She straightened her clothes and washed her hands, then flushed the toilet for good measure before pushing open the bathroom door and running headlong into her boss. By his casual stance, she knew he'd been standing there waiting for her to emerge. She could feel her face flushing, but there was no way he knew what she was doing in the bathroom.
He smiled down at her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I think we should take a walk," he said in a way that suggested she didn't have a choice in the matter.
Fear sluiced through her in that moment; anytime he took someone for a walk, it was a prelude to the person being terminated. She'd already had one hell of a year with her husband walking out on her and divorcing her to marry his pregnant girlfriend. His very young, very sexy girlfriend. Debby's hair was blonde only through the magic of Clairol, whereas her ex-husband's girlfriend was half their age and didn't have to cover any grey.
Debby kept the house and her car, but finances have been so tight that she's been on the verge of losing everything for months. She had no idea what she'd do if she lost her job on top of everything else. And she knew if Mr. Daniels terminated her she wouldn't be eligible for unemployment.
She followed him in silence as he quickly led her down the hall to his office. His office sat at the far end of the building, away from the cubicles where she worked, and even from the offices of the other executives. Mr. Daniels was not only the managing executive, but he was the founder and CEO. She was just a data entry clerk.
"Route my calls to Alex and let him know what's going on. Once you've done that you may take your lunch," he told his office assistant without breaking stride. He opened the door to his office and ushered Debby inside, then closed it behind both of them.
Mr. Daniels walked behind his desk and sat in his oversized leather desk chair and pointed at the small wooden stool in front of his desk. "Have a seat, if you will," he offered in a way that also suggested she shouldn't argue.
She shifted around on the stool as if trying to find a comfortable way to sit. Finally, she hooked her legs around either side of the stool's legs and straightened her spine to help her remain upright. The stool's height was so short as to only allow her head to reach the top of the desk's surface. If the stool was meant to intimidate someone, or make them feel inferior, she thought, it was doing a great job.
"Look at me Debby," he instructed her. Looking at him meant craning her neck upwards at an uncomfortable angle, but she didn't have much choice. She was nervous enough about losing her job that she'd do anything now to save it. Too bad she hadn't thought of that sooner.
"Y-yes, sir?" she asked in a quiet, trembling voice.
"Debby, do you know why I've brought you here?" She'd always hated that question. She was being forced to incriminate herself. She normally kept her nose clean and stayed out of trouble, but it was a difficult question to answer. "And before you say no, you should think about it. Think hard about where you just were and why you disappear to the restroom frequently throughout your shift."
Embarrassment flushed her skin bright red. "Umm. Yes, sir," she answered after a long silence. When she would have turned her head down to look toward her lap, her boss made a clucking sound.
"No. You'll keep your eyes on mine until I tell you otherwise, do you understand?" he asked her. She nodded her head in understanding. "Now I understand that you've made a habit of spending a lot of time in the bathroom the past several months. Is there a medical condition of which I should be aware?"
She didn't think she could be any more embarrassed than she already was; she was wrong. "Ahem. Umm. Yes, sir. I mean, no. No, sir."
He tilted his head to the side slightly, as if he were humoring her. "Well which is it? Is there or isn't there?" By the way he asked, it was as if he already knew the answer.
