“At least you got a day off and a pedicure out of it.”
There was no mistaking the jealousy in Marianne’s voice, and Belinda glanced at her scowling co-worker before returning her gaze to her toes. She had an urge to wiggle them but thought the better of it. It’ll hurt.
“I guess I did,” Belinda responded. No use adding that she ‘got’ pain out of it, too, and the sorrow of forgoing dancing at her sister’s wedding. Marianne will only make it a competition of misery.
There were worse things than torn ligaments.
She could’ve been born as Marianne.
Photo prompt: © Susan Eames
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Na'ama Yehuda 
Perfectly constructed! Made me smile.
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Yay! I think some of us know or have met such a Marianne…
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Yup.
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🙂
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But the wiggle would irk Marianne so much. It’s worth it
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I know, I know! 😉
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‘ a competition of misery’, good line!
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Nice one. Very telling of their relationship.
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Thank you, Crispina … yeah, pretty telling, eh? 😉
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Oh yes
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“A competition of misery” is a weird thing isn’t it. I guess it’s easier than feeling sorry for someone else.
I don’t know what it’s like to be born as Marianne, but I know those torn ligaments are no joke. I tore all mine in my right ankle at 18, and it still hurts sometimes especially if it’s folded in one position for too long.
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Yeah. I had a partially torn one in my ankle and another partial tear in a knee, and these things hurt!
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Great last line 🙂
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🙂 Thanks, Iain! 🙂 I guess when you are ouchee and have such lack of basic empathy shown to you by some persons, you resort to giving thanks for what you can … 😉
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The injury will heal, but a miserable co-worker will be a pain in the backside forever.
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Yeah … or … until one of them goes her merry way … 😉
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What a petty person to resent someone because they broke their leg! Wow! Belinda handled it so graciously, I admire her.
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Ah, yes, there are some who are like that, and cannot feel empathy for another because they only see their own suffering – real or imagined – everywhere. As for Belinda, yeah, she’s taken the high road and she’s venting it to us where she know she’ll be heard… 😉
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🙂
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Na’ama Y’karah,
Oh the Marianne’s in our lives who always have it worse. Oy, the stories I could tell you. But you already told a good one. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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LOL, yeah, oy the stories! We do all probably know a Marianne (by any name), whose victimization and suffering and ‘I have suffered more than thou’ is an incessant misery-competition. Tiring, often, so Belinda did what she had to do. She’s still sorry that she didn’t wiggle her toes, though … 😉
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Belinda needs drugs to cope with Marianne, I think. We all know a Marianne. 😀
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LOL! I think Belinda will be fine. Marianne, however, might be beyond repair … 😉
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Great last line. Marianne’s a real ray of light and no mistake 😉
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A real ray of light … LOL, yep … bless her heart … 😉
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No matter what happens, we can usually say it could have been worse! Nice one Na’ama!
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Thanks, Keith! Ain’t that the truth, eh? Yep, there is often something that could’ve been worse …
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Nicely told, Na’ama. These two seem at permanent odds.
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Yep, I think that the connection between them is beyond repair … 😉
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i sensed sarcasm. if it was really intended as such, it should work for her own sanity. 🙂
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Internal sarcasm works, too … 😉
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You’ve written a shrewdly observed slice of life there, Na’ama. It’s nicely put together.
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Thank you, Penny! What lovely feedback! 🙂 May we never need quite that much shrewdness in real life … 😉
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The Mariannes of this world exhaust me! Well done, Missy!
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Thank you, my friend! Yep, they can be exhausting, which is why we should keep good boundaries around them and not allow them under our skin! Let’s plan a party and not invite any Mariannes, eh?! 🙂
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No Mariannes allowed! 😊
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😀
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Great story, I loved the line about a competition of misery. I know a few people like that. 🙂
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Thanks! I guess too many of us know some people who are like that … 😉 Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Ah, sisterly love, who can beat that?
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Ha … co-workers in this case, so at least she doesn’t have to share genes … 😀
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