Page 7 of In Love and War
“This isn’t working out, Amelia,” he said before I finished asking my question. His hands were now clasped together on the table in front of him and his fingers intertwined as he leaned in. “You’re fired.”
What?
I was too shocked to speak, so I just sat there, gaping at him.
“Under normal circumstances we would have someone from security escort you out. However, due to your… position and relationship with Mr. Bloom, HR has agreed to allow you to pack up and leave on your own.”
“I don’t think you can actually fire me,” I almost laughed. All the stress and anxiety that had built up from that morning was finally reaching its boiling point.
Could he fire me?
“That is not correct. I can fire you, and I just did. HR can address any questions or concerns you may have. Fourth floor, ask for Remi.” He turned over to his computer and began logging on.
The asshole was dismissing me. Just like that. Who the fuck did he think he was to fire me from the company my family built?
“I know I missed a deadline, but it was clearly an accident. Human error happens. You can’t fire me based off of one mistake.”
“Youronemistake could have cost me one of the largest accounts we bid on this quarter, Amelia. You only hadonejob to do, and it wasn’t a difficult one. And you know what I haven’t heard from you this whole time?Oneapology.” He’d stopped typing and turned back to face me again. For the second time that day, I could see his ears slowly turning red.
“Okay, well I’m s—” I started, but he didn’t let me finish.
“You showed up late on your first day because you didn’t read the introductory email that was sent out. A regular intern could have been excused immediately based off of just that.” His voice was frustrated and angry.
“But you were given a second chance. Then a third chance when you mislabeled the Microviz files, costing us six hours of work. Then a fourth chance when you couldn’t keep up with the basic internship workload and we had to bring on Mai to help out. A fifth chance was given after you mismarked the JYPR proposal second edits and we had to spend almost an entire day reorganizing. Are you really going to ask for a sixth one in two months?”
And that’s what did it.
“Are you kidding? You have me filing folders and making edits to proposals and documents all day! I’ve been talking to my dad about this summer foryears—I know what the internship was supposed to involve. The whole point of it was for me to start learning about marketing and advertising so I’m a little more prepared to come work here after I graduate. But all you’ve done since I started is give me the least engaging work and then nitpick and criticize every little thing that wasn’t done exactly how you wanted it. Even if your instructions hadn’t been clear enough in the first place. I’ve learnednothingfrom you in the last eight weeks!” I knew it wasn’t a good idea to get worked up, but it all started to spill out anyway.
“And that’s exactly your problem. You think you’re too good for the job which is why you haven’t applied yourself once since you got here. You’re complaining about the things assigned to you beingtoo easy,and yet you’re still making mistakes because you’re not taking the work seriously. You don’t even realize how much of a privilege it is to be here, at this company, and to have this opportunity that was handed to you. There are kids graduating this year that would kill to be in your shoes, making those edits. Kids that have put their sweat, blood, and tears into their grades just to have opportunities like this snatched away from them because they don’t have the right connections. You have no idea how lucky you are because you’re lazy, selfish, entitled, and spoiled, Amelia.”
Full disclosure, he was right about this one. I knew he was right, which made seventeen-year-old me even more angry and irrational.
“And you’re an intolerable, arrogant, pompous ass,Mr. Evans.”I couldn’t remember the last time I was this livid.
“Get the hell out of my office.”
“Gladly.”
I stood up and stormed out, slamming the door behind me. Both Andrew and Mai were looking at me wide-eyed, Mai with her mouth open, as I walked past them. My eyes started to tingle, and my vision blurred. I wiped the tears that were threatening to spill out away quickly and kept walking until I got to the elevator, pushing the button with more force than I’m sure was necessary.
I rodethe elevator up to the twentieth floor, refusing to let myself take a minute to calm down. More unwanted tears had already escaped, and I could see how blotchy my face had become in the elevator mirrors.
When I finally heard the ding, I ran out too quickly, slamming my right shoulder into the opening doors, hard.
“Ow, God damn it!” I rubbed my shoulder. Today was the worst.
“Milly! Are you okay?” Jasmine walked around her desk and over to me. As soon as she saw I’d been crying, she put her hands onto my arms and bent a little in her heels to study my face. “What’s going on, what’s wrong?”
“Is my dad here?”
“Yes, sweetheart. He’s just in his office, you can go right in.” She genuinely looked concerned as she walked me to the large sandalwood doors, gently rubbing my back.
Jasmine was the kindest person I’d ever met. She had the type of soothing mom energy that made you feel like everything was going to be okay, even if the world was on fire.
“Thank you,” I said as she opened the door and let me in.
“Milly?” My father was sitting at his desk, reading through some paperwork, when I walked in. He looked surprised to see me, and I didn’t blame him. I hadn’t visited his office at all since the internship began.
