“You’re late!”
Darity Smayle came at him like an angry rhinoceros, which was quite the trick considering she was only five foot two and thin as wind. “I’ve warned you about tardiness.”
“I ran into some congestion. It won’t happen again.” It was mostly true. He didn’t think he needed to let her know how late he had stayed up working on his project.
“I thought you made up time by using the breakdown lane.”
“Darity, that’s illegal. And dangerous! You have no idea what strange things you can run across in the breakdown lane.”
“Strange things, huh? Like your car?”
Sharp winced and looked past Darity to see who was listening. That guy with the thick glasses was peering at him again while typing something into his AR Deck.
What’s he doing over there? Reviewing my outfit? That guy gives me the creeps…
Sharp quickly took a photo with a flick of his eye. Compiling photos for analysis later was second nature to him now.
“Get over here.” Darity muttered, then turned briskly and stormed towards her office, leaving Sharp to sigh quietly to himself. Getting scolded by ‘Mom’ wasn’t on his ToDo list this morning.
If it was embarrassing working for Novell’s IT department after owning his own company not less than a year ago, having Novell’s girlfriend ball him out every week was like getting pied on a live stream. Every time Sharp set Darity off, one of his supportive coworkers would post about it on social media—sometimes with covert video. Most people fade away when the spotlight moves off them, but since Sharp’s success was more online than IRL, even his failures were popular topics of discussion.
His one refuge when things got crazy at work used to be hanging out with Darity and Novell on the weekends. They would eat, laugh, and watch movies together, and he could let go of the stress. It wasn’t something he enjoyed doing anymore. When he was dating, they would hang out as two couples, but things became awkward for him when his girlfriend left him for the CFO just as his company went up in smoke. He didn’t laugh much then, and being a third wheel with friends who pitied him wasn’t what he considered a good time. Now that he relied on Darity and Novell for a paycheck, he had started to find reasons not to visit. It was hard to laugh with the people you felt humiliated to be around because they gave you a helping hand.
Sharp stepped inside Darity’s office, closed the door behind him, and took a look at the room he had been in one time too many lately. Her office looked like a background in a business ad—nothing like his friend at all.
The desk was clear of clutter. It gleamed with abnormal shine. Her bookshelves were tidy and filled with relevant titles at other people’s eye level. There was a monstera in a blackened wooden pot in the corner behind her desk. Most noticeable was the tasteful Japanese room divider closing off the other corner. It had a cherry tree with blossoms painted on it in that calligraphic style reminiscent of old Japan. Sharp recalled his grandmother had called them byobi or byoubu. Something along those lines. It didn’t matter. Sharp knew the real Darity was hiding in messy piles behind the artistic panels.
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He turned his gaze towards Darity just in time to see her looking at him with a mixture of concern and pity. This look was one of the reasons he had stopped hanging out with his friends.
“You can’t keep doing this.” Darity was killing him with concern.
“Darity, I don’t wanna talk about it. I’ll…I’ll do better. It was just one minute. I lost time talking to the receptionist. It won’t happen again.”
“Sharp, nobody else has these punctuality problems, nor are you the only one who talks to Kaylinne.”
“Is that her name? I bet I’m the only one who gets his hair styled by her. It’s the English blond streak in my Japanese, black hair. She can’t keep her hands off of me.”
“A…are you suggesting she sexually harasses you?”
“Hirsutely, perhaps, but not sexually.”
“Her hands are…covered with hair?”
“No…yes,” he said. “They’re covered with mine?” Sharp could tell he had taken a left turn when he should have swerved to the right. This wasn’t Novell’s living room where he could kid around. Darity eyes were crinkled in pain as she tried to understand what point he was trying to make. She raised her right hand up to massage her temples.
“I can’t keep giving you a pass. You’ve only been here a month and people are starting to notice. Wudgepuck is starting to notice. You can’t get special treatment. You weren’t even the most qualified for the job.”
With the mention of Wudgepuck’s name, Sharp could feel a tidal wave of anger coming on. He was still furious that the Bloop board members overrode Novell and hired that piece of trash as CFO. Sharp blamed Wudgepuck for the destruction of his company. His loathing for Wudgepuck’s vendetta against his company was deep and glowed red like magma. That Wudgepuck failed upwards and was now one of his bosses made Sharp want to quit every day.
“Not the most qualified?” Sharp said with feigned pain.
“Do you have any certifications as a network technician?” Darity gave him an exasperated look. The answer was obvious.
“Well, I created a multi-million dollar company that worked over networks.”
“Yeah, and you lost it. No, don’t interrupt. I know it wasn’t your fault, but you’ve got to shape up. Punctuality matters here. It matters to me. Novell put his neck on the line to hire you, so don’t get it chopped off! You’re not the boss here. You’ve got to claw your way back to the top.” Darity straightened some papers on her desk, then looked back up at him. “Please, Sharp. Don’t blow this.”
Any snarky reply Sharp had in reserve was doused by Darity’s pleading eyes. He took a breath and said with mustered sincerity, “Alright. I won’t be late again.”
Darity snorted.
“C’mon. I’m trying here.” Sharp had to pause while Darity composed herself. “How about you give me the ugly jobs nobody has been able to fix yet? I can make the problems go away for you before I have to clock out for the day.”
“You are so cocky! You’re not the only one who can fix computers here. Why are we friends with you again?” Darity said the last part in jest, but Sharp understood the stakes. His friends were taking hits for him.
He looked behind him to make sure the door was still closed. It wasn’t open knowledge that he was friends with Darity and Novell, nor that his friends were dating. When he turned back towards Darity, she mock glared at him with a glint of fire in her eye. “Get your act together, Sharp, or I’ll be sure to cook with cilantro tonight when you come over. And no skipping out again.”
“Nng. Yes, Mom…”
“You know it. You want the tough jobs? Fine. I’m going to work your butt off so hard, people will forget you’ve been late six times since you started four weeks ago.”