Work Text:
It’s 2035, you have an amazing job that you love. A beautiful wife and 2 lovely kids. You even have a trip to Disney that you’re planning soon. Your daughter loves Meredith from brave because it makes her feel more powerful with her red hair. Your son loves Star Wars and is so excited to meet Chewbacca; he’s been perfecting his perfect Chewbacca sound for 3 months now in preparation to meeting his hero.
Today is the day you get your promotion. You have been waiting for this day for 5 years and it’s finally here. All of your hard work paid off. You walk into your boss, Steve’s offices, he looks you directly in the eyes and smiles at you. He’s so proud of you and says the words “you got the promotion” and reaches to shake your hand. Your eyes fill with tears of joy but you don’t let them fall. You take a deep breath and reach for Steve’s hand. But just as your hands meet you realize what you’ve done. You remember that for the last 14 years you have convinced everyone that you were left handed. You shook hands with your left hand, you drank with your left hand, you even taught yourself to write with your left hand. Years of convincing we’re just flushed down the toilet in this one act.
Steve looks at you, disgust in his eyes, he pulls back his hand and tells you to pack up your desk. You are so ashamed that you leave without saying a thing but you know what this means for you. You pack your desk and everyone in the office is looking at you. Whispers are spreading and you can feel the peering eyes burning into your back. You leave in a hurry, knowing you must go tell your wife and kids what has just happened.
You arrive home, your kids run to hug you and realize something is off. “Daddy what’s wrong” your daughter says to you, in the most comforting yet concerned voice you’ve ever heard out of her mouth. You tell her daddy is fine but ask where mommy is. She peeks around the corner already knowing that something feels off. She tells the kids to leave the room so you can talk. You take off your shoes, make your way into the kitchen and grab a drink from the fridge. You finally tell her, you’ve been fired. She’s in shock but comes to comfort you. You know she’s going to ask why so you decide to tell her before the silence drags on for too long. “I’m not left handed” you say, almost too quietly. Her gaze slowly meets yours but you feel too ashamed to look her in the eyes. “I can’t believe this” she responds, “all of these years and you lied to me, to your kids, to everyone.” She begins to put things in bags and tells the kids to do the same. They’re confused but they listen because they don’t know what’s happening. You try to talk her down but she can’t hear you over the rage and distrust that she feels in this very moment. She grabs her keys and right before they walk out the door your son stops and asks “what about daddy?” Your soon to be ex-wife looks your son in the eyes, and simply says “Daddy is a liar.” That’s all it took. All of them look you in the eyes and shake their heads as they walk out the door. Your life has just fallen apart. You rethink everything that has lead up to this. And you remember the tweet you made on March 2, 2021 at 11:50pm. This is what ruined you.