JOBBING MY WAY TO UPPER ECHELON

"Here he comes." Someone said, staring at the young man who was walking towards the Director's office.

"Poor guy." A lady added, complementing what the first guy had said.

The young man who was being referred to could hear what his colleagues were saying about him, but he didn't care much.

His name is Statham Jaai. And he's the acclaimed workaholic of the Hay and Dee Firm.

Jaai was of the opinion that, if working his ass off to make some decent money could be used as a topic of ridicule, then he didn't know what to think of people. After all, he was working hard because of a day like this!

After all, today was a good day, he shouldn't let bad energies ruin his mood.

Jaai walked straight to the Director's office and knocked.

"Come in." A feminine voice called from inside.

Jaai hesitated for a moment, but then pushed the door open.

Why's the Director not on seat today? Wasn't he supposed to pay our salaries today? Jaai thought but the thoughts faded away soon.

There was a beautiful lady seated at the end of the Director's seat. The Director was nowhere to be found.

Jaai watched as the lady pulled a drawer open and picked up an envelope. She slapped the envelope against the table then slid it across the table to Jaai's end.

Jaai found this quite rude, but he wasn't surprised by the attitude of the secretary of the director. There has been rumors that the boss was most likely banging her.

Picking a fight with her would seem like getting on the bad side of the boss. Nobody wants that.

Jaai picked up the envelope and turned to leave.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be in such a haste." The secretary called at him.

Jaai stopped in his track for a moment. He didn't know what to make of what she had just said. He turned around to take a glance at her.

Looking at her, there was a subtle smile curling up the corner of her lips. The smile looked innocent.

Jaai started by tearing the envelope open. He recalled that the last few weeks have been very hectic for him. There was no task or duty he turned down no matter how stressed he was.

If the secretary has just asked him to check the envelope with an innocent smile, doesn't it mean that something exciting was coming his way?

An increment? Did the boss decide to increase his salary. The more he thought about it, the curious he got.

Seeing the smile on the secretary's face change into a smirk, Jaai hurriedly exposed the content of the envelope.

He brought out a piece of paper. A promotion letter? Jaai had a lot of thoughts. He didn't recall asking for a promotion letter. All he wanted was an increment.

Curiosity made his eyes zoom across the texts of the paper, skimming through for a faster grasp. His eyes widened as his brain gave meaning to some words,

[Letter of Appointment Termination.]

Jaai's knees buckled as he read the same thing over and over again. He started to shake his head. He didn't want to believe this.

"What is this?" He thought out loud, not sure if that was the right question.

"You went to college, Mr Jaai. You can read." The secretary answered lazily as though talking to Jaai was a bother.

"This cannot be true!" Jaai suddenly exploded. "I was with the director yesterday. In fact, he entrusted me with a personal task which I just completed this morning. I was just going to give him a feedback when I realized that you're the one on seat. How can I suddenly get laid off?"

No matter how hard he thought about this, this situation made no sense to Jaai.

"By the way, where is my salary?! Everyone got paid today! I've been busy, working for this Firm!!! That's why I came down here late! Yet, you're serving me a sack letter?" Jaai was not willing to hide any of his frustration.

"You should go home, Jaai. Making a scene here will only get you kicked out. You don't want to add to your misery." The secretary sounded like she was being considerate of Jaai, but Jaai could easily fish out the mockery in her voice.

Jaai suddenly lost his cool and zoomed to the other side of the table. He grabbed the telephone and dialed the direct line to the Director's number.

"What are you doing, Jaai!!!" The secretary snapped.

When she realised that Jaai would not listen to her, she picked up her personal phone and made a call,

"Security!!!"

It would seem as though the security men had been waiting all along for the call. They stormed in almost immediately.

"Mr Jaai is no longer a worker in this company! He's causing a ruckus! Throw him out!!!" She yelled.

Without further ado, five men pounced on Jaai, each man grabbing his four cardinal areas, while the last held his head.

Jaai kicked and fought all he could but nothing happened. He became a disgraceful spectacle to the rest of the workers.

He was thrown against the hard floor out of the company. He heard his bones crack but he got up again.

He realised that fighting against these men will seem like making a fool of himself, when he could just go directly to the boss.

He dipped his hand in his pocket. He had only twenty dollars left. This should get him there.

Today was supposed to be a great day for him. Today is his wedding anniversary. Last year was a disaster, so he hoped that this year will be better. That was why he spent the past five months working like a beast, to the extent that he now looked very malnourished. But he didn't care about what he looked like, he just wanted to make his wife happy.

He was unable to buy her a decent gift last year on their anniversary. This year, she's been talking about a Hermès bag. He has been saving all his salaries for the past five months. If he adds today's salary, he definitely should be able to get the gift!

If he gets her the thing she likes the most on this anniversary, she'll be extremely elated. He can't wait to see her reaction.

The cab pulled over in front of a lush villa. The Director's villa.