The next day was no different from the day before, but this time, both of Stella Frankenstein’s best friends were around – Mariana and Victoria. The three of them huddled in the corner, whispering among them and casting furtive glances at me. Florence was not around, but she called to say that she was on medical leave; I swear she looked just fine yesterday. When I was just standing in the corner all by myself, Mariana walked over to me.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Amanda,” I replied, as she stared hard into my eyes, making me go all fidgety. I decided to play cool and asked her, “What’s yours?”
“Mariana,” she replied nonchalantly.
“So what do I call you?” I asked, trying to make small talks.
“Just Mariana would do,” she replied, then stood right in front of me, “Are you going to be the Senior Receptionist?”
“Err,” I said, not knowing how to answer her straight up question, “I guess so. I mean, I don’t know for sure. Ms. Beatrice said I have to learn the job first.”
“Oh,” was all she said, before turning and walking away without a word. After a while, both Stella and Mariana disappeared, carrying a stack of memos on their hands, leaving me alone with Victoria.
“Hi,” she said, as they went out of sight.
“Hi,” I replied cautiously, as she didn’t seem friendly before.
“So, they told me that you will be Management Trainee or something,” Victoria probed.
“I guess so,” I replied, “Only after I train in this department.”
“I see,” she said contemplatively, “Well, you can ask me or the other girls anything that you don’t know, because we’re seniors here. We’ve worked here for a long time, so new staffs like you need to ask questions from us to learn.”
I was starting to dislike this Victoria and her two other arrogant friends. I chose to be silent, and stood there defiantly. Even when Stella and Mariana came back down, I went on with my silent vigil. It didn’t make any difference, as they practically ignored me. At lunch, Yong and Gloria came down to find Florence and since she wasn’t there, they invited me to lunch with them. They were much better company than my colleagues.
After lunch, I dreaded to go back to see their arrogant, unfriendly faces. Ms. Beatrice called me to her office after lunch. Thoughts were swirling through my head as to what she wanted to talk to me about. I knocked on her door, as she called me to come in.
“Take a seat, Amanda,” she said, somewhat politer than usual. I took a seat tentatively, “So how is your day so far.”
“Not bad,” I replied.
“There aren’t any problems downstairs?” she asked. I wondered if she already knew about the girls’ characters, and put me down there on purpose.
“Not really,” I answered cautiously.
“Good,” she said, smiling, “that’s all I wanted to know. You can go now.”
She dismissed me with a wave. I walked out of the office, my brains all fuddled up. What is her plan anyway? Why did she ask me if everything’s okay down there? Did she give me this department on purpose to make me fail, and quit? Or does she have some other plans?
YOU ARE READING
You Can't Have It All
RomanceAmanda Auburn thought she had it all - a new job in the city, new friends, a co-worker with interest and a great boss. All that is about to change when circumstances made her forced into marriage with someone she never thought she'd have interest wi...
