just tired

We knew there was something wrong with her because she wasn’t chatty. She said she was tired, but that couldn’t be right. Nevermind that the sky is a dark gray or that she was up late. We would ask her questions and she wouldn’t respond. It’s out of the question that she was working, or couldn’t hear us.

There was a lot of news this morning, and she didn’t talk about any of it. She said she never watches tv, which is another indicator that something is wrong. How could she not know that Britney Spears is getting divorced? We offered her coffee and soda, and she refused. She doesn’t gorge herself on donuts and pastries first thing in the morning. That girl isn’t right.

She must be having problems at home. We hardly know anything about her personal life. I see myself as sort of a father figure to my younger, more naïve employees, so I took her in the conference room and put on my best concerned face, but she wouldn’t open up. She kept insisting that she was fine. She denies her problems so adamantly, there absolutely must be something wrong. She’s suicidal. She’s homicidal. We need to get her medicated. We should call in a counselor for her.

If she were normal, we could tell. She would always be perky at 8am, ready with small talk and the same jokes. She would spend more time yakking than working. She would know that Joey Lawrence won on “Dancing With the Stars” and support the 6 out of 7 states that banned gay marriage. She wouldn’t mind if we moved her things or talked incessantly about nothing for hours on end.

But she says she’s just tired.