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Jo looked down at her milk bottle. Way more of a tyrant than the first night they met. It still didn’t sit right with her. Why would Ali feel like she could swoop in and treat everyone like they were nothing more than dirt on the ground she walks?
“Something wrong? I mean, it’s not like we really have gotten a chance to get to know her. I’m sure she’s perfectly normal. I shouldn’t do much judging. Not like my own life has been perfect.”
“Nothing is wrong.” Jo shrugged. “I actually met her last week.”
May widened her stare. “When? Where? And more importantly, you lived to tell the tale.” May laughed, sipping on her water.
Jo gave a light-hearted giggle. “It’s not like she even remembers. It was at a medical conference. Very chill and all. Thought we might even have a connection.” Jo snickered. “Now I see how that’s a laugh. She barely gave two looks in my direction. But she seemed like a genuine person who wouldn’t know how to bark out orders.” Jo scrunched up her nose. “Baffles me, I must admit.”
“Perhaps she’s one of those people that feel when you’re at work, you must be all business. Maybe she feels if she eases up, people will walk all over her.”
“I suppose. It wasn’t like we spent much time talking last week. I just hoped my direct supervisor wouldn’t be such an over-bearing pain in the…”
“Hey Ali!” May quickly spoke up. Jo turned her attention to Ali, who had stopped at their table. Ali did provide a smile, however weak.
“Wanted to give everyone my cell.” She handed over a business card to each of them. Jo stared at it and inwardly smiled. Maybe Ali wasn’t so bad after all. “Emergencies do happen, and you need to be prepared, but don’t use it unless you’re actively bleeding.” Jo looked up and met Ali’s gaze. There wasn’t one ounce that showed she recognized her. She didn’t even laugh at the remark she had made. Her gaze appeared cold. “And Jo, before you return from lunch, I must talk to you. Meet you in room 311.” Then, without a goodbye, she was off to torture the next person.
Jo released a breath that she had held and glanced back down at the card. “What do you suppose she wants to see you for?” May asked.
Jo snickered. “Who knows, but it’s not like I could be in trouble for doing something wrong. I haven’t had that much room to move on my own.” She gave a nonchalant hug. “I’m going to head back so I’m not late getting back to Georgette. I’ll see you later when we meet back up for the pop quiz.” Jo waved and then hurried off to the trash to dump her items.
Her heart raced as she approached the elevator. Maybe she should be worried about meeting up with Ali. This could go terribly wrong. She desperately pushed the thought out of her mind but kept rushing back in. As she exited the elevator, she caught a glimpse of room 311. The door was tightly shut, and she approached it and knocked. No one responded, so she tried the door, but it was locked. In her hurry to get the conversation over, she hadn’t thought about how she would have beaten Ali back to the room.
Jo leaned back against the wall and waited for Ali to show up. She saw the elevator door open ten minutes later, and Ali got off the elevator and headed straight to her. “Have you waited long?’ she asked.
There was a brief moment when she didn’t seem like the tyrant Jo had encountered the past two days. Jo shook her head, and Ali unlocked the door and opened it up, allowing Jo to follow her.
Ali didn’t move to close the door, although Jo figured if she were about to get reprimanded, she would have preferred to have it done when no one could hear it. Her brows furrowed, but she tried to calm herself with the reminder that she hadn’t done anything wrong. What could she have possibly done that merited a talking-to on the second day?
“I won’t keep you long,” Ali began. “I know you have training to get back to.”
Jo gave a slight nod. She watched as Ali rifled through a desk and then withdrew a folder. She held it up, and Jo stared. It had her name on it and appeared to be some sort of file. Perhaps her employment file? Now she was worried that maybe this wouldn’t be such an easy talk.
Ali
“Do you know what this is?” Ali asked.
Johanna shrugged and then glanced back down to the folder. “I mean, it looks like an employment file, but I’ve been here two days; surely nothing negative has found its way in there already. Right?” Ali watched as she shifted from one foot to the other.
“Well, you’re right in one part. It is your employment file. But all sorts of things are in here, from your application to your resume. So basically, your file starts the minute you apply for a job. Since I’m your direct supervisor and helping with the training process, I have the ability to read through them. That helps me get an idea of who’s in the program. I like knowing where everyone is coming from, and it helps me decide who will work best with whom.”
“That makes sense. I-I still don’t understand. There shouldn’t be anything in the file that I’ve done something wrong. Right?”
Ali snickered and leaned back against the desk. She opened it up, rifling through it, while Johanna just stared in her direction. Ali looked down at Jo’s resume and then closed the file. “I’ll admit your file has me a bit worried.”
Johanna frowned. “How so?”
Ali saw Johanna’s defenses go up, and she mentally noted that that didn’t do anything to squash her nerves. If she couldn’t trust all the staff, then that made everyone look bad. She needed to ensure that no one bolted. If she was working to get this promotion, she didn’t want anyone to say she wasn’t a great leader.
“It shows that you left your previous job rather abruptly.” Ali shrugged. “This is a rather fast-paced environment. If you can’t handle it, then you need to be honest with yourself. It won’t help anyone if you keep those thoughts bottled up. So, I wanted to make sure you were doing alright. If you need extra time, I could work with that, but if you aren’t honest with me, we will have real problems. Besides, you need to know what you’ve gotten yourself into. CAPMed isn’t a hospital for the weak.”
“I can promise you that I’m not weak,” Johanna spoke the words between clenched teeth, and her cheeks were a fiery red. Ali had clearly struck a nerve. “People leave jobs for a variety of reasons. I can handle fast-paced just fine.”
“I can tell that you’re offended,” Ali began.
Jo turned and looked away from her for a moment. Ali waited, questioning if maybe Jo was tearing up. When Jo resumed her position, there weren’t tears, but her cheeks were still that same shade of red.
“I don’t appreciate that someone who doesn’t know me would question my work ethic and abilities to handle this job. You haven’t even given me a shot.”
