Barging into my teenage son's room at eight in the morning and opening the curtains only to look in disgust at the pigsty that he lived in I thought to myself, why do I deserve this. I'm a 45 year old single mother to an 18-year-old boy whose father had left me for a younger model when our child was only small. I got the house and a reasonable settlement, but I also got the lazy slob of a child that his son turned out to be.
"David" I shouted at the inanimate object under the duvet.
Waiting for a response I knew wouldn't come I shouted louder, "David wake up, its time for college" and then I whipped off the duvet to reveal my son curled up in the foetal position in only a pair of shorts, he groggily turned to look at me muttering something inaudible before groaning and pulling the duvet back over himself.
Exasperated I shouted at him, "I won't tell you again, now get up" before leaving his room as I still had to get ready myself.
After showering and getting dressed I entered the lounge to find David in his bathrobe sat with his feet up eating a large bowl of cereal watching morning cartoons.
Shaking my head at the sight, "Are you not going to college today" I asked him crossly.
Without turning from the TV he grunted, "Study break" through mouthfuls of cereal.
"You've been on study break for over a week, get upstairs and get ready for college." I yelled, realising at the same time that I was going to be late for work.
"I'm eating my breakfast ok, then I'll go, god, give me a break" he shouted back at me, I turned and grabbed my case and bag before heading out slamming the door as I left. As I pulled away from the house I thought to myself through the rage that had built this morning, he used to be a good kid, but when he hit 15 he turned into a lazy, rude slob who generally did as he pleased regardless of my authority. I thought that maybe it was the lack of a male role model that made him turn the way he did, but the way his father left me I was in no hurry to get involved with anyone again, then after a while I concentrated on my career instead. I found it ironic though that a head of a department cannot even control her own son, then again I take out my anger on my staff and know that they all think I'm a bitch, even more reason to carry on taking it out on them.
I had been heading the Biology department at the local university for several years now as it lead research into a number of promising projects. Personally I was on the brink of finishing a paper on certain rare insects being the answer to mankind's cure for a number of debilitating diseases. The research facility held all kinds of rare species found in the remotest corners of the world, many of which were dangerous in one way or another, I was not one for working the field and stuck to the scientific side studying them after they were caught not going out to the far reaches of the globe to grab them.
I arrived a little late, cursing my son in my head as I noticed the time but dismissed these thoughts as I entered the lab smack in the middle of confusion, the area was messed up and two of the undergraduates were a little dishevelled, the girl looked particularly flustered and the boy was being reprimanded to one side by a colleague as everyone else gathered around looking on.
As I entered the lab one of my technicians, a reputable gossip Joan hurried over to me, her excitement hardly contained.
"Kathy, you will not believe what happened."
I did not have a chance to even say hello let lone ask her what had happened before she continued relishing telling the tale hurrying to catch up with my pace as I strode with purpose towards the scene.
"Matt and Helen were caught going at it in lab three, right there on the table, they just started going at it, he had his, erm, thing out and she had her panties off before anyone noticed and someone could stop them."
I stopped in my tracks turning to look at her in disbelief, "What" was all I could manage to blurt out as I tried to comprehend what I had been told? Everyone turned to me, the two undergrads petrified at my presence. My knowledge of the two, despite her status as top gossip was a lot more than Joan's, I knew that the girl Helen was engaged to her teen sweetheart and as far as I knew Matt, the boy was dating seriously. I always made time to know my staff and would informally chat to them on occasions, it held ulterior motives as I was always going to be the bitch; but I could catch employees out, real reasons for unexpected sick days and so on from the knowledge I gathered.
Joan was about to say something else but I wanted to hear the explanation for myself, what had been going on to so thoroughly disrupt my department on the eve of a breakthrough and with a wave I brushed her off marching over to the group, techs and assistants not immediately involved dispersed at my approach. My senior researcher and colleague Ron attempted to repeat what Joan had told me but I silenced him with a shake of my head, staring straight at the two, I shouted so that everyone in the lab stopped momentarily what they were pretending to be doing,
"Well!" I boomed looking over the rim of my glasses at them as they held their heads in embarrassment and shame.