Being a secretary, is perhaps the most stressful and busiest job I've come across in my twenty one years of experience. It's not a hard job, but being surrounded by constantly breaking machines, difficult people will certainly take a toll on my mental strength.
I'll be honest, the reason I got the job was not because of any prior experience, (18 years old, are you kidding), no family connections but because my boss, Mr. Sanders found that a 5'2 petite brunette with blue eyes looking innocent and attractive was a qualification for being a secretary.
Mr. Sanders was not a strict boss or even an asshole by any means at all, however he had very unconventional methods of dealing with his employees. Usually, it never comes to the extremes, but once I signed that contract I had no idea what was in store for me for the first three years of me working here. Normally, with my actions I would have been fired, but here's the alternative to that.
I was nineteen years old when I started screwing up. I woke up a little later than usual, yesterday was a freebie due to the fact of a snow storm mixed with traffic, but today was a clear day. I wake up and suddenly my heart drops as I see the clock read 8:15.
I get up and open the drawer quickly grabbing any pair of panties and a bra. Then I go to my closet to grab a pair of grey slacks, a matching coat and a white shirt to go along with them. And soon after my showering and daily hygiene, it was 8:45. The time to be at work was 9:30, but my boss was prior military so he expects fifteen minutes prior which makes a lot of sense in business world. In my world, I was cursing the "ridiculous" policy. At 9, I walk out the door to my car and I start up the machine. Traffic decides not to cooperate with me either which forces me to show up to work at 9:30.
Thinking I could just sneak to my desk, I blend in with the crowd and with 007 music playing in my head, I was determined to get busy and finish all of my work before anyone noticed, but then I hear this grim voice, "Ms. McCLain."
I look up at the man, "Oh good morning sir."
The graying man smiles, "I see you just started your work with the two sentences you wrote."
I gulp knowing this smile was definitely hiding something, "In your office, sir?"
He nods, "Very good, Alyssa, immediately."
He turns continuing his same grimace as any employee on a Tuesday morning carries. We enter his office when he orders, "Lock the door, Alyssa, this could take a while."
He closes the door, pretty sure he was going to fire me or share confidential information with me, but little did I know the humiliation that would await me and not remain so confidential. I take a seat in the chair before his desk and he takes a seat as well addressing me, "Ms. McClain, you've been late twice. The first would not be a problem, but what happened today."
I sigh confessing, "My alarm didn't go off sir."
His expression becomes unmoved, "So I should give you another freebie?"
I sigh, "No sir."
"Well then, should I cut your pay check or suspend you for a week."
With rent and food, I couldn't afford any of that, "Sir...I really can't afford that."