Getting Better

... Anger issues...

The loud slam of a door snapped my attention back to the end of the hallway.

Michael was a couple feet ahead of me, having pulled his office door shut behind him with enough force to shake the frame. His foot steps resounded heavily throughout the room, besides the fact that the ground was carpeted and his shoes were brown sneakers.

He looked far from happy, distraught even. His fur was unkempt and sticking out around his joints, giant bags under his eyes and shaking fury in his fists at his sides. He shakily fixed his red tie and stuffed it under his unbuttoned dress shirt and gray overalls, a small pendant necklace hanging from his neck.

The pendant bounced back and forth as he made his way toward me, muttering stinging insults under his breath.
His eyes were on the ground, and it didn't seem that he'd even noticed me until he made his way around my outstretched hand to stalk to the elevator.

I panicked and stepped in front of him.

He stopped, taking in a deep breath before raising his head slightly to meet my eyes.

He stared blankly for a second, raising an eyebrow in question, before recognition crossed his face. He ground his teeth and shoved me aside,

"Get out. " he deadpanned. "I don't even know what 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵 let you in here in the first place. "

His pace quicken to the end of the hallway, but I wasn't about to give up so easily. I followed him, speed walking after his tail in my obnoxiously loud heels,

" A-actually, um sir? I came to, uh, apologize for what happened last night. It was extremely out of place for me, and I should have minded my own business. "

He didn't slow.

"As a formal apology, I wanted to come here and offer you some... 𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴? " I cringed at the word, I sounded so stuck up and rude at the moment.

But surprisingly, Michael stopped walking and turned to face me. He eyed the basket hanging loosly in the crook of my arm, where one or two chocolate muffins were in plain view under the brown cloth.

It looked like he was about to scoff and turn, so I took the chance to pull out my badge and flash it,

"Also, I think I was meant to see you. " I muttered.

At this, Michael sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he tapped his foot against the ground impatiently. He crossed our distance and leaned forward to read the fine print, tapping faster with each word. He grimaced and spun around, slightly gesturing for me to follow him back to his office.

"I don't 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 an assistant. Especially not a fatherless figure such as yourself, with your stringy ass oily hair and no bitches. "

He twisted the knob and entered, and I followed suit. The room was fairly spacious, with about five fake ferns hanging in pots from the ceiling and every piece of furniture either being brown or black. A window took up the wall behind a giant executive desk and shot light into my eyes, causing me to flinch and flail for the paper Michael handed me.

With the paper in my hand, I sat across from him at his desk, watching him fold his hands across his chest and lean back in his leather seat to read a file pulled up on his desktop.

I flipped through the stapled paper in my hand, slightly confused.

It took me a second to realize it was my resume.

"Allison Winters? That's you, right? "

"Yes sir. "

He ttsked and swirled his seat around to face me directly, rolling forward to place his elbows on the desk and overlook my resume. He flipped the page a couple times before finding my work experience.

"And you, Allison Winters, have two years of work experience... Where? "

" Edison Publishing. " I gulped.

"𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

Michael slammed the paper closed and cocked his head, exasperated. His eyes narrowed and he pointed to his screen without breaking eye contact,

"And you are aware that my job listing required at least 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 years of experience as a desk assistant? "

I didn't respond, instead opting to admire the masterfully crafted wooden desk before me.

"Why did I? " Michael ran his hands down his face and sighed, "Why did I even hire you? "

He ran a finger over my resume again, rereading the contents with mild interest. If he found anything, he didn't mention it, and flipped his chair around to toss it in the trash bin.

He stood up and walked around the corner of the table. He grabbed the edge of my chair and spun it to face him, placing a hand on the table to lean against as he looked me over.

I swallowed, ready for whatever was coming next.

He sighed for what seemed to be the tenth time that day and looked back at his computer. Files upon files were opened in thousands of tabs, reminds popping up in the corner of his screen as he watched. Cabinets under his desk were unable to close properly with the amount of due papers and contracts he was obligated to reject.

Maybe he 𝘥𝘪𝘥 need an assistant.

Michael looked back at me, slight guilt crossing his expression.

"All right. Listen to me. I'm going to let you have this job-" I grinned, already sitting straighter in my seat. "𝘉𝘶𝘵. I'm not gonna give you the same opportunities as everyone else. "

He crossed his arms and handed me a vanilla folder, a small evil grin appearing on his face,

"Miss one due date, and I have eligible reason to fire you. "

He tapped the folder twice, "This. This is due by the end of the hour, get to it. "

See 𝘯𝘰𝘸 I had eligible reason to smack this man. But I smiled and beared it, simply indulging in the miracle that I'd somehow gotten the job I was not nearly prepared or fit for.

With this, my new start was beginning.

I smiled a bit harder than necessary, gathering my things to leave and start working. I had only tapped the door when Michael coughed and pointed to the smaller stool next to him as he placed himself back in his executive chair.

While the seat was not super comfortable, it wasn't in any shape I couldn't work on. It was just about half the size of the one Michael got, with much less cushion and much more... Nothing. I was almost at eye length with the table from here, so I opted to simply put the laptop in front of me on my lap.

And with that, I opened my folder and felt tears prick.