May
When I stepped off the elevator, the whole office was in a tizzy, and I held my purse tight under my arm as I glanced around. People were talking loudly, interns were scurrying around like mice, and curiosity plastered my ribs like tar. The change from yesterday was startling— nothing unusual had happened aside from the snubs and jabs from my co-workers.
Today, the world could’ve been ending, and I glanced over the cube farm as all the teams seemed to be scrambling.
“Jerry, what’s going on?” I don’t know why I asked my team lead because he never responded with an appropriate amount of detail. Surprise struck my chest when he actually looked at me, and I frowned under furrowed brows at the excitement on his face.
“We got a new contract, so the supervisors are in a meeting right now discussing who to give it to.”Ah, that’s what it was. Everyone’s working. What a crazy concept.Only nodding, I shuffled to my cube to sit down gingerly, and I locked up my purse and turned on my station to try to ignore the commotion. The teams usually made their deadlines, but this was just stupid, trying to impress for one day when the supervisors know damned well who milks and who doesn’t.
My phone trilled insistently before my computer fully booted, and I grabbed the receiver to press the line button.
“Hello. May Hart.”
“May, it’s Jackie from HR. I was hoping to catch you before you jumped into anything. Can you come downstairs for a few minutes?” I mean, Jackie didn’tsoundlike she was preparing to fire me, but I affirmed before hanging up. Pulling my purse back out, I trudged my stinging ass through the cube farm, and my legs started to throb despite my loose, long pants. Each faint brush of the light fabric burned, and I held back a tortured groan as I punched the elevator button.
Knocking on Jackie’s open door, I clenched and released my jaw as my nerves sung, and she tore her attention off her screen to smile at me. Gesturing me in, nothing about her screamedget ready, so I perched on the edge of the chair opposite her. For a moment, she said nothing, only clicking around on her computer a few times, and my heart rate steadily increased as anxiety burrowed in my gut.
“I just have a few things to clarify. This won’t take long.” She printed something out and I held my breath as Jackie handed me a paper of what looked like a chat log. “Are these your texts?”
My eyes widened, my stomach just falling into a pit as I scanned the log, and the blood drained from my face. The number was mine, and I knew Jackie knew that since it was in my personnel file. Scanning each line, date, time, and message, I silently shook my head because these weren’t texts, they just looked like texts.
“Can you prove it?” All of the messages coincided with times I wasn’t in the office, whether I’d already left for the day, or had called out, or gone to lunch. I forgot about my physical pain as rage took its place. What the fuck did I do to deserve this shit? More importantly,who the hell gets this obsessive about a co-worker?
“Do you honestly care whether or not they’re mine, Jackie?” Clutching the page tightly, the paper crinkled loudly to tail my question, and I glanced up as she frowned. “This is stupid. This is getting out of control, and I’m really fucking tired of getting called down here for nonsense. Okay. Even if I did text someone how much I hate this job and I wasgoing to shut the place downandeveryone’s gonna get it for being mean to me. Why the fuck wouldyouend up with it? Who would I text that shit to? If I did, how would they know you’re the one handling my case unless they worked here? And for that matter, I don’t know this other number that I’m supposedly texting.”
“I know this is frustrating, May, but . . . ” Standing up, I simply walked out of her office. I didn’t care if she fired me at this point, and my face flamed as my eyes ached. Even if I knew how much shit I’d get, I still would’ve ousted David because that wasmywork! I poured two years of my life into this fucking god damn . . . dumb . . . “May!”
“What!”Turning on my heel, I practically screamed in Jackie’s face, and tears prickled my eyes as my frustration went fully out of control. My purse hit the floor, and I threw up my hands as she took a shocked step back. “This is the most insanely stupid shit I’ve ever been through, Jackie! You’re honestly so incompetent that you didn’t even look up the address of the computer those messages came from, that you didn’t notice they came from a computer in the first place? I know you want to get the whole picture before you make a decision, but fucking Christ, Jackie! Do your due diligence before calling me down and telling me toprove it!”
