I understand, Ma'am and thank you for--", I groaned as the call ended with the customer yelling profanities in a language I could barely understand. I took a moment to take in the receiver's dull tone before I clicked the line off on the multichannel phone. Another satisfied customer, I sarcastically thought to myself. This was the fifth call I've been through that ended this way. I rubbed my temples gently as my head pounded in a rhythmic fashion. All I wanted was this day to be over. Instinctively, I drew the mouse to the bottom right of my computer screen to check the time and, as a sigh of relief, I found I only had two hours left until I was able to clock out for the day. It would be the longest two hours of my life.

It's not that I didn't like this job. It has a decent pay and good benefits. The problem was that I didn't like I had this job. Being a college graduate and searching for two years, it was sure luck that I had gotten this job. That didn't make me feel any better. I didn't get this job out of confidence, it was out of desperation.

I sighed softly as I pulled the headset off and placed it on the phone. I took the time to look over my cubicle. Unlike everyone else's cubicle which had nicknacks and interesting things plastered on their walls, I just had my work files and pencils. The only thing that stood out was a small framed picture of myself, my mom and my dad at my college graduation, myself smiling as I held that degree with pride. I groaned again once more. Here I was, a wolf from a family of hardworking wolves who was stuck doing menial work because he couldn't find anything else available. Sometimes, I stare at that picture and wondered 'what went wrong?'

Two coworkers laughing in the distance brought me out of my melodramatic daze. I felt stupid thinking it. I did have a job! That's what matters, right? A paycheck and benefits matters more than anything else, right? I wish I believed that. I shook my head trying to get out of this negative stint and decided upon getting off my butt for a moment.

I looked over to my supervisor sitting in the cubicle next to mine. She was a pretty cheetah with some delicate features. She usually put some color highlights in her fur to accommodate a special occasion. Today was red and white for her favorite football team winning the seasonal playoffs. She was typing away at an email as I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to me and smiled. “Yes, Luke?”

“I'm going to head to the bathroom. Is that okay?” This would be the second bathroom break I had today. Nothing mattered more to our managers than to have us working constantly at our desks but we're still people and needing ten minutes to stretch your legs was a good way to keep yourself from feeling stilted. She nodded politely like she always did but noticed my face looking odd. “Is everything okay? You don't look well,” I appreciated her concern and shook my head. “I think my lunch was bad. So, I'm feeling the side effects from that.” I made a dramatic showing of pain as I held onto my stomach. She laughed slightly and smiled at me before turning back to her emails. I sighed softly as I got up from my desk and walked over to the bathroom.

Walking to the bathroom was a task in and of itself. As I walked past the front door, being that the bathrooms were just past it, it did take all of my willpower to not run out of there. I didn't know why I felt this way. As I locked myself in and stood at the sink to face the mirror, I realized what my supervisor was talking about. I looked like a mess. My fur was disheveled, I felt dirty and stinky even though I did take a shower in the morning and my buttoned-down shirt had light stains of ketchup from the burger I ate for lunch. I groaned again as I splashed some water on my face to try to make myself more presentable and at least more awake.

Having a job is better than not having one. I scoffed as I heard those words from my father repeat in my head. Yes, having a job is better than nothing but if you're not getting anything out of it then what is the use? That's my problem. I'm not feeling as accomplished as I should be. My family was always successful; hell, my sister has a decent job working as a teacher and being a teacher sucks, in my humble opinion. At least, she feels proud doing it. What I'm doing is no better than shoveling shit at a farm.

I shook my head once more to get rid of any negative thoughts. “C'mon, Luke. Just a couple more hours and you're out,” I spoke quietly at the mirror.