chapter 8

It is 9.30am, and I am sipping my coffee as another email comes through from yours truly. It is this routine we have been having over the past few days, where he continues to ask me for the daily reports and I either ignore them or reply with a simple 'No'.

I laugh at my screen as another three notifications come through from Nikolai, he must be getting pretty fed up with me ignoring him.

First email –

Subject: Report Needed Immediately

Hi Jasmina,

I still haven't received the report I requested, and it's been a week. This is ridiculous.

Send it over immediately!

Best,

Mr Milordov

Second email –

Subject: Immediate Action Required: Report Outstanding

Hi Jasmina,

I know you've clocked in—and yet I've received no response or update from you. This lack of communication is surprising, especially given our contractual agreement and your responsibilities on this project.

If you continue to delay your reporting, it may affect the outcome of your compensation upon the completion of this project.

Best,

Mr Milordov

Third email –

Subject: Final Reminder: Immediate Submission of Report Required

Hi Jasmina,

This ongoing delay is becoming unacceptable. Your repeated refusal to respond to requests from your superior is not how we operate in this company.

I expect all employees to adhere to strict rules and promptly follow up on management's requests. This is my final polite reminder: if I do not receive the report by the end of today, there will be serious consequences.

I am done with the games.

Best regards,

Mr Milordov

My shoulders shake with mirth as I try to cover my snicker from the rest of the employees, especially Greg. He has been riding up my ass ever since I got here with constant menial tasks, he's even asked me to go and get him a coffee a few times, much to my shock.

It's ridiculous that he makes people on his team do it, when the receptionist is the one that grabs the refreshments for a reason, so everyone can focus on getting work done for an efficient workflow, but no the pompous ass wants me to go and do that instead of doing the accounts, spreadsheets, data entry and other stuff that is waiting for me on my desk.

I close the message that Nikolai sent me and jump up in my chair as Cindy pops up out of nowhere and leans in with a suspicious twinkle in her eye, 'Watcha laughing at?'

I shrug my shoulders and try to keep my face neutral, so she doesn't sniff anything out, 'Nothing I just saw a funny meme on Facebook'.

She quirks one eyebrow up, not believing my lie for a second, "Righhhhhht, I'm sure that's what you were doing Miss Workaholic.' She leans in even closer to my face looking past my shoulder to see if she can get any clues from my computer screen and I see a flash of disappointment as she doesn't find what she's looking for.

Cindy bats her eyelashes up at me, 'Is someone having a secret office romance that I don't know about?' she continues to blink at me waiting for the truth to spill from my lips, 'Hmmmmm...?'

I wave her off like the bloodhound she is, 'Of course not, why on earth would you think that?'

She makes a dramatic gesture of smelling the air and leans in close, 'Something smells fishy here, and it's not just your breath'.

I swat her arm at the ridiculous accusation that my breath stinks, which we both know is a complete lie. I push her towards her cubicle, 'I think someone should do a lot less talking and a lot more working, away with you!' I make shooing gesture, dismissing her and letting her know she won't be getting anything out of me today.

She scrunches her face up in a pout, huffs then does a 180 and winks at me, 'You're going to have to tell me eventually! You know that right! You can't hide it from me forever!' She does an evil laugh like Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada and frolics back to her desk. I shake my head and smile at her juvenile antics.

Boy is she gonna get a kick out of it when she finds out who I am in two weeks. She's practically going to be frothing at the mouth at the drama of it all.

My phone vibrates on my desk, and it's from an unknown number.

I have no idea who it's from, so I delete the message.

I stretch my hands and get a knuckle on with my workload for the day.

Greg looms over me to get my attention, I ignore him until he clears his throat, I roll my eyes as I drag my face away from the computer screen to look into his beady eyes.

The creepy ass is taking this chance from the angle that he's standing at to look at the shadow of cleavage I have on display. This man is definitely on my hit list; I am going to wreck him.