Being Strong
The 14th floor was shaped kind of like an H. The elevators were across Tigress's desk past the small sea of cubicles in the 'Bar' of the H. On the 'ends' of the bar were the lunchrooms and lounge areas, though Tigress and Song could often just use the floor below them if they wanted true privacy. Along the 'ends' of the H were sectioned-off doors to different sub-offices that held the different departments, Marketing and Sales, HR, Finance, etc. Of course, sometimes there would be two departments within one 'end' of the H. For example, the Finance department and the Sales department shared a hallway that led to the 'Bar' of the H.*
Tigress, the next day, took a right from her desk and went into the Marketing and Sales sub-office. Viper, hearing the noise, popped her head out of her small corner office and smiled. "Hey, Tigress. What do you need?"
"I just need some information on the Imposter Success project."
"No worries, I'll get that." Tigress took a moment to see the office space. Tai Lung got his own corner office. Through the open door, the tiger could see the snow leopard busily staring a graphs and process maps for the next campaign. The striped feline walked into Viper's office and sat down, leaving the door open.
"So... how are you doing?"
"Hm?"
"I mean, you're sharing a position with Tai Lung."
"...yeah?"
"Aren't you hurt by that?"
"Honestly, there's no difference between what I do and what Tai Lung does. We're more equals than anything else. And I'm actually really glad he's here."
"Why?"
Before Viper could answer, Tai Lung slid in quickly. "The meeting's starting."
"On it. Can you wait for just a moment, this meeting will be short," Viper said to Tigress. The tiger was confused. No meeting was... short.
Tigress quietly sat back and watched the Marketing and Sales team form together. Viper and Tai Lung headed the meeting.
"Alright, everyone," The snow leopard called. "I'll be straight and honest. I'm new here, so I want to avoid a Chesterton's Fence scenario. I need information on everything we do and why we do it. I've noticed some redundancies and I want to know why they're there."
"Well, Sharon is normally the historian of that stuff," said one of the workers.
Tai Lung narrowed his eyes. "Great, then you can get in touch with her and have her give me a full process map by Friday."
"Oh... uh... yeah."
"We really need to work on our efficiency, guys. The department has become a little... uh-"
"Lazy?"
"I was going to say idle, Tai Lung but... yes," Viper smiled. The room of workers quietly coughed and pulled at their collars.
"Well, we need to figure out what we're doing before we can do something better. Or else HR starts breathing down our necks and we lose our jobs," Tai Lung glared. "I'm not signing up for unemployment benefits again, alright?" The room nodded. "Let's get to it!"
"Yes Sir!" The group dispersed and went to work. Tigress was mildly impressed as the two walked back into the snake's office.
"I hope that got through to them," Viper sighed.
"It will. I'll make sure of it. I could tell that they were taking advantage of your... sweet nature. It's good for convincing shareholders," Tai Lung smiled, "but not for getting people off their butts." The snake chuckled.
"I can see that you two work well together," Tigress commented. "I'm glad Tai Lung's presence didn't cause... too much disruption."
"It's really needed. Like Tai Lung said, my kind nature isn't the best for assertive leadership. Though with Tai Lung here, I might be able to learn something from him," Viper smiled. The snow leopard beamed proudly as he placed a hand on the edge of his blue suit jacket. "And honestly," Viper continued, "It's nice to get some... male perspective in here. The Marketing team is mostly female. Everyone in the company thinks that Marketing and Sales is a bunch of witches at this point."
"Why?" Tigress asked.
"Because they think we're making up stuff for our campaigns. Like a magic trick. It's nice to have a sorcerer in our midst."
"I believe the term is wizard, Ms. Viper," Tai Lung charmingly smiled, making the snake giggle.
The tiger stood up. "Thank you for... giving me the info for the project, Viper."
"Anytime, Tigress," Viper smiled. The tiger walked out, blinking several times in confusion.
She shook her head and walked over to the HR department hall on the opposite end of the 'Bar'. Tigress opened the door and saw Mei Mei happily working at a desk. It was in front of a corner office that would've been hers if she had become the head of HR. "Oh, hey Tigress," The panda smiled as the tiger sat down in front of her. "How are you doing?"
"I was just about to ask you. You seem... much happier."
"I am. They finally got someone to fill the head HR role. I can finally relax a bit," Mei Mei sighed, stretching her arms underneath her pink blazer. The tiger's head tilted in some kind of confusion. "What?"
"I thought you wanted that position," Tigress whispered a bit so that Crane couldn't hear them through his open door.
"I mean, yeah, but only because of the work."
"What do you mean?"
"Before Crane, there wasn't a head to run things. I was unofficially put in charge of this whole place. Which was fine, but no one was doing the paperwork. I was doing two people's jobs!" Mei Mei huffed. "So if I got that job, the first thing I would've done was get someone else to do the paperwork. I'm a people person, not a paper person. But since Crane isn't a social butterfly, he actually likes the paperwork."
Tigress blinked her wide eyes. "So you never wanted the job. You just wanted less work."
"More help," Mei Mei corrected. "Crane is the perfect person for the job, though he could use his 'social wings' a bit more."
