Dreams Come True
Rebecca Malone silently fumed as she walked towards her car. She'd been working at Boulder Associates for a little over a year, and her job was currently on the fast track to no where. It didn't help that she worked for a pompous know-it all. Today, the pompous know-it-all felt the need to point out all of Rebecca's make believe faults. Rebecca knew that she was one of Boulder Associate's best secretaries. Her final reports never had any errors, and they were all very detailed. Rebecca thought that should count for something. Apparently it didn't. Mr. Grant (also know as pompous know-it-all) just felt the need to put others down to make himself feel better. Rebecca replayed the scene from the office over again in her head.
"Are you done with those reports yet, Ms. Malone?" asked Mr. Grant impatiently. "I need them when I go to court tomorrow morning."
Rebecca silently thought that he should have given her more than an hour to make the reports if he wanted to have them by the morning. Instead of saying that, she plastered a smile onto her face, but still didn't look away from her computer.
"No sir, but I should be done with them before the office closes today," she said politely.
"Is there any particular reason you take so long, Ms. Malone?" Grant asked snidely.
Rebecca only glanced away from her computer. She knew what was coming. Before Rebecca had even opened her mouth to answer, Grant had begun speaking again.
"Ms. Malone, I believe you are lazy."
Rebecca tore her eyes away from the computer to watch Mr. Grant. It took everything she had not to glare at him.
"Your work may show slight competence," Grant continued, "But that is no excuse for putting off work that needs to be done. I know you wish to raise yourself within this company, Ms. Malone. It is going to take more than a pretty smile to do so. Do you understand that, Ms. Malone?"
"I understand that completely Mr. Grant," said Rebecca coolly.
"Then do you believe me to be correct?" he asked, sneering down at her.
"No, I do not." Rebecca said the words before she could stop herself.
"Excuse me, Ms. Malone?"
For a moment, Rebecca thought about saying something different to avoid a scene and possibly save her job. Then she simply decided she didn't care. This job was taking her nowhere in life, and she worked for a man she hated. Maybe it was time for a change.
"You heard me correctly, Mr. Grant."
"Then what is your excuse for wasting precious business hours while you should be working?!" he yelled.
"I only considered time wasted when you come over here to bother me!" she yelled back.
"Ms. Malone, you are coming precariously close to being fired!"
Rebecca, completely fed up with Grant, stood up out of her chair. "Mr. Grant, you said it took more than a smile to raise myself within this company. I would have thought it would have taken more than a jackass's attitude, but you must have pulled it off to become a manager. Congratulations." Rebecca picked up her purse. "I don't suppose I need to give my two weeks under the circumstances?"
Grant was just gaping at her. She'd never even raised her voice before."Goodbye, Mr. Grant."
Rebecca couldn't believe that she let someone treat her that way for over a year. She was so busy cursing herself that she didn't immediately see the man peering into her car.
When she did see him, Rebecca thought about setting the car alarm off from her key chain, just so the guy would have a bad day too. She decided to see if yelling would work first. It had worked earlier.