As hard as I tried, I couldn’t focu

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t focus on a damn thing all day. Even after a vigorous lunchtime run, I still couldn’t get my mind past the morning’s events. By three, I knew I had to get out of there. I reached the elevator and groaned slightly, opting for the stairs and then realizing that was an even worse mistake. I sprinted down eighteen flights.
Pulling up to my parents’ home later that evening, I felt some of my tension slip away. As I walked into the kitchen, I was immediately engulfed by the familiar smell of Mom’s cooking, and my parents’ happy chatter coming from the dining room.
“Bennett,” my mom sang as I stepped into the room. I bent down and kissed her cheek, allowing her a brief moment to try and fix my unruly hair. Finally swatting her hands away, I grabbed a large bowl from her and placed it on the table, snatching a carrot as commission. “Where’s Henry?” I asked, looking out toward the living room.
“They’re not here yet,” answered my dad as he walked in. Henry was bad enough, but throw in his wife and daughter and they were lucky to even make it out of the house at all. I walked to the bar outside to make my mother a dry martini.
Twenty minutes later, the sounds of chaos came from the foyer, and I stepped in to meet them. A small, unstable body with a toothy grin hurled itself at my knees. “Benny!” the little girl squealed.
I snatched Sofia up and smothered her cheeks with kisses.
“God, you’re pathetic,” Henry groaned as he walked past me.
“As if you’re any better.”
“You should both shut up, if anyone wants my opinion,” Mina added, following her husband into the dining room.
Sofia was the first grandchild and the princess of the family. As usual, she preferred to sit on my lap during dinner and I tried to eat around her, doing my best to avoid her “help.” She definitely had me completely wrapped around her finger.
“Bennett, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” my mother began, handing me the bottle of wine. “Would you invite Chloe to dinner next week, and do your best to convince her to actually come?”
I groaned in response and received a quick kick in the shin from my father. “Christ. Why is everyone so insistent on getting her over here?” I asked.
Mom straightened, wearing her best Firm Mother face. “She’s in a strange city all alone, and—”
“Mom,” I interrupted, “she’s lived here since college. She’s twenty-six. It’s not a strange city to her anymore.”
“Actually, Bennett, you’re right,” she answered with a rare edge in her voice. “She came here for college, graduated summa cum laude, worked with your father for a few years before moving to your department and being the best employee you’ve ever had—all while she attends night school to get her degree. I think Chloe is pretty amazing, so I have someone I’d like her to meet.”
My fork froze in midair as those words sank in. Mom wanted to set her up with someone? I tried to mentally file through all of the single men we knew and had to discount each of them immediately. Brad: too short. Damian: fucks anything that moves. Kyle: gay. Scott: dumb. Well, this was odd. I felt something constrict in my chest, but I wasn’t sure what it was. If I had to put a name on it, I’d call it . . . anger?
Why would I be angry that my mom wanted to set her up? Probably because you’re sleeping with her, dumb ass. Well, not really sleeping with her so much as fucking her. Okay, fucked her . . . twice. “Fucking her” would imply an intent to continue.
Oh, also, I felt her up her in an elevator and was hoarding her shredded panties in my desk drawer.
Creeper.
I pressed my hands to my face. “Fine. I’ll talk to her. But don’t get your hopes up. She’s about as charm-free as they come, so that’s a hard deal to close.”
“You know, Ben,” my brother chimed in, “I think everyone here would agree that you are literally the only one who has a hard time getting along with her.”
I looked around the table, frowning at the heads bobbing up and down, agreeing with my idiot brother.
The rest of the night consisted of more talk about how I needed to try and be nicer to Miss Mills, and about how great they all thought she was, and about how much she would like my mom’s best friend’s son, Joel. I had completely forgotten about Joel. He was nice enough, I guess. Except he’d played Barbies with his little sister until he was fourteen and cried like a baby when he took a baseball to the shin in tenth grade.
Mills would eat him alive.
I laughed to myself at the thought.
We also talked about the meetings we had lined up for this week. A big one was planned for Thursday afternoon, and I would be accompanying my father and brother. I knew that Miss Mills already had everything all planned and ready to go. Much as I hated to admit it, she was always two steps ahead and anticipated everything I needed.
