Brat

*Yes, this was originally posted on Naseeb*

I was in a deep, deep slumber, dreaming about a first day of school (my best friends Roselle and Rachel were with me; we were in a science class and the professor---who happened to be rather hunky---gave us our choice of bronze medallions that would be assigned to us for the duration of the semester. They were all different sizes. One was as small as an eraser tip. I chose the mid-size medallion, which seemed reasonable enough. I lost it by the end of the class) when my mother woke me up. It was 7 freakin' 45 and I'd hoped to be in the office at 7:30. My damn hello moto phone failed to go off again.
In any case, I ended up throwing together what I realized later was an abysmal pants-shoes-cami-shirt-cardigan combo and didn't care to brush my hair. Plus, in spite of getting a good 7+ hours sleep, I was sluggish and rather uninspired. I'm NEVER sluggish in the morning. I'm the proverbial early bird. The (veggie) worm is MINE, dammit. WHAT THE FREAKIN' HELL.
So, I ran out the door, caught an elevator and prayed that it went down without stopping on every other floor.
The elevator stopped on one floor: 20. Two men got on. The elevator door started to slide shut; we were mere centimeters away from leaving the 20th floor and heading downstairs. Nano-centimeters. There was only the tiniest sliver of space left for the door to cover before we'd be on our way down........when it opened right back up again.
And on the other side of the door was a little girl---she couldn't have been more than 4-years-old---with the widest grin on her face as she stood on her tiptoes, keeping a hard finger on the elevator call button. She wore a puffy pink coat that seemed too big for her. When she almost lost her balance, one could've blamed it on the weight of the coat on her slight frame. So, she stood there, turning to look for whomever it was she awaited, and I stood inside the elevator fuming.
The nerve of this little brat! Didn't she know that people had to get to work! Didn't she realize that the alarm clock feature on my Motorola phone sucked wind and that I needed to get my morning coffee from my coffee guy who sits in a cart on the corner of Hudson and Morton and I couldn't get that coffee while I waited ON AN ELEVATOR IN NEW JERSEY BECAUSE THIS LITTLE OBSTINATE BRAT DECIDED THAT SHE WANTED TO BE A BIG FREAKIN' GIRL AND HOLD THE ELEVATOR OPEN FOR HER SLACKER PARENT WHO COULDN'T SEEM TO LOCK HIS OR HER FREAKIN' APARTMENT DOOR.
The little girl was still smiling after what seemed to be a minute when I, at the edge of reason, said "No, let the button go," opening my eyes wide the way my mom does when she comes across kids who misbehave.
Of course her dad waltzed in at that moment. The little girl half hid behind him, and peeked out at me with one eye.
Sure, I was the bad guy, wasn't I? In my pre-caffeinated morning daze I became paranoid that the other two guys were judging me based on my gritted teeth command to the little girl.
So, I played right into the role and glared at the kid the entire way down. Now I'm sitting in my too-cold office, busy as hell and contemplating breaking my one cup of coffee a day rule for a second cup.
I need a hug.