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“Charlie, we don't know that,” Noah sighed tiredly. “Besides, she didn't seem to be an idiot. In fact, I think she's more like us than we're giving her credit.”
“Oh? In what way?” replied Charlie.
“Well, she corrected me on my fandom description for one before she bolted. Plus, she got my t-shirt. Not everyone does, first time they see it.”
“She knows her sci-fi. Big deal. Doesn't mean that she's qualified for the job. I think I'll keep my faith in Darryl and Sammy to run this place over her. If she thinks she can waltz in and take over, she's raving.” Noah opened his mouth to interject, but Charlie ignored him. “Go and ask Darryl if he's ready to put his trust in some unknown, unproven bimbo. He may have smiled at her in the meeting, but he's going to keep doing what he has been doing for the last few months. So are most of us. She's not going to have much to do. She'll quit before the month is out.”
Having made her point, Charlie walked back to her own cubicle. Noah groaned. This new girl was going to have her work cut out for her. If she couldn't get the staff onside, and quickly, he thought Charlie's prediction would come true. He hoped that Allee had the tenacity to continue until she could prove herself, but it was beyond his control. They'd all just have to wait and see.
Chapter Six
It had been a long week. Wednesday had seen a load of mouldering food thrown in the bin as the new refrigerator had been delivered. Allee had anticipated that there would be an outcry if she also tossed the containers, so they were put in the box on the table in the conference room to await their owners' collection. The dishwasher had arrived later that afternoon, and Allee had been relieved to notice that people had stacked their dirty dishes into it before they left. She had stayed back to do a bit of a stock-take on the office essentials and had started the dishwasher as she'd left. That had been the high point of her week.
Thursday had been awful, with few of the staff speaking to her, leaving Allee wondering what she had done to isolate herself in such a manner.
Before leaving the office, she had sent Gareth an email, telling him what had happened, how she felt, and asking his advice on what to do. She had ended the email saying how she felt like a fraud, seeing as how she'd only got the job because of his intervention. Unfortunately, Allee had not realised that her email client had inserted a different Gareth as the recipient; it had sent the email to Gareth Preston, one of the people in the QA department.
By the time Friday lunchtime had rolled around, the entire QA team, including Charlie, had seen the email, and Charlie had gleefully forwarded it on to the rest of the office. The first Allee had known about it was when Darryl came and knocked on her door and brusquely told her she should check she had the correct recipient when sending personal messages using the office email. Allee had been mortified. She had kept a stoic face on when the coffee machine arrived and was able to stay composed until after it had been installed and all the paperwork had been handed over. After that, Allee had fled into her office, locked the door and drew the shutters and curtains. She had sat there for hours, alone in the dark, tears streaming down her face, waiting as everyone left for the weekend.
After a prolonged quiet period, Allee decided that the office must be empty, so she unlocked her door and stepped into the hallway. Having conceded defeat, she started packing up her office, her humiliation so complete it would be impossible for her to continue working where nobody respected her. An unexpected voice from the rear of the main room halted her in her tracks.
“Allee? Can I speak to you for a moment, please?”
Allee turned, clutching her possessions to her chest, to see Darryl sitting in the middle of the U-shaped desk, haloed in a circle of light. He had his feet propped up on a small cleared space, a keyboard on his lap, and sat facing a large, expensive-looking screen. She hesitated, and he raised a hand, beckoning her to him. Allee slowly walked over, and as she reached the desk, he gestured towards a spare chair. She sat, perching on the edge, preparing to bolt at a moment's notice. She fidgeted nervously, unsure what Darryl would say or if he’d reprimand her incompetence even further.
“I knew you hadn't left yet. I’ve been watching your office since I spoke to you last. I figured you'd emerge after everyone had gone home, and seeing as I'm stuck here doing some maintenance, I thought I'd wait around and speak to you.”
Allee remained silent, having no idea what to say. Darryl continued, “That error with the email client, anybody could have made that mistake, so you shouldn’t feel incompetent. I can see by your face that's how you're feeling. You're new to the office and new to the system, so you weren't to know. Any name match would give our office staff first preference. Charlie also didn't help matters.”
