Photo by Mario Gogh on Unsplash

Oscar took his time twisting on his blue tie, staring at himself in the mirror. It was Wednesday — that’s why he was wearing blue. Always blue on Wednesdays he recited to himself, then shuddered. Shut up, you loser.

Did he really have the energy for another one of these? To plaster on that innocuous smile and run through his usual, “Excuse me,” “Mmhmm,” “Of course,” “Thank you,” “Yes sir,” with all the characters in the depressing sitcom of his life?

As he looked at himself in the mirror more closely, he realized his hairline seemed to have receded even further overnight. His forehead shone like a cheap fluorescent light.

Is this how it’d keep going, he suddenly thought with horror, until he died, bald and smiling, at his desk?

The thought overtook him with fury. Fuck you, he snarled at the mirror, though he wasn’t sure who he was talking to. Himself? The rest of the world? God? He balled up his fist, though even he knew he wouldn’t throw a punch.

As he stood there shaking, he heard his oatmeal beep downstairs. He pulled the blue tie off his neck, grabbed the red one from the top of the closet door and went to go get his breakfast.

****

By the time Oscar got to the subway, the train was delayed by 20 minutes. Of course it was. He opened his Uber app to see how much a car would be even…