…
Who said the secretaries in the CEO’s area never argued?
Papers were scattered on the cubicles. There were torn-up files on the floors. The girls screamed and yelled at each other. Some were dragging a chair, while others were fighting for the finest cubicle.
Because twenty more cubicles were added, the former secretaries thought the ones they were using were old, so they deserved the new ones.
“Girls, please calm down. I told you these are only for the new secretaries.”
“So what, Assistant Jiang? We came here before those girls. Normally, we should be treated more nicely than them.”
“You have your own cubicles.”
“But we want the nice ones! Assistant Jiang, don’t involve yourself in this. It is not fair that they get to use the finest cubicles.”
Assistant Jiang sighed in exasperation, looking at the girls behaving like babies.
Actually, not even one person among the newly hired secretaries has arrived yet. The ones fighting for the chairs and the new cubicles were all the former ones.
Unfortunately, the CEO was having a meeting with one of the clients and some managers. So Assitant Jiang was left to handle the chaos alone.
“Please compose yourselves, Girls. They are just cubicles.”
“They are new cubicles, Assistant Jiang.” One girl exclaimed. “If they get to sit in the finest cubicles and leave us in the old-looking ones, won’t we look less presentable? Obviously, those girls are going to snatch our spotlights.”
Their reasoning didn’t make sense to Assistant Jiang. All the cubicles looked the same. Apart from looking slightly older than the new ones, their cubicles didn’t even have a scratch.
Annie and Layla came in time to witness the chaos. The girls looked surprised and they wondered what was going on.
“Ah, Mrs. Lim- I mean, Ms. Lin, you’re finally here.” Assistant Jiang didn’t have time to celebrate seeing her. He was in a big dilemma and needed someone who could speak some sense into the secretaries.
“Ms. Lin.” He walked to Annie. “You have a good temperament and you’re very sensible. Could you sprinkle some of your sense onto these girls, please?”
“Ha! Assistant Jiang, aren’t you funny?” Layla laughed. “When have you seen someone sprinkle some sense into another person? Have you ever seen a sense before?”
Now, she was convinced that something was wrong with the assistant.
“You- What are you doing here?” Assistant Jiang looked at her.
“Stop acting stupid. You know I got transferred here too. Assistant Jiang, why can’t you handle them yourself? Could you stop acting like a chicken?”
“You, Ms. Ju’an.” Assistant Jiang pointed at her. “I thought the IT Department also accessed the employees’ behavior before picking anyone. How did you get in?”
“Are you looking down on me?” Layla glared at him.
“No. I think you pulled some strings.”
“You-“ Layla was instantly irritated. “Assistant Jiang, I don’t cut anyone a slack. If you don’t apologize to me, I will tell everyone about how you acted like a baby that day in the hallway.”
“Erm, you just said it, Ms. Ju’an. I always knew you’re a blabbermouth.”
The secretaries stopped what they were doing and they stared at this new girl in disbelief. She bantered freely with Assistant Jiang. Who was she?
Also, they had never seen Assistant Jiang fight with anyone. Was she among the new secretaries? Did they know each other?
“Assistant Jiang, who is this girl?” One of the secretaries came forward and stood beside the assistant. “How dare she speak to you anyhow?”
“Yes, Assistant Jiang. These girls just appeared out of nowhere. Why are they here? Is it that they were also transferred her?”
“Assistant Jiang, tell us it’s a lie. We don’t think these girls are qualified to work with us.”
The secretaries immediately reunited and started speaking at the same time. Both girls were good-looking. One appeared fearless and the other one looked calm.
It wasn’t their mannerisms that struck them. It was the way they carried themselves. Ah! Why would the IT Department hire these kinds of girls?
“A-Allow me to introduce them, Girls.” Assistant Jiang wasn’t comfortable with the way the secretaries were staring at the girls. “This is Layla Ju’an and this is Annabelle Lin. They are both from the Arts Department. I hope you’ll all treat them like sisters.”
“The Arts Department?” The secretaries exclaimed. They all looked at Annie at once and quickly understood that she was the girl from yesterday.
“Our CEO is so dear yet you girls dared to challenge him.” It was as if they had been waiting for Annie and Layla’s arrival. They all put on sweet smiles and surrounded the two.
“Well. Well. Well.” One of them clapped. “Ms. Lin and Ms. Ju’an, first of all, let us welcome you.”
“Girls, what are you up to? Don’t try anything crazy.” Assistant Jiang became more apprehensive by the smiles on their faces.
He brought out his phone and showed them a number. “I will call the Security Department if you don’t stop acting weird. And you know what happens when the security apprehend an employee.”
The girls’ expressions fell immediately.
“It hasn’t gotten to that, Assistant Jiang.”
“Come on, Assistant Jiang. We just wanted to give them a proper welcome.”
“Please don’t panic. We’re not stupid to cause any trouble for ourselves. Ms. Lin and Ms. Ju’an are surely like sisters to us.”
“If Assistant Jiang could excuse us, we just want to have a nice conversation with them.”
As they spoke, the elevator doors kept opening and more girls joined them.
Seeing the number of the secretaries almost up to fifty, Assistant Jiang didn’t need to be asked to leave. He feared a fight would erupt and those girls would do nothing but ruffle him up.
Quietly, he sneaked away. No one even noticed his departure, because all the secretaries were now engaged in a staring competition, both the old ones and the new ones.
“The first rule you girls must follow is… No one is allowed to look at our CEO.”
“The second rule is… You must all obey and respect us because we were here before you.”
“And the third rule is… Don’t even think about getting the new cubicles. They all belong to us.”
“And the fourth rule-“
“Urgh, shut up! Who do you girls think you are, ordering us around?”
“You can dream on about us respecting you or following your orders. The CEO is ours, and these new cubicles also belong to us!”