Chapter 3: Humiliated

The desk phone rings. It’s one of the inner lines, which means someone is calling me from inside the company. I grumble because I can imagine who is calling. 

“Thunder Motors, Inc., this is Emma Green, how can I help you?” I reply automatically as I was taught on my first day here. 

My skin crawls the moment I hear Julia Anderson’s voice. It was her who I was expecting to be calling... unfortunately I was right. 

“Emma, I need you to come to my office, right now!” She yells and hangs up. 

I turn my eyes to Nancy, the other girl that works at the front desk. 

“The evil witch again?” Nancy asks as she files her nails. 

“Yep,” I say annoyed as I stand up. “I’ll be right back.” 

“Good luck!” Nancy says distractedly. 

I go up from the 14th floor, where I work at the front desk, to the 15th where the department of accounting, Human Resources, and most of the board members have their offices. Thunder Motors Inc., is a big company that occupies several floors in this building, from the 14th to the 17th. 

I normally shouldn’t be going to other floors, but Julia Anderson from the accounting department has, for some reason I ignore, decided that I am her worst enemy and so she constantly is asking me to do things for her as if I were her department assistant. I tried to complain to HR, but they just said it was ok if from time to time the front desk girls help out other areas. Which I would have zero problem doing, except that Julia is a rude and unpleasant woman. She is always messing with me, asking me to do things that are not my responsibility to do, and then complaining if I make a mistake.

I walk to the accounting department, Tania, the assistant from this department, sees me walk in with a surprised expression on her face. 

“She called you again?” She asks me in a whisper. 

I just nod and roll my eyes. Whatever Julia needs, she can ask from Tania, but she prefers to torment me instead. I knock on her office door. 

“Did you need anything, Mrs. Anderson?” I ask politely, as I am always with everyone in this office.  

I was aware since day one of how much I need this job and so I have given it my best. I’ve been here for two months now and I haven’t been late for even one day. I’m kind to everyone, even to Julia Anderson. To be honest, it’s not that I love this job. I was just desperate when I saw the ad online: ‘receptionist needed’, the pay was decent and so I sent my resume that same day. I was lucky enough to get the job and, although I don’t consider it my dream job, I do my very best every day. I know this receptionist job is not going to be enough to cover Eddie’s debt, but it will give us something and once my brother finds a job himself, it’s going to be easier for us to gather the money we need to pay Alex. If I lose the job, then we will both be unemployed and we won’t have money for anything, so I really take care of it. Even if that means putting up with Julia Anderson. 

“What took you so long?” Julia asks rudely. 

I do my best not to frown. 

“The elevator took a while to come and I had to take the elevator because I don’t work on this floor,” I remind her. 

“Whatever, I don’t want to waste time hearing your excuses,” she says rolling her eyes. 

She then grabs a document from her desk and gestures me to take it. I walk to her desk and I take the papers, it’s a heavy document, I look at the cover: “Expenses report for the first quarter”. What am I supposed to do with this?

“I need you to make 40 sets of copies for the meeting that is going to take place at 11:30 am in conference room 3. Don’t forget it! And don’t be late! Every board member is going to be at that meeting, I don’t want to deal with your usual mistakes,” she barks at me. 

“Of course, Mrs. Anderson,” I mutter angrily. 

Ugh, this woman! If she doesn’t want to deal with my “usual mistakes” why doesn’t she asks Tania to do this? She is this department assistant, I am not! I don’t have time to complain to myself in my head as I usually do, it’s 11:15 am, which means I have just fifteen minutes to make the copies and delivered them on time. 

I run to the copy room and I start to scan the large document right away. Even though the copy machine is state of the art, it still needs time to make 40 sets of copies so I look at the clock on top of the photocopier and watch the minutes go by. Why does she need so many copies? There are not that many board members, they must be 7 at the most, who else is going to be in that meeting. As I think about it, I start to get more and more nervous, I don’t want to mess up. 

After the copies are done, I put each copy inside a folder. I look at the clock. It’s 11:26 am which means I have 4 minutes to get to the 17th floor where the different conference rooms are located and look for number 3. I try to take all of the folders, but it is an impossible task, there are just too many. I feel drops of sweat on my forehead. I’m getting more and more nervous by the minute... I am definitely going to be late. With a lot of effort, I carry the 40 documents all by myself and I get to the elevator, but I am unable to press the button because my hands are already occupied trying not to let 40 folders fall to the ground. 

“Do you need any help?” Mark, a guy from the sales department, asks me with a wry smile. 

“17th floor, please,” I say with begging eyes. 

Mark presses the button for me. Once I get to the 17th floor, I run to conference room 3 but, to my surprise, it is empty. 

I look around me, was Julia teasing me? I stand in the middle of the ample lounge that accesses the numerous conference rooms with no idea about what to do. Luckily, at that moment, the assistant of David Gleason, a board member, walks by. 

“Judith!” I call her. “Did they changed the meeting?”

“No, the meeting already started in room 7, like it was scheduled,” Judith replies shrugging. 

Oh, that Julia! She gave me the wrong conference room number!

I run towards room 7, I push the heavy door with my ass and as I walk in, my shoe gets stuck on the carpet and I fall flat to my face. The 40 folders fly up in the air as I let out a pathetic scream. 

Everyone at the meeting looks at me perplexed. The silence in the room is absolute. I look up, Julia was giving a conference not only to all the board members, but to all the other important heads of the departments. So yes, I just humiliated myself in front of every company hotshot. 

“Are you ok, child?” Mr. Becket, the CEO, and founder of Thunder Motors, Inc., ask with a concerned expression. 

“Yes, thank you...” I reply feeling totally humiliated. 

A man seated next to the door, walks towards me, and helps me get up. Then the both of us start to pick up the scattered documents, all the papers flew out of the folders, so it’s going to take a long time for me to sort everything.  

“Thank you for the interruption, Emma, you may leave now,” Julia says angrily. 

“But...” I say as I hold the documents in my hands. 

“This is an important meeting. You are wasting everyone’s time. GO!” She barks at me. 

The man hands me the documents he gathered and I exit the conference room in silence wishing I could make myself invisible.