Song: 'Easy on me' by Adele
There ain't no gold in this river
That I've been washin' my hands in forever
I know there is hope in these waters
But I can't bring myself to swim
When I am drowning in this silence
Baby, let me in
Go easy on me, baby
I was still a child
Didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me
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ELIJAH'S POV
"What is this?" banging the file lightly yet harshly on the table, I asked her.
"A case study of the previous projects", she answered confidently.
"Is this what you call, as you say, a case study?" I probed further.
"I- I guess so?"
"You guess so, means you're not sure?"
"No sir, I mean, I'm quite certain."
"So you're certain now. I wonder why that would be the case?" the color from her face drained a little, "tell me, Ms. Evans, where did you learn to do this?"
"In college we..."
"This is an actual office, not a place where you can test your academic knowledge." I didn't let her finish.
"If you let me finish, Mr. Norman, I was saying I learned it in college but used Google yesterday to make it professionally." she's annoyed. It's exactly what I intend to do.
"Oh, so you googled it. How do you think I run my business, through Google?" I looked at her with dead eyes. She shook her head in a negative, less confident than when she walked into my office a few minutes ago.
"That's right, I don't. So next time, I assign you something, come and ask me. Otherwise, I suggest you quit and join Google instead. Now take this away and fix it, ask Casey" I threw the file towards her and she caught it just in time.
"I want it not only fixed but renewed in two," I said just as she was to leave the office.
"Okay, sir, two days. I can make it work" She said with a little relief.
"Two hours, that is" I don't like seeing her relieved.
"But sir, it's almost break tim..." stress was evident in her words.
"One and a half hour," she again tried to say something but I beat her to it, "it can go lesser than that as well if you don't leave... now" with panic in her eyes, she almost ran out.
Honestly, her report wasn't bad at all it was quite thorough. Just some minor hiccups here and there, almost negligible.
I don't like it when she feels confident in front of me. I want her to dread every second that she spends in my presence. And live in fear of the ones she'll have in the future.
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HANNAH'S POV
Breath in, breathe out...
Breath in, breathe out...
Breath in, brea......
Urgh! This is just not working.
What does he think I am? A computer or a witch?
Probably, the latter, considering how evil he thinks I am.
But much to my disappointment, I have no tricks or spells under my sleeve to support this idea.
One and a half hours? It's impossible to renew it in this little time.
But you don't have any other option, now, do you?
I dialed Casey's number but it turned out she didn't come to work today.
Isn't it just great!
Okay, Hannah, get yourself together and get to work. Self-pity takes you nowhere, plus you don't have time for that.
And with that, I got to work, ignoring the rigorous pleas of my growling stomach.
I skimmed through the content of my report, compared it with the previous reports that I had, and started redoing it.
Putting my hair in the messiest ponytail one could make, I said to myself, "You can do this".
But no way in hell you'll be able to put it together in one and a half hours... or should I say one hour and three minutes?
By the time I finished it, I had changed the entire format, redid the phrasing, added a few more details, and ran a grammarly check just to ensure that this time even a comma is missing.
But that took me exactly three hours and seven minutes. I tried calling the Brute to tell him that but he didn't pick up as he was out and still is.
Getting up from my chair with a numb bum and sore hands, I stretched my body in every position humanly possible.
Putting the newly printed file in his office, I came back to mine, dropped dead on my chair, and put my head down as I felt exhaustion and hunger kick in from all angles. The day has finally come to an end, just one more hour to go
It must not have been 5 minutes that I got summoned up by His Royal Highness himself. Dragging myself forcefully out of the chair, I knocked on his door.
This time he was quick to call me inside. I had zero hopes and energy this time so I just stood there with no expectations whatsoever.
He skimmed through the new file like one goes through a flap book and put it back on the table.
What? Is he not even going to check it properly? I should've known.
"Fair enough. Assuming the report was made within the deadline, what did you do with the rest of your time?"
Ah! Of course, it had to come down to the deadline.
"I did not" with a bowed head, I said truthfully.
"Excuse me?"
"I... I did not beat the deadline. It took me 3 hours and seven minutes to put it back on your table."
"And you think telling this to me is in your best interest?"
"It might not be," I said, now looking straight into his eyes, "but I'm not a liar, and neither I possess superhuman power, I can't take credit for something I haven't done".
"And who's crediting you?"
"N... no, I meant to..."
"I don't care what you meant to say, your so-called "truthfulness" means nothing when you can't beat the deadlines. I assure you this is the first and last time" I nodded embarrassingly.
"You're doing for the, you can leave".
Oh boy! Does this man ever get happy, I thought as I took a cab back home.
Another day ended, how many more to go?