Chapter 4 Don’t Come Into Work Starting Tomorrow
When Marnie returned from her business trip, she frowned at the sight of Jordan busy working in the office.
How could a candidate, who was late for an hour to the second interview, be taken in as Ezra’s special assistant?
Megan Larkin, one of the employees who loved cozying up to others, noticed Marnie staring at Jordan.
She immediately went up to Marnie and explained, “That’s the new administrative clerk in the Marketing Department. He’s working his probation period.”
“A clerk? Interesting.” Marnie smirked with disdain, arms crossed on her chest. “Send me his profile in five minutes.”
With that, Marnie haughtily strutted away in her high heels.
Jordan, who was busy copying documents for her colleagues, had no idea that Marnie was planning to give her trouble.
Marnie flipped through Jordan’s profile with a venomous look in her eyes.
“A Master’s graduate at such a young age…”
Hearing that, Megan gasped in surprise. “Does he have a Master’s degree? Why on earth did he interview for the role of an administrative clerk?”
“I bet he won’t last long, especially after he’s crossed me.”
Marnie shot a glance at Megan, who immediately got the hint.
Megan chirped, “Marnie, don’t worry. I will make him suffer before he leaves.”
Marnie nodded in satisfaction and instructed Megan to leave. After that, she made her way to the office of the manager of the Marketing Department.
“Jordan, can you do me a favor? Rinse these grapes for me. I’ll eat them at lunch.”
One of the female employees, Jane Ferguson, handed Jordan a bag of grapes.
Jordan glanced at the pile of documents in her arms. Still, she took the bag of grapes.
“Alright.”
Jordan was about to leave when Jane added, “Remember to pluck the grapes off their stems and wash every single one of them. It’s hard to wash a bunch of grapes thoroughly otherwise.”
Taking a deep breath, Jordan replied, “Okay.”
She continued walking, not noticing that Jane had winked at Megan.
Megan quietly gave Jane a thumbs-up.
When Jordan walked past Megan’s desk, Megan stopped her.
“Jordan, wash this box of strawberries for me while you’re at it. Handle them carefully, won’t you?”
Inhaling sharply, Jordan replied, “Okay.”
Megan grinned. “I always eat my strawberries without seeds. Sorry for the trouble!”
Jordan couldn’t take it anymore. Did Megan seriously ask her to deseed all the strawberries?
That would leave Jordan with no time to work.
“I’m sorry, Megan. That’s not within my scope of work. I’m just doing you a favor by rinsing the fruits for you. I still have a lot of work to do.”
Jordan showed Megan and Jane the pile of documents in her arms.
Megan had set this up to find trouble with Jordan, and Jordan had walked right into the trap.
Megan snapped, “You’re a newbie. What’s wrong with helping your senior colleagues?”
She shot up and crossed her arms. Sounding aggressive, she sneered. “When I first joined Kinsler Group, I refilled drinks for my colleagues for half a year!”
“That’s your decision. It’s none of my business. I’m just here to work.”
With that, Jordan ignored the ladies and left with the box of strawberries. She planned to quickly rinse all the fruits. As for deseeding, she’d leave that to Megan herself.
She had never heard anyone eating deseeded strawberries in her life!
Megan, who felt like she had punched on cotton, felt dissatisfied. She raised her voice.
“Hey! Stop!”
Jordan stopped and turned around. She was curious about Megan’s next move.
“Do you think you’re above everyone else because you’re a Master’s graduate? You still work as a clerk just like the rest of us! Stop putting on airs!” Megan was clearly trying to mock Jordan.
Everyone started to gossip when they learned that Jordan was a Master’s graduate.
Some jeered at her, saying that all her years of studying had gone down the drain. Another assumed that she wouldn’t last long in Kinsler Group.
Her capability was doubted, as she could only secure a clerk role as a Master’s graduate.
Jordan felt embarrassed when she heard the employees talking about her, but all she could say was, “I’m not putting on airs.”
“I have all the reason to suspect you of buying a fake degree! You’re defrauding our company!”
“That’s slander!”
