 
COURTNEY IN CHARGE?!

A Day of Nonsense in The Office

By W.N. Foster

Smashwords Edition | Copyright W.N. Foster 2013

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FRIDAY MORNING

Courtney pulled into the parking lot of Grubay Broadcasting and she looked around while she made a mental note of which co-worker's cars were already there, checking off an imaginary attendance list, just as she did every work day. Spotting vehicles belonging to a few people she did not care for too much, she cursed under her breath as she wished out loud for more people to take longer vacations or to use more sick or personal days so she wouldn't have to see them as often.

Courtney pressed the radio button to shut it off and reached for the keys in the ignition. It wasn't that she did not like her co-workers, but rather just the fact that some of them were what you would call special and required extra effort in order to interact on a professional level. And while she did enjoy the work that she did, she found it very annoying dealing with people whose only mission in life seemed to be spreading misery and starting problems for others.

Courtney was 27 years old, educated and working hard to advance in her career but it seemed that some of her co-workers put her professionalism to the test, often. But she was in the prime of her life and was more than willing and able to take on the world. After all, she had a wonderful group of friends, who were each other's support system, had a great condo not far from work and an adorable Yorkie, Precious. The only thing missing was a man in her life but she was just getting back out on the dating scene after a recent break up. With her chocolate brown hair and eyes, along with naturally pouty lips she wouldn't be single for long. And while she had no complaints about her personal life, her work life was another thing.

Courtney opened the back passenger door of her Maxima to retrieve her belongings and realized in her haste to leave on time, she had forgotten her pretty new dark blue blazer hanging in the hall closet. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She prayed this was not a sign of how things would go today.

Courtney's supervisor Lisa was using a vacation day for an extended weekend, much to her joy and Courtney would be serving as the acting supervisor. This was nothing new as she had successfully done so before, however today the weekly multi-functional meeting was being held and this would be Courtney's first time attending as a representative of the Collections department. She was up for the task but was kicking herself for leaving her blazer at home. She had wanted to make a good impression.

The walk to the entrance of the building was similar to that of a condemned person on their way to the electric chair – intentionally slow and with dread of what awaited. For Courtney the doom ahead for her was the time to be spent with the motley crew of personalities in the office. Never before had she worked with such people. Courtney was convinced it had something to do with the company for whom she worked for and the particular industry they were in; her employer provided cable television to the local tri-state area.

It seemed that the so called psych test given during the interview process was a tool used to weed in, rather than out, all the nuts who applied for a job. This appeared to be especially true when the one doing the hiring was a little mentally touched themselves. Courtney had heard stories of employees gone wild or that had been caught up in questionable behavior.

There was Kristen, an overnight dispatcher, who was found passed out on the bathroom floor from a drug overdose; Ricky, a Construction supervisor, who everyone could smell alcohol on his breath daily; Pete, a Warehouse tech who cheated on his wife with Nancy, a Field Service coordinator, that had both his and her tires slashed in the parking lot; Gerald, another dispatcher, who set fires around the building before finally getting caught when he mistakenly set his pants ablaze. But nothing took the cake like Dawn and Rafael who both worked in Media Sales and had regular domestic disputes that would end in them being taken away in handcuffs, followed by a fairy tale wedding and then an even bigger divorce battle – all within a 1 ½ year time frame. But thankfully for Courtney not everyone was left of the sane mark. There were some great people who worked for the company and who helped to put a lid on the crazies running loose.

However, if a person was not somewhat wacky when they were hired, they certainly had a good chance of becoming so dealing with the customers they served. Courtney had previous experience working with the public and when she started with Grubay 3 years ago, she was in the Customer Service department before she quickly ran to the Collections department 6 months later. Never before had she dealt with so many angry and weird customers as the company had. Most of them were angry because their services had been interrupted or shut off for non-payment. Add to that the fact that there was just general dislike for the cable company and what it represented – a necessary evil. No one likes having to pay money in order to watch TV. They missed the days when all you needed was a rabbit ear antenna, not a rented converter box.

And while that was understandable, some of the people Courtney encountered ranged from downright scary to unbelievably odd. Poor old Mr. Herman was in his 70's, drove a car from the 1970's and would shuffle into the building and slide a post note to the rep that contained a list of the X-rated PPV movies he wanted to order on his account. Annoying Mrs. Stokes would come in all dressed up, hair done with full makeup face on as if she were Royalty, and talk on her cell phone telling her husband how much their bill was, asking him which bank account to write a check from and then would proceed to complain about the cost of services. Rebellious Mr. Philips insisted on getting other customers riled up while on line and would walk up to the window reeking of marijuana – burning Courtney's nose hairs and making her gag. And then the favorite – potty mouth Mrs. Hall, with three little ones running around and another on her hip, would come in every month after having her services disabled and ask what she was suppose to do with her kids if her cable was off, as she cursed up a storm. Courtney quickly became burned out from all the hatred being spewed at her day in and day out as a Customer Service rep, so it was no surprise when she left that department in a hurry.

It was 7:48 by the time Courtney used her badge to buzz through the two sets of glass doors at the front employee entrance of the building. She walked through the empty reception area, which consisted of a desk where visitors checked in and chairs lined up against the wall, and continued down the hall past the Human Resources and Customer Service management offices before heading through the mailroom, complete with a copier, postage machine and individual mail slots, before entering into the 'land of the cubicles' - the open work area where her desk was located.

This space was made up of cubicle seating and is shared by multiple departments. Drab gray paint covered the walls, with corresponding standard commercial carpeting that was rarely vacuumed or cleaned, running throughout. The area was lit by one large window on the west side of the building that faced a side parking lot and by florescent lighting found in offices everywhere. The panel mounted work spaces were padded with a sickly mauve colored material, were only big enough for a small desk with a small two drawer file cabinet beneath it and had walls that rose to the height where a computer monitor could be seen over the top. The only way to get privacy in this type of work environment was to get out of your seat and squat low. Many an employee had been spotted by a passerby looking like a crazy person in an effort to have some peace.

The area was a vast sea of mauve, with a few larger work stations for supervisors along the way. Each desk was decorated by the occupant in attempts to show individual style or to bring the comforts of home to work and drown out the depressing décor. And just like the people who sat at those desks, the ornaments and knickknacks ranged from wacky to boring to even uncomfortable to look at. Working in this particular part of the building exposed a person to lots of noise, an unwanted audience on a regular basis and a wealth of personalities – the good ones and the bad ones.

The building occupied by Grubay Broadcasting housed roughly 75 employees, mostly belonging to the Field Service department, which was the heart and soul of the company. The entire rear portion of the one story building was used by that team and included the warehouse with the equipment, lockers for the technicians, a conference room and management offices for the various divisions of that department. The middle of the building was occupied by the smaller departments of Media Sales and Dispatch, along with a general conference room used by all and the cafeteria.

The front section of the building contained the 'land of the cubicles' section, which connected to the Customer Service walk-in center, Audit office, the mailroom and a hallway leading to the executive office of the General Manager, as well as the areas Courtney had passed on her way in through the employee entrance - Human Resources, Customer Service and Reception. The layout of the work areas was cramped and pretty much ensured that you could run in to a person several times a day, in different locations.

This was unlike the lavish corporate offices and suites used by the company's administrative managers, directors and VPs, that were located in an executive building a few miles away. That location housed the big wigs for various companies and to occupy a floor in that building was considered a crown jewel for any local organization. It was always a treat to attend a meeting or conference in those offices; the furniture, office views and décor were breath taking and made an employee feel inspired to reach that level of success one day.

The first few minutes of the work day when not all the lights were on and most people in her work area were still silent and settling into their morning routines, were the ones that Courtney enjoyed the most. As she sat down in her cubicle and began to settle in herself, she began hearing voices floating over from the connecting Customer Service lobby and from the cafeteria. In one direction Michelle, the Customer Service lead, was telling yet another story about her husband and in the other direction someone was complaining about spoiled coffee creamers.

This calm would only last for a few more minutes when more co-workers would come in and fill up the rest of the seats belonging to three different departments: Collections, IT and Sales; her department took up most of the seats as there were 12 people total, with 6 in Sales and 3 in IT. There were times that so many phone conversations were taking place, people couldn't hear the person they were talking to. But right now, it was as peaceful as it was going to be and Courtney loved it.

The 12 Collection team members were made up of an interesting assortment of people. There were 10 women and only 2 men, and those men brought just as much drama as the women. There were days when Courtney wished they all would be sent home because they were so fired up and other days where everyone was just so calm that you would think that they had been drugged. The current team has been in their positions between a few months and 5 years. Besides Lisa and Courtney, the rest of the team consisted of the following characters.

Starting out, there was Stephanie, who has been with the company since it first started, 17 years and counting. She has worked in multiple positions within the organization and seems content to be a bump on a log. When she's not reminiscing about the earlier days on the job, she's pointing out how things use to be done. And just as her mind was stuck in the past, so too was her appearance – from her dated hairstyle to her clothing. Then there is Brian, in his early 20's, an attractive playboy and disgruntled with the world he has created for himself. After impregnating the 4th girl, his privileged family disowned him and now he must pay his child support on his own, as he fights constantly with the children's mothers.

Next was Francis, the gossip. She was in her late 40's, with her graying hair always in a braided bun and she dressed well. Despite her annoying ability to speak loudly all the time, she could be a nice woman but you had to watch your words with her. Stan was hired 2 years ago and just recently transferred into the department from Dispatch. He was in his late 30's, a shameless flirt who was on a mission to sleep with any and every female in the building that he could and who always seemed to get into trouble wherever he went. There of course was Mary, Courtney's work mom who looked after her well being. She had joined the company when her husband retired and she found that life was better when one of them was out of the house while the other was home all day. Denise came over from the Dispatch department a year ago but she was like a ghost because she was notorious for not being there. A habitual absentee, Denise could not make it a full month without taking a sick day, using a personal or vacation day or even some form of a disability claim. She had made a career out of not being at work.

And that left Maxine, Courtney's work rival and her crew of minions. Maxine, like Courtney was in her late 20's but unlike her, Maxine was a constant social and professional climber, stepping on people in her path with no regrets. She was not afraid to use others to her advantage on her way to get what she wanted. More on that later. Lauren seemed to be the president of Maxine's fan club, changing around her appearance and what not to match that of her idol. She was only 23, lived at home with her parents and was still easily impressed with others. Next was Ashlee, a dysfunctional, emotional basket case with whom Maxine would pretend to have compassion for, only to turn around and throw things back in her face. Ashlee was in her early 30's but behaved like a little girl still in junior high school. And that left Nicole, the so called holy roller of the group. She had been a teenage mother and now thought that quoting bible scriptures made up for her rebellious behavior in her youth. However, she had not really changed at all – partying in the clubs on Fridays and Saturdays and then going to church on Sunday. And now she was getting her kicks running behind Maxine.

And now back to Maxine. Ever since Maxine was hired two years earlier, there had been bad blood between the two as their personalities clashed and a rivalry was started. Courtney was friendly and welcoming when she first arrived but quickly noticed that she was more concerned with portraying a certain image and backstabbing than she was with having people actually like her. They had gone to lunch and had drinks after work with a few of the other women in the office a couple of times but then Courtney put distance between them as she started to see Maxine clearly for who and what she was – an overly ambitious woman who would stop at nothing to get her way. Maxine was indeed a whole bag of a special kind of crazy. Courtney was not one for theatrics and over embellishing and that was exactly what Maxine thrived on.

Take for instance her background. Maxine would gladly brag about herself to anyone and everyone. She would go on and on about how she had won a large settlement from a lawsuit, was receiving generous alimony payments and now drove luxury cars, wore name brand clothing and had servants. She proudly sold herself as a 'rags to riches' story, and in fact she was. But while she glamorized her life, the reality was that she had grown up poor, managed to get pregnant and secure a marriage to a wealthy man, then divorce him and accused a former employer, the mayor of a small town, of sexual harassment which ended with a large payout. The luxury vehicles she drove were older models purchased at police auctions – not purchased off the lot, she shopped in a consignment store - not off the racks in the well known department stores and the servants were really her mother's friends coming from the island where she was born, staying with her until they got on their feet.

And apparently when Maxine became pregnant with twins by her younger, unemployed boy toy, they were in a panic for fear of losing the lifestyle that they had become accustomed to and so the sexual harassment plot was dreamed up. They were paid off to avoid an election year scandal. All of this had been shared by Maxine's one time friend named Karen who happened to be engaged to a technician at Grubay and who was a familiar face around the workplace. The two had a falling out and were no longer friends so when Maxine came to work at Grubay, Karen felt no remorse when she shared Maxine's business with some of the women on the job.

And despite knowing that some knew her background, Maxine would still walk around with her nose in the air, putting on an act. To her detriment, she had even confessed some of those things told by Karen to others, and therefore confirmed that Karen's information was accurate. Courtney found herself completely disgusted by Maxine and her dishonesty and so she kept her at arm's length and under a watchful eye.

Courtney's mistrust of Maxine was not only based on the lies she told about herself, but also on the trouble caused by her. Several co-workers on separate occasions had told Courtney of conversations they had with Maxine, only to be brought into Human Resources later on. Courtney had also heard Maxine advise others to seek out management or HR to report the actions or words of another. But she had to give her credit – she was a people person and could smooze with the best of them and had a way of influencing others. Courtney knew to keep an eye on Maxine and to watch her actions and words to avoid being a victim of hers. And Courtney felt thrilled and relieved when she was offered the lead position within the department after both she and Maxine vied for it. Maxine's influence did not work for her that time.

