Chapter 19
Valencia
My heart continued to sink as she came up with more weird ideas for a supposed clean and neat office.
This was definitely a recipe for disaster.
My expressions worsened, but she was in no mood to listen.
“Now!”
I had no choice but to send an email to everybody at the office and be the bearer of bad news.
Predictably, no sooner had I sent the mail, I heard a few colleagues let out shocked exclaims and look around cluelessly.
“An office etiquette meeting?” somebody shouted aloud, and I tried to further sink in my chair. They soon realized I was the sender, and a few walked over to me.
“What fresh hell is this?” a middle aged man with a grumpy attitude demanded.
I shrugged. “I was only conveying what Mrs Briggs asked for.”
I was subjected to weird stares and gossiping as we all headed to the meeting room and Mrs Briggs walked in a few minutes later.
The only sound reaching my ears was the clicking of her heels and the hushed whispers of my colleagues who were glaring at me as if I was the evil sidekick of this crazy woman.
Their glares could definitely create a hole in my head.
I prayed to the Moon Goddess to not let things go south.
Mrs Briggs gave everybody a very sweet smile and began.
“We have received an official communication from the higher ups that there is going to be a new Director at the Bureau.”
Everybody looked up, and I definitely heard a few gasps at that.
There had been a few office supervisors changed, not a director.
“So, naturally, it is our duty to show how ours is the most efficient branch in the entire nation.”
A girl standing behind me named Rhonda said under her breath.
“Maybe she should start with not wearing those hideous clothes at work”
I tried to keep a straight face, but I could definitely hear a few chuckles from behind me.
Mrs Briggs turned her beady eyes at me, trying to sniff out who dared interrupt her speech, before continuing.
“The new Director will probably pay our office a surprise visit to check on how things are going”
There had been no such mention in the letter I read. But it was not as if I could dare oppose her.
Chapter 19
“I just had a quick call with one of my friends at the Bureau and while the name of our new boss hasn’t been disclosed yet. I have learnt some interesting information.”
She took a dramatic pause, as if she was going to reveal a big secret.
She stopped by a table, placed both her hands on it and leaned forward to whisper.
“He loves tidiness. Nothing should be out of place.”
There was a wicked sense of delight in her eyes when she added, “Hence, I have thought of some rules to implement in the office going forward.”
I could hear a few sighs from behind me.
“He is said to be detail-oriented, highly discerning, and not easily impressed. That means we do not, I repeat, do not, greet him with our usual casual ineptitude.”
Her gaze swept across the room, eyes narrowing at everyone from the junior interns to the senior-most associate who had quietly begun pushing the wrapper of a chocolate behind her feet that had somehow fallen off when she walked in.
“What was that noise?” Mrs Briggs suddenly asked, and we all straightened our backs, looking at her like scared children.
She then continued, “so as I was saying”
Thomas was standing beside the woman and he slowly inched closer to her to hide the wrapper but accidentally stood on it and a loud crunch echoed through the room.
Mrs Briggs turned around as if she was a bloodhound and had caught the scent of prey.
“Who is it?” She shrieked.
“Who dares eat in the middle of the meeting?” Her voice bounced off the,walls and she literally came forward to sniff a few of us, as if trying to smell who had just taken a bite of a cookie.
When she couldn’t locate the prey, I took one glance at Thomas, who was visibly sweating and dared open my mouth to distract her.
“The new Director, boss. What rules should we follow?” I asked, and she turned her head to me swiftly.
“That” she pointed a finger at me.
“That is the level of dedication I expect from all of you.” she composed herself again and began.
“We will project excellence. Precision. Professionalism.”
A few heads bobbed at that.
“There will be changes,” she said, pacing like a general commanding an army of overly terrified werewolf pups. “Effective immediately, I am instituting The Office Protocol.”
I blinked. What in the fresh corporate hell was that?
“We need to show uniformity. Back when you were in school, you were taught discipline and that everybody was equal. You had fixed hours to study, and fixed to play, got homework and tests. That is the reason you all prospered.”
Thomas And I exchanged looks, and I saw him mouthing.
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Chapter 19
“She has gone full on dictator mode.”
I tore my gaze away from him and almost missed half of her rules.
“All employees must wear black and white only. No prints. No off-whites. No beige attempting to pass as ivory. I will notice. You will all adhere to the strictest dress code guidelines. This is not a funeral, but it is the death of mediocrity.”
It looked like she had come up with that last line on the spot and was pretty proud of herself.
1 bit the inside of my cheek. Hard.
“Your desks will be cleared of all personal items. That means no succulents, no stress balls, and Rhonda-” she turned sharply, “that cat calendar is absolutely hideous.”
Rhonda looked like someone had kicked her puppy.
“Only three files may be visible on your desk at any given time,” Mrs Briggs continued. “Any more, and you clearly lack filing discipline.”
Murmurs of disbelief filled the air.
You are no longer permitted to use red pens. Or green. Or gel. Only black or blue. If I find a glitter pen-” she paused dramatically, and looked at a fluorescent pen lying on a table. She threw it on the floor and crushed it under her legs, then tossed it in the bin.
“Your lunch times will be no greater than an hour and you are permitted to only take five minutes at the water cooler.”
Then her eyes landed on me.
My stomach dropped.
“Miss Valencia.”
Here it comes.
“Since this office seems to hold you in such high regard-” she said it like a personal insult, “you will be in charge of enforcing the Office Protocol.”
I blinked. “Me?”
“You will ensure compliance across departments. Daily desk inspections. Waste bin levels. Pen audits. You will report violations to me directly. Anyone who fails to meet standards will be… corrected.”
Corrected? What did that even mean?
Thomas turned to me with a look that clearly said traitor. I shrugged helplessly.
“I expect morning and afternoon updates,” Mrs Briggs added. “And if I see a single multicolored sticky note in this office—” she pointed to the hallway, “you will personally escort the offender to me.”
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