Cassie was also having a Day. Her morning had gone similarly well. She woke up, dragged herself out of bed and to the bathroom, and nearly fell over when she saw herself in the mirror. Thank god there wasn’t a beard to greet her, but what she saw in the mirror was almost just as bad. Her hair was much longer in the mirror and fuller, tumbling all the way down her back, with nets covering her head and pulling the blonde waves back from her face. And not a hair net, but what looked like a full on rope fishing net. Crab pinchers were at her temples and she swore she could see hints of seashells and starfish beneath the tendrils of her hair. It was like she dunked her head into a fish tank and was wearing its contents. And they weren’t there. When she touched her head, nothing was there but her hair. But every mirror and spoon and reflective metal she could see herself in showed them and she seriously debated calling in sick. Obviously her mental health was in jeopardy.
But she forced herself to save her sick day for when she was really ill and not just in need for coffee – Yes, she was just tired, not insane. She hurried to dress – trying not to stare when the mirror showed her in a long, sea colored, toga-like gown instead of her slacks and blouse. She avoided all the mirrors she could after that, opting for bare minimum make up and trying to drive as carefully as possible, so she wouldn’t have to glance in her rear view. By the time she got to work she was on edge, awake but frazzled, and she avoided most everyone she normally talked to. Some couldn’t be avoided, and a stack of papers that needed to be reviewed and signed mocked her from the top of her desk. She grabbed the clipboard and headed to Paul’s office, hoping he’d be in a better mood than she was.
She knocked firmly at his twice. “Paul?” Her hand closed around the handle just to gently test it, but it was locked. She took a step back and patiently waited for an answer, spotting and then avoiding the shiny surface of his doorknob, and the large metal handle of her clipboard.