Stuck On You

July 23, 2015

“I’m sorry, Anna.”

 

My face draws in, completely overtaken by confusion. “What do you mean? You’re firing me?”

 

“No, not firing you… Consider it… laying you off. We were informed that you have violated one of our policies, so for the time being, we have to let you go. Trust me, if we didn’t have to, we wouldn’t. It’s just so other people don’t get the idea that it’s okay to break our policies and will still receive no punishment.”

 

My blank stare across the desk must have been enough for them to understand my question.

 

“We aren’t the people to ask about it…” They were exactly under the authority to be asked such questions. “You should talk to Tim or Michael. They’ll be able to explain it better than we could.”

 

These arrogant assholes. They don’t believe that I will be able to handle hearing the truth. They believe I am weak, malleable, breakable. They will be surprised with how much strength I have become the CEO of my own company…

 

“Alright.” I clench my jaw. “Is that all?”

 

“We need you to be moved out of your office by tonight. We have already temporarily appointed Nicki to your position. She’ll need the office tomorrow morning.” The suited men stand. The main man holds out his hand to be shaken.

 

I take it, giving him a very trying smile. How dare you deplete me in such a way and think you can make it up to me by a meager shake of the hand. You do this so often it is nothing. This is a greeting. This is a goodbye, you have no intention of hiring me back into the company, let alone my previous position.

 

None of the four men offer anything more than a solemn nod of the head. Before they can leave, I take the action from them. Fuck your opinions of how I will react, fuck your misogynistic beliefs. I will not cry over assholes like you, I will not beg for forgiveness, I will take what I have and shove my pride in your face.

 

The heels I decided to wear today echo my anger as I pound down the hall. Unfortunately, my office has a soft-closing door. I would have slammed it shut.

 

There isn’t much to get together. I don’t have any pictures or decorations. I slide my laptop away, followed by my notebooks. After I had rummaged through all the papers, I didn’t have much else to pack. There were pens and pencils, I borrowed a guitar from the studio, the only thing left was me. I checked the desk drawers, just in case.

 

Other than the usual office supplies, the only thing I found was a picture of Michael and I from his birthday. It had been a hideously cold November evening, somehow we had decided to go for a walk. Michael was bundled in a huge coat, while I just had on a sweatshirt, the Australian cold nothing to me. The wind had been biting, resulting in Michael’s arms wrapped around my shoulders to keep my warm. We both had thrown up rock and roll signs and sticking out our tongues. My eyes were half shut and you could see Michael trying not to laugh as he glanced over at me. It had been one of our best nights together. It was something I wouldn’t forget.