The Reimbursement

The reimbursement I submitted two weeks ago still did not come through.

I stared at the pitiful balance in my bank account, then stood up and headed straight for the finance office.

"Mr. Landon, why hasn't my reimbursement been processed yet? I've already fronted all my own money for client entertainment. If the funds don't come in today, I literally can't keep working!"

Seymour Landon's face darkened instantly. He yanked open his drawer, pulled out a thick stack of reimbursement forms, and slammed them onto the desk heavily.

"You've got some nerve coming to me. I was just about to come find you! Take a look yourself. What kind of garbage did you fill out on these forms? If you don't even know how to complete a reimbursement form properly, learn online. Don't embarrass yourself."

I was completely baffled. "What's wrong with it? Haven't we always filled them out like this? They were fine before. Why are they suddenly wrong this time?"

Seymour rolled his eyes. With a cigarette between his fingers, he jabbed at the paperwork.

"Before? I was cutting you slack before this, but not anymore!"

I forced myself to stay calm. "Then how should I revise it? I'll redo everything right now according to the rules."

"That pen won't do! Finance has regulations. You must use a black 0.5mm gel pen. Standard block script. No cursive! Oh, and another thing! The glue can't cross the boundary line. If the edges get damp and ruin other documents, who's gonna be held responsible? By the way, watch the fold marks. The paper must be smooth and pristine."

I swallowed my anger, took the forms back to my desk, and carefully filled out a brand-new set exactly as he demanded before returning to the finance office.

Seymour examined the forms like he was conducting a lab experiment, tilting them left and right under the light.

Then, he exploded, flinging the paperwork straight into my face.

"Rejected!"

The paper didn't hurt, but the humiliation did.

Thinking of the three-digit balance in my account, I clenched my fists and forced myself to ask, "What's the problem this time?"

He tapped the edge of one invoice where it was glued.

"Here. You didn't peel the glue cleanly. The invoice is slightly torn. How am I supposed to process that? Tell you what; Go back to the stores and get new invoices issued, then come see me again."

I stared at the faint fuzz along the paper's edge where it lifted ever so slightly.

I was about to explode.

These invoices took me half a month to accumulate, all from different malls, restaurants, and venues scattered across the city.

Never mind whether the merchants would even agree to reissue them.

Just running to that many places would take more than a single day.

"How's that even possible? What exactly is wrong with these invoices? Why can't they be reimbursed? Are you doing this on purpose?"

Seymour's expression turned mischievous as he flashed me a half-smile.