And to this day Maxine still had sour grapes about missing out on that promotion. But in reality Courtney was a clear favorite to take on that role by upper management, having a business education and previous work experience with the material the department covered. Courtney was always grateful that Maxine was seen for who she really was by the higher ups.

Courtney stood with her coffee mug in hand, having placed a manila folder containing the paperwork on the first order of business for the day next to her keyboard and turned on her computer. Her mouth watered at the thought of the first cup of coffee for the day.

Just then, Squirrel, one of the Field Service supervisors and an apparent bad hunter – hence the nickname, walked by, shooting daggers from his eyes to Courtney. She stared back, never batting an eye. For the life of her, she did not know what that man's problem with her was. She hadn't had any incidents or bad words with him but he was intent on showing her nothing but dislike. His wife Nina was a floating Customer Service rep so she would occasionally work out of that office and Courtney adored her. She was the nicest woman but apparently not too picky with men. Courtney had decided a long time ago that Squirrel must be using some kind of mind control on her and is really holding her captive. She wanted to send the cops over to their house to investigate and free Nina once and for all. But other people's domestic situations would have to wait – it was coffee time!

Strolling into the cafeteria, Courtney was met with the delicious aroma of coffee and her eyes immediately went to the pot in the coffee station to see if there was any liquid left over. Score! Apparently a new pot had just been brewed. Mike, an old timer with the company, stood nearby with a full cup. She made eye contact and smiled.

"Just made it, good timing." He apparently saw the joy in Courtney's eyes.

"You are the best Mike! You must have known I needed a cup badly."

The two chatted about the upcoming weekend as she poured herself a cup and as both became satisfied with their blend of creamer and sugar, they were greeted by more workers, also seeking their morning cups. The cafeteria began to swarm with activity before long and Courtney and Mike said their goodbyes, each going their separate way.

Back at her desk and now armed with coffee, Courtney was ready to dig into the folder full of invoices that needed processing. The lights had been turned on by one of the sales reps now present and the office was starting to hum with activity as other workers began to arrive. Mary was making her way to her desk a few cubicles over.

"Good morning Captain", she said as Courtney caught her eye and smiled.

Mary was Courtney's cheerleader and two had bonded immediately; they shared a mother-daughter type relationship. Because they cared for one another, they were protective of each other and helped whenever it was needed. Courtney kept Mary up to date on the latest software and technology that they used in the office and Mary provided support and advice when needed. Mary even encouraged her to go for the Lead position when it was posted last year.

"Good morning Mom," was Courtney's response. She couldn't help but laugh at Mary's teasing.

Just as Courtney flipped the folder open with one hand and grabbed her coffee mug with the other, she saw movement from the corner of her eye. She turned her head just in time to see a rat scurrying from out of the far corner of her cubicle into the aisle. Courtney screamed out as she jumped out of her seat and flung her arms around, as if to fly to safety. Her chair crashed loudly into the wall and coffee flew everywhere – on the desk, the floor, the cabinets and all over Courtney's crisp white blouse. And just as Courtney stood frozen, assessing what had just happened, more screams erupted - first down the aisle and then around the corner from the neighboring hallway as the rat made its way around the office. Soaked in coffee and with frazzled nerves, all Courtney could do was to shake her head in disbelief over what had just happened.

"There's nothing like a little unexpected excitement to get your heart pumping in the morning." Mary was making her way to Courtney by now with a handful of napkins. "Are you ok?" she asked with an amused but helpful look on her face. Courtney just laughed. She could not believe the luck she was having, and it was not even 9:00am.

"The coffee touched me, thankfully the rat didn't." The two women chuckled as they worked to clean up the liquid.

"You don't happen to have a spare shirt with you?" Mary asked.

"No. You would think so knowing how prone I am to special little accidents such as this one." Mary smiled at her response.

"I'll go see if I can find you something - maybe someone has a spare sweater." And off Mary went.

Courtney stared down at the stains now setting in on her shirt and cursed herself for wearing white. She should have known better, after all she was a walking magnet for anything and everything that could possibly cause stains whenever she wore light color clothing. But she went against all that she knew in an effort to have a professional look for the meeting today. Just then Maxine walked in.

She looked Courtney over and with a smirk stated, "I see you still have not mastered drinking from anything other than a sippy cup." Courtney bit her tongue and smiled. The last thing she wanted to do was tell her off like she really wanted to and give Maxine ammunition to report her to Lisa.

Instead, Courtney played Maxine's game. "Good morning Maxine. Perhaps instead of making snide little comments, you can put your time to better use and actually make it to work on time."

And with that Courtney smirked back and turned to glance up at the clock on the wall above the doorway Maxine had just entered through – it read 8:12. Maxine glared at Courtney and proceeded to her desk in defeat. Maxine 0, Courtney 1.

Courtney finished cleaning up the mess at her desk. As she did, one of the IT guys and more sales reps came in, increasing the chatter level significantly. Her morning calm had already fallen by the way side and there was no turning back now – the work day was in motion.

Just then Mary returned and she brought with her a tech jacket, which was navy blue with white and neon green lettering and accents, which appeared to be 2 sizes too big. Seeing the look of defeat on Courtney's face, Mary explains. "I couldn't find a sweater from any of the ladies. This was all that I could find. Sorry."

Mary extended the jacket to her and frowned. Courtney frowned and reached out for the jacket. What could Courtney do? "I appreciate your help, Mary. This is fitting for how my morning is going." Mary joked, "Don't worry, its Casual Friday anyway." The two women laughed as Mary patted her on the shoulder. After putting the jacket on over her stained shirt Courtney realized she was wrong – the jacket was 3 sizes too big, not 2.

"I'm hungry, who wants to order breakfast with me?" shouted a large woman with an even larger mouth, walking into the cubicle area. It was Francis and as usual she was hungry. If Courtney wasn't privy to her work, she would think that eating was all that she did the entire day. But that distraction took Courtney's mind off of her attire and made her realize that she was hungry herself. But rather than get caught up in the exhaustive food ordering process, she decided she would eat one of the oatmeal packets she had stashed in her desk drawer for such an occasion.

And all around her began the foolishness that always accompanied a food order. "Where should we order from?" "I don't have cash on me." "Someone owes me money from last time!" "I hate that place - they never make my food right."

Courtney shook her head and sat down in her chair, which thankfully was dry. She realized then that she hadn't opened up any programs on her computer and she in fact, had not started working yet. After logging in, she double clicked on the email icon and up popped her mailbox – complete with a red, urgent email from the department's manager.

Angela was in her late 40's, had a few extra pounds showing but dressed professionally at all times. She worked at Grubay for the last 8 years and was well respected by all because she made everyone in her presence feel at ease and relaxed, no matter their title. Angela had an easy going nature but she expected an earnest effort from her staff. As long as you showed results, she would not micro manage and Courtney truly appreciated that about her.

Angela made it easy to work for her but still, a sense of dread sunk in and Courtney's heart began to race. "Oh no", she thought as she immediately opened the email and began to read the contents:

Courtney – In Lisa's absence you will need to participate on a conference call this afternoon regarding the latest hot topic project that she has been working on. Below is the call dial in information. I am out sick today and will not be on the call. Lisa took the lead in researching the matter and the details will need to be shared with James and the other department heads. She has advised me that you are up to speed on her projects during her leave. Be sure to include what her overall analysis is as a decision will be made today. Thank you.

Panic set in as Courtney's heart nearly stopped beating and she struggled to breathe. "What project?!" she thought as she turned and looked at Lisa's empty cubicle. Courtney went blind and deaf for a minute as she processed what was going on. Slowly her mind began to work again. From what she gathered, there was an important project that Lisa had not bothered to mention, there was a conference call at 1:00 pm with the Directors of several departments and apparently something big was being decided today – all of which Courtney knew nothing about.

And now she was being thrown into the lion's den unknowingly by Angela. She had no notes, no emails on anything – how was she going to report on what Lisa had worked on? In all of her work to prep Courtney on what needed to be done while she was out, she failed to mention this major detail. Courtney felt betrayed and was angered.

Her relationship with Lisa was a love-hate one at best. Lisa came aboard when the previous supervisor Dan left seven months ago. Courtney had applied and interviewed for the supervisor position, however Lisa was chosen over her. Courtney was told by the recruiter that she needed more experience but would one day make a fine leader. And while she was disappointed, she understood why she was not picked. Lisa had the experience the company was looking for and so Courtney did not feel slighted and readily accepted her new boss.

Things started off fine with Lisa at the helm but they seemed to change as Courtney noticed that Maxine's power started to take hold of Lisa. The two turned into instant buddies as they played the female version of the office politics game - Maxine gave her vote to Lisa for Prom Queen, supplying information on co-workers and Lisa fed into Maxine's ego with endless compliments. Before Courtney knew it, Maxine was conveying messages from Lisa as if Courtney reported to her and Lisa was starting to assign Maxine to work with Courtney on tasks.

Slowly but surely, Lisa was becoming more obvious with her apparent attempts to frustrate and to break Courtney down. A little birdie, Francis, had informed Courtney of a conversation that was overheard in which it was implied by Maxine that Courtney wanted Lisa's job and in fact was bitter that she was not chosen for it and was trying to undermine Lisa so she would fail as the supervisor. And because Courtney could not come right out and deny something she actually hadn't been accused of doing directly and not knowing how truthful Francis had been, she was stuck. What could she do? And so began the downward spiral of their relationship. Courtney tried to stay one step ahead by anticipating Lisa's moves and by trying to stay alert to any potential plots. Lisa had Maxine and her little crew of followers, but thankfully Courtney had loyal co-workers to help her along the way.

Courtney was upset that she found herself in this position and that she had not seen this set up coming. And so another exasperating, competitive female battle raged on. It is a typical workplace war in which women find themselves fighting in – whether they want to or not.

Lisa's background in Customer Service and Accounting management led to her being hired by Grubay, but little did they know her past also included quite a bit of personal drama that still influenced her. She had recently moved from another state, attempting to put her now ex-husband and his jail sentence for embezzlement behind her. Rumor had it that he stole from his employer to keep Lisa in furs and that she escaped charges after sleeping with the prosecutor. That marriage was her third since the age of 20 and just like the previous ones had been based solely on Lisa looking for a man she could easily manipulate. Now in her 30's, she hadn't changed. Lisa would let her long blond hair hang loose, show some leg and men would flock to her, so she had no trouble finding victims to support her. And now she was walking the halls at Grubay Broadcasting.

Reality started setting in and Courtney realized that she now needed a plan of action. She couldn't do anything about what had already happened, but she could damn sure do something about what was going to happen. She stood up to go over to Lisa's cubicle and search for anything that would give her a clue. But then she heard her cell phone ringing inside her purse in the bottom drawer. "Damn it, I forgot to put it on vibrate," she thought to herself as she prayed no one else had heard it. Employees were only allowed to use their cell phones in the cafeteria, designated smoking areas and the parking lot. Quickly she pulled open the drawer and reached into her bag. She crouched low in her cubicle as she answered it by the third ring.

"Hello," she whispered.

"Courtney, I am so glad I reached you." It was Courtney's dear friend Natalie. "I just got a call from Jake at the travel agency. We have until 5:30 today to get our deposit checks to them or we lose our booking. Girl, I need my vacation. I'm going over on my lunch to give them mine and Sheila's, you have to make sure you run out that door today so you can make it in time and give them yours."

Courtney and five of her friends were planning to take a summer vacation consisting of a cruise to the Caribbean and all the sun and fun they could stand. They booked their reservations with a local travel agent they met while out for drinks one night and now were only a few months away from a long overdue vacation. There was no way they were not going on this cruise. Natalie and Sheila worked right around the corner from the travel agency but Courtney was a good 20 minutes away with evening traffic and since she got off at 5pm, she would be cutting it close. And as if there was not enough pressure on her, Courtney had just received a speeding ticket a month ago, so she would have to watch out for the police when she made her way over to the travel agency to avoid getting another.

"I'm already having a rough day, but I'll make it, don't worry." Courtney replied.

"You better," Natalie said, "I would hate to leave you behind at the dock but I'm prepared to do that if I have too." The women laughed. "I'll call Sandra and Melanie and tell them."

"Thanks Nat, I have enough on my plate already today."

Natalie knew all about Courtney's work situation so she could just imagine the drama Courtney was dealing with.

"Alright girl, go get 'em, never let them see you sweat, take no prisoners and all that good stuff. Tell me all about it tonight." Courtney laughed at Natalie's poor excuse for a pep talk.

"Oh, don't you worry, I will. I'll talk to you later, bye."

She ended the call and placed the phone back in her purse. When Courtney stood up, she felt like she was under a microscope being watched. She turned and spotted Lauren looking at her. She cursed under her breath because she knew she had been caught. But Courtney stared right back. She would just play it off since Lauren was in no position to comment on it to her. Courtney refused to battle with Maxine's little minion.

"Last call for breakfast!" shouted Francis, with the phone receiver held up to her ear, while waving what was apparently the food list in her hand. Courtney shook her head negatively when she made eye contact with her and Francis shrugged her shoulders and began dialing.

That reminded Courtney that she still needed to eat but at the moment she had more important things to focus on. Her attention once again went to Lisa's cubicle. "I've got to find something that will help me out," Courtney thought as she reached into her top drawer, removed the set of keys given to her by Lisa and left her desk.

