The Office Affair

It was a good Tuesday morning as I prepared my breakfast. I am renting my own apartment near our office because I would like to come in early. I plan everything in my life because I don't have the privilege to fail so yes, even the amount of steps that I have to take from my apartment to the office is calculated. Sue me. There is a coffee shop near our office so I ordered two of their best sellers to offer to my boss. I ordered two because he might not like the first flavor I chose. I also can't afford three because these are some expensive coffees so there you go lol.

I was already starting my task when Agatha, Nicole and John came in. "Oh, of course the new hired employee is the earliest one" Nicole said. Agatha also chimed in and said "you are goal driven huh? And you are already starting your work too. Impressive." "You ladies need to learn a thing or two from him. Both of you are always late except when I am there to get your ass away from the bed. " John said. "By the way, why do you have two coffees?"

I explained to them my plan on impressing the boss by giving him a coffee. They just laughed and said good luck because the boss might just see it as me sucking up which I also considered. Well, I already bought the coffee and who knows, he might not have his coffee yet and who doesn't love a good cup of coffee in the morning.

Anyways, i can just give them the coffee if the boss doesn't want any. He has other ways of impressing his manager. Afterall, I finished my course at the top of my class so I don't need to worry about anything. I made sure that it was highlighted in my resume and hoped that the HR head mentioned it to our manager. In my mind, the junior manager is smart enough to know everything about his employees so I'm sure he already knows my quality as his employee.

So here we all are, waiting for the junior manager to come. While we were waiting, Nicole asked "what do you think is he like? I mean, I heard he is new to the company but he got the position of junior manager already. Imagine being that smart and talented to already get that kind of position, right?"

Agatha replied "well.. I heard that he is somewhat related to the owner of the company that is why he got the position already. You know...nepotism and all." Then they both laughed. Huh, if the rumors are true then I'm not sure if I can grow in this company. We all know that a company being run by an unjust system will never let someone like me, who will work his way up, succeed. God I am already hating this company and it is my second day already.

Joana must have heard our conversation because she immediately silenced both Agatha and Nicole. "First of all, those are just rumors and I expect the both of you to be better than that. And if he really is connected to the owners of the company, I'm sure he deserves that position because we know the story of Bob...or are you all forgetting it?"

Bob? Now who is that.

John joined in on the conversation "ohhhh we will never forget the story of Bob. How can we if he reminds us that at least once a year on his birthday. Btw, Colton..." he looks at me. John continues "Bob is our senior manager. He isn't really a senior, I think he is around late 30s and it is just his title since we have a junior manager. So every year, he hosts his birthday party and invites everyone in this department. And he will tell you a story of how he got his position by being the best employee of this department. He was able to secure one of the most important clients that the company has and he continues to secure more with our help of course. You will meet him soon. He is a cool guy."

Oh wow. I guess that got my hopes up again knowing that you can be successful here without the help of anyone on the board. Now I am excited to meet the guy. Maybe I don't have to suck-up to the junior manager if I can just go straight to someone who holds more influence.

Joana seemed to notice my face, "oh I know that look Colton. I'm sorry to tell you but we are directly reporting to the junior manager. Not unless you are the junior manager, you would not have any interaction with the senior manager." Now there goes all my hopes. In that case, I just have to become the next junior manager. If I can prove that I am an asset to this company, maybe they will consider replacing him and putting me instead.

Okay Colton, get a hold of yourself. One step at a time and just do your best, back to the original plan of impressing the junior manager and start from there. If the rumor is true that he is somewhat connected to the owner of the company, then maybe I could use that to my advantage. The waiting game begins because our junior manager is yet to appear.

It is already after lunch and most of my tasks are done. What can I say, I am a competent employer and I have something to prove. Our boss isn't here yet and my coffee plans have already been inside Agatha and Nicole. There goes my plan on getting on his side. Where the fuck is that guy? I am already agitated and I can feel that Joana is starting to get annoyed because I keep on asking her for more tasks to be done.

Joana advised "you know, managers usually come in late. Sometimes, they don't even come in at all because their salary is fixed whether they come in or not. Unfair ain't it? But that is just one of the perks of being a manager and we all strive to become one someday. Just be patient."

"Oh okay," I replied shortly.

I didn't have anything to do yet so I asked Joana if I can roam the company since I haven't seen all the floors yet and the other part of the company too. She said yes and asked me to come back if I'm done because we are going to have an early out. She said that we should celebrate getting my first job and we can only do that this week since I will start my classes next week. I couldn't really say no since they said that they are going to treat me so why not.

I was about to go to the cafeteria when I decided to take a pee first. When I went to the bathroom, my eyes almost jumped out from my skull as the person that I least wanted to see back in my college days is now standing in one of the urinals. The moment my brain registered that annoyingly handsome face of his, I ran back out of the bathroom and immediately went back to the office.

I was gasping for hair as I ran for about 10 minutes and I just realized that I need to get back to exercising because I'm almost out of breath and I used to be an athlete wtf?! I asked my team if we can leave already because I am anxious. What could that person be doing in this company? Is he also applying for a job? The worst case scenario is if he is already working here. Actually, the worst case scenario is that if we work in the same department because we both have the same degree.

It made me wonder if he is even qualified to work in this company since I know that he barely passed our subjects. Wow, talk about being judgemental Colton. I am just on my second day and I am already stressed the fuck out. Get a hold of yourself, Colton.

Joana snapped me out of my deep thinking and requested all of us to stay for a while since our boss decided to finally come in and meet his two teams. Ok great. I am supposed to meet our boss in this state. I can already feel my heart beating fast and I don't do well if I am anxious so how am I going to impress our manager now. Maybe, I could excuse myself from the group and say that I am not feeling well instead of making a fool of myself? But that will leave a bad impression to my boss then. He might think that I'm the kind of employee who is always sick or someone who does not prioritize their work.

As I was thinking of my options, Joana grabbed me and told me that the boss is in his office now. I didn't even have time to think as we walked into his office. All ten of us (from the two teams) are now inside his wide office and we are comfortably seated on this plus sofas. I can barely see the face as he has his huge chair turned away from us. Talk about being climactic.

I can barely make sense of what is happening right now because I am still shaken with the event that occurred earlier. When he finally turned his chair towards us, I realized that it was the same guy that I ran away from years ago. The guy in the freaking bathroom and the last person that I want to see now. "Hi everyone. I am Stijn Vantilburg, your new junior manager."