"I heard that!" Crane called out.
"You're supposed to, boss," Mei Mei chuckled. Crane squabbled a bit under his white formal shirt but didn't seem too unnerved about it.
"You're pretty relaxed with your new supervisor," Tigress said slowly.
"Oh Crane knows that I don't mean it. We work well together. He's the person who does the paperwork and I get to know the people who are coming for jobs and complaints. We cover each other's weaknesses. Besides, if I were working with Tai Lung... Let's just say things would be... much more relaxed." The big panda sighed dreamily, leaving Tigress mildly confused. "Anyway, what was it you wanted?"
"Nothing, just... wanted to know how you're doing?"
"What about you? Are you liking your new boss?" Mei Mei asked. Tigress felt the angry lines on her face form. The panda flinched back at the sight. "I'm taking that as a no."
"It's just-"
"Whatever it is. Just... don't take it out on Po, okay?"
"I'm trying not to. But he's making it hard for me."
"How so?"
Tigress shook her head and stood up, "Never mind. It's nothing. I'll talk with you later."
"Okay, drop in anytime. Song can't be your only confidant, you know."
Tigress paused and turned back. "Wait, what do you mean?"
Mei Mei chuckled but stopped when she saw the tiger's face not changing. "Tigress, you barely talk to me or Viper. Usually you only talk to us if you need some work done or if Song is busy. I get that we're just co-workers, but... still." Tigress winced a bit. The truth hurts sometimes. "I don't hate you for it. It's just... you talk with Song more than us. I mean, I get it. You two have been friends since college and the workplace isn't really known for forming 'friendly female relationships.'"
"I... I wasn't aware of that."
Mei Mei smiled a bit. "You usually aren't when you're working so hard. Take a break sometimes. You'll thank yourself for it."
"I'll keep that in mind," Tigress said. She walked out of the door, grumbling. She didn't think the situation with Viper and Mei Mei would go so well. And she didn't realize how much she failed to notice their wants and dreams.
Tigress scoffed a bit as she headed towards her desk. It irked her that Po realized that before her.
Before Tigress could make it to her desk, she saw Song walk out of Po's office. The snow leopard had a thousand-yard stare and shivered from a non-present cold. The tiger quickly grabbed hold of her shoulders, shaking her out of her daze. "Song, Song! What's wrong?"
"N-N-Nothing," The snow leopard repeated. A small tear ran down her face. "I have to go."
"What happened in there?"
"It's nothing Tigress," Song shook the tiger off of her. She quickly walked back to her office and slammed the door shut.
Tigress glared down the door separating her and Po. Only one possible scenario ran through her head for what happened. "That dirty little..." She bit her tongue. Without any information or evidence, the tiger couldn't file anything with HR. Song didn't look hurt, but that didn't mean anything. The tiger silently walked back to her desk, seething with rage as she eyed the panda's door every now and then.
She took her phone out and started texting Song.
What's wrong?
I can't tell you right now.
Did he hurt you?
I can't tell you right now, okay? I'm sorry.
Song, you know if he did anything to you, you can tell me.
Tigress, it's much more complicated than you think, okay? I'll be fine. I promise. I have a lot of work to do.
No more prompting could get the snow leopard to open up.
The end of the day came. Tigress packed her things and got up to leave. She took one last glare at the panda's door. Not only did the panda steal her dream, now her friend was scared of something he was responsible for. She just didn't know what. Tigress gruffly sighed and walked to her car. Driving over to Lei Lei's school, she was still glaring into nothingness.
Her mind raced with thought after thought of possible conclusions. But all or none of them could be true. She sighed in defeat.
Her head snapped to reality when she heard the door open and close. But no other noise followed. Tigress whipped her head back and saw her little panda girl sniffling. "Lei Lei, what's the matter? What happened?"
"Th... the other kids were picking on me."
"What? What happened?"
"They... they didn't want me to play with them because I was... too big." She held a small bent flower pin in her hand. "They messed up my fur pin. They said it was an accident but I know they did it on purpose!"
Tigress gingerly took the pin in her hand. Sighing, she reached back and caressed the panda's face. "I'm so sorry, honey." Starting the car, Tigress struggled her level best not to use the rage from work AND from Lei Lei's school to ram the slow-moving cars in front of her. "What did you do?"
"I... I told the teacher, but she didn't listen to me. She said that I shouldn't make stuff up but I wasn't!"
"I believe you, dear," Tigress calmly said whilst wringing the rubber of the steering wheel. Bullying had gotten more subtle since the time the tiger was in school.
"Mommy?"
"Yes Lei Lei?"
"I... I wish I was strong... like you," Lei Lei sadly sobbed. "I wouldn't get picked on if I was strong."
As she drove the car home, Tigress sighed inwardly. A missed opportunity with a promotion, her friend in potential danger, and her daughter being bullied in the first grade.
Tigress frowned and sighed. She began to wonder if she was really strong like Lei Lei said.
Continued...
*A/N: This was stupidly hard to find and describe! Why is researching so miserable sometimes?! ;-;