Upon entering Lisa's cubicle, she scanned the desk, file cabinets and assorted folders stacked neatly on a chair, wishing something would jump out at her. "Hopefully a clue to what I need to know is somewhere in here," she thought to herself.

The supervisor cubicle was a larger piece of real estate in the office. It was approximately double in size, allowing for a longer desk, a visitor's chair, and extra file cabinets. It even had walls that extended high enough to provide privacy to the occupant. With so much space to cover and cabinet keys in hand, Courtney got to work searching for answers.

After about 30 minutes of reading every piece of paper she had access to, Courtney leaned back in Lisa's chair defeated. "There is nothing here," she admitted as she let out a loud sigh.

"Already tired of 'playing' supervisor?" Courtney quickly sat up and turned her head. In the entry way was Maxine, hand on one hip and leaning against the wall, with a devilish smile on her face. "It's not even lunch time and you're stressed out?" Courtney turned her whole body around in the chair and stood up. But before she could respond, Maxine stepped one foot into the cubicle and whispered, "Did you find what you were looking for?" Courtney was shocked.

She realized instantly that she must have been a sight - flipping through papers, opening and closing drawers, shuffling folders all around. Her frantic actions had obviously caught Maxine's attention. As Courtney gathered her thoughts in an effort to say something to deflect guilt and to put Maxine in her place, it was as if Maxine could sense her struggle so she just smiled, turned and walked away. Courtney was left feeling impotent, which was probably Maxine's goal. The count approaching 10 AM now stood as Maxine 1, Courtney 1. The battle continued.

Returning to her desk after her search of Lisa's cubicle proved fruitless, Courtney's mind went to her emails. Perhaps there was something she had missed in one of Lisa's countless emails sent within the last few days. Quickly Courtney opened her mailbox. But before she could begin sorting through Lisa's emails, another red envelope message in her inbox caught her eye. "Oh no," Courtney thought, "What can be so urgent from Human Resources this early." The email read:

From: Human Resources, Jeff Reynolds - Manager

To: All Employees

Re: Cell Phone Use

This memo is a reminder to all employees that the use of personal cell phones in unauthorized locations in the workplace is prohibited. Anyone observed making or receiving calls or text messages in restricted areas will face disciplinary action. Should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to speak directly with your management or myself. Thank you.

"That little witch," Courtney thought to herself as she was confident that it had to have been Lauren who said something to Human Resources about her phone call earlier. Maxine 2, Courtney 1. Maxine was scoring points not with her own actions, but rather through her teachings now. Courtney shook her head in bewilderment. Just then an alert popped up on her computer: "Multi-functional meeting @ 11am". She had almost forgotten about that with all the chaos with the project going on. She decided to finish up looking for answers about the mystery project and then to review her material for the meeting so that she could go in as calm and collected as possible.

Courtney had been stepping up her game professionally since being passed over for the supervisor position to build upon her reputation and to prepare for the next position she applied for. She wanted the supervisors and managers in the meeting to have a good impression of her and her abilities. Courtney began wading through Lisa's emails in search of an answer.

Around 10:15 Courtney concluded that she in fact had not received any information on the project and was completely in the dark. Her efforts now went from being a search and rescue mission to a strictly recovery mission. She needed to recover her sanity, and that could only be done by coming clean at this point. She needed to let the manager and director know that she did not have any information on the project to provide them.

Courtney hated to claim defeat but she was frustrated and out of options. She worried that she would come across negatively to Angela and James, appearing to give excuses instead of results and exposing the poor relationship between her and Lisa. Courtney cursed Lisa for leaving her high and dry regarding the project. As she wished she could give Lisa a piece of her mind, an idea popped into her head, "Try calling her!" She thought.

If she remembered correctly, according to what she was told Lisa was not due at the airport until around lunch time so there was a small window of opportunity. Immediately Courtney picked up her telephone and began dialing Lisa's company issued cell phone. But after five rings, there was no answer. Courtney left her a message. She tried to speak calmly as she asked Lisa to call her back. Courtney did not want to tip her off so she did not mention the reason for the call. Hopefully curiosity would get the better of her and prompt Lisa to call. Courtney was happy that she had made the call; the fight to save herself was not over yet!

Just then Francis, full from stuffing her face with breakfast, made her way over to Courtney's desk. She was slightly out of breath.

"Boss lady, we have a problem," she shouted and Courtney swore everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to her.

Knowing how she liked to talk and spread rumors, you had to be very careful with what was said around her. Courtney's guard instantly went up for that reason and because of the morning she was already having.

"Yes Francis?" she asked.

"Well, you remember last week when the system was down for almost an hour?" she continued.

Who could forget! The servers had crashed causing panic and mayhem to erupt and wide spread misery for workers who had lost the data they had been working on. The IT team had rushed to restore the system but as it turned out, some files and document had been unable to be retrieved. Courtney had lost a report she was working on but was luckily able to recreate it.

"Of course, I hear the computer tech guys went out drinking after that." Courtney responded with a slight smile. But Francis did not smile back. Instead she stepped in closer and whispered.

"Well, it seems the refund file was affected and instead of generating checks for this month's cut-off, it's printing checks from last month's batch."

Courtney asked, "How do we know it was last month's batch?"

Francis presented the piece of paper she had in her hand. "You see this customer's name?" She pointed to the name on the check. "I found it to be a duplicate when I ran a cross check of the ledger based on the incorrect reconciliation amounts."

Courtney was grateful that mistake had been caught as that error could have turned into a big problem for the department.

"Ok, we need to run a new report, verify the information is correct and then generate new checks."

She looked at Francis for acknowledgement but instead saw a sheepish look on her face. Francis detected her confusion.

"Unfortunately, we are low on both check stock and toner, and Monday is the cut-off for mailings."

Courtney relaxed at that statement. The situation would not be a problem.

"Don't worry, we will print what we can today and I will also submit a rush order for supplies for delivery on Monday. I'll just explain to Lisa that it is a result of the outage and it was out of our hands."

"But I should have checked the file," Francis grimaced as she said that. Sensing her fear, Courtney reassured her.

"I'll tell her we wouldn't have been able to detect a problem until we processed the cycle, it will be fine." Courtney winked at Francis.

That last issue was minor and she was glad it could be resolved easily because Courtney felt as if she would explode if one more thing went wrong.

Francis smiled in relief. "Thanks Boss Lady. Oh, nice jacket by the way," she said as she walked away. And all the while, the peanut gallery made up of Maxine and her followers sat and watched. They were trying to figure out what all the smiling was about and obviously disapproved of Courtney's ability to quickly resolve Francis' issue. The dispirited looks on their faces made Courtney smile hard. She had just won a small victory. Maxine 2, Courtney 2. She would take a point however she could.

Courtney 's focus returned to the issue at hand and she assessed her situation, determining that she had done all she could at the moment in reference to the mystery project and that it was time to move on with other things. She would review and organize herself for the upcoming meeting but first, she needed to make her oatmeal. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled. She was denied her morning cup of coffee and now had waited so long to eat. Her mind was just as grumpy as her stomach.

Courtney reached for her drawer where she kept all her snacks and goodies and pulled it open. Her mouth fell open and she stared in shock and disbelief. There lie what remained of the two packets of instant oatmeal she kept handy, complete with teeth marks on the wrapper and the powder mix scattered about. Courtney didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she just sat, blinking at the mess. What could she do? She had passed on ordering food believing she had oatmeal to fill her up, only to find that her rat visitor from earlier had already claimed her prize. Courtney was no longer hungry, but rather she was in a state of blankness. "Unreal," she thought to herself as she closed her drawer. She didn't have the tolerance to even clean it up she was so disgusted with how her day was going.

After reviewing her notes and collecting herself mentally and physically, Courtney was now ready to take on the meeting. She checked with her team to see if anything was needed before she left and when all matters brought up were settled, she made her way to the conference room. As she approached the cafeteria on her journey, the scent of a freshly made pot of coffee wafted out into the hallway, beckoning her. All of sudden she was hungry again. There was no time for a snack, but she did have about two minutes until the start of the meeting. She decided to return to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee after securing a seat.

Walking into the conference room, Courtney surveyed the room. It was empty except for three others who had already claimed their seats, but she did notice that there were a few folders and legal pads serving as place holders around the table. There were still seats available as the table sat ten people and there was even an additional row of seats against one of the walls allowing for six more. Courtney smiled at the other attendees and made her way to the last seat along the wall.

Normally in a meeting she would sit in a power seat, one close to the host and where you can make eye contact all around the table, but Courtney figured her role today would be minor so she would not have to worry about seating. There were some who attended regularly and sat in the same seat every meeting and there were others who could care less where they sat. From what she had heard, personalities and temperament were factors in where most people sat. You would think they were pre-schoolers instead of management the way they carried on about who sat where and why.

The purpose of this meeting was to have each of the departments provide information on what their team was working on so that everyone had an idea of what was going on with the company, who was doing what and their impact on each other. In theory the goal of the meeting was a great concept, however the execution of the meeting was a different story. Courtney had heard some tales of drama from other meetings but was confident that she would be safe. And while the stories told had been all quite amusing to her, Courtney had no worries because there had been no indication of any problems or issues with the department from Lisa. She expected nothing more than to report on how much revenue their team had retrieved and stats on non-pay disconnects that were coordinated with the Field Service team.

With her pad of notes placed on her seat, Courtney turned and headed to the cafeteria for coffee before it was all gone. When she returned to the conference room and walked towards her chair, she noticed a few people with confused looks on their faces. She just smiled nicely and sat. Courtney convinced herself that they were trying to figure out why she was wearing a Field Service jacket that was obviously too large for her.

Everyone got seated and the meeting began. After roll call to determine which departments were present, the notes from last week's meeting were read. The Customer Service manager led off with her information and was followed by the Sales supervisor and then the Advertising supervisor. Things were moving along at a nice pace, which meant Courtney would be out for lunch shortly. Next up was the Field Service manager, Chucky. He was a stern, no beating around the bush type of guy who resembled a lumberjack in statue and style. Chucky stood and began with his report, looking everyone directly in their eyes as he spoke. He had a booming voice that commanded attention, perfect to lead the technicians and keep them in line.

Just when Courtney thought that Chucky was finishing up, he looked her in the eyes and spoke.

"And I know this is not the place to discuss specific issues and I will certainly be doing so when Lisa returns, I must address something directly with the Collections department."

Instantly Courtney felt flushed as all her blood drained to her toes. She fought to hold her composure as heads turned and all eyes were on her. Courtney did not speak because she couldn't at that moment, so she simply looked at him and raised her eyebrows as if to ask "Yes, how can I assist you?"

Chucky continued when he was sure she was listening.

"It has been brought to my attention that a few people from your department have been observed with items that had been purchased from suppliers specifically for the Field Service department. On more than one occasion my staff has alerted me to the fact that they have spotted these items in and around the desks of Collection team members. Please pass that information on to Lisa as I would like answers."

Courtney's eyes grew wide with guilt and her mouth opened as if to speak. She wanted to say, "Did it ever occur to you that maybe someone from your team gave them those items? Or maybe they were just borrowing the stuff because they spilled coffee on themselves? " But she did not wish to go to war with Chucky in the meeting, especially since she would appear to be defensive while wearing what was apparently a stolen jacket at the moment.

Courtney simply said, "Thank you for informing me, I will bring this matter to Lisa's attention." There was really nothing more that she could say.

"And while I have your ear," he said as he leaned forward. "Oh my god, there is more!" Courtney thought. She was sure her face showed her apprehension. Chucky continued.

"Please also let her know that there have been an increase in the number of instances in which my techs have arrived at a customer's home to disconnect their services, only to be told that they have made a payment, for which they in fact can show proof, and that their account is up to date. This is beginning to be a problem that is impacting tech scheduling and time. I am not happy about that." And with that Chucky returned to his seat.

Courtney couldn't believe what had just happened. In a meeting in which she expected absolutely no problems, her team had been accused of not only stealing, but of not doing their jobs properly. "This should be Lisa in this meeting taking the heat, not me" she thought. Courtney's anger toward Lisa mounted but she held her frustration inside and put on a brave face.

The meeting continued and Courtney was even able to provide her stats when it was her turn without incident, if you did not count a few suspicious looks. She had anticipated a reaction from Chucky when she read the non-pay information but he seemed deep in thought, not even paying attention to her. Courtney was fine with that, she just wanted to get out of the meeting in one piece - she was already an accessory after the fact, who was wearing the evidence like a proud peacock. The meeting finally ended to Courtney's relief.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Crawling back to her cubicle with her tail between her legs, Courtney poured herself into her chair. Glancing at her desk phone, the voicemail button was not lit which meant Lisa had not returned her call. She leaned forward and scrolled through the call log to be sure. When she did not see Lisa's telephone number, she slouched back in her chair again, closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. She had been kicked when she was already down. Courtney was exhausted from all the mental fighting she had been doing since walking into the building and wished that she was invisible at that moment so that she could scream and yell and kick things. Or people. That thought made her smile. She could think of some people she would love to kick – hard. When she opened her eyes she spotted Mary approaching with a look that suggested something was up. Courtney sat up and prepared herself.

Mary must have read the look on her face and immediately said, "Now I don't want you to worry, I took care of things." Mary put her hands up as if to say "stop" and that was when Courtney noticed what appeared to be her cell phone. Mary then offered Courtney the phone and explained. "It wasn't on the vibrate setting and kept ringing in your desk, so I silenced it and took it to my desk. I figured it must be an important call for them to keep calling. I was going to answer to let them know you were away from you desk but then they didn't call again. I hope you don't mind dear."