Allee looked up at that, puzzlement across her face, “What do you mean? What did Charlie do?”
Gareth Preston,” Darryl took a deep breath, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “The person you accidentally sent the email to, is one of Charlie's lackeys in the QA department. As soon as he read the email, he forwarded it to her. It should have stopped there.”
Darryl paused as some message on the screen diverted his attention. Allee was stunned. She hoped that she misunderstood Darryl's implications, but she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she hadn't. Darryl finished typing a particular command, allowing the system to continue with its maintenance. He turned back to Allee, a serious look on his face, making her feel as though she was about to be reprimanded.
“You have to be careful around Charlie. That woman is a brilliant QA Lead, she won't tolerate any bullshit from her team, but she's also a prime bitch if she doesn’t like you. If you give her an inch, she'll not only take a mile, but she'll use it to trip you up and lynch you. As much as I admire her know-how and consider her a friend, if she doesn’t like you, she can be hell, pure and simple, and she's decided to target you. As soon as Gareth forwarded her that email, she used it to humiliate you.” His tone became stern. “Now, in regards to what you wrote, nobody was snubbing you. This office is a fairly quiet one. People don't really tend to talk to each other out loud much. They do it all via online messenger. If you were utilising that, you'd be inundated with every virtual conversation going on at that moment.”
Allee grimaced, realising that there was possibly nobody in the office who hadn't read her private outpouring that had been meant for her friend back in Melbourne.
Darryl noticed her grimace and continued, “Yes, I realise how this must look and can only imagine how you feel. But you've got a spine. From what I can gather, you've moved from your home to a city you've never been to, taken a job you've never done before, and up until you made this simple mistake, you were doing quite well. Now, I don't really care how you got the job, so long as you do it and you do it well, and you don't fuck up all of my hard work.” Darryl smiled at Allee to soften his words, and Allee swallowed and gave a small nod.
“I have one last thing to say to you,” Darryl paused, waiting until she looked him in the eye. “Your comments regarding the cleanliness of this place were spot on. The last thing we need are vermin screwing with the servers, and this lot are big enough and ugly enough to clean up after themselves. Also, that coffee machine was a bloody brilliant idea, and I thank you from the bottom of my caffeine-addicted, shrivelled heart.” Darryl grinned and toasted a salute to Allee with a massive thermal travel mug. Allee smiled at that, her spirits lifting a little.
“Are you going to be here much longer?” she asked him quietly.
“I've probably got another two or three hours of this left. If I'd known this morning that I would be here this late, I would have ordered something. Oh well, it'll just spur me on to get it done.”
Allee stood, giving Darryl a small smile, “Goodbye, Darryl, and good luck with the maintenance.”
“G’night. I'll see you on Monday.” Allee hesitated and then shrugged her shoulders. She didn't even know if she'd be back on Monday. Darryl, apparently sensing her hesitation and seemingly reading her mind he sternly repeated, “Allee, I will see you on Monday, understood?”
She nodded, understanding the demand. She would be back on Monday to face the ridicule, and she would deal with it and get on with her job.
“I'll see you on Monday.”
Allee turned and walked towards the front of the office, passing the darkened toilets and the closed doors of hers and Craig's offices. Reaching her car, she paused for a moment, thinking before deciding and driving out of the parking garage and out onto Logan Road. However, instead of heading back to her apartment, Allee drove down the road in the opposite direction.
About half an hour later, Allee was back at the studio’s building, parking out the front in a visitor parking spot. She got out of the car, carrying a large paper bag and a cardboard drink stand, balancing it all in one hand with some skill, locked the car and unlocked the foyer doors. She quickly made her way up the stairs before opening the studio doors and walking back through the office, making a direct beeline to Darryl. He looked up at the noise in surprise, and when he saw what Allee carried, his face split into a wide grin. She placed the paper bag, which contained a Big Mac, large fries and a hot apple pie, and the large coke and hot caramel fudge sundae down next to him, on an empty section of the desk.
