other work, and it’s interfering with my off hours as well. Can you agree to this system going forward?”

If she says anything that sounds like no, you should say, “Okay, let me talk with (Karen’s manager) about this and see what we can figure out.”

And Karen’s manager should indeed be your next stop unless this conversation fixes the problem entirely — because what she’s doing is incredibly disruptive, incredibly rude, and incredibly weird.

You did note that your company has traditionally ignored problems, and has ignored Karen in particular. But unless you know that people have specifically complained about Karen to her manager about similar issues (in a clear, direct way, not dancing around the issue) and been ignored, I wouldn’t assume that this won’t bear fruit. Sometimes “my small company ignores problems” means “no one at my small company brings up problems, so it’s easy to ignore them” — which is different from “no one will act on anything, no matter how clearly the problem is pointed out.”

But if that doesn’t work, then you’ll need to move to solutions that change the type of access that Karen has to you. Set her calls to your cell to go straight to voicemail. Mute her texts and IMs, so they’re there when you look for them but not annoying you with alerts popping up. And I’d seriously consider lowering the volume of your pager to a level where you can’t hear it outside of your office, and letting other people know that if they need to reach you urgently, they should call your cell instead of paging you.

Frankly, you could even tell her that you’re doing this! As in, “Karen, I’ve asked you not to bombard with me calls, texts, and pages for non-urgent items, but since it’s still happening, I’m going to mute your texts and pages for a while so that I’m not being constantly interrupted. I will still see them and get back to you, but they won’t be constantly popping up when I’m in the middle of something else. If there’s something that comes up that’s truly urgent and you can’t reach me, we can revisit this then, but so far none of these instances have been time-sensitive so I think this will work fine.”

As for your other working-from-home coworker who Karen leaves alone: It could be sexism, or it could be that he has a different type of job, or it could be that she’s not as comfortable with him, or who knows what. (If he does have a similar job to yours, though, I’m guessing that on some level it’s sexism. She sees his time as important and worthy of respect, while yours isn’t.) Regardless, she’s obnoxious and you have every right to create and enforce boundaries with her.

As for your worry that you’ll draw the boundary too firmly and seem unavailable to other coworkers: I don’t think you will. You’re only going to cut off Karen’s access, not everyone else’s, aside from the pager — and frankly I’m not convinced you should ever need to be paged in your own house when you’re not at your desk, when your cell could be used instead.