by Mia Archer
"Fair enough. I can work with that."
I sighed, and for the first time that evening I almost felt relief. Almost. I still had to go into work tomorrow, and that was going to be one hell of a confrontation.
Only I actually found myself looking forward to it. I'd lashed out at Erika, but that was only a fraction of the anger I felt. No, as I started a back and forth with that headhunter on my way home I was feeling better and better with every passing moment. And I was looking forward to going into the office in the morning and unleashing some pent-up anger on a certain woman who thought sitting in her office playing solitaire all day while she put all her work on me was a job well done.
The next morning I walked onto the seventh floor ready to do battle.
For a wonder, Christine wasn't waiting at my cubicle like the day before. I wondered if Erica had a change of heart about everything and she'd finally stood up to her father, but then I saw Christine hiding in her office. No, of course she hadn't had a conversation with her dad. Any conversation she had would naturally lead to Christine. More specifically to Christine not being here this morning to hide in her fortress of laziness. The last hope I had for our relationship was dashed as Christine looked up and I saw the smile on her face.
I stopped by my cubicle long enough to verify that Erica wasn't there. Of course she wasn't. After everything that happened last night I wouldn't want to show my face on this floor if I were her either.
God I couldn't believe her. For one brief and shining moment I'd been willing to trust her. Willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Hell, I'd wanted to believe her. Maybe that's why I was so easily able to delude myself in that moment.
Well there was no more deluding myself. No more going with the flow, for that matter. I'd put up with enough bullshit from this company, and I was done. Sure the person I really wanted to lash out at was probably up on the top floor laughing with dear old dad about the fun she had at the low-level employee’s expense, but Christine would do in a pinch. She'd certainly caused me enough heartache.
I thought about stopping by Amber’s cubicle but didn’t. I hadn’t seen much of her since all this bullshit started. I’d been too busy keeping an eye on Erica and then keeping more than an eye on Erica. I felt bad that our work friendship was going to end like this, but at the same time I didn’t want to have her affected by any blowback that came from what I was about to do to Christine.
I could always call her later. Nothing said I had to make a clean break with everyone at Zeidner Corp., after all.
Once I'd verified Erica wasn't in the cubicle I breezed right past and into Christine's office. I sat down and put my feet up on her desk. Hey, I figured if I was leaving the place then I might as well leave in style. Already through the glass windows all around me I could see heads popping up like so many prairie dogs who'd been conditioned to pop up when they detected danger. Only in this case the danger was Christine's massive temper.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Christine asked.
"I think the real question is what the hell do you think you're doing? Do you really think you're going to last forever like this? Letting other people do your work for you?"
She blinked, her eyes going wide. It was worth losing my job to see that momentary annoyance moving across her face, but then she quickly got herself under control. Resumed her usual annoyed look capped off with puckering lips that looked for all the world like a cat's asshole.
"You have some nerve, dating the CEO’s daughter in clear violation of company policy!"
I shrugged. "What can I say? I figured if I was going to fuck up then I might as well fuck up big!"
"You should watch your language around me," Christine said. "That's the sort of conduct we don't put up with here on the seventh floor."
Her smile grew even wider. It wasn't a pleasant smile. I didn't think she had it in her to give off a pleasant vibe. No, anger and annoyance at being stuck in a middle-management job for the rest of her career coupled with a desire to keep anyone down who showed potential for advancing past the middle-management hell she'd found herself in was about all that made up Christine’s world.
"What are you going to do Christine? Fire me?"
She sniffed. "Firing is too good for you. The big man has sent down word. I'm supposed to make you realize exactly who it is that's in charge around here," she said.
"I seriously doubt he said that, but go ahead," I said.
"You're to be given even more work. And you'll keep up with it if you know what's good for you," she said.
I raised my eyebrows. "More work? Really? And I don't suppose that work would be mostly your work? Give you more time to sit in here and play solitaire?"
"What I do with my time is…"
"Don't worry Christine, you're going to have a lot more interesting things to do with your time than play ‘90s video games here soon. I quit."
That felt good. It felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Years of putting up with her bullshit, and it was all gone with those two words. Two wonderful words that I should’ve said a long time ago.
"You what?" she asked.
"I quit. I'm not working for you anymore. Take this job and shove it. I'm not sure how many ways I can put it before you'll understand," I said.
I stood and headed for the door. Meanwhile behind me she was spluttering. I heard pens go clattering to the floor as she stood.
"Wait! Maybe I was a little over the top with my punishment…"
I turned and grinned. "Overstepping your bounds just a little, Christine? Is my quitting going to cause a problem for you? Is someone high up going to take a good long look at why I decided to quit when I was just supposed to get a write-up or something?"
"I…"
For the briefest of moments there was a delicious mix of emotion on her face. Panic, terror, and I knew that I was right. She'd probably been told to write me up. She definitely wasn't supposed to try and force more of her work on me. But she’d done it, tried to take advantage of the situation, and now I was quitting.
