Quite Quitting

Beck and Call

My phone lit up as it buzzed almost off the conference room table. It was just my 7 o'clock alarm telling me to get up. My stupid phone didn't know that I was up all night. No, not because I was enjoying the last few weeks of my 20s. It was because Alex Tribecc had an idea at 2 o'clock in the morning and demanded I help him brainstorm. I offered to help via the call, but he needed to see me in his" ThinkTank." That was what this asshole called his office. And the kicker in all of this, after about 4 o'clock, his ThinkTank wasn't helping him think anymore, so he suggested we go to the conference room where we could lay out ideas on the big screen with the projector. WHICH WE DIDN'T EVEN TURN ON! In short, I hated my job.

I clicked my phone off and watched as this man, who had stolen another night from my life, spewed his unorganized ideas.

"Come on, Charlotte, you are my Executive Secretary. I need your input on this. How do I approach the Stakeholders on this idea? I want VR technology involved in this." Alex said, his tone hyper, but his body relaxed with his feet stretched out on the conference room table and his hands folded around his chest.

"We can call it Virtual Dates," I said. I was exhausted but mainly annoyed. Instead of thinking of helping Alex, I was plotting ways to kill him. Should I just tip his chair over and hope his neck snaps on the way down? I could claim it was an accident and say he slipped all by himself.

"You already told me this idea. I don't like it. Come on. We are bringing 2 people from totally different parts of the world together." Alex riffed. I almost threw my now silent phone toward his head.

"Alex, I don't know. Can we please take a break? I have to get ready for a meeting with a vendor we are partnering with," I said, hoping he would realize that he had kept me here all night, feel guilty, and send me home to rest.

"Crap, it's 7:05. You're officially late to work." He tried to joke, showing me his perfect pearly whites. How many punches does it take to break each and every one of his teeth, I wondered. Too many, I figured, and I had no energy for that.

"Ha. And you're early for a change." I fake laughed.

"Actually, I am not. I am going to go see a Charlotte for breakfast. Different Charlotte, A lot dumber, but a lot more fun. We will be having breakfast in bed." Again he smiled.

"Why do you insist on telling me about your sex life? I don't care." I rolled my eyes at him. Alex always had a problem with boundaries when it came to me, even when I insisted on keeping things professional. Yet he continued because, for some reason, he thought we were friends.

"Char, I know you are interested in everything I do. I'll send you pictures. She is a knockout." He winked.

"Poor girl, she won't know what hit her when you sneak out while she is in the shower or something. Tell me something, is it just romantic relationships, or are you just shitty to everyone you meet?" I was so proud of my dig at him that I promised myself a donut with my coffee for my rushed breakfast today.

"I am only ever nice to you. That's why you do everything I ask you to do. So my niceness isn't a power I wield easily. I can only spend it on some people I meet. Or sleep with! " He said, now getting up and fixing his suit he had on since 9 am the day before, rubbing out some of the wrinkles that had probably formed through the night. As much as I hated Alex, there was one thing I couldn't deny, the man worked hard. He had meetings with Stakeholders and investors yesterday. He then came into work to talk to the application development team as they reviewed new UI changes in our company's app, Long D (It's not as gross as it sounds). Besides leaving for half an hour around dinner time, no doubt to see some chick he found on tinder, he was working 23.5 hours a day. That was great, but that usually meant I worked at least 20-hour days.