"I don't want to go into work today." Meghan remarked, her lower lip pouting as she sat at the kitchen table, drinking her morning coffee.

"You say that every morning." Subaru replied with a laugh.

Meghan smiled at him. "I'm serious."

He yawned sleepily. "I don't particular want to either, but we have to." He stood from his chair and took one last swig of his own coffee and went to the kitchen to rinse his cup out.

"We could call out sick or something. Spend the day lounging around here." She proposed to her husband.

He laughed again and came back over to her and leaned over, pressing a kiss to her lips. "Wish I could bunny, I really do." Meghan couldn't help but giggle at Subaru's little private pet name for her. He'd given it to her as a joke between them when, for his birthday, she'd given him an apron with a cute little bunny on the front of it. She knew how much he liked cute things, so she had thought it perfect for him. But ever since then he called her that, teasing her as he always did.

But Meghan pressed on. "Oh come on, please? We could relax around the house! Spend some alone time together." She waggled her eyebrows at him, causing him to grin down at her.

Subaru clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Extremely tempting offer, but I have that meeting today so I'm afraid I'll have to save my sick day for another day. Maybe next week?"

"Promise?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Promise. Next week we'll both take a sick day and just... veg out.." He pressed another quick kiss to her lips.

She watched as he closed the door behind him a sighed. She knew very well that him taking a day off right now was hard to do, but she couldn't help but ask anyway. Subaru was in line to receive a promotion at the office, putting him in his father's position (before he retired from it recently, that is). Meghan couldn't have been prouder, or happier, for him. It was his dream job, and she knew just how excited he was about it. She only wished she could say the same thing about her own job.

With her eyes closed, Meghan sat back in her chair and counted to ten in her mind. She could do this. She could make it through yet another day. It was only for a little while longer, until she finished her next assignment and she could quit with a clear conscience. Until then, all she had to do was to remain calm and not let him get to her. It was only another half of an hour and she'd be able to go home. She looked down at the wedding ring on her finger, glistening in the light while she spun it around slowly, she thought of the loving husband at home, trying to think of anything but this place.

After graduating from college and marrying Subaru, Meghan had gotten a job at a local law firm. With the encouragement from her father, the prime minister, and her husband of course, she was pursuing her dream of becoming a lawyer. She'd graduated almost at the top of her class with her bachelor's in criminal justice (and minor in law), and just needed a little time from school before she would apply to law school. She'd decided to gain a little work experience, something to spice up her resume and to look good for the schools she would be applying to, and applied at the law firm. She got the position almost instantly, but now she wished she hadn't.

Technically her title was legal assistant, but it may as well have been 'giant bulls eye'. In all of her years alive, Meghan had encountered bullies. They were just a regular part of life, an unfortunate part, but regular nonetheless. They'd always come out of the woodwork at some point, and she'd had her fair share in life, but boy did this one take the cake. Her boss, Ichigo Alric, seemed to take great pleasure in her misery. He had seemed friendly enough when she interviewed with him to get the job, but ever so slowly, his true nature started to come out. At first it was just rude comments every now and again, making some sort of snarky remark at her expense. That kind of thing was easy to tolerate for her, and she found herself wishing back to those times now. He was spiteful just to be spiteful. Nasty in nature just to see others miserable. He treated almost everyone at the office terribly. But Meghan was special. She was his newest little project, and he seemed to have taken a particular liking to making her as uncomfortable as humanly possible. Everyone else in the office ignored it, as they wished to avoid the same treatment, so Meghan endured it the best she could.

"Meghan, get in here!" A voice boomed from down the hallway. Clenching her hands into fists at her sides, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before getting up and heading towards her boss's office.

"Yes, sir?" She asked politely as she stood in front of his desk. Never without his trademark lecherous grin, he tossed his rubber ball up and down in the air, his feet propped up on his desk.

"Close the door behind you, it's rude to leave doors open when you enter a room." He said, his grin widening. God how she wished she could slap that smile from his face.

"Yes Mr. Alric." She answered politely and went over to close the door behind her. She swallowed thickly and turned back around, going to stand back in front of his desk. But he'd already stood from his chair and was walking around behind his desk. Pacing back and forth like some sort of carnal animal waiting to pounce on its prey.

"How is that assignment of yours progressing Mrs. Ichiyanagi?"

"I have your debrief done and the only thing that I have left is some final research details on your current case to finish." She replied. Even with this hellish boss of hers, she did her very best work. Determined to make her time there at least somewhat worthwhile, and to learn at least a little something about the nature of the job.

He grinned and stalked over to her, coming within just inches from her. "Good. You're stupid, that much is certain, but you have potential. At least with you doing a little research for me, you might actually put a little knowledge in that empty head of yours." Her mouth gaped slightly at the comment, but unable to think of anything to say, she remained silent. Clenching her fists behind her back.

Ichigo licked his lips. "And you're not bad looking, so at least I have something nice to look at while you're here."

Meghan attempted to move further from him, but he only moved closer, pressing his body against hers. "Mr. Alric, could you please give me a little space?"

Ignoring her request, he chuckled. "Yes, that husband of yours is quite the lucky man."

"Please sir, just a little space, I would appreciate it." She pleaded.

"You don't want to play nice today?" Her boss quickly grabbed her upper arm with his hand when she attempted to move away again and squeezed. She squeaked in pain and bit her lower lip as he raised an eyebrow down at her.

The pressure on her arm increased and she bit her lower lip to squelch her cry. "I'm sorry Mr. Alric." It almost surprised Meghan every day just how little she fought back against him, or why she just didn't quit on the spot. But every time, she would think about how badly she needed the experience, and how much she needed the money she was saving away from this job for law school. Never in a million years would she allow someone to treat her the way she let man treat her, but after all the nasty things he'd said, and implied about her, she had started to believe him. It probably would've sounded stupid to others, and they would have just told her that she shouldn't believe something someone like this would say to her. But she couldn't help it. She hadn't had the highest of self-esteems when her and Subaru had started dating. It had taken quite a while for Subaru to help her build it up. But with just a few months of working there, that whole foundation that she had worked so hard to build up, had come crumbling down.

Ichigo released her arm with a grin on his face. "That's better, now run along." He spun her around and swatted her on the butt. She fought tears as she returned back to her desk.