-Two weeks later-

Two weeks have gone by, and Lapis and I have been quite distant since that one phone call. The amount of messages and even calls had plummeted dramatically. There was something that admittedly concerned me a lot...Lapis normally tries much harder. It seems that she puts a great amount of energy into grabbing my attention, but it was much different this time. Even when I would ignore her, she'd send me frequent messages, pleading for any updates or anything. I'd barely received any messages from her at all lately...she's not trying.

She isn't...making efforts anymore. I couldn't stop thinking about that realization I made. It seemed so out of character for her...at least recently. Of course, I'm not the greatest at this either...so I haven't tried to reach out to her. Maybe she's waiting for me to reach out? Should I even bother? How would I even go about that? What would I say? My mind was racing as I was sitting before a coworker during an important conference.

The mentorship with Spinel has been going well otherwise, and she seems to be a quick learner. However...sometimes she seems to get a bit too dependent on other people. Her aura radiates borderline desperation at times, and I sometimes wonder what she has really been through. Spinel likes to talk about her life in her new home at Steven's beach house...but I noticed that she had avoided quite a few things. She only seemed to talk about the positive things going on...but from the brief occasional conversations I've had with Steven himself...the bad has been sort of outweighing the good.

According to Steven, the beach house has been 'a bit crammed, but nothing terrible', and Spinel and Lapis had been 'getting into it' here and there. Apparently they haven't been getting along very well, which is a very unsettling thing to know when you have no control over the situation. I hope Lapis is okay. It would be unprofessional of me to pry anything out of Spinel, so I always just played dumb for the time being. My train of thought was interrupted when someone suddenly peeked into the conference room, stopping the presenter.

"Excuse me for the interruption, but someone is here to see you, Peridot." the woman looked to me with a nervous smile, and I arched an eyebrow in confusion. Someone is here to see me? I don't even...what? "Are you...sure it's me you're looking for?" I asked in a hushed tone of voice as I approached her. She nodded in response, and stepped aside for me to exit the room. I huffed, closing my eyes and walking out in a hurry. I fixed my tie, and slightly adjusted my glasses just in case this was an important client, manager, or type of worker.

As I walked to the front, I froze in my tracks as I spotted who was standing there waiting for me. She looked over at me with a blank expression, and I was wondering how she could react so emptily to the sight of me...after weeks. It was in fact Lapis Lazuli. I, on the other hand, was screaming and having a breakdown in my head. I could already feel my cheeks heating up, and I clenched my jaw tightly. I speed walked over to her, and folded my hands behind my back, switching my gaze back and forth. "What're you doing here?!" I whispered to her, attempting to maintain my professional expression.

The bluenette only stared at me with empty-looking eyes, and she furrowed her eyebrows. Beads of sweat formed on the back of my neck, and my stomach harshly lurched. The environment around us was very hushed, yet it was bustling. Before I knew it, I felt Lapis's hand snatch my wrist and tug on it. I sharply inhaled, then held my breath as she stormed across the lobby. "Lapis! S-stop!" I hissed through gritted teeth. I could tell we earned a few looks...maybe stares from other workers. I hope Spinel isn't around.

She was headed straight for a utility closet, and I looked around frantically to see if anyone was watching us enter through this door. Everyone was tending to their own phone calls and work, except for a couple of workers at the front desk. I scrunched my eyebrows up in embarrassment, and before I could save any bit of my reputation, I was violently pulled into the closet. The door swung closed, and it was nearly pitch black in there. "LAPIS! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" I asked, panic-stricken. "Peridot, I need to talk to you." she coldly stated. "Couldn't this have waited?!" I hissed.

"Oh, my bad. There's never a time where you're not working, so no." Lapis replied, and I frowned. "You know that's not true." I murmured in a grumpy tone. "It absolutely is though. Anyways, I didn't just come to bicker about that," Lapis said, "Why are you so fucking reserved all the time?! I-I'm...why do you have to be so cold? You haven't texted me...you haven't called me...nothing. And you know I've wanted to see you." I was taken aback by this, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"You haven't reached out to me either!" I argued. "Oh, am I always the one who has to do that?! Do I always have to be the one to give my all in this?! What's even the point if you don't even seem to wanna talk to me...much less see me." the bluenette continued in a sadder tone now. It was hard to see in the dark, and maybe this was a good thing that I couldn't see her expression. "Do I repulse you that much?! Your reason to be cold and heartless outside of work just 'cause of Spinel is so irrational and stupid! You're not gonna get fired for being a human being with emotions!" she began to raise her voice.

"Lapis, keep your fucking voice down! And that's not how it is!" I didn't realize myself raising my voice now. "You don't repulse me, Lapis!" "Then why do you seem to make it so obvious that you like to distance yourself from me so often?! What happened to the old Peridot, who actually showed human emotions?! The one who wasn't so...cold. The one who loved me for who I-...THE ONE WHO DIDN'T CONSTANTLY WANNA STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Lapis now yelled, and due to the sniffling noises, I inferred that she was now crying.

