2. Belittled

It's twelve o'clock in the afternoon. Lunch break had begun. Most of the staff streamed out, chatting enthusiastically about trendy cafes or new menus they wanted to try. Yet, there I was, still frozen in front of the photocopier. My stomach growled in protest, but I had to finish printing a massive stack of documents to meet Vanesha’s insane deadline.

"Can you even do your job?!"

A harsh shout shattered the silence of the division lobby. I turned to see a senior staff member berating a junior man who looked exhausted from carrying several heavy boxes of blank paper.

"You were supposed to put them there! Why on earth did you go to the third floor? If you want to play hide-and-seek, don't do it here!" the senior man snapped impatiently.

"I’m sorry, Sir. No one told me the exact location. They told me the seventh floor, then it was moved to the third, but it turned out to be on the first," the man explained softly. It was crystal clear that he was being bullied and pranked by the other seniors.

"Fine, just put them there!" the senior ordered curtly before leaving the man in an awkward silence.

He set the heavy boxes down right next to me. He was panting, his hand clutching his waist as if his bones were about to break from hauling those loads from floor to floor. Seeing him suffer like that felt like looking into a mirror—both of us were being treated like trash.

“Would you like something to drink?” I asked spontaneously, offering an unopened bottle of mineral water.

He didn't take it immediately. Instead, he stared at me with a look of pure bewilderment, as if kindness was the rarest thing in this building.

“Take it! I have two,” I offered again, showing him my own bottle which was already opened and half-empty.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“No problem.”

He drank greedily without pausing for breath, as if he had just crossed a desert. He was truly parched.

“Are you new here?” I asked.

He nodded slowly.

“Getting picked on by the seniors, huh? They’re so cruel.”

“I’m the new guy; they don’t feel the need to respect me,” he replied quietly, a trace of coldness hidden beneath his voice.

“We’re in the same boat!” I answered with a grin, pointing to the mountain of documents in the photocopier. “You see all this? This isn't my job at all. I’m being bullied in broad daylight today, too.”

He went quiet for a moment, looking at me with an unreadable gaze before finally reaching out his hand. “I’m Dominic.”

“I’m Daisy,” I replied, shaking his hand firmly. It felt good to find a comrade in the middle of this hell.

Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief after talking with Dominic, the wicked Vanesha appeared in the distance. She walked toward us with that facial expression that never failed to get under my skin.

"Is it done?" she asked curtly, snatching the printouts that had just come out of the machine.

"Yes," I answered as briefly as possible.

"Not bad for a graduate from a third-tier, no-name college," Vanesha mocked, without even a hint of gratitude.

My blood boiled. Exhaustion and hunger finally broke my restraint. "The draft you gave me was a mess, like something a grade-schooler would write. Of course, my work is far more presentable."

Vanesha froze. She turned back, her face flushing red and her eyes glaring sharply. "You dare talk back to me? It seems you’re tired of working and want to be fired this very day!"

I fell silent. My courage vanished instantly as I remembered my fragile position. She had powerful connections, while I had nothing.

"On what grounds do you think you have the right to fire anyone?"

A deep voice suddenly cut in. Dominic spoke up with a tone that was calm yet piercing. Vanesha turned, eyeing the bespectacled man beside me from head to toe, lingering on his shabby shirt. She snorted, then burst into a condescending laugh.

"Don't get involved, Newbie! But whatever, I’m in a good mood today. I won't let my day be ruined by dealing with trash like you two!" Vanesha looked back at me with arrogance. "Bring all those documents to the meeting room as soon as you're finished!"

She strutted away, leaving behind the suffocating scent of her expensive perfume.