“What the hell is wrong with her!?” Cesar snapped, throwing his headset on his desk. His manager, Shereen, had for the umpteenth time this week thrown him under the bus for her own mistakes in the middle of their team’s presentation. “Ugh!” He banged his fists on his keyboard in frustration.
Cesar had applied for this job, motivated to contribute and support his manager and her directives with the objective to grow his career. He was ready to take any challenge head on. But to be constantly used as shield for his manager’s own mistakes — “Oh it was Cesar”; “Cesar needs more coaching” — her soft squeaky voice echoed in his head. It made him wince, wondering how many colleagues and managers actually believed he was incompetent.
Mumbling angrily, Cesar stomped into the washroom and took a piss. With his right hand controlling his business, he swiped through his smartphone with his left, hoping for an interview for the jobs he had been desperately applying for the past nights. Nothing. Cesar zipped up, washed his hands, and trudged back to his cubicle.
A missed call notification was waiting for him back at his desk. Shereen. He wasn’t going to call back just yet. Her pure looking face stared back at him from her profile picture on the organization’s telecommunication software. You could never guess the type of person Shereen was from her profile picture. Gold-blonde hair down to her neck, large soft eyes, and a soft smile showing perfect teeth. She even had a thumbs-up pose in her picture. Looks could definitely be deceiving.
Cesar shut his eyes and sipped his tea, letting the fresh green jasmine smell float into his nostrils. Shereen, Shereen, Shereen. It wasn’t just the fact that she notoriously used him to defend herself. That was just one of the triggers that annoyed him. Shereen was borderline crazy in his opinion. She would greet him kindly during the early hours of the workday, complimenting his work and progress, and, as though having a switch flipped, would turn on him later that day on the exact same subjects. Cordial in the morning, mad in the afternoon, and switch that around on random days of the week. She was unpredictable.
Cesar felt as though he was on his toes all the time at work, strategically navigating around land mines with each email and action. He also had the feeling he was being watched constantly, with Shereen calling or swooping in behind him multiple times when he was just minutes late into work. That had driven Cesar to check every nook and cranny of his work cubicle for hidden cameras. It was making him paranoid. Am I doing this right? Would she call me if I send this? I don’t want her to be her scapegoat today. There was no way to be steps ahead of Shereen.
Cesar had drafted a letter listing his frustrations, hoping to soon submit to HR. Among the complaints he compiled were:
- Assigns complicated tasks requiring completion within the hour, and if incomplete, will proceed to point fingers on irrelevant shortcomings.
- Does not follow through on her directives, often mixing up work assignments and projects.
- Ready to belittle if employees point out her mistakes.
- Increases workloads without due notice and guidance, and if employee doesn’t perform, shames them in team meetings.
- Manipulates communication between self and employees, and to others.
- Always unreachable.
Cesar looked at his letter and sighed. He had no evidence to back up most of his claims. It would only lead to zero resolutions with Shereen having more ammunition to target him. Putting away his letter, he glanced at his computer screen. Speak of the devil. Shereen had left him two further missed calls on the organization’s telecommunication software. Cesar put on his headset and selected the call back option. No one picked up. Shereen must have left for the day. His fellow teammate, Drake, walked up next to him. Baggy eyelids and a dismal look painted a very somber colleague.
“Ready to leave for the day?” He glanced at Cesar’s screen. “Shereen? She just left. You should too. She ain’t approving any overtime for you here, ever. Come, lets go for a beer.”
Cesar looked back at his desk. Yeah, everything else can wait. He hurriedly packed his things, excited to drink his misery away.
Two ladies sat next to a restaurant fountain under the full moon. As the waiter poured their drinks, one of them sniggered.
“I think Cesar is reaching his limit.”
“Obviously, after the numerous times you made him look stupid in front of everyone this week.”
“Well, how should I know. You clearly never left any trails of assigning work to him for me to see.”
Light giggles ensued.
“All part of the game. You should switch targets if the current one is about to crumble.”
“You mean we. And yes, what do you think about Drake? I think its his turn to carry the team.”
“Drake? I like him. Strongest performer when under pressure. Lets try transitioning the attention gradually this time. Don’t want another complaint letter again. We barely dodged the last one.”
“That was so fun! HR constantly sniffing around us.”
“Which is why we always assign things verbally. There is no proof against us that way. Okay, that settles it. Drake gets the cake starting Monday.”
“You are so lame….. So, should we start communicating better at work? Let’s say some notes when we switch….?
A short silence ensued. Both ladies looked at each other in the eyes. Just as the moonlight slowly removed the shadows from their faces, both of them burst out laughing. Identical laughs, identical looks, identical twins.
“Nahhhhh!” They both chuckled together as they raised their wine glasses to each other.