"L-Lapis pl-please keep your v-voice down...I c-can't lose this job. We need to d-do this some other time, understand?" I whispered, placing my hand on the door knob. "There won't be some other time! All you do is work and ignore me!" Lapis argued, throwing her hands in the air. "You are overreacting. Quit fucking making things harder. I will make time for this conversation. But not right now." I growled lowly, glaring at her through the darkness. Lapis was only silent, and said nothing in response. I took this as my cue to leave, and I swung the door back open.

I quickly brushed myself off as I speed walked out. I looked back at Lapis one last time, who was just standing there with a cold expression on her face. However, that expression dissipated for some reason, and she took a step forward. "Peridot-" I whipped my head around at the exact moment I ran directly into a worker carrying a tray of several coffees. "SHIT!" I yelped, watching as the coffees flew through the air, and landed on a client with a violent, messy splash. I assume it was boiling hot, and the client was in fact...holding several robonoids he had most likely just purchased.

He screamed, and dropped the box of robonoids altogether. He groaned in obvious pain by the high temperature of the liquid, and I just watched all of this go down in absolute horror. I think I'm gonna be sick. "What the hell?! I just fucking bought these!" he growled loudly, glaring straight at me, as the one who was holding the coffees was laying on the floor, attempting to pick up the now empty cups. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and I don't think I'd ever felt so afraid and distraught in my entire life. I literally thought I was going to have a heart attack right then and there.

Bile rose in my throat, and I stumbled frantically to the nearest trash can. I heaved chunks into the can, feeling tears prick my eyes now. My throat burned, and I coughed several times before I stood back up. Oh god, I don't even wanna face anyone here. "What is going on here?" a booming voice echoed throughout the lobby, causing me to bristle. Everyone including me looked over to where the horrifying voice came from, and it was none other than my mother standing there.

One of the front desk workers had anxiously approached her, and seemed to be whispering something into my mother's ear. She had pointed to the open door of the utility closet, then over at me. Oh fuck. I looked behind me at the closet door, and Lapis was still in there, just looking at me with an extremely pained expression. I quickly looked back at my mom, attempting to hold down more vomit. "Excuse me, are you the boss around here?!" the angry client then asked her. "Why, yes I am. Are you a customer of ours?" she asked calmly.

"Not any damn more! One of your clumsy ass workers just spilled coffee all over me and my new robonoids! And I was just told there's no goddamn warranty! Then she goes and pukes in the trash can like some cat! I want a refund immediately!" he ranted angrily. "Those robonoids are long gone...if he gets a refund, we're basically just paying for those things." I overheard a nearby worker mutter to another. Everyone was now either staring at me or my mom, and it felt like my entire world was crumbling around me. "Puke, hm?" my mother's golden eyes pierced right through me from across the room - and I could immediately tell she most likely assumed it was because I was drinking alcohol again.

"I am terribly sorry, sir. You will receive a refund immediately. We will have this all figured out, I assure you." she finished, looking to the client. She then slowly walked towards me, glaring at me intensely. "Everyone get back to work! Take care of him please." she commanded a worker nearby. They nodded quickly, and hurriedly approached the man. "As for you, Peridot. You're fired." my mother finished in a very calm and collected tone of voice, I nearly missed what she said.

....fired?

"W-wait, what?! Wait mom, no! P-please mother y-you don't understand!" I stuttered, feeling my eyes well up with tears now. "I can explain everything here! I-it's not my fault! I swear I-I swear it was n-not my fault! M-mom...p-please, y-you can't do this to me..." I whimpered. "I have never seen such cowardice...not owning up to your mistakes. I said you were on thin ice. Did you think I was joking?" she asked me, and I was silent. "I'm never one to joke that often, as you should know, dear." she explained, looking away from me and shrugging.

I gritted my teeth, and the hot tears were now spilling down my cheeks. My life is over. "M-mom pl-please you can't j-just do this to your own daughter! You KNOW HOW FUCKING HARD I WORKED TO GET HERE!" I shouted, losing my self control. "You're not making this any better for yourself. I told you that you being my daughter is no exception to how I treat anyone else here. You're done here, Peridot." my mother said, now walking away. "MOM, PLEASE! MOM PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! TH-THIS IS MY EVERYTHING!" I sobbed, grabbing her wrist.

She then slowly turned to side glance me, then her gaze slowly trailed down to my hand on her. I immediately released it, and I could feel myself nearly hyperventilating. She said nothing, and walked away...walked away from me with my job in her hands. I just...lost my life's work. I just...lost my everything.

I slowly turned to Lapis with swollen eyes, and clenched my fists tightly. My fingernails dug so deep into my palms, I'm pretty sure I was breaking the skin at this point. "P-Peridot I-I..." Lapis's eyes were watering now, and she quickly walked out from the closet. "I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't...mean to-" "I should've never started talking to you again." I deadpanned, brushing myself off once again. I gave her one last dirty look, before walking out those front doors. I didn't even want to see or hear her response to anything...I didn't care anymore. Just like that...

...she ruined everything.