The Boss's Favorite (English)

The First Sanction

The first weeks of work are similar. She does what is asked of her. Is on time, has Mr. Smith's schedule well under control. So far, Elena has made no mistakes. Mr. Smith behaves quite normally towards her. Although she has often heard his harsh side during a meeting. Sometimes she hears him yelling at colleagues in his office. Every now and then a crying female colleague walks out of his office. This is also the case with Evi today. Elena looks startled at Evi, who quickly walks past her and wipes a tear from her cheek.

Elena follows Evi into her office. In the weeks she has been working here, she has already built a bond with Evi. She pours some water for Evi. 'Are you OK?!' Elena asks her. 'That nasty guy'. Evi says softly. 'He sometimes really expects too much from his staff. I was unable to complete one assignment and the gentleman is already going crazy again. But I think he's having another bad day today. Because he takes it out on everyone. Better go back to your workplace quickly or you'll get...'. Before Evi can finish her sentence, Elena hears her name echoing loudly across the floor. 'Elena!!!' It sounds very angry.
She quickly runs to her workplace. Mr. Smith stands angrily in the doorway of his office. "How many times do I have to call you before I get an answer?!?!" Mr. Smith says angrily and looks at her intently. 'We had an agreement. Signed a contract. You have to be ready when I ask for you, Elena!' “Sorry Mr. Smith. I just ran after Evi, she seemed so upset.' Mr. Smith looks even angrier. "That's none of your business, and it's not your job to comfort anyone!" People just have to do their job and that's it. Just like you Elena! You just have to do your job and you only work for me!'.
Elena looks at the ground in defeat. “Sorry Mr. Smith. It will not happen again'. 'You can clean my office after 5 p.m. That is your punishment for not honoring our agreements.' Mr. Smith slams his door and Elena sighs deeply. It could have been a worse punishment...

It's 5 p.m. Time to clean out Mr. Smith's office. But Mr. Smith has not left his office yet. Elena knocks on his door. She did not see Mr. Smith again for the rest of the day. She hears 'Come in' from the other side of the door. "I will clean your office, sir, but I'll wait until you leave." "I didn't say I was going to leave so you can clean my office, did I?" says Mr Smith. 'After 5pm is now. So you can start right away.'.

Somewhat uncomfortably, Elena starts cleaning his office. Mr. Smith is still working on some paperwork. But she notices that Mr. Smith's eyes are following her a lot. She doesn't dare say anything about it. She thinks one scolding in one day is enough. Fortunately, he keeps his mouth shut and they both work in silence. Every now and then Elena looks in his direction. When each other's eyes meet, she quickly looks away.

It's 5:45 PM. It takes quite some time to tidy up and clean his office. Every now and then her stomach starts to protest that she really needs to eat something. Elena ignores it and continues to work hard. Suddenly she hears a chair slide back. She barely dares to look back at Mr. Smith. He'll probably run off now so she can finally clean the rest without being watched and feeling uncomfortable. Then she feels a hand on her shoulder. Somewhat startled, she turns and looks up straight into Mr. Smith's eyes. "Come on," he says, somewhat calmly. 'I think you're hungry. You're done cleaning.' Elena nods and gives a cautious smile of agreement. “Sorry again Mr. Smith. I will no longer walk away from my work without discussing this with you.' 'Very good! And now we're going to eat something because you're hungry.' 'We?!' Elena asks a bit shy and shocked. "Yes, we..." and Mr. Smith takes Elena's coat and puts it over her shoulders.