Courtney could never be upset with Mary and she did not want her to feel bad. "Thank you Mary, I appreciate that." Courtney stood and hugged Mary. "The way things are going today, forgetting to put my phone on vibrate is par for the course."

Mary smiled and offered her comfort. "Don't worry dear, it's Friday and it will all be over soon."

Courtney squeezed her hand to show her gratitude and Mary started back to her desk. This was twice today that Mary had helped herself to something that belonged to someone else. Courtney chuckled to herself as she thought, "Oh my goodness, mom is a thief".

Just then she felt the phone shake. Looking down she saw a text message from her friend Melanie. She quickly opened the message:

Hi, tried to reach you but no answer. I need your help! I need to go back to the shop early and will not have time to drop off my check to Jake. Can I stop by your job on my way and give you mine to bring with you? I can be there in 15 mins.

Courtney texted back:

Hey Girl! Sure thing, just call my DESK PHONE when you pull up and I'll come out.

Courtney pressed the 'Send' key but before she had a chance to place her phone in the drawer, Jeff appeared at her desk, complete with a glance at the cell phone in her hand. All Courtney could do was smile and try to distract his attention away from her phone.

"Hello Jeff, how are you?" she asked sweetly as she bent over and slipped the phone in her purse. Courtney thought that maybe she would just try to charm him and he would forget. But the expression on his face suggested otherwise.

"I wanted to catch you before you left the meeting but you rushed out. Could I speak to you in my office?"

He did not wait for an answer but instead turned and began walking in the direction of his office. Courtney stood tall, pulling her shoulders back and followed behind Jeff. If she was in trouble, she would take it like a woman. First the jacket, now the phone – twice with the phone! Her shoulders sank a little with that realization.

Passing through the cubicles she spotted Maxine and her worshippers all with smirks on their faces. They must have loved seeing HR come to get her. Courtney slowed as she approached them and spoke to her audience.

Courtney made eye contact with each of them and said, "Ladies, please try to be more careful with your work. Use your time to double check and verify. It was pointed out in the meeting today that some errors have been made with your accounts so let's try and correct that. Lisa will speak to you more when she gets back. Thanks."

In actuality, only Ashlee and Nicole worked with the non pay accounts referenced in the meeting but Maxine, Stephanie and Lauren didn't need to know that. She would let them sweat it out together since they would not find out until next week. Courtney needed a victory, even just another small one like this. Maxine 2, Courtney 3.

But she couldn't stand around and bask in her triumph, it was on to Jeff's office and the impending doom she knew was waiting for her. Courtney anticipated that he was going to interrogate her about the jacket and throw the book at her for the cell phone use.

She made her way through the mailroom and rounded the corner to find Jeff's door open. She poked her head in first, made eye contact with Jeff who was now standing behind his desk and then slowly walked in. Jeff was in his mid-30's, had short black hair cropped at the sides and stood over 6'. He had brown eyes that could pierce right to your soul with accusation or twinkle with kindness. Jeff could be seen walking throughout the halls most days as he had his hands full with the Grubay employees.

Courtney smiled as she moved forward to sit in one of the chairs present but Jeff stopped her.

"You can close that behind you," he said as he motioned to the door by tilting his head back and pointing with his chin.

Courtney pivoted and walked back to close the door. As she grabbed the knob with her right hand, she placed her left palm flat against the door and pushed. With her back turned temporarily to him, she clinched her teeth and shut her eyes as she thought, "This is not a good sign." Turning back around, Courtney once again made eye contact, smiled and proceeded to walk to the chair once again. Jeff stopped her in her tracks again.

"No need to sit, this will be brief."

Courtney stood where she was, directly in front of him with only the desk in between them. The smile was gone now as she tried to decide on the correct expression for what appeared was going to be a quick tongue lashing. She settled on an angelic, calm look. She was grateful that Jeff would not take too long to chastise her but was unsure of her ability to keep her balance should her head start spinning from his words.

While she was technically only guilty of one of the offenses that she believed was on the menu, she would take the blame for both. There was no sense dragging anyone else into her problems and she knew that Mary's actions were only to help her. Courtney raised her chin and prepared herself for what was to come. Jeff got to the point.

"I was approached this morning by a member of your team who had a concern that they felt needed to be addressed with you. It seems they saw you reading paperwork taken from cabinets in Lisa's work area and feared that it was confidential documents such as performance reviews, disciplinary reports and the like."

Courtney felt her mouth fall open; she could not believe what she was hearing.

"This person said that you spent quite some time reviewing these papers and that they thought maybe you had shared information with others."

Courtney snapped back into reality. She needed to defend herself against such lies. Continuing to look him directly in the eyes, she replied confidently.

"Jeff I assure you, I was not reading confidential material. I was in Lisa's cubicle to locate paperwork on a project for Angela. We have a conference call this afternoon on it and I needed to find specific information." Which she had hoped would save her ass, but she did not share that part. "I was not given a key to the smaller file cabinet in the far corner of her cubicle, which is actually where the confidential paperwork is kept." She added for good measure and it was the truth. In that moment, she was grateful for Lisa's lack of trust. This seemed to satisfy Jeff, who considered what had just been said.

"Very well, it appears the person with the concern was mistaken. You can never be too careful with confidential documents. Thank you for clearing that up Courtney." And with that Jeff smiled.

"Thank you for bring that to my attention so that I could explain, Jeff." Courtney truly was grateful.

Jeff could have easily went to Lisa on the matter and who knows what evilness could have come from that despite Lisa knowing Courtney did not have the key. She returned the smile and turned to leave. But just as Courtney reached out and grabbed the doorknob, Jeff stopped her.

"Oh, and one more thing." Courtney shut her eyes and made a face. She was so close to freedom. What more could he have to say? She once again put a smile on and turned to her right towards Jeff.

"Yes?" she asked as sweetly as she could.

"I trust that Field Service will have their jacket back by the end of the day?"

Courtney almost laughed out loud. She thought that she had gotten away with that little blunder but apparently not.

"Yes they will," she replied. There was no sense in going into detail and explaining the situation. Jeff was letting her off the hook nicely. She turned her head in a slight nod and smiled as her left hand turned the knob and pulled. Courtney quickly made her exit, closing the door behind her.

Walking into the mailroom, she paused to collect herself while thinking, "You have got to be kidding me. Am I being punked? Where are the cameras?" Courtney actually turned her head to the left and right, looking around and expecting to see a camera crew and all. But instead, she saw something worse - Hank, the resident Dirty Old Man who worked as an Outbound Sales Rep, sorting through his mail. This man had managed to hit on practically every woman on the job and somehow kept his job. He was in his mid 50's, wore a toupee and expensive suits, had been divorced multiple times and swore he was the sexiest man alive. Unfortunately for him, if you took away his fancy clothes and luxury car, he would look like a greasy hair ball who did not know he was past his prime. Courtney was sure that she rolled her eyes at him when he spotted her.

"I've got something for that sad face of yours."

He said with a snide look on his face, while licking his dry lips. Courtney immediately felt like throwing up with the thought of anything he might have for her.

"Never." she said and walked away. "He must have something on Jeff that keeps him safe from being sued or let go," Courtney thought to herself as she moved away from Hank, trying her best not to wiggle or jiggle too much and give him a show.

As Courtney was making her way back to her desk, Francis went scurrying past her.

"There are sandwiches in the kitchen that are left over from Media Sales," she said with much enthusiasm.

Courtney smiled to herself. Where there was food, there was Francis. But it was not just Francis who was happy, in fact all of the employees enjoyed the bonus of having goodies to eat whenever a department dumped their left over catering in the cafeteria after they had eaten their fill of it. Soon everyone in the building would know about the free food waiting. "At least our team can't be blamed for stealing food," Courtney thought to herself.

Just then Mary caught her eye. She was at her desk, eating what appeared to be one of the free sandwiches. Mary held up her food and pointed to Courtney's desk. Glancing over, Courtney saw that Mary had scored not only a sandwich for her, but also a pickle and macaroni salad as well. She even saw a bag of chips and a bottle of water. Her stomach growled at the sight of such wonderment. This time she listened to it and began to walk at a fast pace to her cubicle. She smiled at Mary, who was thoroughly enjoying her sandwich and mouthed the words "Thank you" to her.

Sitting at her desk, she immediately looked at her phone. The voicemail button was not lit as expected and a scroll through the call log once again showed no call from Lisa. It was now 12:15 and the call was scheduled for 1:00pm. Courtney decided she would email Angela and explain the situation because she was out of the office but she would call over to James office to speak directly to him since he was actually at work today. There was nothing else Courtney could do at this point. Begrudgingly accepting defeat, she turned to the food that Mary so graciously had delivered to her. At least this was something positive for Courtney.

As she ate, she began to put together what and how she would tell the bosses what was going on. And by the time she had finished most of her sandwich and chips, she knew what she would say. Courtney turned to her computer to begin the email to Angela. As she opened her mailbox, her eyes went straight to yet another red envelope. For a second she was hit with another sense of dread, but then she realized from the subject line that she was being given a short reprieve from doom. It read:

***Conference call rescheduled to 2:00pm

Although she knew without opening the email what it was about, she double clicked on it anyway. There was no way she was going to miss out on something asked for or referenced in the body of the email that could come back and bite her. She wanted to be ready just in case she was expected to take some sort of action and Courtney did not wish to be caught unaware again. She quickly read what the email included and after finding nothing required of her, she was satisfied. Courtney now had additional time to come up with another plan and hopefully hear back from Lisa, though she seriously doubted that by now.

Just then her desk phone rang. It was Melanie.

"I'm here, I'm pulling up by the reception entrance," she said.

Courtney had completely forgotten about her in that short span of time - so much had happened.

"I'm coming out to meet you now," Courtney replied and grabbed her work badge as she left her desk.

Courtney quickly moved through the maze of cubicles, back through the mailroom where thankfully Hank was no longer creeping, and up the hallway towards the doors through which she had entered that morning. There was now activity in the reception area - two people dressed for interviews sat, waiting to be seen, the television that hung from the wall behind the receptionist desk was now on, and there sat the receptionist Charlene, chewing or rather smacking gum in her mouth, rolling her eyes and refusing to buzz in certain employees who had forgotten their badges.

She had done that to Courtney once and she had figured out later that same day that in fact Charlene was the newest member of the I Love Maxine Fan Club and was apparently looking to gain quick acceptance with her little stunt. Courtney had a feeling that Charlene's days were most likely numbered as the amount of workers who complained about her attitude grew daily. Charlene had previously filled in a few times at Grubay as a temp receptionist before being hired on permanently three weeks ago. She seemed to take pride in her ignorant behavior and Courtney was sure that the temp agency must have placed all the good workers and she was what was left over in their pool of candidates to send over. It was definitely time to change agencies if this was who they could offer.

As she approached the doors, Courtney turned and glanced at Charlene. She shot her a look that said, "Bitch" and continued out the door. No love was lost between them. Courtney hated that Charlene's ignorant attitude made her blood boil but vowed she would never act on the thoughts of what she really wanted to do to her. There would be no sense in losing her cool and her job for a fool like that. Courtney shook her head to help clear her mind as she walked through the second glass door and spotted Melanie's car.

"Wow, I see you're not in a good mood," Melanie said as Courtney walked closer. " I can see the steam shooting from your ears."

Courtney laughed because she felt exactly like how her friend had just described her.

"I am having the day from hell, you wouldn't even believe it." She said as she leaned against the driver side door of Melanie's car, with her back to the building as if she was shutting out all the chaos going on inside.

"Well I have a feeling I'm about to have one of those days myself. Ronnie called out sick again so I'm on my way to relieve Crystal who gets off at 1:00. This is the third time in two weeks; I'm going to have to let him go. I hired him so that I could have some time off but it seems I'm always covering for him. What's the point?" Melanie owned a small boutique of clothing and accessories and was quite successful since opening two years ago.

"I'm sorry girl," Courtney said, "but the good thing is that we are right around the corner from our vacation that we are working so hard for." And on that note the women high fived each other.

"Speaking of which, here is my check for the deposit." Courtney took the check and placed it in the jacket pocket. "Thank you for dropping mine off with yours, I'm in a bind." Courtney smiled as she returned to a stand next to the car.

"Not a problem," she said as she tapped the roof of the car. "You better get going so you'll be on time and I need to get back inside."

And she stepped back away from the vehicle.

"You are the best Court. Oh and nice outfit. Perhaps you need a trip down to my shop?"

Melanie said as she smiled back at her, put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. All Courtney could do was stand there and laugh. The few minutes of time with her friend were a nice distraction but now it was time to head back in.

It was hard for Courtney to walk back through the doors, she wanted to run away and hide. "Can't do that," she thought to herself, "you have work to do." Once again she was determined not to continue on the downward spiral that had begun in that very parking lot that morning. As she passed by Charlene, her intent was to just ignore her but Charlene had other plans.

"That was quick, what was it – a drug sell?"

Courtney slammed on the breaks. She thought, "Did this fool really just ask that?" Courtney pivoted and began to walk over to the reception desk to rip Charlene apart but then, Wendy, the Customer Service manager appeared from behind her.

"Hello Courtney," Wendy said as she smiled and touched Courtney's shoulder as she walked passed her to the people waiting.

