She heard a cough and laugh somewhere close by. There was a lot of silence as if everyone was listening in. She was trying her hardest not to be a bitch.
In order for her to do her job, she had to make sure she wasn’t walked all over either.
If she was wrong, she’d own up to it. She was, but only in that she didn’t catch the wrong report sent to her.
Heather looked up the email that was sent yesterday, Nora leaning over and pointing at the dates at the top to prove it was the previous year.
“Well, that’s on you,” Heather said. “You should have caught that right away and let me know.”
“It is on me,” she said. “And I asked for the correct ones hours ago. If you could please run them now I’d appreciate it. If not, maybe I can find someone else that can do it.”
Someone stood up next to Heather. “I’ve got it, Taylor, don’t be a suck up,” Heather snapped.
Taylor sat back down. Young and eager by the looks of it. Her flushed face reminded Nora of herself right out of college.
“Thank you,” Nora said. “I’ll just stand here to assure you send the correct one before I go back and get to work.”
That caused another chuckle, but she wasn’t mean, just covering her ass so she didn’t have to walk down again.
“It’s done,” Heather said through her clenched teeth. “Do you need anything else?”
“I’m good for now. Thank you.”
She turned to leave and heard Heather mumble to someone, “Maybe if they hired in house with someone who understood more that wouldn’t have happened.”
“Shh, Heather,” another voice said. “She could hear you.”
Nora kept walking with her back straight, smiled at Brenda on the way out and wished her a good evening, then went back to her desk to redo her report.
By six, she was done and had a raging headache. She planned on sending it to Ethan, but he’d left at four for another meeting and it’d be best if she let it go and looked it over one more time with fresh eyes.
She grabbed her purse and shut the light, then went to lock the door when she saw her father entering the hallway and making eye contact with her.
He looked around and nodded her back into her office.
She flipped the light and he came in and shut the door.
“I heard there was a ruckus in finance a few hours ago.”
“About what?” she asked.
“Some are saying you’re in over your head and one employee gave you a hard time. Don’t let people walk all over you.”
The last thing she needed was advice from him.
“I’m not, and I stayed professional. It was a minor mistake that I asked her to correct. I think she was embarrassed over it.”
“As she should be. Don’t you make mistakes like that or let people think you’re weak. They will swallow you up.”
“I can handle myself the way I know how. I got the report right away. It’s all good. Was there anything else?”
Her father looked unsure of himself. As if he shouldn’t have even come down to talk to her and she didn’t know why he did.
Unless he was worried that if it got back to anyone she was his daughter and couldn’t do her job it’d just be one more embarrassment to him.
She’d had enough of them in her life.
“No. Let me walk out first, then you can come out a minute later.”
