Don't Mess With Finance

Two weeks had passed, and my reimbursement still hadn't hit my account. Staring at the pitiful balance, I got up and headed to the finance office to ask about it.

"Ms. Lane, why hasn't my reimbursement arrived yet? I've already fronted all the expenses for client meetings. If the money doesn't show up today, I can't even do my job!"

Naomi Lane's face was thunderous. She slammed a stack of expense reports onto the desk with a sharp slap. "If you hadn't come to me, I'd have come looking for you! Just look at these—do you even know how to fill out an expense report? Learn how to fill these out correctly instead of embarrassing yourself!"

I blinked in confusion. "What's wrong? Haven't I always filled them out this way? Everything worked fine before—why is it suddenly wrong now?"

Naomi rolled her eyes, poking at the papers. "I gave you leeway before, but not anymore!"

I forced my frustration down and said, "Please show me exactly how it should be done. I'll fix it according to the rules."

She went over it like a strict inspector. "This pen won't do! The finance department requires a black 0.5 gel pen, neat block letters, and no cursive. Don't let the glue cross the dividing line, or it'll ruin everything else. Mind the folds, and the paper must be flawless!"

I swallowed my irritation and returned to my desk, painstakingly filling out the expense report exactly as Naomi had demanded, then sent it back to the finance office.

Naomi inspected it like a scientist, scrutinizing every detail. Suddenly, she hurled the report at me. "It's not reimbursable!"

It didn't hurt when the paper struck my face, but the sting of humiliation was unbearable.

I glanced at my three-digit account balance and held back a bitter growl. "What's the problem this time?"

She tapped the glue on one of the receipts. "Here. You didn't peel off the glue properly, and now the receipt is ruined. How do you expect me to process this? Here's what you do—go back to the store, get a new receipt, then come back to me."

I stared at the tiny frayed edges on the paper and felt my blood boil. I had spent two full weeks collecting receipts from every mall and restaurant across the city.

Regardless of whether the merchants would have cooperated, I couldn't possibly have visited all those places in one day.

"This is impossible! None of these receipts is damaged! Why can't they be reimbursed? Are you doing this on purpose?"

She looked at me with a teasing half-smile.