Margaret - Chapter 9

“YOU STOLE IT!” I yelled; my voice cracked in the moment. Finally, allowing my body to say what it wanted. Slamming down the folder onto my desk, I let the anger take over. I stood tall, my glasses began to fog as my eyes swelled with tears. “You took everything! My research, my proposal…all five years of my time here. You took it all, Delilah!”. Delilah sat still, her expression unchanging as the claps slowed to my outburst. She moved her finger and lazily brushed a strain of her toned hair behind her ear. Her voice was soft, calmer than ever before. “Margaret, I know you’re upset at how things turned out…but you’re totally making a scene right now.”

“Upset?” The anger seethed hotter, my throat began to burn as my tears blurred my vision. This was the same person I let in, find out about my ideas, and get me to do more than I would for anyone at this dump. She struck me at my weak point; she’s a thief! “You stood there and let them clap for you, as if you did anything! You knew this was my project! You—”

“Margaret.” Alice’s voice cut through my declaration. Finite and final. Her arms crossed and face stern. The others within the office stared intensely at the situation, not wanting to interfere. I turned to Alice, being one of the longest tenured workers there, she had to believe me. Especially after everything I’d done for her beforehand. Five years of my life, and a chance being taken away like this! “Alice, please! You know me, look at all of the work I’ve done, I can show you my worklogs, it was my work!”

Alice kept a stone-cold face, expression unchanged. Her jaw was locked, eyes unreadable. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough? Do you hear yourself right now?”

“Yes!” I screamed. Letting my emotions take over completely. The tears began to fall heavily, as much as I didn’t want them to. “I gave everything to this company. Endless work hours, holidays to spend with family, and full dedication to this office! And she just—!”

“Delilah is correct,” Alice said, each word measured heavily in the moment. “You’re creating a scene. And in front of the entire department. Do you have any idea how you look right now? Not only to me, but also to the department and your coworkers?”

“How I look?” I couldn’t help but laugh, yet it was broken. “How do I look seeing you reward someone who took credit for all of the hard work I put in? Why won’t you understand that’s what happened! I’d been taken advantage of!”. My words began to echo off the silence within the room. Delilah stepped forward with composure. I saw a small smirk curl in the corner of her mouth. “Hey, boss, I think maybe we should take a break,” she said with the same calm voice. “For Margaret’s sake.”

Something within my chest cracked. “Don’t you dare try to pretend to care about me!” I pointed my trembling finger at her, whom I saw as not only a partner but a friend. “You built your promotion on my back, while lying to everyone here…”

“That’s enough.”

Alice’s voice felt as if the room had turned to ice. “Margaret. I cannot allow this kind of behavior any longer within my office. It’s time to pack your things; you’ve made a fool of not only me, but also your coworkers who put in the time and effort to present. When you didn’t even present yourself. Shameful behavior.” Her eyes slashed through me like a clean-cut blade. “HR will process your termination, now, leave this office before you make more of a fool of yourself.”

My voice quivered, and the room fell silent. My breath sounded off in the air, ragged and humiliated. I looked around as the eyes of the office were all on me.

“You’re firing me? After everything…you’re firing me?” I whispered, voice weak from previous exclamations. Alice refused to answer; she stood firm with arms crossed. She stared at me as if I were a bug in her eyes. I continued to search for anyone to speak up. They’ve seen how hard I worked; this was unfair. Someone had to see it this way, right…?

Workers averted their eyes, shuffling papers and pretending to be busy. Not a single word was heard from anyone, as they continued with their work. Delilah finally spoke to me once more, walking forward and placing a hand on my shoulder. Her nails glided across before letting her hand fall off of me. “I’m sorry it had to be this way…I would’ve considered taking you under my wing if you’d fallen into place. You know what they say, it’s a dog-eat-dog world.” As she turned to walk away, I felt my knees grow weak. It became hard to stand as the pressure of what had just happened caused such havoc.

“This isn’t happening…this can’t be.”