May
“May, can I talk to you in my office for a sec?” My eyelids fluttered shut briefly in irritation, and I stood up as Mark hovered in the aisle between my station and the one behind me. As soon as I saw this building, all the stress I thought I’d relieved last night came rushing back. Mark shut his office door with a swift kick, and I stood as he leaned against his desk to catch my gaze. “How’s your apartment situation?”
“I haven’t been served yet for it, but I’m expecting it to happen any day. Why?” He crossed his arms over his chest, his scraggly beard ruffling when he frowned, and I pursed my lips thinly. “Mark, am I being fired?”
“Ah, not yet, but HR is going to call you over at some point today to discuss the complaints that are piling up about you, May. You’re creating a hostile work environment, you spend all your time on your phone, you eat at your computer . . . inconsequential stuff that can’t be proven or disproven.” Cocking my head, I wasn’t nearly as shocked or appalled as I should’ve been. I expected this, on some level. It’d been almost two months since my transfer and no one had given me a chance. None of my co-workers tried to get to know me, but they sure as shit liked to talk about me. Mark looked guilty enough, which helped. He wasn’t a bad guy, his hands were just tied tight behind his back. “When I called your team in to talk about your project availability, they all said the same thing— you refuse to do work assigned to you. I wanted to give you a heads up, May.”
“Okay. Thank you, Mark. I appreciate it.” His discomfort became palpable, and I rolled my neck and shoulders hard to feel a satisfyingpopof pressure under my skin. “I’m sorry, too. I caused a lot of trouble for you that I didn’t intend to. I just wanted my credit in my pocket. David strung me along for almost two years, and I didn’t expect things to end up like this.”
“It’s not your fault, May. I’m sorry, too, that this had to happen when you’re dealing with your apartment.” Ducking my head in a nod, I kind of just turned around and walked out and back to my desk. Glancing around, I now noticed that all those side-eyes were satisfied and almost gloating. I unlocked my computer and sighed heavily through my nose.
At least all the shitty stuff was happening to me all at once.
Swiping around on my phone screen, I navigated to Oran’s texts before hesitating, and I nibbled my bottom lip diligently.
May: I’ll call you after my meeting with HR they’re calling me in at some point to talk about the complaints they’ve been getting
I puffed out my lips as I typed a response, and Oran started to reply almost immediately. Uncertainty rampaged across my chest, but how much of this was one person supposed to take? Obviously, I wasgrosslyunderappreciated, and if I was going to get fired over lies . . .
Oran: Let them know you have another job, so if they’re going to fire you, just let it happen.
My brows rose in surprise, and Oran sent me a winky face emoji as some of the uncertainty seeped out of my pores. Warmth flooded my veins and I put my phone away to pull out the huge file folder containing all my research for his project. I honestly didn’t know what else I could do on my own, so I tapped the smooth top of the manila absently.
I wasted away an hour or so before my landline started to blink insistently. I grabbed the phone and punched the button to lean back in my chair. Scribbling around on a pad, I held the phone between my shoulder and ear and took a deep, stabilizing breath.
“May Hart.”
“May, it’s Jackie from HR. Do you have a moment to come talk?”Jackie? I know her. She’s the one who handled my transfer to Jerry’s team.We got on fine, and I nodded with a hum of acknowledgment before hanging up. Gathering up my stuff just so someone didn’t mess with it, I locked my computer and my desk and stood up. Anxiety burrowed in my gut, and I held my manila folder tightly to my chest as I shouldered my purse.
The journey to the HR office was an elevator ride down a floor. I knocked on Jackie’s door softly. Holding my breath when she called me to enter, I hesitated before grabbing the knob. She stood up from behind her desk, a smile on her face, and my mouth dried when she gestured me to sit across from her.
“I take it by the nervous expression that you know why you’re here, May?” Nodding as I perched on the edge of the armchair, Jackie swept back her long, blonde hair into a ponytail before sitting herself. “There’s not going to be a decision right this second. I just want to get your side of the story. I know most of this is petty stuff, so we’re gonna just talk about the more serious issues right now.”
“Okay. Where do you want to start?” She nodded, her rounded face drawing in seriousness, and I held my purse on top of the folder in my lap. “I get wanting to talk to me, but if you’re going to fire me, you should just do it. I have another job lined up already.”
“Well, I don’t know if you’re going to be terminated. That’s why we’re talking. I know things haven’t been that great since David’s team’s audit. He was a well-liked guy, and he was friends with all the team leads. So, let’s start with Jerry and your team, alright? According to this report, you’ve refused on several occasions to do assigned project development tasks. Is that true, and why or why not?” I couldn’t help but scoff loudly, but Jackie didn’t hold it against me as I tightened my grip on my purse noticeably.
