The New Boss
The next morning, I arrived at work early as usual, coffee in hand, ready to face another day of quiet disappointment. That’s when Becca made her grand entrance.
She clicked through the office doors in heels that probably cost more than my car payment, designer handbag swinging from her arm.
Her hair was freshly highlighted, bouncing with each confident step as she strutted past our cubicles like she was walking a runway instead of the dingy carpet we’d been asking maintenance to replace for years.
‘Hey, team!’ she announced loudly, twirling a shiny new company keycard between her manicured fingers. ‘Guess who just got a corner office?’ My stomach dropped as she flashed that perfect white smile.
The corner office—the one with actual windows and a door that closed. The one I’d imagined myself in during those late nights cleaning up everyone else’s messes.
Around me, my coworkers exchanged uncomfortable glances, but no one said a word. Not Margie from Accounting, who’d been passed over for promotion three times. Not Dave from Claims, who’d worked here for twenty years.
We all just sat there, silent witnesses to the death of meritocracy. I clutched my coffee cup so tightly I’m surprised it didn’t shatter.
Fifteen years of dedication, and I couldn’t even bring myself to offer a congratulations that would taste like vinegar in my mouth.
As Becca disappeared into her new office—MY office in another reality—I had no idea that her reign of terror was just beginning, or that she was about to make my professional humiliation intensely personal.