Not that I had any intention of doing anything other than quitting, anyways, but let her think she was the thing that pushed me over the edge. That would make it far more interesting if questions did get asked. I had a feeling Erica might ask a few, even if she couldn't do anything about it. She wasn't the one in charge, after all.
"You're not going to get a reference from me," Christine said. "The company you're going to…"
I laughed. "You really think I'm going to fall for that one, Christine? I know what you've done with everyone else's career. Use you as a reference? You can burn in hell before I’ll ever put you on my resume. Have a nice day!"
Christine's mouth worked but she didn't say anything. I stepped out and made sure to give her door a jolly good slam. Then I moved over to my cubicle where I collapsed back in my chair, my body shaking. That had been fun, to be sure, but at the same time it had been terrifying. For one brief and shining moment I'd lived the dream. I'd gone in and told my asshole boss exactly what I thought of her. I'd left her in one hell of a lurch where she was going to have to try and figure out all the work I'd been doing for her without any documentation. Not that I thought she could really do it in the first place. She was going to get questions from her bosses when output went down.
I almost regretted that I wouldn’t be around to see any of that.
I started gathering up my things, but my body was still shaking from the sheer exertion of what I'd just pulled off. It was crazy, but damn had that been fun.
"Leaving so soon?" A voice said from the cubicle entrance. Soft and quiet. Almost hesitant.
I turned and my eyes narrowed. Erica stood there, looking almost hesitant to step into the cubicle. Good. I didn't have anything to say to her. I'd been jerked around by this company enough, and she was at the top of the company, after all.
Or almost at the top. Either way, after the way she acted last night I wanted nothing to do
with her.
"We need to talk Nicole," Erica said.
I glanced up as I grabbed the few things I kept at my cubicle. I'd never actually put all that much effort into decorating the place. I'd learned quickly after starting here exactly what kind of a boss Christine was, and there'd been a part of me that hadn't wanted to get too comfortable here from the outset. Even though I'd ended up being here for two years despite not wanting to get too comfortable.
"Fine Erica," I said. "Let's talk."
I made a point of not looking directly at her. Looking directly at her would be like looking directly at the sun. She might have broken my heart last night with the bullshit she pulled, but she was still beautiful. When I looked at her I still saw the same entrancing woman who'd opened my eyes to an incredible new world of possibility. I could still feel her touch against my body. The taste of her kiss against my lips.
Yeah, looking at her and letting emotion override the cool anger surging inside me was the last thing I needed. And so I concentrated on my desk even though there wasn't anything else to pick up.
"I…"
"Did you know your dad was threatening my job if you kept up with me?" I asked.
A pause. "… Well yeah?"
"And you decided not to share that critical information with me before climbing into bed with me?"
A couple of days ago I might’ve kept that closer to the chest. Now, though, I didn’t give a flying fuck who heard that I’d had a little fun with my intern. It’s not like I was gong to stick around to socialize with anyone on this floor. Other than maybe Amber. She could keep me up to date on all the gossip after I blew this popsicle stand.
A sigh. "Yes."
"And did you not tell me anything about what was going on with you and your bodyguard?"
"What happened between us is so ancient history that…"
I raised a hand and cut her off. "I'm not interested in whether or not what happened between the two of you is or isn't ancient history. All I want to know is was there a history between you and the crazy girl who took pictures of us and spread them around the office?"
"Yes."
"And once more you didn't think it was necessary to give me any sort of warning that something like that might happen? You thought it would be better to just pull me into your world and hope everything worked out?"
I looked up at her and her mouth was working, but she didn't say anything. What could she say? I'd caught her lying to me, and after I’d decided to give her one hell of the benefit of the doubt. Was I being maybe a little irrational? Sure. I could admit that to myself. But at the same time I was so pissed off that it's not like recognizing my irrationality was going to change how I responded to this clusterfuck. I was hurt. I was mad. And I was lashing out at anything convenient. First Christine, and now Erica.
I stood and brushed past her. Closed my eyes as I felt her body pressing against mine. I was going to miss that, but then again it's not like she was the only girl in the world. I’d discovered something new about myself, and I could thank her for that, but I figured I could also find that with another girl.
Still, I would always remember my first. It would be a bittersweet memory that was more bitter than sweet, but it was a part of me now whether I liked it or not.
I looked around at everyone staring at the scene I’d made. Okay, maybe our voices had gotten a little louder than I'd intended. I smiled. I figured if I was going to make a scene then I might as well make one hell of a scene. I looked at Erica. Leaned in and gave her a kiss. Her eyes widened in surprise but then she smiled and responded, her arms wrapped around me. Our tongues danced with one another as people gasped all around us. And when I pulled away I was breathing heavily. Damn could that girl kiss! It made what I was about to say even harder.
"You're pretty, and I have to thank you for what you showed me, but you have a lot to learn about relationships. You’re so worried that people are only going to see your money, but when I saw the real you, all I really saw in the end was a spoiled little rich girl who was used to getting her way."
