I knocked once on my supervisor's door and waited for her invitation before going in. Her office was bigger than mine but barer. Whereas mine had little frames of Mikayla in certain places and trinkets I got from local stores, hers had nothing. Just furniture and lights. Amber was a mystery nobody in the WeCare Inc had been able to decrypt. Nobody knew her marriage status, if she had any kids or not, her relationship with the owners of the company, even how she became supervisor. Everybody in WeCare Inc at the moment met her in that position so nobody could say if she'd ever been a psychotherapist before she attained that post. Nobody knew nothing about her except that she was rich and had expensive taste in cars and fashion. Not even Gina, the office nuisance.
"Good morning." My hoarse voice broke the silence in the big office.
She nodded silently in response while scribbling in what looked like a file and I scowled. The woman didn't even deem it fit to spare me a glance. If most of the people in WeCare Inc thought I was rude, I wonder what they thought about Amber. One intern from the previous year had told me that some people called me Maleficent and Cruella in their little conversations. I was amused at the creativity then. However what did they call Amber behind her back? If it was Lucifer, I wouldn't be surprised in the least.
"Miss Rodriguez. Sit please." She still hadn't looked at me.
"Thank you." I said, not feeling quite thankful.
The answering machine on her desk beeped twice before she turned it off. "So I got your email on Friday night." A useless piece of information I already knew.
"Okay?"
She took off her Ray-Ban glasses and placed them on the desk before raising her head to look at me. Finally. "You were sick?"
I cleared my throat. "As clearly stated in the mail."
Her brows ticked and I bit the inside of my cheeks. I was pretty sure I was the only person who got away with giving Amber backhanded comments. The perks of being a workaholic. She took a deep breath before continuing. "You're good now though?
I shrugged nonchalantly. "I'd like to think that."
Her mutter almost made me chuckle. "I don't know why I bother with you."
"Me too. I don't know why you do."
She rubbed her face in agitation. While I was very indifferent to other people in WeCare Inc, I was snarky to Amber. Certain moments with her made me understand why Madison always tried to annoy me. Watching emotionless people get riled up was pure entertainment. "The swearing-in ceremony was on Saturday and you weren't present." She raised her hand and I swallowed the sarcastic retort that was at the tip of my tongue. "There were some important adjustments to the company policy. Very important ones."
Although Madison had already informed me, I still put on an ignorant front. "Oh really?"
She took her sweet time to answer. "Every employee of WeCare Inc must have a minimum of 2,250 hours a year. An hour less is an automatic termination of appointment. So currently there's a downsizing in the company."
"Alright."
She eyed me carefully as she continued speaking and I didn't know what to make of that. "I'm not so sure but I'd say I sent at least 30 of such emails on Sunday. I still got a couple to send this morning."
Wow. 30? People really were slacking in the company. "You didn't send to me, did you?"
"Of course not." She opened a book and turned a few pages. "The minimum working hours now is 2,250 hours per year. Yours is 4602, so you're very far from that. The farthest actually. I have to give it to you, that's quite impressive."
4,602 hours? That's a hundred hours more than I thought. "I'd say very, but "Quite" works just as fine."
Amber's nostrils flared and I suppressed the impulse to roll my eyes. "Anyways, the clients of the employees who'd been laid off would have to be distributed among the ones available. I'd already informed them that all their therapy sessions would be put off till the next week. So I'll compile the names during the week and drop their files by Friday."
I nodded. "Okay then." The seat screeched as I stood up. "I guess I can go to my office now."
"No, not yet." My brows raised slightly. What again? "You'll have to go to the CEO's office and meet with him."
I swallowed uncomfortably. In my 6 years working in WeCare Inc, I'd never gone to that office. There had never been a reason to. First off, rhe former CEO was never around. The elderly man had many other businesses he managed and only came to WeCare Inc during the Christmas gala. "Why?"
She cleared her throat and closed the book before her. "I have no idea, Miss Rodriguez. Please close my door quietly on your way out." I weighed the odds of how fast I could escape from the building if I snapped her neck. What kind of dismissal was that?
My hands quivered a little as I pressed a button in the elevator that I'd never pressed before. The top floor button. That was where the office of the CEO was situated. The ding of the elevator echoed in the hallway as the door slid open. I walked slowly to the grand door at the end of the hallway and took a deep breath before knocking on it.
"Come in."