"Hi Wendy," Courtney turned and replied as she was snapped back from the danger zone.

"Michael, hi. Sorry to keep you waiting." Wendy reached out and shook hands with a young man wearing a dress shirt and tie.

Courtney turned back to Charlene and wanted to tell her that she had been touched by an angel but instead she put her shoulders back, shot a look that told her they would continue later, and walked away. Maxine 3, Courtney 3. The other young man waiting simply kept his head down and pretended to read his resume.

Courtney was able to make it back to her desk without further incident but was fired up inside. The burst of adrenaline from her run in with Charlene had her blood flowing. After placing Melanie's check in her purse, she realized that she needed an outlet for all that energy she had. She decided to throw herself into the forgotten folder of invoices, as she feared with the rush of emotions she was feeling, if she worked on the email to Angela, the tone would take a turn for the worst.

At 1:05, Courtney's desk phone rang. Hope returned as she quickly looked at the phone number but just as fast as it came, it went as she realized it was not Lisa.

"Hello, this is Courtney Blake" she said in her professional voice.

"Oh Courtney I'm glad you are there." It was her team member Denise. Courtney's eyes automatically went to Denise's desk, which was empty.

"What's going on Denise?" She asked as she prepared for what she knew would be nonsense. Courtney clicked open a file named 'Attendance' on her computer in anticipation.

"I think I ate something that didn't sit too well with my stomach at lunch. I can't seem to stay out of the bathroom."

Courtney shut her eyes and took a deep breath. If Denise wasn't feeling well, she could do nothing about it. If Denise was full of it like she really thought, she couldn't do anything about that either. Regardless, she was now stuck having to redistribute the work because once again Denise did not feel like being there. Quickly Courtney located Denise's name and surveyed her time off situation.

"So I'm guessing you want to use personal time and take the rest of the day?" Courtney did not care if the sarcasm in her voice could be heard.

"Can I use sick and save my personal time?" Denise asked.

The nerve she had!

"No, you are out of sick time for this month. You can use personal time as an emergency, not get paid for the time or just come back to work."

There was silence on the other end of the phone as Denise contemplated what to do. Courtney desperately wanted to hum the music from the game show Jeopardy but she restrained herself.

Denise must have had something good planned because she finally said "Ok, I'll use my personal time."

Courtney entered the information in the spreadsheet, told Denise to feel better and hung up before she told her what she thought of her.

She then called a quick huddle of the team members not at lunch and gave out new assignments to keep the wheels turning. There were a few mumbles from the peanut gallery but Courtney was not fazed. This was why she had been selected for the lead position. She was competent and knew how their department worked. Courtney knew what needed to be done, how to do it and when to do it. No one could doubt her ability to accomplish things as her proven track record of success spoke for itself.

By 1:30 Courtney had finished with the invoices. She was in a better state of mind so she started again on the email to Angela. There had been no further developments and so it was time to come clean prior to the conference call. As if someone had read her mind, up popped another red email with the heading:

***REVISED - Conference call rescheduled to 4:00pm

Courtney heard church bells ringing in the distance as she smiled at her luck. But that joy was short lived as reality sunk in. She would still need to fess up to management about her lack of knowledge on the project and the call might interfere with her plan to exit the building as soon as possible should it happen to go over the hour it was scheduled for.

At that moment, Courtney's desk phone rang and a second later she heard her cell phone buzzing down in the drawer. The call was internal – it was Jeff. "This man must be psychic!" But Courtney knew there was no way for him to know that her cell phone was sounding off right then. But still, she felt a little guilty as she answered her line.

"Hi Jeff," she tried her best to sound as cheerful as she could.

"Hello Courtney, I need to see you in my office."

Courtney sighed and then instantly hoped that he had not heard that over the phone.

"I will be right there."

Courtney hung up with Jeff and then grabbed her cell phone from her purse. She had received a text message from her friend, Sandra that read:

Court, I really need a favor. My babysitter is sick and I need to go home right away. I'm leaving work now but have to go straight home so I'm not going to be able to make it to drop my check off to Jake. Can I give it to you to take with yours? I will pass by your job in a few.

Courtney texted back:

Not a problem, just call my desk phone when you pull in and I'll come out =:)

And off to Jeff's office she went. Again. But at least this time he hadn't actually come to get her, he had only summoned her. "Maybe it won't be so bad this time," Courtney thought as she smiled and nodded to the sales reps she passed. Turning the corner out of the mailroom, she noticed Jeff had his door closed. She slowed her approached, lightening her steps as she came upon his door. She leaned her left ear closer to the door to listen for voices and raised her right hand up in anticipation of knocking. Not hearing voices inside, she proceeded to knock.

"Come in."

Turning the knob, Courtney slowly pushed the door open and poked her head in. Jeff was indeed alone. Feeling more confident, she stepped into the office.

"Please, close the door behind you and have a seat."

Courtney did as she was told and then walked to the chair that Jeff pointed to. He once again had a serious look on his face, as was customary it seemed for all Human Resources staff she had ever known.

"I have sent Stan home for the rest of the day," he said.

Courtney did notice that Stan had gone missing and now knew why he had not returned from lunch, nor had he called her desk. But she wondered why. Jeff must have read her expression. He continued.

"All I can share is that he has been dismissed for the day due to misconduct." He paused and Courtney's mind wandered. Stan and bad behavior went hand in hand, like peanut butter and jelly, and Courtney could just imagine the kind of trouble Stan had gotten himself into.

Coming back to reality, Courtney understood that she was not on a level in which she would be privy to that information, so she did not mind that Jeff did not share details.

"I have spoken with Lisa to advise her on what has happened and will be meeting with her first thing Monday to discuss what actions will be taken," Jeff continued.

Courtney became dizzy with fury. "You spoke to her?! When did you speak to that bitch!" she wanted to yell in frustration.

Jeff misunderstood her reaction to that statement as he went on to say, "In the meantime there are no actions that you will need to take, I am simply letting you know that he will be absent for the remainder of the day so that you may make arrangements for his duties this afternoon. Lisa was quite concerned about the workload being handled in her absence."

Courtney almost jumped out of her skin. She wanted so badly to say, "Tell that bitch to call me. How dare she make it seem like I can't handle things when she is the sloppy one who plays favorites and doesn't know what is going on half the time." But instead she took a deep breath and regained her composure.

"Things are under control." This was more of a message to herself than to Jeff. "The work will get done as usual."

And with that, Courtney dismissed herself. She stood and smiled.

"Thank you for keeping me in the loop, Jeff." Jeff nodded his acknowledgement and Courtney turned to walk out of his office.

"And Courtney," he said.

She turned back to him.

"I expect that this matter will remain confidential." Fighting the urge to stick her middle finger up at him for bringing up the topic of confidentiality again, she instead nodded in agreement.

"Of course Jeff," she said as she turned and left the office.

She wanted to slam his door to let off some steam but knew better than that. With her hand still on the knob and the door closed securely behind her, she stood for a second to gather herself. Courtney could not get over the fact that Jeff had actually spoken with Lisa! That means Lisa just blatantly ignored her message and was intent on her taking a fall for this project.

With more conviction than before, Courtney stormed back to her desk to put the finishing touches on what would be the email of a lifetime to Angela. There was no holding back now, Courtney was set on revenge. She was going to tell Angela everything - including her suspicions for Lisa's actions along with the facts to back up her words; she would hold nothing back. Truth be told, it was Courtney who was running the department, not Lisa. She was just a figure head while Courtney knew the inner workings. The team members, other than Maxine and her followers, always came to her for direction and they trusted her.

When Lisa first came aboard Courtney set out to share her knowledge but Lisa was more interested in getting votes to be Miss Popularity, never mind actually knowing the job. Courtney was done being nice. She had the ammunition and she was ready to use it.

Around 1:50, Courtney had once again redistributed the workload among the remaining team members and was back at her desk typing the email. The information she gave her would be different than that which she would tell James. Courtney planned to limit her discussion with James to simply advising him that she did not have an update available for him. She wanted to be sure to follow the chain of command with this issue, no sense in stepping on Angela's toes unnecessarily.

Courtney was so focused on the email that she nearly jumped out of her skin when her desk phone rang. She looked at the number and recognized Sandra's cell phone.

"Hi, are you here?" she asked.

"Yes I am and unfortunately I have the pleasure of looking at Rainbow Bright sitting at the front desk."

Courtney laughed. Sandra was no doubt referring to Charlene with her unprofessional look.

For some reason that Courtney would never understand, Charlene chose to dye the back of her hair bright red while leaving her bangs black. She looked like Ronald McDonald's interracial baby. And this was the person that visitors first saw upon entering the building. First impressions obviously meant nothing to the company because nothing had been done about it.

"Yes, she is quite the eye sore." Courtney responded.

Sandra laughed and said, "I seriously thought you were kidding when you told me."

"Not at all! I'll be right out." Courtney grabbed her badge and made her way to the front of the building.

This time as she entered the reception area, she noticed there were no people waiting for appointments and Rainbow Bright was reclining in her chair watching a game show. Courtney could not resist saying something.

In a voice loud enough to float down to the open doors she had passed in the hallway, she asked, "Hard at work I see. Who is winning this round and what prize do they get?"

Charlene spun around in shock and her mouth dropped open. Courtney did not wait for an answer - there was no answer for Charlene to give. She had made her point. Maxine 3, Courtney 4.

Courtney was smiling as she approached Sandra's car. Her friend was amused by her grin.

"What are you up to?" She asked as Courtney now stood before her.

"I just busted Charlene for slacking off. I couldn't pass up the opportunity." Sandra laughed. "We need a Girl's Night Out or something this weekend so that I can tell you about the day from hell that I am having," Courtney closed her eyes and took a deep breath after saying this.

"Sounds good to me, I've got some drama of my own to share but first I need to put out the fire at home. This damn babysitter is getting more and more unreliable. This is the second time this month that I have to leave work again."

Courtney felt for Sandra. Her husband had been in the military and was killed while serving a tour. She was now a widower at the age of 29, with a young child to raise all alone. So she knew having a babysitter was an important thing for Sandra. She hoped for the best for her friend. Courtney reached in through the window and comforted Sandra with a pat on the shoulder.

"Be strong, I know you can."

Sandra looked up at Courtney and smiled. "You too" she said and winked.

"Well, here is my check. I really appreciate you helping me out like this."

Courtney took Sandra's check and placed it in the same pocket she had used for Melanie's check.

"Anything I can do for you, you know I will." Courtney replied.

She stepped back as Sandra put her car in reverse. But before she moved the vehicle, she turned and caught Courtney's eye. Sandra turned her head slightly to the right and raised her eyebrow as she looked Courtney up and down with a disapproving look on her face. Courtney chuckled. She immediately knew that Sandra was questioning her attire.

Courtney added, "Like I said, we need a night out so that I can catch you up on the events of today."

This once again amused Sandra as she shook her head in disbelief and backed out of the parking spot. The two women waved to each other as she sped away.

Once again, it took all of Courtney's strength to return to the building. But after passing through the same glass doors for the fifth time that day, she found a new reason to put a spring in her step. Standing in front of the reception desk was Wendy, who also happened to be Charlene's boss. The TV was now turned off and Charlene was facing her computer.

"Hello again Wendy," Courtney smiled and reached out to gently touch her forearm as she passed by. She slowed her steps long enough to turn to Charlene and smile as Wendy responded.

"Hello Courtney, it's a beautiful day out there isn't it?"

Courtney came to a complete stop and faced Wendy. "It is. Have you had a chance to step outside today?"

Courtney knew her little chat with Wendy was driving Charlene mad. Courtney had a great relationship with Wendy and the two were always most pleasant with each other.

"Not yet. I've been interviewing most of the day but I think I will take a break and get some fresh air." Wendy said as she glanced out the window.

"It definitely sounds like you need a break. You need to recharge your batteries." Wendy smiled at Courtney and agreed, "You are correct."

"Well back to the 'land of the cubicles' I go." Courtney began to make her exit. "Enjoy your break Wendy," she said as she moved away.

Wendy waved and said, "I will thank you." And with that, Courtney walked down the hallway as Wendy turned her attention back to Charlene.

Back at her desk, Courtney added Sandra's check to the growing collection in her purse and went back to work on her email. She worked hard on wording her concerns correctly for about half an hour before another urgent email from HR popped up in her mailbox. As much as Courtney normally liked Jeff, she was having a real problem doing so today. She opened the mail:

From: Human Resources, Jeff Reynolds - Manager

To: All Employees

Re: Catering / Food Deliveries

Earlier today the Media Sales division informed me that the food they ordered for their staff was taken by others from various departments. While they would not have minded sharing with others, they were upset that the intended recipients were left with limited options for their lunch choices. For the future, please refrain from helping yourselves to catering ordered by others unless it has been specifically announced that others may partake of it. Should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to speak directly with your management or myself. Thank you.

There was even an attachment included – the company policy on theft. Courtney almost fell out of her chair in hysterics. "Are you kidding me!?" she thought to herself as she turned and looked at the discarded plate in her garbage can that once held the stolen sandwich that she had gladly eaten. The chips and bottle of water were still present on her desk but she didn't care. What was done could not be taken back. She felt no remorse because she had been starving at that point of the day and was in desperate need of food.

Looking around at the other cubicle dwellers, she spotted many with guilty faces as they apparently had just read the email as well. There were even some who just smiled and giggled. It appeared no one felt badly about the great sandwich robbery that had taken place. And then another thought popped in her mind. "Oh! This means Mom stole three times today!" Courtney laughed out loud at that. She caught a few looks from some on her team but she did not care. She decided to put the matter behind her, there was nothing that could be done.

