Chapter 4
The days had flown by as Steph and John progressed with Amanda’s case. Their bond grew although they hadn’t actually been intimate. They had playful banter about work and a few other things, but that was the extent of their new relationship. They were what most would consider boring.
Anna stood outside the office, at the fruit cart, getting breakfast one morning. Steph waltzed by with John and Mrs. Cartwright. Steph was Little Miss Perfect in her mind. It irritated her. Anna needed something juicy to get that pep out of Steph’s step, but she didn’t have any ammunition. She glowered at her unknowing nemesis as she headed toward the entrance.
“You should put a smile on that beautiful face,” a man commented to Anna.
Anna snarled as she turned around to see who dared speak to her before she’s had her coffee, “And I can show you where to shove this banana if you don’t get away from me!”
“Easy lady, I was just trying to be nice,” the man said backing up with his hands raised. “I sure do wish I could make you smile like those two. They always seem to be smiling. I guess those late nights in Mr. Pike’s office help them get along so well.”
The man, who Anna finally recognized as the janitor, chuckled as he walked away from the bitter paralegal. She nearly choked on her coffee as her maniacal mischievousness unfolded in her psyche. She knew Little Miss Perfect would never actually do the boss, but this bit of information could cripple her perfect little reputation for good. Maybe it would make her quit. She sucked her teeth as she headed into the office building with a few others.
Anna waited until Steph was comfortable and working quietly before she barged into her office. The expression on Steph’s face read confused with a hint of anger, “What the hell?”
“You little slut! Not only are you sleeping with Mr. Pike, but Thomas the janitor too! You got a lot of gall showing your face around here after what I just heard!”
“You know what?” Steph rose from her seat ready to punch the woman in the face. “I don’t have time for this. Get the hell out of my office with your nonsense! You had better send one of the interns to bring any of your work to me. Get out!”
“You don’t have the right to talk to me like that!” Anna shouted trying to bring attention to their discussion.
“I know exactly what you’re doing and it’s not going to work!” Steph argued, but the stares shooting their way proved her statement false.
“Wrong, you conniving little snake! I know what you’re trying to do! You think that fucking the boss will get you that promotion?! You’re wrong and you’re never going to get anywhere in this world if you keep fucking everybody. Excuse me. Fucking everybody over you goddamn cunt,” Anna cursed and seethed with anger as she riled Steph up. She could see the water flooding her eyes, but Steph refused to let the tear drop.
“Get the fuck out of my office right now,” Steph demanded quietly. “Because despite the bullshit you’re saying, I still work here and you’re harassing me. So get out now.”
Anna grimaced as she backed out of Steph’s office without another word. Her dirty deed was done. People were whispering as she sauntered back to her office. Steph sat at her desk trying to calm her nerves. She didn’t know what brought on that verbal assault from Anna. She could kill whoever let that bitch off the leash this morning. She inhaled and exhaled deeply in an attempt to get her mood back to normal. Yet, the one thing that stood out was the mention of a promotion. She had no idea what Anna was talking about. She couldn’t focus on her assignments for the day as she had to know definitively if there was a promotion out there or if that was another point of bullshit in Anna’s tirade.
Adam was utterly surprised to see a frazzled Steph tapping on his door incessantly. He told her to come in and sit down. Steph didn’t want to. She was so angry and frustrated with Anna that she couldn’t sit. She wanted to tell Adam everything that Anna spewed from that vile mouth of hers, but she thought against it. Instead she took a deep breath, calmed herself, and sat down.
“What’s got you so worked up this morning?” he asked her with an expression of worry that appeared sincere to Steph.
“Girl problems,” she spat out not wanting to go into detail. “I apologize for storming in like this, but I was just informed a few minutes ago that there is some sort of promotion coming up. I didn’t see anything from Human Resources about it and I just wanted some more information about the criteria.”
“Yes,” he responded searching a stack of papers in his desk, “The firm is working on expanding and with expansion comes more personnel. So what I had in mind was creating a senior paralegal position that you and the others can interview for. The Senior Paralegal would be responsible for training the new hires and overseeing all work that comes from them. Of course there’s a considerable bump in pay along with increased benefits. The person selected would have funding to pursue their law degree so that they may be promoted to Junior Associate once they pass the bar exam. I was waiting for Mrs. Cartwright and Mr. Pike to get back to me about a start date to begin the interviews. You are one of my top candidates, Ms. Allen.”
A wave of emotions crashed over Steph as she listened to Adam rattle off more details about the new position. She knew that she and Anna had to be the only two candidates they would consider, unless they were bringing in an outside candidate. She didn’t want to think about it. After the confrontation with Anna, she didn’t want the rumors to affect her reputation should she land the promotion. She did what she thought was best, “Thank you for telling me Mr. Bailey. I truly appreciate it. I think I’m going to withdraw my name from that list. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity but there is just so much dirt slinging going on about me that no one would take me seriously if I were to get it.”