Generated prompt of the day: Glass

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Jesse continuously tapped her one foot against the wooden floor, as she worked. Her eyes were on the sheet of paper in front of her, her wrist flicking left to right as she wrote at a swift pace. Her fingers were cramping from holding the black felt-tip pen for hours on end.

Jesse tried not to think about the pile of papers she still had to sign, fill in and complete. Sometimes, it felt bottomless. She sighed, putting down her pen and flexing her fingers a few times, before picking the pen back up again.

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door. Jesse put down her pen again, sitting slightly back in her chair. "Come in."

The door opened and Radar's head poked in. "Hey boss." He greeted.

"Hey Radar, need anything?" Jesse asked, leaning forward again and resting with her elbows on her desk.

"It's the end of my shift, and I'm about to head home." Radar said. "Just wanted to hear if I need to do anything for you before I leave?"

"It's already evening?" Jesse asked in surprise, turning around on her chair to glance outside. Sure enough, the sky was a bright orangey purple.

"Time flies at work, huh?" Radar said with a chuckle.

"Sure does." Jesse replied, sighing as she glanced back at the stack of papers again. She wanted to lock up the office and go home as well, get in bed early. No doing that however.

"Do you need me to do anything before I leave?" Radar asked.

Jesse shook her head. "Nah, I've got everything covered. Go enjoy your evening."

Radar nodded, giving her a quick smile. He turned around to leave, but then hesitated. "At what time do you go home tonight, Jesse?"

"Why do you ask?" Jesse asked, reaching for her pen once again.

Radar fiddled with his fingers – one of the many signs that he was nervous. It was obviously on the tip of his tongue to say something.

"Is everything OK, Radar?" Jesse asked gently.

"I was actually meaning to ask you that." Radar said softly. "Every evening I leave, you're still working. You seem so tired and worn through, yet... yet you never take a day off."

"That's what happens when you run an entire town." Jesse said, standing up and walking over to Radar. She stopped in front of him, leaning with her shoulder against the wall. "I can't put my work away at the end of the day if I'm not done. Even if that means I have to stay late."

Radar nodded slowly. "But, boss, why don't you just ask for some help? I, for example, wouldn't mind lending a hand!"

Jesse's face softened and she smiled. "Radar, thank you for the offer. But this is my responsibility. When I accepted this job, I also accepted the work."

She turned away from him, walking back to her desk. "Good night, Radar."

"Night Boss." Radar said softly, turning around to leave. He looked over his shoulder again, to see Jesse have gone back to work. She sat slightly hunched over in the chair, resting her head on one of her hands while using the other to write.

Radar turned around completely, walking back to her desk. "Boss, I insist." He said, trying to sound determined. "As your intern, I care for you and I will not let you overwork yourself like this."

Jesse chuckled vaguely, putting down her pen and rubbing her forehead. "Radar, I'm fine." She lied. She wasn't fine – she was stressed out, tired, and had a headache.

"I have no plans for the evening." Radar said firmly. "I want to help."

Jesse hesitated. She didn't want to make her problems, Radar's. After all, it's her own fault she had so much work – she chose it. Radar gave her a pleading look.

"Just for tonight, OK?" Jesse said sternly. "Tomorrow you're going home when your shift ends without a fuss."

"Yes, boss!" Radar said, grinning broadly.

"And one more thing." Jesse said, trying to look firm but failing to hide her smile. "I've told you a million times now – it's Jesse."

"Right, Boss- I mean, uh, right, sorry Jesse." Radar said quickly, nearly fumbling over his words in attempt to speak so fast. "What do you need me to do first?"

"Why don't you go down to kitchen and get us both a cup of coffee?" Jesse suggested. "This might be a long night."

Radar nodded quickly, looking ready to dart off down to the kitchen. His eyes landed on some of the papers however. He stopped, reaching over and picking up one of the many sheets.

"Jesse, these dates." Radar said, frowning. "This work isn't due for another three months."

