Antitrust (Completed)

Part 11: The Revelation

Warning: Shit’s about to get intense. Enjoy!

                I walked into the office on the Monday morning. It was disgustingly overcast, as if it was about to rain at any moment in time.

                Esmeralda bombarded me as soon as I plopped my bag on to my desk. Something was clearly wrong, and now I had to suffer the fallout of Miller’s failing company. I was shaking.

                “Sasha wants to see you. Now.”

                I nodded appreciatively at her and made my way down to Sasha’s corner office. My head felt light.

                “Yes, come in, sit down.” Sasha looked positively furious.

                “Thank you.”

                “Did you happen to watch the news yesterday, by any chance?”

                “Yes.”

                “So I hope you realize that you’ve lost us one of our biggest clients? Tanner was given the promise that his five million dollars would be returned in March and instead, Miller has gone to jail. That money is now gone and so is Tanner.”

                “I know and I didn’t intend for-”

                “See that’s the issue. We don’t intend for any of these things to happen. But you know what? It’s completely on you. You had promise Alisha, and you screwed up. So before I fire the shit out of you, I want to know something. Who the hell told you that Miller was going to return all of the money by March?” My voice seemed to leave my body and I was breathing as fast as ever.

                “His associate, Jay Verma.” It felt weird saying his name. Most of all, I felt betrayed.

                “Yeah here’s the problem. Jay Verma is full of shit. He’s a lawyer that bluffs his way into settlements. So next time you get swayed by a charming dick like Jay Verma, think about the consequences first. I expect your resignation letter by the end of the day today, and your desk emptied by tonight. You’re dismissed.” And with a flick of a hand, I was fired. I exited the office with as much dignity as I could muster, and held back tears. My dream job was taken away from me in a matter of weeks.

                “Alisha what happened?”

                “Esmeralda, I got fired.” She kept silent and hugged me. “As my last command to you, please make sure my belongings are all packed up and sent to my address tonight. Thank you.”

                I wrote my resignation letter as hastily as possible, and left the office with red eyes, about to cry at any moment. But I had to go see someone immediately.

                I stormed up the elevator of the apartment building and rang the doorbell.

                Jay opened the door and let me in. “Alisha, what are you doing here? What happened?”

                “I just got fired.”

                “…WHAT?”

                “Don’t act so surprised. It was because of you.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “Have you seen the news lately? Miller’s company just filed for bankruptcy and he’s been detained due to a typical Madoff scheme.”