I left with the promise that I would do my best to convince her to come, although to be honest I didn’t even know when I would see her in the next few days. I had meetings and appointments all over the city, and I doubted that in those brief moments I was actually in the office I would have much good to say.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Keras seperti aku mencoba, aku tidak bisa fokus pada sialan sepanjang hari. Bahkan setelah makan siang kuat menjalankan, aku masih tidak bisa benakku pagi peristiwa masa lalu. Tiga, aku tahu aku harus keluar dari sana. Saya mencapai Lift dan mengerang sedikit, memilih untuk tangga dan kemudian menyadari itu adalah kesalahan yang bahkan lebih buruk. Aku berlari menyusuri delapan belas penerbangan.Menarik ke rumah orang tua saya kemudian bahwa malam, aku merasa beberapa slip ketegangan saya pergi. Saat aku berjalan ke dapur, saya segera dilingkupi oleh bau akrab ibu memasak, dan obrolan bahagia orang tua saya berasal dari ruang makan."Bennett," ibuku bernyanyi seperti masuk ke dalam kamar. Aku membungkuk dan mencium pipi nya, memungkinkan dirinya sesaat untuk mencoba dan memperbaiki rambut saya nakal. Akhirnya memukul tangannya pergi, aku menyambar mangkuk besar darinya dan meletakkannya di atas meja, menyambar wortel sebagai komisi. "Mana adalah Henry?" Saya bertanya, memandang ke arah ruang."Mereka tidak di sini belum," jawab ayah saya ketika ia berjalan di. Henry sudah cukup buruk, tapi melempar di istrinya dan putrinya dan mereka beruntung bahkan membuatnya keluar dari rumah sama sekali. Aku berjalan ke bar di luar untuk membuat ibu martini kering.Dua puluh menit kemudian, suara kekacauan datang dari serambi, dan saya melangkah masuk untuk bertemu dengan mereka. Tubuh kecil, tidak stabil dengan senyum toothy dilontarkan sendiri lutut saya. "Benny!" gadis kecil menjerit.Aku menyambar Sofia dan tertahan pipinya dengan ciuman.“God, you’re pathetic,” Henry groaned as he walked past me.“As if you’re any better.”“You should both shut up, if anyone wants my opinion,” Mina added, following her husband into the dining room.Sofia was the first grandchild and the princess of the family. As usual, she preferred to sit on my lap during dinner and I tried to eat around her, doing my best to avoid her “help.” She definitely had me completely wrapped around her finger.“Bennett, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” my mother began, handing me the bottle of wine. “Would you invite Chloe to dinner next week, and do your best to convince her to actually come?”I groaned in response and received a quick kick in the shin from my father. “Christ. Why is everyone so insistent on getting her over here?” I asked.Mom straightened, wearing her best Firm Mother face. “She’s in a strange city all alone, and—”“Mom,” I interrupted, “she’s lived here since college. She’s twenty-six. It’s not a strange city to her anymore.”“Actually, Bennett, you’re right,” she answered with a rare edge in her voice. “She came here for college, graduated summa cum laude, worked with your father for a few years before moving to your department and being the best employee you’ve ever had—all while she attends night school to get her degree. I think Chloe is pretty amazing, so I have someone I’d like her to meet.”My fork froze in midair as those words sank in. Mom wanted to set her up with someone? I tried to mentally file through all of the single men we knew and had to discount each of them immediately. Brad: too short. Damian: fucks anything that moves. Kyle: gay. Scott: dumb. Well, this was odd. I felt something constrict in my chest, but I wasn’t sure what it was. If I had to put a name on it, I’d call it . . . anger?Why would I be angry that my mom wanted to set her up? Probably because you’re sleeping with her, dumb ass. Well, not really sleeping with her so much as fucking her. Okay, fucked her . . . twice. “Fucking her” would imply an intent to continue.Oh, also, I felt her up her in an elevator and was hoarding her shredded panties in my desk drawer.Creeper.I pressed my hands to my face. “Fine. I’ll talk to her. But don’t get your hopes up. She’s about as charm-free as they come, so that’s a hard deal to close.”“You know, Ben,” my brother chimed in, “I think everyone here would agree that you are literally the only one who has a hard time getting along with her.”I looked around the table, frowning at the heads bobbing up and down, agreeing with my idiot brother.The rest of the night consisted of more talk about how I needed to try and be nicer to Miss Mills, and about how great they all thought she was, and about how much she would like my mom’s best friend’s son, Joel. I had completely forgotten about Joel. He was nice enough, I guess. Except he’d played Barbies with his little sister until he was fourteen and cried like a baby when he took a baseball to the shin in tenth grade.Mills would eat him alive.I laughed to myself at the thought.We also talked about the meetings we had lined up for this week. A big one was planned for Thursday afternoon, and I would be accompanying my father and brother. I knew that Miss Mills already had everything all planned and ready to go. Much as I hated to admit it, she was always two steps ahead and anticipated everything I needed.I left with the promise that I would do my best to convince her to come, although to be honest I didn’t even know when I would see her in the next few days. I had meetings and appointments all over the city, and I doubted that in those brief moments I was actually in the office I would have much good to say.