No Escape

Chapter 6: The Christmas Party Part 1: Surprise Gifts

The next morning, as Laura arrives at the office, she walks into her boss’s office, she knocked on his door, “Can I come in?” she asked him. “Laura! What a surprise to see you this early. Is everything alright…?” he asked her concerned.

“Can I speak with you for a few moments, off the books of course…?” Laura said to him in confidence. He looked at her for a moment and sighed, “fine…” he said as he instructed his P.A. “Don’t send through any calls or messages for the next ten minutes and don’t let anyone in as I am in a meeting…” he said in a professional tone of voice to his E.A. “Yes sir…” his E.A. responded.

At that, all calls and messages were not sent through and the office room door was closed so no one would come in.

“So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” he asked her in a serious tone of voice as he put his hands together, leaning forward on the office desk. Laura sat there opposite him and asked, “Is the reason why you hired Adrian Blake, was because his uncle is the premier of the state? Is that why you were pressured into hiring him?” she asked him bluntly.

The look on his face said it all as he shrugged back in his seat crossing his arms, “Laura… sometimes in life you have to make decisions that will benefit the company…” he said as he sighed. “Like accepting money to take on a rich boy…?” she said in sarcasm and spite with a sense of justice in her voice.

“Laura!” he grunted at her.

Laura jilted a little, as she shrugs back in her seat. “I am sorry… that was uncalled for…” she said apologetically, as she looked to the side for a moment.

There is a moment of silence between her and her boss, “If you must know…we hired him, on a ‘referral’ by his uncle…because of his skills and knowledge of accounts and business… his analytical skills were off the charts, he even finished first and top of his class for his master’s in business… he has done well too mind you for himself while with us, wouldn’t you agree?” he said to her.

She looked at him for a moment and smiled with a fake smile, “of course… thank you for seeing me, boss…” she said almost downhearted as she got up, as she was just about to open the door to leave his office,

“why do you hate him so much, Laura?” her boss asked her out of curiosity.

when she turned around and glanced at him, “you know, politics… can get in the way of business making decisions… politics override what is best for the company… especially when money is involved….” She said with a poker face and walked out with hidden anger, as she opened the door, she almost bumped into Adrian as he walked into the boss’s office, “Oh, Laura” he said in shock surprise. She looked at him with anger in her eyes, but she did not say anything, and walked off suddenly.

“Boss!” he called out to her as she left and stormed from her boss’s office. Adrian sighed as he looked at her walk off like that, as he walked into Laura’s boss’s office, and closed the door, “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything?” he said closing the door behind him on this early office morning. The boss sighed, “of course not, please come in and take a seat” the boss said to him softly.

“What was wrong with her?” Adrian questioned the boss confused. The boss sighed as he put his fingers on his forehead closing his eyes and put his fingers on his lips for a moment, “she is just having a rough morning.” The boss smiled and said simply.

Adrian frowned in confusion for a moment, “Ok…” he said simply…

“Now, for your appraisal…” the boss said going through his work ethic over the last six months.

Meanwhile as Laura returned to her office to prepare the awards for the Christmas party that evening, Adrian happened to swing by her office after his meeting with Laura’s boss, “Morning, mind if I come in?” Adrian asked her.

Laura looked up and glanced at him for a moment, “I am busy right now, Adrian, what is it?” she said in a cold yet serious manner.

He looked down, raising an eye brow in curiosity as to what was bugging her that morning, as he walked into her office.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked her bluntly, staring at her with a blank stare on his face, keeping his calm cool composure as she typed away, crossing his arms watching her type per furiously at her computer keyboard.

She stopped her typing on her computer for a moment, and looked up at him from her desk, “No, of course not. Why would I be upset at my employees?” Laura responded professionally, yet with a poker face.

Adrian was taken back by what she said for a moment, “I…the look in your eyes this morning said it all…” he said to her straight to the point, keeping his cool calm composure.

Laura took a deep breath as she looked to the side, as she decided to keep the matter of her frustrations that it was because of politics that he got this job, “Its nothing to do with you…and nothing of your concern…Mr. Blade…” she said simply.

