Reputation

[Hyacinth]

When Lisa showed me to my new office, I wanted to cry.

There are papers piled everywhere. Boxes and boxes of them. It looks like in addition to an absent pack doctor, they also have a shortage of support staff. Before I could even make my first rounds, I found myself spending an hour clearing off enough paperwork to reclaim my desk and then another thirty minutes disinfecting it, scraping the grime of old coffee rings and melted candy bars.

Part of me is tempted to just burn it all and start over, but I know that each one of those pieces of paper represents an important moment in somebody’s life. As I sift through the paperwork, I find a file with my name on it right next to one with my mother’s name on it. Interesting. Setting them in the newly cleaned-out top drawer of my desk, I promise myself that I will read those later. I have so many questions about myself and my mother. Maybe those files will give me some answers.

Around 10 o'clock, I take a break from cleani