The New Me by Halle Butler

Author:Halle Butler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2019-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

chapter 16

Friday was a normal day and went as it usually did—with everyone doing half-work, acting as if it were Saturday already and like they were doing the showroom some kind of a favor by even being there. Patty and Amanda spent a good twenty minutes on one of the showroom sofas drinking coffee, almost blatantly in view of Karen’s desk, perhaps forgetting that they had unresponded-to emails in their inboxes.

Millie left a little bit early again. Karen saw it and checked her wristwatch to confirm. This was unacceptable. She waited about ten minutes and then walked from her desk in the showroom to the back offices.

The stack of papers sat almost glowing on the edge of Millie’s desk, abandoned. Karen felt good about this. It confirmed her suspicions that Millie couldn’t be trusted with a simple but important task, and it gave her something concrete to take to Lisa.

It was a hit, an assassination. Not exactly a lie, but a contrived circumstance. The ethics of the situation were gray. If Karen could assert that she’d given Millie the task innocently, it would be less gray.

Karen looked at Millie’s desk. It had coffee stains all over it. Karen flashed on Millie drinking coffee with sloppy pig-like gulps. She picked up the papers and returned to her desk. It would be best to contact the temp agency again, to further document her disappointment, before going to Lisa.

In a normal world—in a world where Karen was at a higher pay grade and had a better title—she would contact Millie directly and talk out the issue. But this was not the situation, and part of the agreement with the temp agency was that they would handle their recruits.

Karen composed an email.

Hi Julia,

Did you get any impressions from Millie about her frankly sluggish work rate here at Lisa Hopper? I have just seen something that puts me further ill at ease about including her on our team. I had asked her to shred some sensitive files, and while walking back to the copy room, I noticed that the files were still not shredded. I did them myself, but I am concerned that she would leave this undone on a Friday. I am concerned that she is not responding well to my simple instructions, and there is a trust issue at hand. We will not be able to offer her a full-time position here at the showroom, and we might need to look elsewhere for her replacement. I am not sure what Millie’s career goals are at this time, but it seems as if she is not interested in advancing in this field.

On top of this trust issue, I have felt slightly uncomfortable with her presence in the office, which I touched on in my email earlier this week. Her wardrobe and grooming are somewhat lacking. In a workplace that values style, it is important that we project a certain look to our clients. She is also very dour and unfriendly in the break room and takes excessive breaks.

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