In the middle of the commotion, the manager of the Marketing Department, Gloria Dune, yelled from the door, “What’s with all the noise? Are you done with your work?”
Everyone scurried back to their seats and pretended to work but still stealing glances at Jordan.
Gloria looked at Jordan, who was standing in the corridor. Marnie’s words from just now flashed across her mind.
“Is Jordan Gallagher from your department an employee in probation period? Not only did he refuse to apologize after stepping on my foot, he was super arrogant.”
Gloria looked down, and lo and behold, there was a footprint on Marnie’s heel indeed.
“Jordan is a Master’s graduate working as an administrative clerk. Do you think he’ll last? I bet he’s just using this role as a stepping stone. Once you teach him everything, he’ll jump ship.”
Gloria immediately understood what Marnie was getting at. So, she went back to her department. She immediately saw the ruckus in the office.
“Jordan Gallagher, you don’t have to come into work starting tomorrow. In fact, you may leave right now,” Gloria said with a grim expression.
She approved of Jordan’s competence, but Marnie was right. Jordan might leave once she gained some working experience.
Even if Jordan did not resign, she would put Gloria in a tough spot due to her beef with Marnie.
If so, Gloria thought it’d be best to get rid of him fast.
Jordan nervously tried to explain herself, but Gloria did not give her a chance.
Gloria glanced at her before turning around to leave.
At the same time, Megan and the other employees cackled and sneered at Jordan.
…
While the Marketing Department was a mess, things were not much better in the meeting room, where the senior leadership had convened.
Members of the senior leadership exchanged looks. Ezra had been spacing out ever since the start of the meeting. They wondered whether they should continue with their reports or not.
This situation had been going on for three days. There was no point holding meetings with Ezra in that distracted state.
Ezra leaned back in his chair while gently rapping on the armrest. He stared ahead vacantly.
“That’s all for today. You can leave.”
Finally, Ezra jolted back to reality and scanned the meeting room. He was inexplicably irritable.
The leadership walked out of the meeting room while gossiping about Ezra’s unusual behavior. Most of the senior leadership were the special assistants of Ezra’s dad. They had watched Ezra grow up, and they cared about him very much.
“From the looks of it, Mr. Ezra is lovesick.”
“About time! He’s almost 30. Something must be wrong with him if he’s never experienced lovesickness!”
“I agree. I wonder who’s the lucky lady.”
They chatted as they walked down the corridor. When they looked up again, they saw Connor.
“Mr. Connor!”
“Hello,” Connor greeted them with a smile and wagged his finger.
Feeling embarrassed, the group stopped chatting and hurried away.
Once they were gone, Connor stared at Ezra, who had been standing behind the group.
His grin widened. He believed that Ezra must have overheard the conversation, just like him.
“My lovesick brother, what do you think?”
Ezra shot a glare at Connor before walking away.
Connor walked behind him while nagging, “Take your shot! Don’t miss him again just like how you lost track of that woman from three years ago!
“Now that you’ve finally found someone who could arouse you, you should at least keep him by your side and take your time to…”
“Don’t run your mouth!”
Ezra came to a stop and growled at his little brother. He scanned their surroundings, relieved to find no one around, or he’d be so embarrassed.
Connor flinched. “I know I sound crude, but I’m not wrong.”
“That’s my private life. Keep your nose out of my business and focus on yourself.”
With that, Ezra continued down the corridor. Connor could see Ezra fuming.
When Ezra pulled open the door to the break room, Connor finally yelled worriedly, “Jordan has been fired! He might find a job abroad in his field! You might lose him for real!”
It was harder to look for someone abroad.
Ezra’s hand froze on the door handle. He turned around and silently glared at Connor. Then, he entered the break room and slammed the door shut.
Jumping from the shock, Connor thought with much frustration, “When will Ezra get better? He should keep Jordan by his side, and God willing, his issues will be resolved. What a stubborn man!
“If his sexual issues are resolved, he’ll be able to date women like normal! Oh, how unlucky is the Kinsler family to have a son like him?”
