Chapter 44

Friday is usually my favorite day. But not that Friday. By Lena’s last day, I hadn’t learned any of my new responsibilities from her because she’d deliberately taken vacation days to punish Rowena, assuming she would be stuck with the work. Lena hadn’t known I would inherit her tasks.

Lena and I went over as much as we could that last morning, and all the while my chest ached at the thought of doing her tasks with such limited knowledge and working for a woman who already rejected my every effort. My fists itched to punch something, to release the tightening in my chest.

Around 10 AM, before her exit interview with HR, Lena asked if I’d like to join her in the lunchroom. She’d felt terrible all morning, having realized the predicament she was leaving me with. Lena had always been helpful to me, and I wanted to keep our friendship outside the office.

Entering the lunchroom, I grabbed a seat as Lena stood almost in the middle of the room and looked around the room ruefully.

“I’ve worked at this company for two and a half years now. I love the people here. I’ve made many friends from different departments. Quitting like this really hurts. I don’t want it to be ending like this.” Her voice choked.

Lena was a strong lady, and she had finally broken down after two years of working for Rowena. How about me? What would I become?

“On my first day here, I sat at that table alone,” Lena continued, running her fingers over the surface of the booth table at the corner, next to the refrigerator. “One by one, people approached and sat next to me. Andrew, Ted, Camilla, Sylvia. They treated me like I had been here for a long time. Since then, each day for lunch, we’ve gathered here. Then Yoo-shi came aboard, and then Geoffrey.” Lena chuckled, glancing up at me. Her fingers curled into fists, and her eyes brimmed with tears.

“Then, Rowena joined Myriad. Since her first day, I haven’t gotten along with her. The more you obey her, the more she steps on you. When Geoffrey left, I was miserable. Good thing you came aboard, so my life wasn’t so bad,” she said.

“Yeah, too bad, she is a horrible manager. Well, you’ll be free from her after your exit interview. And if you find a new job, please remember me,” I said.

Lena nodded, pressing her lips together. “Yes, for sure,” she said.

***

At noon, I walked Lena out of the building. Sylvia and Yoo-Shi wanted to join us, but they had a meeting with Christine.

“Take care,” said Lena, looking up at me through her car window.

“You too,” I said, waving as her car rolled slowly toward the front gate.

Suddenly, her car stopped moving, rolled backward, and stopped in front of me.

“What happened? Did you forget something?” I asked, leaning down to see her clearly.

“Rory, listen. I only share this to you.” Lena popped her head out of the window.

I nodded. “What is it?”

“I told HR everything. Everything. I even showed them some nasty emails Rowena sent me. HR promised to do something to prevent losing more good employees. But we’ll see. People can promise anything. When Geoffrey left, HR promised to do something, but nothing happened. So, we’ll see,” she said, waving her hand. “Bye now, Rory!”

I watched her car roll out to the main street and then disappeared. Heading back to the office, I heard my phone buzz in my pocket. Expecting a message from Peter, I found one from Jason reminding me about dinner with him tomorrow. I sighed, not really feeling like going, but Jason was my friend, and I didn’t want to let him down.