“That’s a lie. Jerry’s the one who refuses to give me anything to do. ThosetasksI refuse to do are stapling papers and running to the printer five feet away and he even had the gall to tell me to go to Dunkin’ Donuts and get him a coffee, and he threatened me when I said ‘no’.” She typed what I said, probably verbatim, and I frowned under tightly knit brows. “You can check correspondence if you need to. None of my teammates are shy about how they feel about me.”
“I already did.”Thatshocked me to my core, and my jaw nearly fell in my lap as Jackie cast me a questioning look. “It’s my job to investigate these claims. It’s available knowledge the reasons why David’s team was audited and eventually terminated, so not knowing or believing it isn’t a valid excuse. So, let’s move on. I’ve received several reports from people not on your team that accuse you of creating a hostile work environment. What’s your side of it?”
“Um, okay. I mean, if everyone decides they want you out, they’re the ones who create the problem. In David’s team, I had somewhat polite relationships with everyone else, but when the team got dissolved, it turned sour. I don’t think declining to reply to jabs about my love life is necessarily hostile, although after a few days, I did get snappy about it.” Jackie nodded, her brows wiggling in encouragement for me to continue, but I had to treadverycarefully. I wasn’t going to stay here, but if I didn’t get fired, I could still get a really nice severance package that’d help with my upcoming bombardment of lawsuits. “I really don’t know what to say, Jackie. I don’t eat at my desk. I don’t have my phone out all day, although I do check it because my sixteen-year-old sister is alone right now. I don’t type too loudly. I don’t even really talk to anyone on my team, let alone anyone outside of my team.”
“Do you feel like everyone in the office is out to get you?” Rolling my lips between my teeth at the probe, I shook my head, and Jackie’s bright brown eyes narrowed on me shrewdly. “What do you feel about your current work situation?”
“To be honest, I wish I had never taken this job. David stole my projects, so I can’t use them in a portfolio because the ownership was contested. He promised me over and over again that I was in line for a promotion that didn’t exist, and the only reason I got it was because Oran was there to force it. Then, I got transferred to this new team, and no one cares about the report— they just took David’s spite and kept it going.” Licking my lips heavily, I flexed my fingers around the sides of my purse as sourness coated my tongue. “I did nothing wrong. How they feel about me, and whether or not they like me, has nothing to actually do with me. I certainly don’t care about them even enough to be angry or dejected, and especially not enough to try to get in their favor.”
“Okay. Speaking of Mr. Santino, what happened last week that he came here personally?”
“Um-m, it’s a bit of a story. Basically, we met because he went all white knight for my sister on her third shift of her first job, so I wanted to thank him. David sent me in his place to that meeting where I learned he was stealing my work, and that whole thing happened. Afterward, Oran asked me to talk about a proposal he wanted to commission, so we got to talking about that. A couple of weeks later, I saw him at this coffee shop and he asked if I was available to present.” Clearing my throat roughly, I nodded to myself at that version of events. HR didn’t need to know we were screwing around, after all. “Anyway, Oran owns the subsidiary, so he’s used to getting what he wants. When Jerry, who made perfectly acceptable points, didn’t jump and kiss his feet, he kinda went on a power trip. I don’t want to divulge too much, but I did chew him out on the elevator and he seemed to understand that he was wrong.”
“So, you’re not using your relationship with him to further your career or disrupt your work environment for your benefit?” My eyes widened at that and I shook my head as Jackie angled herself to face me fully. “There’s more than one complaint that you’ve threatened people’s jobs through your association with Mr. Santino.”
“E-excuse me?” I blinked hard, fire licked up my neck and an ache formed behind my eyes, but Jackie just watched me steadily, observing. “Number one, I was commissioned for this job by him, professionally. I wouldn’t compromise that by fucking him and blasting it to the whole office, rendering my integrity meaningless. Secondly, I wouldnevergive anyone here so much credit that I would get him involved. And thirdly, if I did want to get in a position to advance myself professionally by sleeping with someone, why the hell would I not sleep with Mark or James or someone whoactuallyworks here?”
“I asked that same question, honestly.” Oh-h-h, that made memad, and Jackie nodded with a wry, dry amusement lacing her voice. She stood up, extending her hand, and I breathed fire as I clutched my bulging file to my chest. “We’ll be in touch, May.”
