AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,” he replied. “If you want to leave, then now is the best time to.”
I was shocked, and so cold, I wanted to button up my blouse.
“I -…” I started, but I couldn’t for the life of me come up with a single thing to say. My entire body, mind, and soul were protesting at his insistence for me to leave immediately. He couldn’t do that. I didn’t want him to do that.
“I…” I began. However, there was no valid excuse I could give to him. He owns the company. Sure, he might not have set the rule, but he was the only one who could decide whether to enforce it or discard it.
“Why did you join this company?” he asked. “You told me you joined after you quit baking. Why this company? Why green tech? Why renewable technology?”
“I completed my masters in it because,” I replied. “I wanted to go on to be an environmental lawyer but… uh… I used that money and started the bakery. And when I needed a change, I thought I could explore this route. I actually applied for the legal department so I could be a paralegal first. I thought I'd be able to learn the ropes that way and get my foot in the door. And through that, and since the salary was good, I'd be able to scrape enough up to put me through law school.”
“So how did you end up as my secretary?”
“It was a last-minute application sent in,” I replied and couldn't help my sigh. “I, uh, saw the salary after I had applied for being a paralegal and found that it was comparable. Higher even. So, since my end goal was to earn money anyway, I applied as well. And this was the job I got called in for. I wasn't qualified, definitely. I didn’t have much experience, but Derek… when he hired me, he told me it was urgent because, you know…”
“I had just fired the last person that was in the position and needed someone immediately.”
“Yes, Sir,” I replied.
“He didn’t expect that you would be able to tolerate me for this long.”
“Well, you’ve been close to perfect all along,” he said. “So… amongst other reasons… I want to keep you on. But you didn’t seem to want to stay on. At the slightest trouble, you want to run far away. Why? That's what I need to understand. Otherwise, you can't… I won't want you here any longer.”
“I've told you,” I replied. “I respect who you are and what you do, and I understand it. I never wanted to be a liability, and I never wanted you to turn a blind eye because of… because of me. In fact, because of… I hold myself to a higher standard. I didn’t want you to be lenient with me. I should do better, I know better.”
“You’re also human, and you make mistakes,” he said. “You don't even want to extend grace to yourself when you make mistakes?”
“The others didn’t have grace extended to them,” I replied.
“You don't know that,” he said. “You weren’t there. They made several mistakes. To you and external parties, it might have seemed small, but it wasn’t to me. Or perhaps these mistakes gave me an insight into their person that made me understand that they weren’t suitable for the role. The gravity of their offense was not only what determined that they’were fired. So far, you haven't been that way. You’ve done everything almost perfectly; your attention to detail is unparalleled. So, you made one mistake… a monumental one. It's worth firing you over, but I don’t want to. So, are you staying or not?”
I listened to his words and felt tears gathering in my eyes, however, I couldn’t let them fall. I’d rather die.
“I… I turned away from him. “Can I have the two weeks to truly consider this, Sir?”
“No,” he replied. “I want your answer now. If you don’t have it, then, I'd prefer you pack up your things and leave.”
I stared at him in shock. No matter how hard I tried to respond, I couldn’t.
“There's an alternative,” he said and rose to his feet. I was more than eager to hear it.
“You could get transferred to another department,” he said. “You want to work in legal? Then you could get transferred there. No matter what, you’re a valuable asset and I don't want to lose you. This you can take your time to think about, but in the matter of being my secretary, it's now or never.”
He turned around then and returned to his desk. I watched as he settled in and still didn't know what to say to him. Both positions were so incredibly attractive, but as I watched him, I realized that I didn’t want either of them. What I wanted was him. I wanted his undivided attention, his care, his love… his commitment. What I wanted the most was him, and if I became either his secretary or a paralegal in his firm, the chance of having him was little to non-existent. Work would always stand in the way. Work would always come first.
I looked at him then and responded.
“Can I please have until the end of the day, Sir?” I asked. “I would like to see how things play out with Levi Boone.”
“If it doesn’t explode in our faces, will you reconsider your resignation?” he asked.
I didn’t respond to this.
“You have to make this decision now because I won’t allow you to make it then. I need you to be resolute and steady and to be willing to fight for the thing that matters the most to you. The fact that you didn’t seem willing makes me doubtful about what matters to you and what doesn’t.”
I heard what he was saying, and I understood. So, I nodded in response.
I didn't think my nod answered any of his questions, but he seemed too exhausted to pursue any of it, so he turned his attention to his computer.
