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They chatted amongst themselves as they waited for the other Team Leads to make their way into the room, everyone grabbing themselves something from the plate.
Craig opened the meeting, going through each item one-by-one, checking how they were progressing with each team, pleased with some, chivvying others along. Allee made swift notes, writing the results of each discussion under each point on her agenda, the minutes flying by. Once Craig had finished, he handed over to Allee.
Charlie snorted, muttering under her breath.
“What was that, Charlie?” Craig frowned. “Would you care to repeat that?”
Charlie smirked, turning to face Allee, before saying slowly and deliberately, “I said, she's no Office Manager, she can't even send an email.”
Allee blushed angrily, growing frustrated at the conduct of the other woman.
“I made a simple error. I hadn't realised that this office's staff had been uploaded to my email client. I also didn't realise that duplicate names would automatically default to someone within the office. Anyone could have made that mistake.”
“No, not anyone,” Charlie replied, “only someone who was grossly under-qualified and had to sleep her way into the position would have made it. You're a disgrace, and you're going to screw up everything that we've worked hard for with your incompetence!”
Allee blinked rapidly, refusing to let the angry tears that were forming show, and took several deep breaths to calm herself before replying. She rarely lost her temper, but when she did, it was volcanic, and she felt as if she was about to erupt.
“Yes, I made a mistake, I freely admit that. At least I have the balls to admit to my mistakes, unlike you. When your subordinate sent you a copy of what was blatantly a private email, you should have deleted it immediately and let me know of my mistake. Instead, you acted like a school-yard bully and circulated it to the entire office to make me a laughingstock.
“You have harassed me since the day I arrived, and your behaviour has been childish and malicious. I am honestly amazed how someone with such little professionalism has made it to a Team Leader, but at least I don't go around making accusations about your skills. Get your facts straight before spreading rumours and making yourself appear ludicrous!”
Allee’s face was flushed, her breathing had accelerated, and one hand was clenched into a tight fist. She was well and truly angry, both at Charlie for her unfounded accusations and herself for losing her composure and professionalism. She leaned back in her chair, struggling to regain her equanimity. Charlie, on the other hand, was apoplectic. Her face was a mottled purple with rage, her eyes narrowed into vicious slits, and her teeth were clenched and bared.
“You little slag-” Charlie began.
“Charlie, enough!” Darryl cut in angrily. “We have enough problems with trolls on the forums and out in the community as it is, without having to deal with one in the office as well. You did a shitty thing to Allee by abusing the office email and internal messaging. You've been verbally slapped down for it, and rightfully so. Give it a bloody rest before you end up losing your job!”
Charlie was almost incandescent, but she couldn't vent to her frustrations at that point, not after being told off by a senior member of staff. Craig looked towards a now-composed Allee and motioned for her to speak. Allee drew a breath and began, her voice calm and even.
“I've been going through the files, and there is a large pool of money that you haven't been utilising. I know that Darryl has been applying to Head Office for funding for the assorted hardware and software upgrades, but I don't think you realised you had another budget available. Now, primarily that is for maintenance and such, but because you lacked an Office Manager for so long, Head Office took to paying those, and Craig has been ordering the essentials such as tea, coffee, toilet paper and the like.” Allee paused for a moment, finding a specific note before continuing. “We still have a couple of months before the end of the financial year, but I need to make sure that not only have we used the monies allocated to us, but to also collect and collate all the receipts to use for when I start negotiating the budget for next year.
“I need a list of items you want or need from each of you, be it hardware, software, furniture, publications. Whatever you can legitimately argue is necessary to keep a competitive edge and create a financial gain for the company: I want to know about it.” Allee allowed her eyes to travel over each of the Leads sitting around the table. “We still have a rather large amount in the budget, hence the new items in the kitchenette, and I'm happy to take suggestions for other essentials. I am currently holding on to a small pile of gaming and technology publications in my office. Feel free to come and grab them. My office door is open, and I'm here if you have any questions or gripes to relay back south. If I could please have your lists by the end of the week? That would be fantastic.”
“That's it for you, Allee?”
“That's all I have for this week, thanks.”
“Anyone else have anything to put forward? No? Okay then, let's get back to it!”
Craig closed the meeting and dismissed them all. Charlie was the first to leave the room, shoving her chair back so hard it fell. She ignored it and stalked out, looking neither left nor right, ignoring the rest of the Leads. They looked at each other, shrugged, and then filed out quietly.
Allee walked out with Darryl, lightly touching his sleeve and thanking him for his support with a shy smile. He shrugged in answer, smiled and headed to his desk as she went back to hers.
Later that morning, Noah wandered over to Darryl's desk, curiosity burning. Darryl glanced up, and seeing that it was Noah, sat back in his chair.
“Interesting meeting this morning, don't you think?” Darryl asked as Noah leaned against the partition wall.
“Very. Especially that little performance that was played out towards the end. I don't think I've ever seen Charlie rendered speechless.”
“Yes, well, it's not as if she didn't have it coming. I don't usually mess with office gossip or dramas, but I like Allee. She's come in, she's trying to make this place as comfortable as she can, and Charlie's just annoyed because some outsider got the job.”
“Yeah, but Allee was a bit stand-offish to start with.”
Darryl snorted, “How do you think you'd react to not only moving to a new state but starting a new job in a new office and having Charlie make you feel like shit your very first morning? I don't blame the girl for being stand-offish in the least! She's not like that with me. In fact, she's quite interesting once you get to know her a little.”
“I kinda figured that. We've had a couple of small conversations, and she seems to be thawing out a little. I just don't know if she'll really fit in here. I mean, how much does she know about this industry?”
“Have you seen her office?” Darryl grinned broadly.
