The Alpha’s Dynasty

Maya

As soon as I hanged up after speaking to a client on phone, I heard a soft knock on the door.

“Come in,” I said. I knew it was Kim because I had heard her footsteps a while ago. She thought I had not noticed that she was always eavesdropping. I wondered what incriminating things she hoped to hear from my mouth. I had decided to pretend not to notice it until she got fed up.

She opened the door and entered my office. She was wearing a red blouse tucked into a black pencil skirt. Her ponytail was a little bit too tight but it didn’t seem to be causing any strain on her face.

“Miller’s assistant says you’re needed in the HR office,” her sharp eyes studied my face.

My heart saw this as an opportunity to increase its beat. I pressed my fingers together and took a deep breath. I hope he hadn’t found out that I worked at St. Felicity’s during office days. I hadn’t been at the center since the day I had to tutor a child before she went for a competition. The person with the photograph had not threatened me or asked for money so there was a possibility that I was safe.

“Is something wrong?” Kim asked. Sometimes I wished there were no consequences of slapping people like her.

“Please leave me alone,” I told her. “And make sure to tell the assistant that I’ll be there soon.”

I took a deep breath and wrung my hands before knocking on Mr. Miller’s door. I’d never been so nervous to enter a superior’s office before.

“Good morning, Miss Bennett.” He said and continued talking before I could say anything. “I’m so disappointed with you.”

I didn’t know what to say to that because I was not sure whether he knew about St. Felicity’s or not. What did I do to disappoint a man who had always had a lot of praise for me?

“Good morning, Mr-”

He shook his head, cutting me off. “I know that you work at a center for blind children during office hours. You’re a volunteer but that’s still against the company’s code of conduct. This company needs your full concentration. If you choose to volunteer on Weekends, it’s okay as long as it’s not official or permanent. It’s a shame that you chose to waste office hours with your private business.”

“I’m sorry, sir. The center is closed on weekends so that the children can spend time with their families. It’s important for their development. The reason why I need to be there is because they don’t have anyone to teach Mathematics. The teachers are always leaving and that affects the children’s performance so-”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Stop there,” he interrupted. “Your reasons don’t matter. You’re employed by Milner insurance and it should be your first priority so I’m not going to listen to your excuses. I don’t care if you’re the most kind-hearted person on Earth. Why didn’t you talk to us about it? We could’ve worked out a solution. I’m sure Smith knows nothing about this, or does he?”

I shook my head.

“You may be one of the best employees this company has but it doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want,” he stated. Didn’t I already know that?

Judging by his tone of voice, he was really disappointed in me. This time I knew he was going to do something drastic to me.

“And you’ve been committing so many offences lately. First you were late for the Future of Insurance conference and blamed it on your assistant. That was shameful.”

“But-” I tried to defend myself but he raised his hand, a sign that I should keep quiet. He glared at me.

“Do not speak until I have finished talking.”

I had never felt any kind of resentment towards him but I was starting to. How dare he treat me like this? I had been loyal to the company for so long and I deserved some respect. The least he could do was hear me out so we could find a way out of the situation.

“I’ve received reports that you’re mistreating your assistant,” he continued, glaring at me. “That is something I never expected from you of all the employees in this company.”

“That’s not true at all, Mr. Miller.” I said, shaking my head. I could swear my heart was bursting due to how angry I felt because of Kim. So all this time, she was bad mouthing me to the HR. I wish I had laid her off when I had the chance. I wouldn’t be in this condition. “You can’t believe everything Kim says.”

“Don’t test my patience,” he warned, double tapping the screen of a cheap smartphone on the table to unlock it. I knew that phone. It belonged to Kim. He tapped something and an audio started playing.

It was a recording of me telling Kim that she was just an assistant. In this recording, it sounded almost like an insult. I remembered she made me so angry that day and I wanted her to mind her business. Now I understood that she drove me up the wall so I could say something bad to her. I felt disappointed in myself. I had always known how devious she was but I didn’t get more careful.

“She provoked me and she edited that. Ask her to provide the full version and you’ll know that she started everything.”

“Stop your excuses, Maya Bennett. You have to grow up. There’s no good reason for anyone to say such mean things to other people. Words can kill people so you should learn to use them carefully.”

“Please hear me out.”

“I’ve heard all I needed to hear. You’re going to get punished for your wrongdoing so it serves as an example to the rest.”

At this point, I felt like getting up and pushing him off his chair.

“Are you firing me?”

“No,” he shook his head and I felt like a heavy burden just got lifted off my shoulder. “You’re suspended for a two weeks. No work. No pay.”

I felt that two weeks was too long but I didn’t say anything fearing he’d actually fire me. I didn’t care about money but not being able to work for all that time scared me because I knew I’d get tired of doing nothing in the first week. The other thing was that my job might get taken permanently so I’d be living in fear. Anything was better than being fired, though. The only consolation was that I’d be spending more time with the children at St. Felicity’s.

“Kim will fill in for you until you get back.”

“What?” Now, that was even worse. He was going to put an inexperienced person in my position. “She’s neither qualified enough nor capable.”

“I’m the head of human resources here so I know what’s best for every position,” he said. “Have a good day, Miss Bennett.”

Now, I was almost inclined to believe Kim had something to do with this. I didn’t plan on letting her get away with it. She just won a battle I wasn’t fighting in but I’d make sure to win the war. She just made me an enemy. That was a very bad decision because I could crush her without any fear.