Erica blinked and her face colored as though she'd been slapped. I pivoted and walked to the elevator door. Hit a button and waited. Concentrated on breathing. Concentrated on anything but the powerful emotion that was welling up inside me. Threatening to overwhelm me. That last bit had been beyond the pale. It had really been one hell of a low blow. It'd probably been the single bitchiest thing I'd ever said to someone in my life, and I felt horrible the moment it left my lips.
And as I stood there in front of the elevator watching the numbers climb lower and lower I felt the anger draining from my body. That is sweet anger that had sustained me the entire morning. That anger that had made it feels so good when I said that nasty thing it to Erica. That some nasty thing that I couldn't very well take back. Not now.
I stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for the first floor. I even managed to wait until the doors closed before I finally broke down and burst into tears. The first girl I'd ever felt myself truly falling for, and it ended like this. What a shame. What a damn shame. Even getting away from this dead-end job and out from under Christine's authoritarian thumb wasn't enough to take away the sting. It wasn't enough to purge the memory of what I'd just done to a girl I felt so strongly for.
Talk about a confused jumble of feelings. Anger, regret, guilt, and over it all a longing for Erica. If that didn't describe the mess of emotions that came along with a messy breakup then I don't know what did.
I could feel sorry for myself later. For now I needed to get my crying under control before I stepped out into the lobby and made another scene.
17: Father/Daughter
Anger, confusion, guilt, and overriding all of that was a longing desire for Nicole. I could still feel her taste on my lips. I wanted more.
It was crazy. I'd only been on a couple of dates with her, and even that was being generous by including that first night we spent out at the bar, and yet this sure as hell felt like a breakup for a relationship that had lasted a lot longer than that. I suppose the bond we'd shared was just that intense. Just that powerful.
And now it was gone. Gone mostly because of me, though there was that angry part of me that thought Nicole wasn't being entirely fair. Then again, considering everything I'd done to her I suppose she had the right to not be entirely fair getting pissed off at me.
As I stared out across the cubicle farm I found myself getting even more angry than before. I was angry at the company. Angry at the situation I'd been put in, though more than anything I was angry at one man in particular. And so as soon as the elevator doors closed I made my way over to the elevator myself. I was royally pissed off, and there was one person in particular I needed to talk to about it.
Well, to be fair I probably should try to talk to Nicole as well, but she wasn't going to be easy to track down. She’d be long gone from the lobby by the time I got down there. I knew exactly where dear old dad was, though. The architect of all of this misery. He was up on the top floor. Nice and easy to find.
I focused on my anger as I traveled up to the top floor. I let the hate and anger flow through me. By the time I reached the top floor I had a good head of steam going. I was ready to do battle.
"Excuse me Miss Zeidner, can I help you?" His secretary asked as I breezed past her. I stopped to give her a quick smile. She really was a pretty thing. I could understand why dear old dad wanted to keep her around, even if I was frustrated by the double standard she so clearly represented. A double standard that had a direct impact on my own life.
"He’s in the board room?" I asked, nodding in that direction.
"Yes. They're having a meeting with the board right now and…"
"That's all I need to know, thanks," I said. And I pushed past her.
"Miss Zeidner! You can't go in there! Erica!"
I ignored her as I moved into the board room. Both doors open and slammed shut behind me. I was a spoiled little rich girl, was I? Well. Spoiled
little rich girls ignored the help, and that's all his secretary was. Even if she did provide some extra services above and beyond what secretaries usually provided to their employers. Outside of dramas about business in the 1960s, that is.
The men in the board jumped and turned to face me. Some smiled, others frowned. All of them knew who I was, of course. Most of them were smiling by the end. They might not like being interrupted, but at the same time they knew who would be taking over the company one day. I smiled. It was time to see how far some of that last name muscle could be flexed. I pointed to the door.
"All of you. Out. Now."
That finally got my father's attention. He leaned forward on one hand. "Now just what do you think…"
"Out! All of you! Now!"
There was a stunned silence in the boardroom for a moment, and then all of these men who were at least three times my age got up and shuffled out. I blinked in surprise. I didn't think that would actually work. Some of them nodded. Most of them just gave me awkward and impotent glares. What I was doing definitely wasn't the height of propriety, but I didn't give a fuck.
Dear old dad at least had the good grace to wait until everyone was out of the room before the explosion came.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing young lady?"
I stalked across the board room. If I was a cat my tail would be swishing back and forth. I was livid. I was seeing red. I didn't give a damn about the consequences. Let him cut me off. I'd welcome the freedom. Even if I would be impoverished. Though I wouldn’t stay impoverished for long in today’s media client. I could trade on my last name in a way that would make dear old dad regret ever cutting funding.
"I think the real question is what the hell do you think you're doing?" I said. He moved to stand and I pressed a finger firmly against his chest. Pushed back until he was down in the chair again. His eyes went wide in shock, but he didn't say anything.
"How dare you send that crazy bitch to spy on me. How dare you try to ruin another one of my relationships because you don't approve!"