Need You

Chapter 23

I got to work on Monday morning ready for the day's activities. I had a report I needed to give to Tom concerning the account I was working on.

I reviewed the financial statements I had been sent and other reports concerning the account's finances.

I sent Tom the report I had to and then he sent me a message saying that he wanted to see me in his office.

"Good morning Tom." I said when I entered.

"Hey Harry." He greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great."

"That's good." He commended the report I sent him and asked me to pass of a message to the my colleagues.

I had familiarized myself with the staff, and so I wasn't nervous about speaking in front of them. I just hoped I passed of the message correctly.

"Good morning everyone!" I called for their attention. "This is just a quick announcement to let you know that the company credit card statement for this month has been reconciled and is now available for review. Please do make sure to review you transactions and ensure that everything is accurate and accounted for. Thank you." I finished and made my way back to my desk.

"Who asked you to make that announcement?" Victor asked the moment I sat.

I looked at him for a few seconds and sighed. "Tom."

He left without saying anything and I asked Andrew, "What in the world is this guy's problem? He's seemed to be against me from the day I got hired."

"Maybe it's because he sees you as a threat." I looked at him confused. "Tom will soon get a promotion and it is expected that he'll hand over to Victor. That was until you got hired, and the good relationship you have with Tom makes it clear that he'd hand over to you."

I sighed. I doubted Tom would consider me for the position. I had barely been working there for a month. I continued with my work until Amanda texted me.

At brunch, while we were waiting for our food, I said, "I think you should've become an author."

"Mm?"

"Yeah, I think you would have been a prolific bedtime story author." I smiled.

"Won't you stop calling my story a bedtime story? It's not."

"Well you slept while reading it so..."

"You slept first and then that got me sleepy."

"Fine. But I think for a fourteen year old, you wrote a really interesting story."

"Which part of the story have you gotten to?"

"The part where..."

"Here you go." Leo came over with our food.

"Thank you Leo." Amanda said.

The feeling of dislike was mutual between Leo and me and it was clear on our faces.

"I've gotten to the part where the guy and the girl acknowledge their feelings for each other." I answered.

"Mm." She sounded with her mouth full.

We finished our food and got back to the company. I had a meeting with the team working on the Beyond Beautiful account in an hour.

As I reviewed some documents for the meeting, Frank came in and told me that Tom wanted to see me in his office.

I left my desk and went in, surprised to see Amanda seated.
"You told me you've never been to jail!" She spoke, standing up with a file in her hand.

"What are you talking about!?"

Tom was calm in his seat with a disappointed look on his face. Amanda was clearly very upset.
My heart was racing and my head was starting to pound. I didn't want to admit anything though.

"Did you recently come out of jail or not?" She asked. I presumed that she already knew the answer to that.

I just stood there.

"Tom, you need to fire him now." She sat.

"What!?" I said out loud.

She ignored me and continued, "If our bosses are to hear of this, we are both getting fired."

This was a completely different side of Amanda I never imagined.

"Harry," Tom sighed. "why didn't you say you were in jail?"

"You didn't ask!" I said out of frustration.

"I asked!" Amanda responded. "Tom, we don't need to lose our jobs because he lied."

I lied? In my defence, Tom never asked, and Amanda told me to say no when she asked.

"Harry, I'm sorry but I'm going to need you to resign."

"Why does he have to resign? Why can't you just fire him now?" I was really surprised. Just how upset was she? I thought she and I were friends.

"If he resigns, it will be easier to account for the work he's done and it would be less questionable." Tom explained.

"Harry -" He began but I interrupted.
"Wait! Amanda what's your problem? I thought we were friends. You claim I lied; did you forget telling me to say no!? And Tom you never asked if I had been in jail. You two want to make me the victim of your incompetence! I will resign, and I just hope that whomever you assign my duties to will be able to deliver."

I stormed out of the office thinking, "What the heck just happened?"

I was so upset. I got behind the computer, drafted a simple resignation letter and retrieved it from the printer. As I dropped the letter on Tom's desk, I said, "Tell whomever you have chosen to replace me on the account, that there's a meeting in ten minutes."

I couldn't believe what had just happened as I walked out of the building. What the heck!? I had not even spent a month at the company and I had been forced to resign.

Things were going so well and then what happened happened.

I was very upset. Knowing that I needed to calm down, I got into a taxi with no particular destination in mind.

In the backseat staring out the window as the wind blew gently against my face, I realised that I was not just upset but also quite hurt.

I had come quite a distance from where it all started after my release, and I was starting to consider looking for more, now that I had a home, a job; my old life.
But I was going to have to reconsider since I had been set back not so long ago.

Thinking about Amanda's uncharacteristic reaction to my conviction, I only wondered how Nikki and Ethel would react.

They had been so good to me and I hid the truth from them. I told the driver the address of Ethel's house.

It was time to leave.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for reading another chapter of Need You - Chapter 23. I hope you're enjoying it. What I liked about this chapter is that different sides to Amanda and Harry were seen? It was fun writing it. Tell me what you think of it. And of course please VOTE and SHARE. Thank you for doing that with the other chapters.