The Voices You Hear

... when the video clip show less than more

She could hardly concentrate on what she was working on. She's torn between getting annoyed at herself for letting herself get distracted, or to just let the hangover of her weekend high linger on. It's Monday, Maine, for crying out loud. Don't be too obvious. She kept repeating this in her head, like a mantra on loop. She had another bunch of papers on her table, even after she was able to clear most of it on Friday evening, or Saturday morning, actually. Saturday. The elevator, breakfast, and then dinner. I love Saturdays. She was smiling goofily, remembering how her Saturday went.

"Psst. Girl. Stop smirking. You look crazy."

Her elbow slid off the table when she heard Bic. She then realized that she had been daydreaming, at 3 in the afternoon, and she isn't even half-way done with the books sent to her. Definitely not like her to prolong a very easy task as balancing the accounts of their clients, yet it's two hours away before office hours are done, and she's only worked on two accounts.

She looked around the office to check if anybody noticed, breathing a sigh of relief that her officemates are still busy at their own worktables. She forced herself to focus on the numbers before her.

"You do realize that punching my digits harder doesn't make me fart off numbers any faster, do you?"

"Hush, Callie! Somebody might hear you!"

"Oh please. Oscar on your right has his headphones on full blast. Jenine on your left is sleeping. And Bridget at your back wouldn't care less because she's been flirting online with Tony over at IT."

"Wait, what? How come you know all these?"

"I have my ways."

"She sure does, girl! Did you know that whats-his-name messenger guy is actually the boss' lover?"

"Ok, ok, I get it, you get more office gossip than I do. Keep it down."

"Ms. Mendoza? Do you have a minute? I need to discuss something with you."

Her boss suddenly called out from her office, which made the rest of her officemates sit up and pretend to be working again.

"Uh, yes Ma'am."

"Ooh, you're busted, girl!"

"Shut up, Bic, I'm bringing you with me."

"Yeah, bring that ink-filled rod with you, it can be too annoying."

"But you'll miss me, Callie."

"Don't bet on it."

She took a notebook and the pen with her and made her way to her boss' office. She could feel the eyes of her officemates following her. She can't figure out what would her boss want to discuss with her. She was beginning to worry that she may have turned over some unbalanced books, that she missed something and made a mistake in an entry. But she never makes mistakes, not with numbers, and especially not when it involves her work. She breathed deeply before knocking once at the door.

"Ms. Mendoza, have a seat."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

She was trying to read her boss, whether she's mad at something or just wanted an update on what she has been working on. But no, that isn't her skill.

Talking to objects, sure, I can do that. But figuring out if my boss is mad at me or not, completely clueless.

Her boss was staring at something on her monitor, then turned to her.

"Ms. Mendoza, did you, by any chance, get hurt on Friday?"

She looked at her boss, eyes wide open and her hand clutched the pen rather tightly. She felt it twitch a bit.

"Uhm, it's just a scratch, Ma'am. On my chin. But I'm fine. And it was already Saturday, I suppose."

"Hmm. The building security gave me a copy of the CCTV clip, where this guy hit you by the elevator. Do you want to file a complaint on this man? Did he harass you? Any untoward moves? You know your rights, Ms. Mendoza."

She was taken aback by what her boss said. File a complaint? That never crossed her mind. Besides, who would be their witnesses, a pen and a bottle? She shook her head and calmly answered.

"It's really nothing, Ma'am, it was an accident. And he didn't harass me. He apologized after what happened. We're fine. I don't need to file a complaint."

"Are you sure, Ms. Mendoza? The video clip shows he hit you."

"Because he fell over, Ma'am. And when I was about to reach out to help him up, he lifted his hand up for balance, and that's when he accidentally hit me with his water bottle."

Her boss was looking at her as if she wanted to ask something else, but decided to dismiss it.

"Ok, I'll take your word for it then. As long as you're ok. And please refrain from too much overtime. I know that Olivia transferred some of her load to you, you should have said no."

She looked down and felt a little guilty that her boss knows how she takes on the work that her officemate should be doing. She really had no answer to that.

"I will, Ma'am, next time."

"Thanks, Ms. Mendoza. That will be all."

She stood up to leave the office. As she turned on the knob, her boss spoke again.

"One more thing. Was there anyone else in the elevator with you and that man?"

The pen fell from her grip.