= SARAH POV =

 I was a little worried as the “requests” were so few, and the strikes were adding up. 

Since Monday I had only been requested once, and that was to get Chris….

…. a glass of water.

Being on some kind of leash was already awkward enough, but it was even more awkward waiting around like a puppy, waiting for my human to summon me. 

I ended up just tiptoeing around her most of the time, applying for jobs, sending her the screenshots, but she stopped responding to them, making me think I was wasting my time even showing her what I had done.

A few days later after the next cleaning, I was determined to wait up and ask her about re-designing the room, so I curled up in her bed with my phone and doom-scrolled on TikTock until it was about 12 am.

I woke up with a jolt at 3 am as I hadn’t realized I had dozed off. 

I heard the familiar soft snore of Chris next to me and groaned as I realized I had missed my chance.

Still,  I couldn’t just bring people in here to completely change her guest room without permission.

I reached over and shook her shoulder.

“Umm…Chris, can I ask you something?” I asked softly.

“Hmmm?” I heard a mumbled response.

Chris rolled back her shoulder and stretched, then slowly sat up in bed. 

Rubbing her eyes, she turned on the light on her side of the bed and turned to me, blurry eyes and barely awake.

“Sorry, did you ask me something?” she asked as she yawned.

“Yeah umm, I was talking to Ms Takahashi, and she said that they offer interior decorating options, so I wanted to ask if I could decorate my - I mean the guest room…” I asked sheepishly.

“Oh…yeah, do whatever you want,” Chris said and turned away, lying back down.

“Oh and um! The request…you haven’t ask…for today…I mean yesterday… “ I started.

“Yeah, umm, don’t talk to me after 12 am,” she said, and within minutes was snoring again.

I sat there kind of shell-shocked. 

Don’t talk to her after 12 am? 

But……she only came home after 12 am. 

When was I supposed to talk to her face-to-face?

I bit my lip, feeling like that request… kind of hurt.

 I get that I am burdening her with all of this, but how is completely shutting me out, making any sense? 

She literally asked me to sleep in her bed.

Next to her.

Every night.

And yet all of a sudden… she won’t even look at me…

Tears started rolling down my cheek and I angrily wiped them away.

I rolled over angrily and pulled the covers over my head.

 I was trying to be brave.

I was trying to behave…

…but it really hurt. 

Chris was the worst.