He looked over at her. "You're not behind schedule at all, in fact you're months ahead of it."

"Radar." Jesse said, her face all of a sudden dead serious. "Just go get the coffee."

"Jesse, don't you know what this means?" Radar asked, sounding almost excited. "You don't need to work these extra hours! In fact, you can skip working at all for days to come-"

"Radar."

He stopped, hearing the firmness of Jesse's voice. Her face was expressionless, yet her eyes filled with a desperate gaze.

"This work is my business. When I do what, is my business. Please, just go."

Radar was speechless. Despite how harsh Jesse's words came out, her voice was strained. Her eyes were so desperate, it frightened him. He slowly put down the paper on it's respectful stack, leaving the room to go get the coffee he was going to make.

Jesse lowered her head, rubbing her temples as the migraine increased. She was mentally kicking herself for speaking to Radar like that.

Yes, she was ahead of schedule. She's been for months now. She had her reasons for it.

Jesse leaned her head onto her desk, gritting her teeth slightly. If only Radar hadn't volunteered to help.

The door to the office opened slightly, Radar entering with a cup of coffee. It seemed he had only made some for Jesse, not for himself.

"Are you alright?" He asked, noticing that Jesse had her head resting on her arms. She didn't look like she had the strength to continue on with the night.

"I'm fine, just a headache." Jesse replied, getting up from her desk.

"Thanks, Radar." She said, reaching out a hand as he held out the coffee. Her hands were shaking slightly as she reached out for the mug. The moment Radar let go however, the mug slipped right through Jesse's fingers, shattering at their feet.

Jesse cursed loudly, much to Radar's shock, before sinking to her knees and trying to gather the many shards of glass.

"Jesse, I am so sorry..." Radar said, grabbing a cloth and starting to wipe up the coffee that hadn't soaked into the carpet yet.

"No, no, no, it's my fault." Jesse mumbled, wiping her sticky hands on her jeans. "I'm sorry."

She was silent for a second, before softly adding. "For everything."

"What?" Radar asked, looking up at her.

"I shouldn't have been so rude to you earlier, you were just trying to help me." Jesse said softly, her voice small. "I'm sorry, I... I'm just..." Her voice broke off and she slowly reached out to continue collecting the bits of mug.

Radar stopped her however, taking her hand in his. Their eyes met.

"Something's not right, I know that." Radar said softly. "Please talk to me, tell me what's wrong. Why are you pushing yourself to these limits when you don't have to?"

"I have to." Jesse whispered softly.

"Jesse, these papers doesn't have to be complete until three months from now." Radar replied.

"I need to." Jesse just whispered, looking down at the ground. "It's the only thing I can do."

"What?" Radar asked softly, confused.

"I don't want to go home." Jesse whispered. "I can't sleep. All I can do to pass the hours is... work."

"Jesse.." Radar started.

"Do you know what it's like?" Jesse asked, looking up at Radar again. Her brown eyes were welled up in tears.

"Coming home to an empty building? Not hearing any voices, not having any company? Lying in that bed for hour after hour, staring at the ceiling, wishing somebody would come in and comfort you till you sleep? Knowing there's nobody around who even remotely cares about you?

Anything, everything I do reminds me of them. Nothing is the same any more and all I could possibly do to get through these long days is work.

I've sit in this office day after day, night after night. Sometimes I don't even go home for days. I've written and signed papers till both my hands were swollen, I've gone over documents till my eyes burn."

Jesse looked down, and Radar could see a single tear droplet falling onto her knee.

"I'm no less broken than this mug." Jesse whispered, picking up one of the shards.

"I may be this strong, brave hero... but without anybody I'm as fragile as glass."

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Ok, Imma be honest I'm really happy with how this came out. My brain hit a dead end with this prompt, and when I got the idea I just slammed it onto the page xD And I'm actually very satisfied with it.

I don't have much more to say, you guys already know how much I love writing this topic, lol.

I'll see you all tomorrow with whatever the word generator spits out next!