After another 15 minutes of writing, Courtney had put together all of her thoughts in the email for Angela. She gave specifics - dates, people, and conversations. Everything she had bottled up inside for the last seven months, she let out. Courtney knew sending this email would change things between her and Lisa, as well as with Angela. But she had no choice, her back was against the wall and she had reached her breaking point. With a deep breath, Courtney clicked the 'Send' button.

And while she still had the courage, she picked up the receiver of her desk phone and dialed James' office number. Courtney had faith that she would be able to get through her prepared speech calmly. Talking to James was an easy task as he was mild mannered and listened to all the facts before speaking. And in this stressful situation, that kind of temperament was desired. Courtney planned to close her eyes and envisioned James sitting before her. That would make things even better because James was a devilishly handsome man in his early 50's, with perfectly groomed salt and pepper hair, an expensive taste in clothing and a very charming smile. However to the dismay of all the women in the company, he was happily married.

"Good afternoon, James O'Malley's office." It was Christine, James' perky assistant. "Hi Christine, this is Courtney."

Courtney had made the trip a few miles down the highway to James' corporate office a dozen times, so she and Christine were friendly.

"Oh hi Courtney, long time no hear."

"Yes, I guess it has been a while since I've spoken with you. How have you been?"

Everyone knew that if Christine took the time for small talk, it meant you were not on James' naughty list. But if she cut to the chase, you could expect grief once James was on the line.

"I'm doing great! Just finished another semester and now I'm preparing to take the Notary Public test in a few weeks."

Christine had been going to school to become a Paralegal and hoped to soon get a position in the Legal department, where she would no doubt have a lot of work to do with all the lawsuits their company was involved in. Everyone wanted to sue the cable company for some reason or another – employees included.

"That sounds wonderful. How much longer do you have until you will complete the program?" Courtney was happy to chat, it was a good sign.

"Two more semesters and then I'm done. My class is planning a big celebration after graduating." You could just feel the excitement coming from Christine.

Courtney smiled. "Well you will have certainly deserved a celebration after a year of studying. Good for you Christine." Courtney was genuinely happy for her.

"Thank you Courtney. Now how may I help you?"

Back to business; it was now or never. Courtney braced herself for the conversation she was about to have with James. No one ever wanted to tell a boss that they did not have the information that was being asked for. Nor did anyone want to have to admit to a poor relationship with a superior.

"Is James available? I need a few minutes of his time if possible."

What came next made Courtney want to stand up and cheer.

"I'm afraid he's in a meeting right now. But he did mention that he would like to speak with you. I was just about to send out another email, the conference call has been cancelled altogether so I'm guessing he would like some information from you before he leaves for the weekend."

Courtney's elation subsided a little. She would still need to tell him that she had nothing to update him with but at least the pressure of the conference call was now gone.

"I can have him call you when he gets done with his meeting if you would like?" Christine continued.

"That would be fine. Thank you Christine."

And as she hung up, she thought to herself, "Now I will have to be chained to my desk for the rest of the day so that I do not miss his call and hopefully nothing else will go wrong." Courtney actually crossed her fingers.

It was now 3:00 pm and Courtney only had two more hours to get through. With her work completed, she decided to jump in and help out the team. She took over the adjustment report from Cheryl and put her on refunds with Francis, who had been missing the help of Stan since he was sent home.

More time passed and 3:30 came and still no call from James. Courtney decided that she needed to stretch her legs. After a quick bathroom break, she found herself wondering into the cafeteria, which was deserted at the time.

Happy for some alone time, Courtney strolled over to the glass exit door that led to the small patio area used by smokers and looked out. This space too was empty so Courtney ventured out to have a seat at the picnic table that was stationed there. This little spot was a great place to come when someone needed alone time because it was so peaceful. It faced a residential neighborhood that was blocked by a wooden fence and lots of trees. The only noise heard was of birds chirping in the background. Courtney sat and collected herself for a moment.

Her mind was spinning with the events of the day. The most important being her relationship with Lisa coming to a head. It made Courtney nervous but it also felt like a relief to finally stop biting her tongue for fear of appearing disgruntled about not getting the supervisor position. She was confident in how she presented her thoughts and feelings in the email to Angela because they were fact based. She only worried that nothing would be done and now the bandage had been ripped off of a scar that would most certainly bleed. Retribution from Lisa was a very real concern and was very probable. But Courtney did not regret her actions. Either something good would come out of this mess or she would need to keep soldiering on as she had been, with both eyes open.

Her peace was disturbed when she heard the door open behind her. She turned to see two co-workers making their way out with cigarettes in their hands. That was her cue to leave. Courtney smiled and nodded as she walked past the workers coming out and back into the cafeteria, which was now full. She made her way towards the door to escape the growing noise.

Just as she approached the doorway, around the corner came Charlene – red hair and all. The two faced each other and locked eyes; neither was going to move out of the others way. The only thing missing was a tumble weed blowing by and gun holsters - a showdown had begun.

But just as quickly as it started, it ended.

"Would either of you ladies care for a danish?" The eyes that just seconds ago were shooting darts at Courtney were now fixed on a tray of delicious looking pastries, held by Irene. "These are left-overs from our meeting." Irene smiled but Courtney knew better. The sandwich fiasco was enough for her; she wasn't going to be suckered into eating from Media Sales again. Courtney smiled back and politely declined but Charlene all but scooped up the whole tray. Courtney shook her head at the nonsense and headed back to her desk.

Checking her phone log, she found no call from James - 3:45 and counting. Courtney took the time to finally clean up the oatmeal in her desk drawer and then checked on her team's progress, paying close attention to Maxine and her crew to be sure they were working and not socializing.

Satisfied that she had ruffled their feathers a little, she moved on to Mary's desk where she advised her to stay out of the cafeteria to prevent any further accusations of stealing. As if she was reading Courtney's mind, Francis arrived with a plate full of pastries. Mary and Courtney just looked at each other – no words were needed. Flashing a smile, Courtney left Mary and returned to her seat before she burst out laughing. There was no stopping Francis.

After settling back into the adjustment report for a while, Courtney's mind wandered back to James and his impending telephone call. "When is he going to call?" she thought as she slouched back in her chair. She was exhausted and being so close to the finish line, she was getting anxious. Courtney had her exit routine all planned – speak with James, verify the day's work has been completed, prepare a brief summary email for Lisa and then run out the door to the travel agency. When she was confident that she hadn't missed any steps, she relaxed a little and let her mind return to the present.

It was then that she noticed a commotion across the room from her. Dotty, who worked as a sales rep, was obviously upset about something and was attracting the attention of those all around her. Maxine, putting on the act of the caring co-worker, made her way over to Dotty. She pretended to be interested in her feelings. Asking what was wrong, Maxine put her arms around Dotty's shoulders.

With tears in her eyes and a very serious look on her face, Dotty prepared to tell her story. By this time, she had captured everyone's attention and the room had grown quiet in anticipation of what was going to be said. Dotty suddenly became aware of her audience and stepped up to the microphone so to speak.

With all the sadness she could muster she said, "My son just called. Tina my granddaughter has been crying all afternoon." All around the room people leaned close, waiting for the sad news her family had shared. "She was playing with her hamster Stanley on the deck and he got loose. The neighbor's cat Buttons chased him into the woods."

Everyone looked around at each other as they waited for more. There had to be more. There was no way all of this was over a hamster. But when Dotty did not deliver the goods, people dismissed her and returned to their work. Fearing she was losing people's attention, Dotty quickly continued with her story.

"They found Stanley floating in a nearby creek." Dotty must have expected sympathy, but not from this group of people.

All hell broke loose, as laughter erupted around the room. Someone even fell to the floor, holding their stomachs as if in pain. Courtney could not resist and she too joined in with the laughter. She had never before heard such nonsense delivered so seriously. Tears streamed from her eyes as she let herself expel all of her frustrations of the day through her laughter. It felt good to Courtney and she wanted to go over and personally thank Dotty for that opportunity to release what she was feeling but she knew better then to do so.

Maxine, still with her arm laced around Dotty's shoulders and trying to conceal a smile, leaned in and whispered in her ear. Dotty then stood abruptly and stormed out – angry at the entire room of co-workers. No one said a word as she left, they just kept looking at each other and laughing.

After another few minutes more of snickering, everyone started to settle down. Dotty had yet to return and Courtney suspected she would not come back for a while.

Feeling refreshed from her bout of the giggles, Courtney checked the time on her computer – 4:10. She briefly contemplated calling James in an attempt to speed things up as it appeared her fear of a last minute phone call was going to indeed happen. After deciding not to and with nothing left to do for the day, Courtney spent her time practicing what she would say to James so that it would just roll off her tongue, if and when she ever spoke with him.

Just as she was getting comfortable reciting the words she would say to him in her mind, she heard the chime of an email coming in. Hoping it was a message from James, she quickly turned to her computer and opened her mailbox. "Oh for the love of Pete!" Courtney almost yelled. It was another email from Jeff. She stared at the little red envelope and thought about not even opening it, but curiosity got the best of her. It read:

From: Human Resources, Jeff Reynolds - Manager

To: All Employees

Re: Sensitivity Training

Effective immediately, all employees are required to complete the following training: Understanding Co-Workers

The link for the online course is below. Employees must finish training no later than next Friday. Failure to complete this course by the deadline may result in disciplinary action. As always, should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to speak directly with your management or myself. Thank you.

As if she knew the exact moment when everyone had read Jeff's email, in walked Dotty – complete with tissue in her hand for dramatic effect. Part of Courtney wanted to apologize to Dotty but the other part cursed her for going to Jeff on the matter. It really was not a serious enough issue to run to HR. The only action Courtney took was to close the email. She would deal with that on Monday. Courtney went back to rehearsing.

At 4:30, Courtney's nerves were frazzled beyond repair. There was only 30 minutes left in the day and she needed every second between 5:00 and 5:25 when she knew the computers at Travel Smart would be turned off. She completed her summary email for Lisa on the day's work and made the choice to copy Angela on it for safe measure. She felt some relief as she sent off the mail because she knew the day was winding down. As 4:45 hit, the majority of people began preparing to leave. Courtney desperately wanted to be one of them. But unfortunately, it seemed James had other plans for her.

But at 4:50, her phone finally rang. She instantly sat up in her chair, as if struck by a bolt of lightning. It was James' office! Courtney took a deep breath and then answered.

"Hello, this is Courtney." She had been sweating bullets as the time drew closer to 5:00pm.

"Hi Courtney," Christine chirped. "Can you hold for James? He's just finishing up on another call and wanted to catch you before you left."

Nothing like the last minute, Courtney thought but dared not say.

"Sure thing, Christine." She hoped her frustration had not been heard in her words.

"Thanks." Christine placed the call on hold.

Courtney was now on pins and needles waiting for James to pick up and for her to have to explain failing to have the information he needed, while listening to the most annoying hold music she had ever heard. "Just breathe," she told herself, "it will be over soon." She turned in her chair and glanced at the clock hanging above the doorway to the mailroom – 4:52. She couldn't sit still she was so anxious, so she stood up. Mary looked over at Courtney with a question in her eyes. She mouthed the word "James" and Mary understood.

All around her people were starting to pack up their belongings and head for the door. Courtney decided since she was waiting she might as well gather her stuff together so she wouldn't be delayed, if James ever picked up the phone. Another time check, 4:55. Courtney wanted to hang up and just deal with the consequences on Monday but it was then that Christine came back on the line.

"Courtney?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm still here." Courtney replied. She wanted to tell her that she could not hold any longer but Christine began talking.

"James doesn't want to keep you, so he will just reach out to Lisa on Monday. He wanted me to tell you that he greatly appreciates your dutifulness and that it is well noted."

Courtney wanted to laugh and cry at the same time – from a little bit of shock but mostly from relief. Her dutifulness? Little did James know that she had been in panic mode for most of the day! Courtney closed her eyes and let out the breath she was not aware she had been holding in. With the phone still to her ear, she dropped her head and smiled to herself as she realized that she had finally made it through the day from hell.

"Thank you Christine. Please tell James that he is most welcome and that his appreciation means a lot. Have a good weekend."

And with that, Courtney hung up the phone. Her actions instantly went into over drive as she shut her computer down, grabbed her purse, locked her desk drawers and shouted for everyone still remaining to have a good weekend before joining the rest of the herd heading out to the parking lot.

Once outside, Courtney regretted having parked at the far end of the lot but she quickly put that thought out of her mind as she tried to determine which roads to take to avoid the most traffic and to get her where she needed to be in time. Inside of her car, she double checked her purse for Melanie and Sandra's checks and then added her own check to the pile. Seat belt on, turbo boost activated! Courtney tore out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.

By 5:20 Courtney was pulling into the parking lot of Travel Smart Agency. She had made it with 10 minutes to spare! As she picked out a spot to park her car, she could see Jake sitting at his desk, talking on the phone. Courtney quickly put her car in park and turned the engine off. As she unbuckled her seat belt and reached for her purse in the passenger seat, she noticed red and blue flashing lights in her rearview mirror. A police car had pulled up directly behind her. Courtney laughed out loud. "How fitting," she thought as she opened the door and stood to face the officer approaching her.

"Good evening ma'am. Do you know how fast you were going?" he asked.

