“Mr. Sinclair!” I call out once I’m only a few steps away. Ralf, our boss, and his boss all stop and turn around at once.
“Genevieve, you disappeared so abruptly earlier, and we—”
“I quit,” I bluntly cut him off. All three men stare at me in shock for several seconds. “And because my contract doesn’t require any sort of notice, my resignation starts right now.”
“But we—You can’t do that. We need you with the merger and the—”
“Yes, you do. You need me a lot more than you need him,” I confirm, pointing at Ralf, “because we both know I work harder than him, and I’m better at this job than he’ll ever be. Which is why I’m quitting. I refuse to work under an incompetent clown whose sole achievements in this company have been the ones he stole from me and my team.”
“She’s lying,” Ralf interjects. “I never stole anything from her.”
“Really? Do you want the list? It’s as long as my arm, you pathetic buffoon.”
“Miss Kensington, no need for hysterics,” Sinclair begins.
“That’s misogynistic, but you wouldn’t realize that even if it slapped you in the face, would you? Let’s just blame my erratic behavior on ‘that time of the month’ or early menopause,” I sarcastically offer. “But even with that, I mean every word. Good luck finding a replacement for me. It’ll probably take three hires to manage all the work I’ve been handling since I started here. Then, maybe you’ll realize how big of a mistake you made by disregarding me as a good candidate just because I dared have a life outside of my work.”
“You’re simply not good at balancing your work life and your private life,” Ralf snickers.
“Oh, fuck off. You have a wife, a girlfriend, and a mistress. I’m not taking any sort of advice from you.”
I could stay here and call them out on their bullshit all day, but another familiar face is making her way out of the building.
“Anyhow, I quit, and I mean it,” I quickly tell them before turning to my boss’s superior. “Good luck keeping this department afloat with Ralf in command and without me to make up for it.”
Their answer doesn’t matter, just like I don’t care if they think I’m being a lunatic, so I leave them there. I’m done putting so much importance on other peoples’ perception of me. Not when they don’t matter, at least.
“Daisy!” I call my assistant as I hurriedly come down the flight of stairs in front of the building. She twists around, looking up from her phone.
“Yes, Miss Kensington?”
“Please, I can’t believe I never asked this before, but call me Gen. It comes a little late though, because I just quit.”
“Oh, no. Is it because you didn’t get Mr. Sinclair’s position?”
“That, and… I think I just hate this job. It’s so greedy, and dull, and corporate. I can’t do this for the rest of my life, or I’ll turn into one of them, you know?”
She nods, obviously confused by my hectic behavior. “This is very short notice for you, I’m so sorry. I’m sure they’ll find someone to replace me in no time. And if you want to reinvent your life too, I’ll write you a stellar recommendation letter. Anything you want to thank you for all your hard work.”
“That’s very kind of you, Miss Ke—Gen.”
“Great. I need to go see my boyfriend to tell him I’ve been an idiot and hope he takes me back. Would you put all my things in a box and have a carrier take it to my place?”
“Of course. Should I, uh, let everyone know you’re quitting?”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever. Oh, and if you want the plant, you can have it. You’ve been the one watering it. Also, that paperweight you always loved? Yours.”
“You don’t have to,” she politely protests.
“Have it, I don’t mind.”
Another thing pops into my mind, and I utter it, too hyped up to hold back. “Would you be interested in coming to work for me if I start my own firm?” I offer. Her eyebrows shoot up, her eyes going round. “As a paralegal, not an assistant,” I add.
“Uh, yeah, I’d love that.”
“Amazing. We’ll keep in touch. And if you’re okay with it, let’s grab drinks one of these days to catch up.”
“I would love that, yes.”