“It didn’t look like that this morning…” he said in a cold manner, not buying the lies she told him straight to his face, turning his back on her to walk out of her office.

“What ever it is, I will find out eventually… see you later” he said coldly, keeping a poker face turning his back waiving his hand at her as he walked out of her office.

Laura glared at him for a moment and never said a word as she sighed, “people like that, think they can get whatever they want, while others like us, work hard for what we want…” Laura thought to herself for a moment.

As he walked out of her office, he closed the door of her office softly and walked out. Laura looked at the closed door and sat back in her seat to take a break from the typing as she sighed and took a deep breath, looking out of her office window.

She thought about what her boss asked her, “Why do you hate him so much?” were the thoughts going on in her head.

Laura leered off into the distance. “Yeah… why do I hate him so much? I … worked hard to be in this position I am in… and yet… people like him just have everything at their fingertips and think that they can have what they want… but if that is people’s hard working success, why does it bother me so much?” Laura thought to herself, as she sat back on her office desk drinking her coffee, being in a moment of self-reflection.

 “Maybe the boss is right… I am overthinking things too much after all…” she thought to herself, feeling humbled within herself. “If I apologise to him now, it will seem awkward…. Maybe I will just make it up to him with a Christmas present he will like… that reminds me… I have to go pick up the Christmas presents for my team…” Laura thought to herself as she looked at the time, being about 11:30am in the morning that morning.

She looked at her phone and called her PA. “Jennifer…” she said. “Yes boss…” Jennifer responded.

“I need you to go and pick up these presents for me, they are already wrapped up I need you to pick them up for me from the Myer Harry store in the CBD. Just give them my name and they will know who you are” Laura instructed Jennifer. “Yes, Ma’am, on it” she said and hung up the phone.

Laura chuckled to herself for a moment, “they will like their presents I got for them.” She smirked, being proud of herself for getting such lavish gifts for her team.

That late afternoon, as the office prepared to close, everyone gave gifts to each other in their individual offices, however in Laura’s office team, Laura went the extra mile to make it special for them.

“Merry Christmas guys, we would not have made it through this year without your efforts” Laura smiled at her team, including Adrian, and presented them with Christmas Gifts.

“Thanks boss” they smiled and hugged her as they also presented her with their own individual gifts.

“also, as a team, we got one more surprise for you, Laura” Tom said. “Oh?” Laura said in surprise.

As Tom and Jennifer bring out their big box, wrapped beautifully in Christmas paper with a Christmas card on it, “thank you, boss” it said simply.

She opened the present in front of them, “thank you, really, you shouldn’t…” she said as she opened the present, “have….” Laura said quietly in shock as she was taken back by what she saw. The look on her face was priceless, “How…. How did you….?” Laura said shockingly, as it was the tefal pot set she had been eying on for the last couple of months.

“Well, it was Adrian’s idea. He said this is the one you were looking at and as a team, we went and picked it up for you. We hope you like it” Jennifer and Tom said. Laura looked at Adrian, as he looked up at her and nodded at her with a kind expression on his face, “Thank you… Adrian… and everyone… this… means a lot to me, thank you….” She said to them kindly.

“Thank you everyone, really you didn’t have to” she smiled at them, as Adrian got up to leave the for the day, walking passed them, “see you at the Christmas party later guys” he said and left them.

“he seems off today?” Tom said. Laura looked at them, “I am sure he is fine” Jennifer said.

When Adrian got home, he opened his present from Laura, and lo and behold, it was the golden watch he had been eying on for months but didn’t get around to buying it, and it came with a note that said, “A little birdie told me you like this kind of thing. Merry Christmas, your boss, Laura” she signed.

Adrian smirked at his present while he thought about Laura. “So, there is a soul under all that façade after all?” Adrian questioned within himself. As he put his gift on the kitchen bench, overlooking the city from his apartment building, about twenty minutes away from his work.

Adrian sighed as he drank some wine, overlooking the city lights, putting his hand on the window, “too bad, when I do leave LMN company, I won’t have to worry about seeing them again…” he said so downhearted within himself.

“and… I won’t see her again either….” Adrian thought to himself.