Courtney turned and looked over her shoulder at Jake, who had ended his call and was now walking towards the front door of the agency. She held the checks for the deposit in her hand, which she waved in his direction. Courtney turned back to the officer.

"Probably too fast." They both smiled.

Jake then appeared by her side.

"Hello Officer," he said as he nodded and turned to Courtney smiling. "Are these for me?" Jake asked as he extended his hand, palm side up. Courtney smiled in relief and placed the checks in his hand.

Before he could leave, Courtney said, "Thank you Jake. Oh, but make sure you cash it right away," she turned and looked at the police officer with a shameful expression, "before I run out of money paying for this ticket." And with that, they all had a good laugh.

MONDAY MORNING

Courtney pulled into the parking lot of Grubay Broadcasting and parked her car – back row, along the curb. She sat for a minute with the engine still running and the radio lowered to a whisper. Courtney took this time to gather herself. She knew she had a big day ahead of her and needed to be strong when she walked into that building. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Courtney was prepared to stand by her actions and words and was now ready to face whatever was presented to her.

She had spent her weekend desperately trying to forget the day she had on Friday, but only managed to put it out of her mind briefly on Saturday night for a few hours. She had been out on an unforgettable date with a guy she had recently met, who proved to be charming enough to make her focus only on him \- and to secure a second date. Courtney had brunch with the girls on Sunday and relived everything for them. This led to Sunday night being just as bad as Friday night as it seemed that every event of that day from hell was replayed ad nauseam in her mind. She had finally come to grips with what she might face when Lisa returned this morning but she would stand behind everything laid out in the email because it was true and she had faith that the information provided had been received properly.

After removing the keys from the ignition and switching off the radio, she got out of her car and collected her purse, lunch bag and sweater from the back seat. Standing next to her car, she turned and scanned the parking lot, taking attendance. In addition to the usual vehicles that she expected to see, was silver BMW parked in the front section, facing the building. Angela was here. "Ok, let's get this started," Courtney thought as she began her walk to the entrance.

As she passed by Angela's car, the sun was reflected off of it in a way that made Courtney stop and squint her eyes. She stood and looked up at the sun shining brightly in the sky and felt the warmth of it for a second. All around her silence took a hold and Courtney felt a wave of easiness take over her body. She basked in that feeling for what seemed like an eternity.

Only when she heard a car door close in the distance was Courtney brought back to the present. She couldn't explain it but she wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, she was so overcome with a sense of relaxation. Courtney shook her head to snap out of the trance as she reminded herself that she was standing in the parking lot. She started to walk to the building once again, this time a little faster. She didn't know why yet, but she knew that she needed to get her day going.

Upon entering the building and walking past the empty reception desk, she made a face as if Charlene was there - the memory of her hung in the air but she quickly switched back into professional mode as she continued on her journey. Walking into the 'land of the cubicles' Courtney quickly noticed that Angela had made herself at home in Lisa's area.

Normally when Angela would visit the office, she would place her briefcase, purse and laptop in the back corner of the cubicle, out of site to anyone walking by but today was different. The desktop computer was turned on with Angela's mailbox displayed – not the laptop and she was on the phone with all her bags piled up in the visitor's chair, right by the entrance. There was no mistaking that she was occupying that territory. Courtney smiled to herself as she anticipated seeing the look on Lisa's face when she came in and saw her space invaded.

Courtney walked over to stick her head in and wave hello to Angela so as not to interrupt and as she approached she heard Angela ending her conversation.

"Very well, I am confident we will not encounter any issues from the team with the changes to come."

Courtney's ears perked up with that statement but she played it off like she had not heard as she leaned in and smiled. Angela turned and returned the smile as she placed the receiver down on the base of the desk phone.

"Well good morning Courtney!" She stood and walked over to Courtney.

By now Courtney had straightened up and was standing in the doorway.

"Good morning Angela," she replied.

Angela seemed to be in a chipper mood and Courtney went along with it. She wondered to herself whether or not Angela had read the email she sent on Friday but then realized that she must have otherwise she would not have made the surprise visit.

Angela confirmed things as she said, "We have a lot to talk about today, in reference to your email and another that I received."

Courtney's heart went into her throat. "Oh my goodness!" she thought as her mind started spinning with the names of people who could have sent her an email on any one of many topics. But Angela continued.

"Just get the team going with what needs to be done today and I will meet with you and then together with the rest of the team. Oh and Stan will not be with us today, so be sure to cover his work."

Courtney managed to speak, "Yes of course, we need to finish up refunds today so that is the main priority. I will make sure we concentrate on those this morning. Stan was working with Francis on those but we'll manage."

Angela smiled and said, "You always know what to do, I like that."

This made Courtney happy. Her relationship with Angela had apparently not changed in light of the information she provided in the email and Courtney was glad for that. She could handle things with Lisa, as long as Angela was on her side.

Just as Courtney was about to walk away, Angela added, "I have meetings with Field Service and Human Resources this morning, so you may not see me for a while. When I'm done, you and I will have our meeting in the conference room where we can call James and have him be a part of things."

"Sounds good," Courtney said as Angela turned and walked in the direction of the Field Service offices.

Courtney stood in place for a few seconds as she processed things. According to what Angela just said, Chucky was going to throw her and the department under the bus, followed by Jeff taking the wheel and driving the bus back over them again.

Taking a deep breath, Courtney threw her shoulders back and walked to her desk with her head held high. There were only a few of the sales reps there but she felt she needed to appear brave and strong to keep from showing how anxious she felt.

It was 7:55 by the time Courtney had settled in and turned on her computer as more of the team members arrived. As each of them had come in, they too had noticed Angela's presence in the office and were surprised as they had no clue what had been going on behind the scenes.

Mary passed by and leaned in. With a concerned look on her face she whispered, "What's up with having the Chief here today?" Courtney reached out and placed a reassuring hand on her arm.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it is in reference to Friday and I can handle it. She seems to be in a very good mood."

Mary looked relieved and said, "Well you let me know if we need to take a break together because you know I'm here for you."

Courtney really appreciated Mary. The two had spoken on Saturday when Mary called to check on her and Courtney filled her in on everything that was going on. Mary felt bad because she knew that she had contributed to some of the problems but Courtney quickly let her know nothing was her fault.

"I know, thank you for that." They both smiled at each other and Mary continued on to her desk. Francis also stopped by Courtney's desk on her way in to express her thoughts on why Angela was here, but she was way off with her reasoning. Francis always thought they were about to be laid off and she would no doubt start a rumor or two before Courtney had a chance to gather everyone.

The clock above the mailroom door showed that it was now 8:00 and there was still no sign of Lisa. Courtney had looked at her desk phone out of what had become a habit since Friday, to see if her voicemail button was lit, but she knew it wouldn't be.

And then in walked Maxine, with Lauren and Nicole nipping at her heels. Glancing over at Lisa's cubicle and then to Courtney, Maxine turned her head slightly to address her worshippers.

"I'm glad she's here. There is a lot that I would like to speak to her about." And with that she turned back to face Courtney and smiled sweetly. "Oh. Good morning Courtney. You don't seem too happy this morning, I wonder why."

The minions giggled. Maxine 1, Courtney 0.

Courtney wanted to throw her stapler at Maxine's head but feared it would break and then she would be without one - there weren't any extras in the supply closet. But instead, she stood and walked to the center of the cubicles occupied by the team.

When she got everyone's attention she spoke.

"Now that everyone has finally made it to work," and with that she looked directly at Maxine, Lauren and Nicole - Maxine 1, Courtney 1. "As most of you know, Angela is joining us today. I haven't heard from Lisa yet, but in speaking with Angela, she has informed me that she would like to hold a team meeting this afternoon."

There were a few mumbles and some chatter, probably because of Francis and her mouth Courtney suspected, and so she continued.

"I would not worry about it, she has not indicated anything is wrong so let's focus on getting our work done as usual, be sure to take your lunches as scheduled and when the time comes to meet Angela will address everyone then."

Francis spoke out, "I don't see Stan and we need to finish the refunds today."

Courtney had already figured out who would help her and had verified that the rush order of check stock and toner was scheduled for delivery by 9:30.

"Yes, they are a priority; let's try to get them done by lunch. Cheryl if you would be so kind as to help Francis again, we can knock those out. The supplies you need, Francis will be here this morning so do what you can with what you have for now. Everyone else, continue with your work and reports. Let me know if you need anything." With the team given direction, Courtney was off to the cafeteria to score a cup of coffee.

After a little socializing by the coffee station, Courtney walked back to her desk at a slow pace with her mug in hand up the hallway so as not to have another incident with spilling coffee. She smiled to herself as she thought, "Maybe I do need a sippy cup." As if on cue, Maxine appeared just as Courtney stepped behind her desk.

"Do you think you can handle another cup of coffee? You haven't been so successful in the past," she asked as smugly as possible.

Courtney once again had violent thoughts of what she would like to do to her. It was then that something caught her eye. Thrown in the corner of her cubicle and forgotten was the oversized, flashy tech jacket that she suddenly realized she had failed to return to Field Service. Courtney must has taken it off and tossed it in her rush to get out of the door on Friday. She laughed out loud at that revelation. Maxine appeared puzzled. She expected a snappy comeback from Courtney, not laughter. When Courtney saw that her reaction was causing confusion for Maxine, she seized the moment.

"No Maxine," she spoke loudly, "I can't see your panty lines through that skirt."

Maxine's mouth fell open and her back became rigid; she was instantly embarrassed. Maxine 1, Courtney 2. Maxine slinked back to her desk amid a few giggles.

Courtney did not care. She was not in the mood today. She carefully placed her mug on the desk and sat in her chair, all the while smiling. It felt good to put Maxine in her place but the last thing she wanted to be bothered with that morning was to battle with her – it would only serve as a distraction. Courtney understood that just because Angela seemed pleasant, it did not mean that she was completely out of the woods. There had not been any mention yet of the mystery project but Courtney knew that was coming. But until that time was upon her, she would enjoy the coffee and dive into her work.

After her meeting with Field Service, Angela stopped by Courtney's desk to check on things and made her way over to greet the rest of the team. When a few minutes of chatting was over, Angela was off to meet with Jeff in Human Resources. "The time is getting closer," Courtney thought as Angela headed in the opposite direction. To her dismay, there had been no indication of what had been said in the first meeting. Courtney's anxiety was growing. She just wanted to have her say and to get things over with already. She was starting to get stressed like she was on Friday and that was not the plan for today.

At 10:30 Courtney was ready for a mental break. She looked around to see who was in the vicinity before reaching into the drawer to check her cell phone, which she made sure that the ringer had been switched to vibrate mode that morning. There were two missed calls from Melanie and William - her date from Saturday. The fact that he was thinking about her lifted her mood. Courtney smiled as she grabbed her badge and got up from her desk. Now she had even more incentive to take a break. She headed through the mailroom and up the hallway on her way out to the parking lot for privacy when she returned the phone calls.

Walking through the reception area, Courtney chose to ignore Charlene, who was watching the television as usual. Just as she did not want to tolerate nonsense from Maxine, she would not put up with any from her. Perhaps Charlene got a sense that it was not a good time to say anything or maybe she remembered what happened on Friday because she did not utter a word, nor did she give a dirty look.

Exiting the building and stepping out into the bright sunlight helped her mood even further. She felt a burden lifted. "It must be something in the air in that place," she thought as she started dialing Melanie's phone number. Courtney walked along the edge of the parking lot, following the bushes and trees that lined the property. It was quite peaceful at the moment and Courtney really got a chance to recharge herself. After the brief calls, she headed back in to go use the restroom before getting back to work.

Once again, she walked past Charlene without looking at her and continued on down the hallway. As bad luck would have it, out of his office stepped Jeff, along with Angela. Realizing her cell phone was in her hand, Courtney quickly covered it up with her work badge by wrapping it up in the long nylon keychain it was attached to. She smiled at the two as she approached them. The last thing she needed was to be called out by Jeff, right in front of her manager. But she pulled it off, no one noticed her phone.

Angela spoke first, "Courtney, I'm just finishing up with Jeff so how about we meet in the conference room in about 5 minutes? I just want to check my emails and get my notes."

Courtney smiled and said, "That sounds great, I'll just slip to the ladies room and I will meet you there."

"Good morning Courtney," Jeff said with a smile as he shuffled by the women and into the mailroom to his box.

"Good morning," Courtney replied.

"Ok, 5 minutes then," Angela said as she made her way towards Lisa's cubicle.

Courtney continued down the hallway to the restroom– the time she was waiting for had finally arrived.

After leaving the restroom, she rushed back to her desk to grab her legal pad and mug for some coffee. Passing by Angela, Courtney saw that she was talking on the phone so she slowed her pace a little. There was still some time to get coffee and to arrive in the conference room calmly.

Courtney beat Angela to the meeting as expected and she made herself comfortable at the table. Because the table was too large to have an intimate meeting, Courtney chose a seat that would allow the women to sit caddy corner from each other, while giving Angela the main seat at the head of the table. After flipping her legal pad to a fresh page and taking a sip of coffee, she remembered that they would be conferencing James in so she stood and reached for the speaker phone that sat in the middle of the table. As she stretched the wires and positioned the phone, Angela entered the room.

"Sorry for that, I just had to finish up a few things. I want to be able to devote my attention to you and not have other things weighing on my mind."

Courtney stiffened a little before sitting back down in the chair at the thought of getting Angela's full attention because she was not sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Not a problem," Courtney replied.

