"Hey Gav, the boss wants you in his office pronto." Andrea, the receptionist in the lobby, called her attention once she entered the premises.
"Really, as in now." She asked as if that was out of the ordinary. But in truth, it was. It was rare that she reported to him this early in the morning. "Is he mad or in a good mood?"
It could always go either way, but lately, it was the former. She had landed on crappy assignments, so what did she expect. She always ended up with bad results.
Her justifications did not go well with her boss. To him, she was only making some lame excuses. He said that all news had a backstory. It was just a matter of how you dig deeper into it.
She did check her stories. Even investigated thoroughly to make it more interesting, but it was not good enough to hit the headline. She could not magically turn a story into something else if it was not.
"You know the meaning of pronto, Gav. He had asked for you over an hour ago." Andrea stated with a sympathetic smile.
It should answer all her questions, Andrea thought. She shook her head at her friend. "Go, run. Before he takes your head and hangs it on his wall." They both laughed and found it hilarious.
"Thanks, Andrea." She shouted as she ran to the elevator, beating the door before it closed on her.
She squeezed her body inside, bumping other bodies into the fully loaded cart. Luckily, she took a shower this morning after her late stakeout on that stinky alley.
Or else, these corporate good-looking, well-dressed men and women would probably be scrunching their noses at her, earning her a deadly glare. She did not mind. She was used to it since she took this job.
"Is the boss busy?" She approached Elly with a conspiratorial smile.
She loved her boss's secretary. She had always been kind to her and given her friendly advice. She would not have lasted long in her job if not for her encouragement.
"Not for you." Elly smiled when she looked up and saw who was standing in front of her desk. "He had been looking for you since early this morning. By the way, what did you do?"
Curiosity was running in Elly's eyes as she stared at her. Her boss acted weird since he received a phone call early this morning. She was indecisive if he was happy or disappointed with that call.
Anyway, she was definite that it had nothing to do with this lovely lady. It might be a mere coincidence. But after that call, he wanted to speak with Gav immediately.
"Exactly, my question." She answered her with a wink, also puzzled why her boss was looking for her in such a manner.
Usually, she reported to him, and he started nagging at her for the lousy job she had submitted. But he rarely called for her to check in his office because of something important.
Unless he planned to sack her, but that could not be. There was no reason for her to lose this job. She had worked hard, even if her results were crappy most of the time, but again she pointed out that it was not her fault.
"Go in. Robert had been waiting for you." Elly told her, urging her to proceed inside the office.
She advanced to the door, armed with the thought that she would not lose her job. She had bled, sweated, and stunk, working on all her stories. She would fight for her position, no matter what.
Then, she quickly scratched the thought away. It was insane to think like that. She had done nothing wrong. There was no reason for her boss to fire her.
She softly knocked on the door, confident that she would probably get some scolding again, nothing more. "Boss, they said that you are looking for me." She stated, standing by the door.
Her boss did look like he had been under a lot of stress. His face was scrunched up, with his glasses low on his nose. Then, his hair was in disarray. The lines on her face were more prominent, and there was trouble in his eyes.
Her fear was suddenly back after seeing the grim look on his face. But she was not going down without a fight, she thought, smiling at her boss as he invited her to sit down on the available chair.
"Yes, I called for you here today because I have to discuss with you something important," Robert said in a monotone voice. It was too calm for comfort, not the tone he usually used when talking to her.
"Are you firing me?" The words just blurted out of her mouth without a filter.
Her anxiousness, together with her boss's demeanor, triggered her anxiety. It suddenly made her speak before thinking.
"No," Robert answered her back with a questioning look. "What made you think that?" He added, standing up from his chair and moving to the chair next to her.
"You were acting weird. It just felt that was the reason why." She explained her sudden outburst.
"Well, that is not why I called you here." Robert sighed and rubbed his face with the palm of his hand.
He stood up again and started pacing the floor. "You know why I hired you in the first place, even if you barely had experience?" Robert looked at her as he stopped on his desk, leaning on its edge.
"Because I am that good. My credentials spoke volumes of what I am capable of doing." She bragged slightly with a hint of doubt.
"Not exactly. Although you did great academically, it was not what made me hire you. I sense something good about you. My instincts told me that I should bet on you." Robert moved back to his chair and sat again.
Then, he pulled out a brown envelope and tossed it across the desk. Gav took the file, wondering about its contents. She did not open it yet but stared at her boss, leaning on his chair, watching her.
"What is this?" She finally asked, waving the envelope in her hand.
"Proof that I was right about you," Robert stated without giving more explanation.
She opened the parcel with shaking hands, nervous about what she would find inside. She was shocked at what she discovered inside. She suddenly found herself floating in limbo.