Jason looked at his watch as he drove the company car into the parking lot. It was 17:45, 45 minutes past his shift end. He locked the car and rushed into the office building.
Cindy, the receptionist let out a gasp as he rushed in.
"Finally, Jason. Carol has been calling me like crazy. She tried to call you, but your phone seems to be turned off," she said.
"My batteries are dead," Jason answered. "Is Carol still in? Can I speak to her?"
"She is still in," Carol replied. "In fact, I think she wants to speak to you."
Jason's heart stood still for a moment. The images of Jimmy being fired were still clear in his head. Jimmy was the previous sales representative and due to some minor mistake he was fired on the spot. Jason was then transferred from his department to the sales department to fill the gap.
He knocked on the door of Carol's office.
"Come in!"
Jason opened the door, and looked in her office.
"Hi ms. Carol. I hope I am not interrupting, I just wanted to have a quick word with you."
"Have a seat," she replied. "It's about goddamn time you arrived you know that? I have been trying to call you for the past 3 hours, but your phone seems to be turned off."
"Yeah, well...You see, mam. The battery was..."
"No excuses, Jason." She did not let him finish. "Everybody in this company has freaking excuses about every single thing that they do wrong."
Jason sat there in silence. His phone ran out of power, what else was he supposed to do, he thought to himself. Afraid for the consequences, he did not stand up for himself, instead he just apologized. He knew that his wife was jobless and pregnant at home, he needed this job to support her.
"How did it end up with JnB? Did you get them to sign up for our services?" Carol asked.
Jason nodded his head and turned his head down.
"They were not interested. They said they have a different company that they are working with and they want to stick with them."
"Fuck, Jason! That was one fucking job you had, and you fucking screwed it." Carol's head was turning red.
Jason looked up to her and asked himself what he had done to deserve this. He was working really hard to get new business in. He looked at the furious Carol in front of him. Carol was a 55 year old woman, with shoulder length curly, red hair. Thanks to her multiple gym visits every week she had a lean, tight body. The male co workers would often talk to Jason about the things that they would like to do to her, in every possible detail. Jason did find her attractive, but because of her greedy and arrogant attitude she was quite a turnoff for him. And besides that, the only woman Jason was ever interested in was his lovely wife. For him it was out of the question to even think about another woman.
"I'm sorry, mam. I have been trying my best to get them in, honestly. I have done all that I could." Jason said with a sad voice.
"Well, obviously your best is not good enough for me, Jason!" she replied. "You should know that you will be punished for this, because it was of very importance of our company."
Jason could feel the tears filling his eyes. He was just hoping that he would not get fired or that she would take a penalty out of his salary. It seemed like every time Carol wanted to punish some employees, all she could think of was penalties on their salary.
"You know what, Jason. I am going to give you a chance. I want you to go home and think about what you did and think about what punishment should be suitable for you. Come back tomorrow, and let me know and then we will decide what to do."
On his way home Jason thought about what he did and what his punishment should be. He just lost a customer, why was it such a big deal for her, right? There were plenty more customers, and Carol sure as hell had no reason to complain about her company. Her company was blooming, she was making hundreds of thousands each year, if not more. What should his punishment be, he taught, was there even a reason for him to get punished? And if she made that much of money, why was she so greedy all the time? Didn't she have enough already?
He arrived home, took a shower and ate his dinner with his pregnant wife. After a little cuddling they went to bed and she fell asleep. Jason could not fall asleep, he was still thinking about the punishment that should be suitable. Suddenly he got an idea. What if he would work longer hours for a couple of days, just to satisfy Carol? He was sure that she would love that. The extra hours would not be calculated as working hours, so Carol wouldn't have to spend extra, and Jason would not have to pay any penalties out of his salary.
The following morning Jason arrived early in the office and after making his coffee, he went to his desk and started working. At around 10 o'clock he saw Carol's car entering the parking lot. She stepped out of the car and Josh couldn't help but stare at her. Carol was dressed very sporty, a skin tight pair of jeans, white sporting shoes, a tight shirt and black sunglasses. Even though Jason did not like her very much, he always thought that she looked best when she was wearing sporty. When she was dressed this way, Jason knew that she would not stay long in the office for that day. In a fast pace she walked through the door, lifting her sunglasses to her forehead as she stepped in the office.
"Good morning, mam." Both Jason and Cindy greeted her at the same time.
"Jason, in my office in five. Carol no phones for today!" she said as she walked past, into her office. She slammed the door hard behind her.
Jason and Cindy looked at her. They both knew that Carol was not in good mood today, and that it was just a matter of time before she would snap at someone. After a couple of minutes Jason swallowed his fear and walked into her office.
"Ah, Mr. Jason," she said. "What have you come up with?"
"Ummm," Jason said. "I was thinking about me working a couple of hours extra for a couple of weeks."
"You're funny," Carol laughed. "And how will this help?"
This was some of the things that Jason hated about Carol. The sudden change in mood. It was like one moment she was angry and wanted to drink your your blood, and the next moment she laughed and told jokes. Didn't she need professional help?