Angela sat and placed a steno pad, a folder and a bottle of water on the table. Looking at the phone she stated, "Oh good, you remembered we need to call James. Let me get him on the line now." Angela pressed the speaker button and then dialed the number from memory while Courtney collected herself for what was to come.

James was on another call according to Christine and so Angela and Courtney spent the few minutes that they were on hold talking about the work being done by the team. In the middle of Angela's take on the changes she would like to see with the reporting, James came on the line.

"Sorry about the delay ladies, I did not mean to keep you waiting."

"We were just discussing some changes but we can take that up later today," Angela said as she flipped open her pad.

Courtney immediately saw that the page had more writing than blank space on it and she tensed up.

"I'll let you have the lead on this Angela," James said and Courtney felt her eyes widen as she turned to look at Angela.

She must have sensed Courtney's apprehension because she smiled and reached out to grasp her hand in support. "No need to worry, this is good news." Courtney released a deep breath and smiled. She was ecstatic that she had not been brought in to be reamed out by management. Courtney was finally able to speak.

"I was not sure what to expect for this meeting so I am glad to hear that." James' chuckle echoed through the speaker.

"Well we did not mean to cause you any distress with our secrecy," he explained.

There were more smiles around the table and then Angela took her hand back and proceeded with the meeting.

"First let me begin by letting you know that after receiving your email on Friday, I shared it with James." She paused to wait for Courtney to nod in understanding before continuing. "It was unfortunate that your relationship with Lisa turned sour as we had hoped she could learn the business from you. While she had the previous supervisory experience we were seeking, you had the working knowledge needed and we thought the combination of the two of you would prove to be solid support for the team. With your email we realized that we were wrong and in fact had made a mistake in hiring Lisa."

Courtney did not know how to react after that statement; she did not know where Angela was going with it.

"The information you pointed out were things that we had long suspected or that had been passed on to us by other department heads. Without going into details, Field Service in particular brought many things to our attention. Perhaps you have noticed lately that Lisa was spending a great amount of time with Jeff in HR. Well let's just say she kept him busy with some of her antics."

Courtney's composure never wavered at this information but inside she was shocked and relieved at the words Angela was saying. She was ecstatic to know that her concerns had been listened to and felt validated for the thoughts and feelings she had towards Lisa. She wanted to shout with joy and thank them but also did not want interrupt - things were getting good!

"My meetings with Chucky and Jeff this morning were to inform them that they would no longer have problems with Lisa, as well as to put out some fires that she had started. James and I have kept you in the dark as to the reason why you do not see Lisa here at work today as expected and now is the time to share with you why."

Courtney felt herself lean forward in her chair as she tried to anticipate what was coming next. As if to imitate, Angela also scooted to the edge of her chair.

Apparently late Friday night, Lisa sent an email to management advising them that she was quitting and now Angela was explaining to Courtney about some of Lisa's actions. One of which was that Lisa never did the project that she was assigned to do and in fact had used that opportunity to try and inflict hurt on Courtney, while telling Grubay to kiss her where the sun did not shine.

It seems that the long weekend she took was her plan to set up Courtney before quitting. As it turned out that Lisa was disgruntled the entire time she worked for the company and did not have plans to stay for long.

When Lisa was hired, she had also been offered a position with another company, who was offering a signing bonus. Lisa became greedy and cocky from all the attention and saw a chance to potentially cash in by starting a bidding war between the two companies. Lisa's goal was to go with the highest bidder and so she attempted to obtain a counter offer from Grubay. However, to her dismay things did not work out as she had planned. After threatening to leave and accept the other company's offer, Grubay did not budge and the other company went with another candidate. This left Lisa very bitter and angry. And so she began another job search, in hopes of leaving Grubay high and dry.

Within some time, she had learned of a start-up company looking to poach employees of larger cable television providers and she was more than willing to be poached. Lisa had begun to slowly but surely pack up her home in anticipation of moving to a small island in the Caribbean where the job was located. Lisa was now on her way to becoming Director of Customer Service on the island of Salaud in the West Indies. She would start in a month and was on her way to her new island home to begin settling in. With her soon to be new husband - Squirrel.

Courtney's mind was spinning with everything she had just learned. She now understood the reasoning behind Lisa's blatant "I don't care" attitude that she displayed from the very first day. So much now made sense and Courtney even felt a little offended that she had to endure Lisa's B.S., even if temporarily. But before she got lost any further in her thoughts, Angela provided more details of what was going on.

"And so with her resignation, the supervisor position is open."

Courtney remained unmoved; she did not want to react in anyway. In fact, she was unsure of how to behave at that moment.

"James I will pass the baton on to you." Angela then sat back in her chair, as if to give James room – despite the fact that he was on the phone. Courtney turned her attention to the speaker phone and James' voice filled the room.

"As Angela and I explained to you at the time that we offered Lisa the position, despite not having previous supervisory experience we were very impressed with you and your work. And so we took into consideration the past seven months of you stepping up and extending your knowledge to Lisa, along with your impressive and continued hard work and dedication. We feel there is no need to look any further for her replacement and with that said, we are offering you the supervisor position."

It took Courtney a second or two to register what had just been said to her. Her head dropped down as she blinked her eyes and took a few deep breaths. The conversation she was having with herself was a combination of shock and surprise mixed with elation. She felt a smile growing on her face and she pulled herself together. Turning to look at Angela, she noticed that once again Angela was sitting at the edge of her chair and was beaming from ear to ear.

"I think that is a yes, James." Angela said as she read Courtney's answer written all over her face.

It was then that Courtney realized that she had been in her head that whole time and had not spoken.

She laughed and said, "Yes, that is correct Angela." All three of them laughed. James and Angela knew that had been a special moment for Courtney and that she needed those few seconds to comprehend what was going on.

"Under normal circumstances this would not be something to just spring on a person, but a lot has happened since Friday." Angela stated.

"I want you to know that we have confidence in your ability to learn and grow as a supervisor and that we will be providing you with all of the support that you will need - classes, training, seminars, whatever." James added.

"Thank you, I really appreciate this opportunity. I will not let you down." Courtney could not stop smiling and nodding her head. She knew she must look like a bobble head doll, but she did not care – she had reached a professional goal of hers.

Angela once again reached out and placed her hand over one of Courtney's. "And I want you to know that I will be speaking with Maxine separately to reprimand her on some of her actions that played a part and contributed to some of Lisa's behaviors."

Courtney almost stood and started dancing. She could not believe what was going on. It was as if Angela and James knew everything and understood exactly what had been going on the whole time. Oh, sweet justification!

"I understand," was all that Courtney said on the matter because she did not want to appear to be vindictive or overly joyous at that news.

All of the anxiety that Courtney was feeling that morning had turned into overwhelming relief. Things would be different now, and Courtney was just fine with that.

They finished up their meeting with Courtney learning a few things: Chucky and Jeff both had good words to say about her to Angela, which completely took her off guard. Stan was caught having sex in the parking lot in the rear of the building, which was not a surprise. And that the mystery project involved working with payment reconciliation, which Courtney was familiar with and therefore would be able to easily pick up the pieces and move forward.

All said and done, Lisa had been a train wreck for which Angela and James apologized, Courtney was beginning a new chapter in her professional life and Stan still wore the crown for being the biggest slut in the office. They ended the call with James close to noon and Angela took Courtney out for a business lunch to go over information she wanted to present to the team, as well as some things that she now expected from Courtney because of the void left by Lisa.

MONDAY AFTERNOON

The team meeting was held around 1:30 when Angela and Courtney returned from lunch, and as expected all went well. When told that Lisa would no longer be with them, only Maxine reacted with a loud gasp. Just prior to gathering the team together, Maxine had her butt handed to her by Angela and was now the second team member behind Stan to be placed on probation that day. As a result of that punishment, she was now ineligible to apply for the newly vacated lead position within the department.

Courtney had wished she had been a part of that little meeting but had been sidelined by Angela, who sited that she was too close to the problem and that management needed to maintain a balanced role in the discipline being handed out. Courtney understood, but she really wanted to see the look on Maxine's face when she realized her smooth talking could not get her out of the situation.

Maxine had not been told about Lisa's leaving and so her shock was genuine and for Courtney, watching her reaction made up for missing that particular meeting. Gone was her lunch time shopping buddy and partner in office tormenting; she had been left all alone to lead the followers. Courtney felt no pity what so ever. In fact, she was curious to see what Maxine would try next. Courtney was up for the challenge. She had survived a set up and emerged in better shape than before.

When it was announced that Courtney would be taking over the role of supervisor, she received a thunderous round of applause for her promotion, led of course by Mary and despite phony clapping by Lauren, Ashlee, Nicole and Maxine. It made Courtney feel great and sent the message to Angela that her decision was indeed the right one.

They finished off with discussing changes coming to their work responsibilities and with Angela thanking everyone for their efforts and hard work. Courtney smiled as she became aware in that moment that it would now be her making those very statements to the team after meetings. She couldn't believe the day she was having and could not wait to call her friends and tell them. A girls night out would definitely be scheduled so all the details could be spilled as a celebration took place. Courtney had desperately wanted to make some calls, but she refused to even touch her cell phone. She was riding a high and did not want to get caught by Jeff, who always seemed to know when she was touching her cell phone. Courtney played it safe by letting her phone stay in her purse, buried in the drawer.

After Angela ended the meeting and said her goodbyes, she asked Courtney to walk with her out to her car. As Angela gathered up her belongings, she looked around the cubicle and said to Courtney, "Well it is all yours now, a well-deserved upgrade."

Courtney replied, "I can't wait to move in."

As they walked away from the cubicle, Angela waved goodbye to the team. They entered the hallway leading to the reception area chatting about how the meeting went when Wendy appeared out of her office. She was interviewing again and was on her way to collect her next candidate. Apparently word had gotten out about Courtney's promotion because Wendy stopped in her tracks, turned, smiled and extended her hand out to Courtney.

"Congratulations. I am looking forward to working with you in your new role." Courtney felt as if she were glowing. She truly appreciated Wendy's well wishes and knew that it was heartfelt.

"Thank you Wendy and I am as well."

Wendy turned to Angela and said, "Good pick."

Angela smiled and nodded. "I have no doubt about that."

Courtney felt herself blushing from all of the love going on in the hallway. Wendy proceeded ahead with Angela and Courtney right behind. When they arrived in the reception area, Wendy greeted her interviewee and Courtney could not resist looking over to Charlene, who sat at the desk, with a blank expression as they continued on out the doors. There was no need to keep track of the count of victories – Courtney had destroyed Maxine and her followers on that day and they knew it.

Approaching her car, Angela slowed her walk as she unlocked the doors and headed to place her bags in the trunk.

"I will call you tomorrow morning so that we can go over the material for the conference call at 11. I would also like from you any names of team members that you feel would be a good fit for your old position."

Courtney nodded and made mental notes for herself. "I certainly will."

The two stood and smiled at each other. A new chapter had started and it felt great.

"Well then, I have to get going. Oh and since Lisa did not bother to leave her work cell, we will be ordering a new one and hopefully you will have it by the end of the week." Courtney nodded. "And one more thing. Chucky mentioned something about a jacket. Can you please be sure he gets it?"

And with that comment, Courtney could not contain herself – she laughed out loud. Angela chuckled as well.

"I absolutely will get that back to Chucky," Courtney managed to say.

"Very well, you have a good night."

"Thank you Angela and you do the same."

Courtney stepped back as Angela got in, turned her vehicle on and began to leave. As she did, the sun once again reflected off of the car and bathed Courtney in warmth. She had the same feeling she had when she walked past the car in the morning. She got the message – Angela was the shining light in all of the chaos that had gone on.

Courtney must have floated back to the building because she did not feel the ground beneath her feet. She was on cloud nine and wanted to hurry in to get started on moving into her new piece of real estate in the 'land of the cubicles'.

When she arrived at the doors, she suddenly realized that she had not brought her badge with her. In that second as she stood and thought to herself, she heard a loud buzzing. She looked first to the door and then quickly off to her left. Through the window Charlene sat, staring at her. Reality sunk in, Charlene saw that Courtney did not have her badge to gain entry and so she was helping her out. Courtney actually said the word "Wow" out loud. She then grabbed the door and pulled.

Once inside and walking past the reception desk, Courtney stopped and looked Charlene in the eyes.

"Thank you for that," she said and Charlene nodded. Courtney continued on her way, analyzing the situation in her head. "Maybe she'll have a new attitude now that there has been a changing of the guard," she pondered as she walked through the mailroom.

She smiled as she walked over to her old desk to begin packing up. "Wow, this power thing is real," she thought. But when she spotted the Field Service jacket still piled up in the corner, she once again laughed out loud.

"Do you care to share, Captain?" asked Mary.

Courtney looked around and noticed that she had a small audience. She shook her head, giggling.

"No, I'm just amusing myself over here."

That brought smiles to the team members who had been looking; they knew she was giddy from being promoted. Courtney walked over to the corner of the cubicle, reached down and grabbed the jacket. She turned to walk it back to its proper owner, wanting to deliver it personally to Chucky and to thank him for his kind words, as well as to explain the reasoning behind the 'theft'. Smiling as she went along, Courtney was feeling good.

THE END

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About The Author

W.N. Foster's day job in a cubicle provides her with unlimited material to write about. She says the things that people think about their co-workers and workplace but are afraid to say out loud.

Find out more about what she has to say at www.wnfoster.com
