Page 4 of Joy to Noel
“What? I shortened all of our cats’ names—Ophie, Rosie, Gilly. Just be glad I call him Ham instead of Hammie,” Hana retorts.
“Hamlet is less of a mouthful than Ophelia, Rosencrantz, or Guildenstern, so I think you could do him the courtesy of using his formal name,” I say. “And yes, he is happy to be home. He immediately walked around the entire apartment rubbing against every piece of furniture. Unfortunately, he’ll be disappointed when we load up to leave again in two weeks.”
A banging sound comes from the background of Hana’s video. “What was that?” I ask as she rolls her eyes. “JustHarabeojipounding the wall between our rooms.He thinks I’m still a little girl and should be going to bed at eight o’clock. Living with our grandparents while I’m studying here is great for my bank account but not so much for my freedom.”
Doing the math in my head, I say, “It is getting late there. You probablyshouldgo to bed.”
“Just because I’m a post-grad student doesn’t mean I’ve graduated from my undergrad schedule habits. The night is young!” Hana says, a little too loudly. Another bang sounds. “I’d better hang up and pretend to be asleep. Or sneak out,” she adds with a wink.
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t you dare. You’ve been there less than two months, so you don’t know enough yet to stay out of trouble.” I met Hana and my parents at a ski resort in Flagstaff for Christmas, and then she left for London shortly after the new year. “Tell Halmeoni andHarabeoji I said hello. Well, tell them tomorrow.”
“Will do. Love you, Liam,” Hana says, blowing a kiss at the camera.
“Love you too.”
I quickly finish my dinner, and the second I take my last bite, Hamlet jumps into my lap. He rubs his face against mine, purring softly. I scratch the white fur on his chest, and his purrs increase in volume.
“I missed you too. You need to enjoy the short reprieve at home. Because we’re heading to Arkansas.”
Hamlet narrows his seafoam green eyes at me and gives a disdainfulmeow.
Chapter three
Madison
“What do you mean ‘let go’?” I ask, incredulous.
“I mean that today is your last day with the company. You’ll have three months of severance, but we expect you to have things wrapped up and cleaned out by the end of the day,” Chad says. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a hint of glee in his voice.
“But why are you firing me? I’ve never been written up. Has my quality of work dipped?” I ask, demanding more answers. I turn my gaze to Mr. Douglas, the COO and Chad’s boss. “What grounds do you have to terminate my employment?”
Chad heaves an annoyed sigh, but Mr. Douglas at least has the decency to look uncomfortable. Mr. Douglas is the one to respond, “Don’t think of it so much that you’re being fired as your position is being eliminated. We’ll happily give you a glowing reference as you seek new employment.”
I narrow my eyes as I pull my hair into a ponytail. “What do you mean the position is being eliminated? You can’t send out hundreds of pieces of mail each month without them being proofread first. That would be absurd. Clients will riot.”
“I have it handled,” Chad replies with a huff. “I know how to do my job.”
After shooting daggers at Chad, I turn my gaze back to Mr. Douglas, staring until he offers more of an explanation. I’ve worked for WritIncfor seven years with no complaints against me. I’m far too meticulous and dedicated to my work to receive any criticism.
I deserve an explanation.
Mr. Douglas finally cracks, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. He clears his throat before saying, “Chad has assured me that we can utilize AI tools in the final proofreading step of our content creation process.”
My blood begins the rapid-boil process. “You’re replacing me with AI?” I clarify, stuffing down my anger to keep from yelling.
Chad rolls his eyes as though I’m a toddler throwing a tantrum. “It’s a simple way to cut costs and make our process more efficient. This is a business, not a charity, after all. The bottom line is the bottom line.”
“Well, now, it’s not quite so cut-and-dried as that,” Mr. Douglas cuts in, a feeble attempt to soften the blow of Chad’s statement. “But the owner of WritInc has asked me to eliminate unnecessary spending, and Chad convinced me that—”
“That I’m unnecessary?” I blurt.
“Stop acting like you’re a victim here, Madison,” Chad says. “It’s not personal—it’s business. We were told to make some moves to cut expenses during the first quarter, and it’s nearly the end of February. It’s not like we let you go right before Christmas. The severance package is generous, and as Mr. Douglas said, we’ll provide a positive reference to help you on your way. If you need any assistance packing up today, let me know.”
“You think this is just business, but this is abadbusiness move. I catch all sorts of errors that AI won’t recognize as mistakes. You’re going to send out subquality content and upset our customers. This is a stupid decision,” I insist. Chad only glares. I cut one final glance to Mr. Douglas, willing him to step up and reverse this course. He averts his gaze.
“I won’t be needing your help, Chad,” I seethe as I rise to my feet. “I’ve always been perfectly capable of completing my work on my own.”
Spinning on one heel, I storm out of Mr. Douglas’ office. With each step I take toward my cubicle, I tamp down the anger welling upbehind my eyes.I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not give Chad the satisfaction.
