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I closed my eyes in an effort to sleep.
“Where to now?” Anton asked.
“I don’t know, Anton. Just drive.”
I dozed off to the lulling hum of the car, hoping my worries would sink alongside into the dreaming world.
Chapter 4 - Audrey
“Hello, Miss Sanders?” the voice said. It was cold and robotic, devoid of any feeling. I always hated having to phone her because of the way her voice usually seemed to herald bad news.
“Yes, that’s me,” I answered politely.
“I sent you an email but just to be certain, I was asked to call you as well. We recently conducted a performance review and found you lacking in several areas of competence and sociability...”
What? What is she talking about? This has to be a prank call. It can’t be real,I thought, pinching myself repeatedly as I listened carefully to Nicole’s every word.
“In addition to that,” her crisp voice continued, “management also found that you have violated company policy several times in the past—”
“Wait, what policy? I’ve never done anything like that!” I couldn’t believe my ears. I could see where this was all leading to and I couldn’t let that happen.
There was a pause in Nicole’s voice before she said sharply, “Miss Sanders, please don’t interrupt and let me finish.”
My heart sank, every ounce of rebellious spirit dissipating, and I simply listened in silence, accepting whatever was coming my way.
“As I was saying, in light of all these things, the company has decided to let you go in order to avoid any further breach of policy. Please know that you will still be paid for your time this month, but effective immediately, you are no longer an employee of the company.”
Bullshit. This is all bullshit!
“Y-you can’t do this to me,” I tried to say. “I’m innocent! I didn’t do anything!”
“I’m not the one doing this,” Nicole replied mechanically. “I’m simply reading the report and following orders. If you have a problem, take it up with management.” With that, the line went cold and the silence echoed disconcertingly around the room.
I tried to hold myself together but I was hyperventilating way too much to even stand properly. I fell to the couch and thought about what Nicole had said.
I knew someone in management—Adam Harvey. We’d both graduated from the same college and he’d always been nice to me thanks to that. Moreover, he had some pull in the department.
I wasted no time in reaching out to him.
“Hello, Audrey. What’s up?” Adam asked, sounding a little tense.
“I just got a call from Nicole. She said the company is firing me because of some rubbish about me breaking company policy and lacking in areas of competence and whatnot. When I told her that couldn’t be right, she said if I had a problem, I had to take it up with management. I know you’re well-connected in your department. Please tell me this is all a mistake.”
Adam said nothing for a while until he sighed and replied gently, “Audrey, it’s not a mistake. We received the order early this morning. I found it strange because I didn’t remember any performance review done recently, but the matter is actually beyond the hands of management. Whatever is going on came from up top.”
And there it was, what I’d feared the most. This was all Jeremy’s doing. That explained why he had taken the time to make Nicole call me on a weekend and deliver the bad news. I’d never realized how much of a piece of shit he was until this moment.
“Listen, Audrey, don’t do anything stupid, okay? The boss is a very powerful man and you don’t want to mess with him. Just move on, alright? I’d hate for anything to happen to you.”
I wasn’t in the mood to listen to Adam. We said goodbye, and I switched off my phone. Clenching my fists in anger, I thought about storming out and confronting Jeremy, but I knew he would deny any involvement. Moreover, the evidence against me must’ve already been fabricated, so I would have nothing to say.
As painful as it was, Adam was right. There was nothing I could do.
For the next couple of days, I hid away in my dimly lit apartment, allowing the weight of my recent job loss to crush me into submission. Depression had taken hold, and my tears seemed endless.
My phone buzzed constantly with calls and messages from concerned friends, but I couldn’t bear to face them, unable to find the energy to put on a façade of strength. It was just easier to isolate myself. I had no family I could turn to, as I had only ever known the shelter of foster homes, migrating from one home to the next as a result of one misfortune or the other. I curled up into a ball and cried my days away.
On one particularly gloomy day, my best friends, Charlotte and Claire, decided they’d had enough of my self-imposed solitude. They showed up at my doorstep, unannounced, and refused to leave until I opened the door. Despite my protests, they were persistent, and eventually I gave in to their unwavering determination.
