The Minister’s Obsession

Chapter 8

Marissa

When Marissa arrived at work the next morning, something felt off.

The room went quiet when she stepped in. It was like they all knew something she didn't, but none of them said a word to her. She could feel her coworkers' stares as she walked to her desk.

And when she finally sat down and opened her computer, she figured out why.

Her work was gone. The projects she'd been tracking for months, threads she knew by heart, were gone.

Marissa scoffed in disbelief. She sat back in her chair and stared at the screen. Why were things suddenly going south for her?

They'd definitely been reassigned to someone else. That was the only thing it could mean. Coupled with the odd stares. They knew. And she'd been the last person to find out.

This wasn't right or fair. She was being set aside. She hated it.

There was only one thing she could do now. She got up immediately and headed straight to Karen's office. Some of her coworkers were gathered in a corner, whispering among themselves. But Marissa didn't care.

She gave them a sharp glare as she passed. Then she turned to the door of Karen's office, knocked, and then stepped inside.

Karen was alone.

Before Marissa could start, Karen spoke, taking control of the situation. "Ms Hall, I assume you've been made aware of the recent restructuring."

"It has to be a mistake," she said in her own defence. "I earned those projects. They were assigned to me."

Her boss had always been fair. Strict, yes, but always fair. She rewarded hard work. And Marissa had worked harder than anyone in her department. She held on to hope that this could still be fixed.

But the next words that Karen spoke confirmed something she feared.

"The new project you've been assigned is of special interest to Mr Minister. He prefers your efforts to be focused on it for the time being," Karen said, facing her squarely.

Marissa's heart sank to the bottom.

"So this was from him?" she asked.

Karen hesitated a bit before she spoke again, choosing her words very carefully. "This is for your own good." She paused. "And it's only temporary. Once you hand in the assignment, you will be reintegrated with your previous work."

Reintegrated. Not that her projects would return to her. That was even worse than having it taken away completely.

"I would have to work with whoever it was assigned to. It wouldn't be just mine anymore." Marissa protested. "Isn't there something I can do?" she asked in desperation.

"Mr Minister seems to want more team-based work around here, so be prepared for that," Karen responded. "But yes, I'm afraid this one is completely out of my hands."

Marissa couldn't believe it. Was this what he had intended all along? He had found a way to disrupt her routine. Now she felt powerless, all because of him.

Karen cleared her throat. "If you want my advice, I suggest you handle this project properly, and afterwards all will be well."

But all wasn't going to be well. Nothing was going the way it should, and it confused her. She understood then that to Adam, this was all just some twisted form of revenge. But to her, this was her career. She couldn't lose.

"Of course. Thank you for your time. I'll do my best on it." Marissa said, turning to leave.

Karen spoke again, stopping her in her tracks. "Don't you at least want to know who you would potentially be working with?"

Marissa turned once again. "Of course," she said, putting on a facade of calm.

Karen stood and handed her some papers. "Pass these on to Ben. These are the files you asked for last week."

Right. It had to be him of all people. She took the papers and left.

On her way, she stopped at Ben's desk. He wore a guilty smile the moment he saw her, but Marissa could tell that he didn't feel bad about it at all. Or maybe it was just because she didn't like him, even if she didn't know why.

"Marissa, I really didn't want—" he started to say. But she stopped him. Frankly, she didn't want to listen to anything he had to say. This wasn't on him.

"It's fine," she said. "Karen wanted you to get this." Then she handed him the papers and walked away.

She returned to her desk and attempted to focus on the task for the rest of the day. She had to finish it in seven days. Six now. The clock was ticking.

She broke the task down into steps and bits and spent the rest of the day doing the preliminaries.

The next day, she worked herself so hard that she skipped lunch without meaning to. By the time she realised how late it was, the hunger had dulled into something manageable, so she told herself she'd eat later and kept going.

Yosef didn’t come around much. She’d made it clear to him that she was busy. He'd sent her text messages, but she'd barely had the time to respond. She couldn't afford to be distracted. She was making progress on the project.

By Thursday, Marissa had been surviving on coffee, salted crackers and sheer willpower. A dull tension headache had settled right around her temples. She filed it away as hunger or stress. Probably both.

She was deep into work in the afternoon when she noticed the entire floor suddenly grew quieter.

When she looked up, she realised why.

The CEO was walking past. Adam Minister.

But he wasn't alone. It seemed men in suits followed him everywhere he went. He didn't look at anyone, not even at the people walking with him.

Marissa's chest felt tight. She watched him pass until he was completely out of sight. It was only then that she realised she'd been holding her breath.

The floor slowly came back to life around her.

She turned to her screen, feeling a sense of relief. For some reason, the tension in her head was gone. She told herself it was nothing. She was only glad to get back to work uninhibited by the discomfort.

Later that day, Yosef came to check in on her after closing hours.

"You know you're the last person here, right?" he said, leaning against her desk. Marissa was surprised but glad to see him.

"I just have to finish this bit before I leave," she replied.

He studied her for a moment. "You okay?"

She could have told him how she really felt. Exhausted. Instead, she just nodded. "Yeah, just very busy."

He didn't look convinced, but he let it go. She was grateful for that, and ashamed of it at the same time.

"I'd have offered you a ride, but I'm meeting others for drinks."

She couldn't even accept it if she wanted to. She had to finish before she left, and she wasn't done yet. "It's fine, I'll take the train," she said, turning her attention back to the screen.

"Alright then..." Yosef muttered as he slipped out. Marissa barely noticed. She had work to do.