AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The man needed a woman or something. She’d never seen anyone so wound up.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, one morning she woke up with a sore throat, stuffed nose, dripping eyes, and feeling like she’d been hit by a damn truck. The joyous risks of working in an office around a thousand coughing, disgusting people. They offered great benefits, including a grip of sick time right off the bat, but she just didn’t feel like she could get away with calling in sick. Not this early. If he yelled at her this much for stuff that wasn’t even her fault, how much more would he rant and rail against her for a legitimate excuse?
Dragging herself out of bed, she took the hottest shower she could handle hoping the steam would help clear her up. Then, doping herself up on cold medication and dressing in some warm clothes, she went in. As he did every morning, he didn’t even look at her on the way to his office.
Not wanting to be yelled at, she contained all of her coughs until after that door closed. Her desk was quickly resembling a little tissue snowball reserve. She hated having them up there, but her wastebasket was already filled in her first hour. She’d never felt this sick in all her life.
The paperwork for his 9 o’clock was easy, and by now getting everything ready and sent off when he wanted them was second-nature. If she’d had to think about it, she was sure she would’ve gotten something wrong. He would’ve yelled. She would’ve sneezed all over him out of quiet revenge, and he would’ve fired her.
Tallah sniffled to herself, wiped her nose, and thought about how that might not be such a bad idea. Did she really need this job? Her bills, gas, food, she didn’t really need all of that stuff, did she?
Her head slowly lowered until her forehead was resting on her desk. Sleep. That’s what she needed. Fuck everything else, she was just going to close her eyes right here.
“Hey,” Steve said as he set Mr. Gilmore’s coffee down. “You look like shit. What’re you doing here?”
“Thanks,” she croaked and lifted her head. “Nice to see you too.”
“Oh wow,” he said and backed away from her desk. “You need to go home.”
“Have a nice day,” she said with a glare.
Picking up the coffee, she walked to the office doors. Her heart gave a flutter of anxiety. She’d hoped she was able to fake it, but did she really look that bad? He was going to notice. He was going to notice, and yell at her. There was no way to win. Her heart sunk a little inside as she realized the situation. She was there though, so she might as well finish out the day.
Pulling open the office door, she stepped through and did her best to hold herself up straight instead of walking along like a crooked old woman. She knew her voice would betray her, so instead she just walked up to his desk and set the coffee down right in the center of that damned coaster he insisted on using. It was ugly. The desk was ugly. The whole damn thing was ugly.
She wanted to hate him, but even as he sat there typing away, she found herself drawn into those damn eyes of his. His strong jaw, the fierceness in his gaze when he was concentrating. Why was she attracted to him even now? She was dying, but still felt a stir inside of her when he bit his upper lip in thought before continuing his work.
He either hadn’t noticed her or was ignoring her. Either way, she took it as a blessing. As she turned to walk away, a tickle in her nose alerted her. She had just enough time to rasp, “No,” before sneezing. The sneeze released a trail of nasty, and she was quick to wipe it away.
“Are you sick?” he asked.
Physical pain shot through her chest and arms at the accusation. What could she possibly say? If she said yes, he was going to yell. If she said no, he was going to yell. “I won’t let it affect my work,” she tried.
She heard his glasses as they hit his desk, a sure sign he was about to go off. She refused to turn around.
“An office is like a habitat,” he began. “It’s a self-contained environment. Everyone touches everything. Air is recycled through the vents. When an employee comes into work sick, they not only endanger those forced to interact with them throughout the day, but every person they then must interact with. Do you understand what I’m saying? We give you sick time for a reason. You could’ve just brought an entire epidemic into my building losing me hours of work, thousands of dollars in effort. Who is going to reimburse me for that? Certainly not you.” He gave a smug snort, “I know how much you earn.”
“That is it!” Tallah spun around, a shot of adrenaline coursing through her veins stronger than any espresso. For a few seconds, it cleared her head. She stomped up to his desk, picked up his coffee and threw it across the office. “I put up with your nonsense every day. You whine like a petulant child! You yell at me for things that aren’t my fault, for stuff I had nothing to do with. My first thought this morning was calling in, but I just knew you’d have something new to yell at me about. I was faking, or lying, or not really that sick. So rather than risk that, I thought I would tough it out. Come in and prove my work ethic. And what do I get?”
She slammed a fist on his precious poopoo desk. “What do I get! You snidely commenting on my pay? You pompous asshole!”
Mr. Gilmore turned in his chair to face her head on. He looked to his spilled coffee, then back to her as he slowly pressed the tips of his fingers together in a gentle steeple. “Go home.”
“I’ll have my desk packed and I’ll be out before you can blink.” Tallah said and turned to leave.
His voice stopped her. “No. There’s no need to pack your desk.”
She heard him sigh long and slow through his nose. What was happening? He was firing her, wasn’t he?
“Sir?”
“Go home. Rest. Take as much time as you need. I’ll approve extra sick pay if it comes to that. Come back when you’re well.”
Tallah turned around to see if he had some smug look on his face to show he was joking. When she looked, she’d never seen that expression on his face before. It was almost regretful. “Do you need a doctor’s note, or…?”
He shook his head. “No. That won’t be necessary. I can clearly see that you’re ill. Just clock out and come back when you’re ready.”
Tallah swallowed, the buzz of adrenaline fading with every breath. Unable to think of what to say, she just nodded her head and left.