I almost spit at her. It wasn’t her fault, she was just doing her job, but I was so damn pissed off. Shivering with fury, I grabbed my purse and hit the stairs instead of the elevator back to my floor, and I pushed open the door to scan the cube farm through narrowed eyes.
If I’m going to be accused of it, I might as well do it.Walking to my desk, I ground my teeth in an effort to contain myself, and I dug my phone out of my purse as I gingerly sat in my chair. Uncertainty dinged my chest, but I eventually just decided to text him rather than call.
May: I just had the craziest 5 minutes
When Oran didn’t reply immediately, I tucked my phone back in my purse and sat back to heave a massive breath. That was right— this place was gonna get shut down on its own, with no help from me. This contract that we picked upmight just bethe straw that breaks the camel’s back, though.
“May.” I didn’t actually have to do anything, just sit back, kick up my feet, and watch it all happen. Who was I kidding, anyway? I was going to take the job Oran offered me, without a doubt. “Hey, May?”
“Huh?” Blinking hard, a deep voice dragged me out of my fantasy, and I swiveled around to find Mark hovering over me. “Sorry, Mark, I was thinking too hard. What’s up?”
“Can I talk to you in my office really quick?” I debated how much I wanted to get out of this chair again, but my curiosity was too strong. Nodding, I was relieved, at least, that I hadn’t locked up my purse, and I grabbed it to follow Mark to his office. The other two supervisors were already taking up the seats, and I had to stand as Mark closed the door. The air shifted sharply and my mouth dried as expectation simmered in my blood.
“Uh, am I in trouble?” I honestly wasn’t sure anymore, and Mark surprised me when he shook his head. “Is this about the contract everyone’s all crazy about?”
“Yes. I’ve been through all of your projects under David, and we’ve been talking about it since about five a.m. We think you’re the best person to head the project.” My eyes boggled slightly, and I choked on my own spit as Mark leaned against his desk to cross his arms over his chest. “You can choose your own team, but I can’t stress enough how important this contract is, May. If we lose it for some reason,anyreason, we’re all going to be out of a job.”
All the anger I’d just directed at Jackie just fizzled into smoke, and I held my breath as I waited for Mark to say ‘Sike! You’re fired!’, but the punch line never came. He stared at me like I was his last hope, and a ghost of a giggle escaped me at the total absurdity of it. Throwing back my head, I cackled uncontrollably, and tears sprung to my eyes as my chest tightened painfully. Clutching my breast, my heart made a bid to break out of my ribs, and I craned my neck.
I couldn’t breathe and I shook my head wildly, stray strands of hair escaping my bun to whip my face.
“Oh-h God.“ Hiccupping as my laughter became noiseless wheezing, I doubled over to bury my face in the side of my purse. The thick, manila folder inside muffled my laughter, and I made the mistake of glancing up. The look on Mark’s face sent me overboard, and my sides ached fiercely as my body strained.
My mirth filled the room with an uncomfortable silence that only grew more intense when I finally managed to get ahold of myself. Sniffling hard, I wiped the tears from my eyes, careful of my makeup, and hiccupped a ragged breath.
“Oh . . . man, you all are screwed, aren’t you?” Mark opened his mouth, but I held up a hand to stop him, and all that childish glee suddenly left me empty. “No, I’m serious. Find meoneperson that wants to work with me without mentioning the project. Find me a single person on this whole floor that will even say ‘hi’ to me politely and courteously. Go to anyone and ask them what they think of me, and if you findoneperson that doesn’t scrunch their nose and talk like I’m inferior, I’ll do it. Go ahead. Try to find anyone that will put up taking orders from me, even for this contract. I’ll give you thewholeday.”
I couldn’t help but giggle as I left the office, and a huge smirk threatened to tear my cheeks apart. Things were starting to look up after all!
