Chapter 4
1072 Words
Clara's POV
The past few days have been quiet for me. The gift-giving had stopped, and it felt like my life went back to the way it used to be. I continued with work, and I still visited the orphanage whenever I had the time.
We were told we’d soon be meeting the company’s new president, so every department was busy preparing important things. Even though our positions weren’t that high up, we were still swamped with tasks because the company isn’t that big.
“What do you guys think our new boss looks like?” Chelsea, one of my coworkers, asked.
“Is it a man or a woman?” I asked.
“I heard it’s a man,” Ron, another colleague, answered.
“Is he our age or older?” Chelsea asked again.
“Sounds like you have plans for the new boss, judging by your questions,” Ron teased, sounding a bit jealous.
I wasn’t quite sure what was going on between the two—sometimes they seemed like they had something going on, other times they were always fighting.
Because of what Ron said, the whole team started teasing them. I noticed both of them turning red from embarrassment, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s happening here?” We stopped laughing when we heard an unfamiliar voice.
A man none of us recognized stood at the doorway of the conference room, his expression serious—bordering on annoyed or angry.
“G-Good morning, Sir. How may we help you?” I answered on behalf of the team, since it seemed like no one else wanted to.
“You can start by answering my question. Ms…?” he replied, clearly asking for my name.
“Enrique, Sir. Clara Enrique,” I said.
“Well, Ms. Enrique?” Something about the way he said my name made me uneasy, like he was unsure if he was pronouncing it correctly or gauging something.
“We’re in the middle of discussing our monthly progress report, Sir.”
“Discussing? Is laughing part of that discussion? I didn’t know writing a progress report was a laughing matter.” His voice had a mocking tone.
“It’s not, Sir. But our team was currently on a break when you entered the room.” I said that with as much courage as I could muster. Who does this jerk think he is, acting like he owns the place?
“Feisty.” A smirk played on his lips.
“Well, is there anything else we can help you with? If not, you can go now—we still have a lot of work to do.” I had no idea why I was so irritated with this man I had just met.
He left the conference room without another word, and that’s when we all finally exhaled.
“Oh my god, Clara! You were amazing back there. He acts like he’s someone important,” Ariel, another coworker who had been quiet earlier, said as she approached me.
“Guys, he looked familiar. I just can’t remember where I’ve seen him,” Chelsea said, deep in thought.
“Let’s just get back to work before someone else walks in here.” I told them, and we all returned to our tasks.
I was busy checking the data they had sent me via email when Chelsea suddenly stood up, startling us all.
“Oh God… Clara…” Her eyes were wide as she stared at her phone.
“What is it, Chelsea? You’re scaring me,” I joked, though I was starting to feel nervous myself.
“I knew he looked familiar!” We all waited for her to explain, hanging on to her every word.
“He’s Antonio Dominique Montreal! Our new boss!”
I felt like the floor dropped from under me. He’s our new boss… And I talked back to him…
“I-I’m not going to get fired, right?” I asked weakly, grimacing.
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“What kind of stupidity am I hearing about now?” That was Angel’s greeting when I walked into our apartment.
“How did you know?” I asked, confused. She was absent today because she had something important to take care of, so how could she have found out?
“i***t! Word got around the other departments already!” She raised her voice a little, making me shut my eyes in regret.
“What?! How did it spread so fast?!” She showed me her phone screen—it was a video of the incident in the conference room earlier.
I’m doomed… literally doomed… Maybe I should start looking for a new job now? Beat them to it before they fire me? Hand in my resignation first thing tomorrow?
“I can literally see the screws in your brain going loose—calm down.” Angel’s voice pulled me out of my panicked thoughts.
“How can I calm down?! Angel, I’m going to get fired tomorrow!” I was fully panicking now.
“Then beat them to it. Submit your resignation letter first thing in the morning.” We really were best friends—we thought exactly alike. I slumped into the chair, drained and defeated.
“What the hell were you even thinking, reacting like that?”
“I don’t even know! It felt like I became a different person when I saw Mr. Montreal. I just suddenly got mad at him, even though that’s not how we’re supposed to treat anyone—employee or not.”
“Ugh. You better start praying now that they won’t fire you tomorrow. Good luck with the scolding you’re definitely getting from your department head.”
I didn’t really care about the scolding—I mean, what else could they do? It already happened. What I was more scared of… was seeing him again tomorrow and getting fired.
After dinner with Angel, I took a shower and got ready for bed, even though my mind was still a mess. I was drying my hair when my phone chimed with a notification.
“An email?” I immediately opened it—it looked important and urgent.
From: antonmontreal@gmail.com
Subject: PROMOTION
Good evening Ms. Enrique, we’re pleased to tell you that you’ve been promoted—
“Holy sh*t?!”
I couldn’t make sense of anything anymore.
Why was I getting promoted… When I thought I was about to get fired?!
- Writer
