My Hometown Love

It was a usual Monday morning at Starbucks. The queue was full of working adults rushing to get their coffee before running to catch the 8.15-morning train. There I was contemplating why I couldn’t just make my own coffee at home instead of standing here, waiting for my usual Hazelnut Latte. The same argument I make every day in my head while I keep glancing at my watch, hoping and praying that I don’t miss the train.    “Lexie! Hazelnut Latte for Lexie!”   I got startled at the call of my name by the cute barista.    “Finally!”, I thought to myself.    I grabbed my drink and speeded out the door, just in time to run and catch my train. I quickly found a seat by the window and took a sip of my coffee.  As I was putting my coffee down, I saw a small smiley face next to my name, drawn by the barista. Smiling to myself, I sighed and stared out the glass window.    This was my life. My name is Lexie and I am a co-columnist for a popular magazine here in New York. I grew up in Jacksonville, Oregon with my parents and my older brother, Jake. I moved out here when I was 23, starting out as an intern and here I am now two years later. I’m happy and contended. I have a close-knit group of friends here in the city which I go out every fortnight for dinner. Who can complain?    “Grand Central Station”, the train conductor announced.    I peeled myself from my thoughts and got off the train. Putting on my earphones, I shut off the world around me while walking to my office.    ************ “Hi, Lexie! Good Morning.”, Raj said.    “Hi, Raj! Good Morning!”, I responded to Raj, our receptionist. He was always a ray of sunshine.   “Did you hear the news? Mr. Mason quit suddenly yesterday. His replacement is coming in today.”, Raj suddenly blurted out as I was about to punch in.    “What? Why? Mr. Mason was such a nice manager. Well, I hope the new manager is nice.”, I said as Raj nodded silently.   “Anyway, I gotta go now. See you later Raj.”, I said while getting into the elevator.    Thank goodness I was the only one in the elevator. The truth is I was freaked out. Mr. Mason liked my work and was talking about promoting me to a senior position soon. Now that a new manager is coming in, I’m not sure if I am going to be getting the promotion at all.    “Ding! Eleventh Floor.”   I took a deep breath, convinced myself, and walked to my cubicle with determination to prove my ability. I turned on my computer and started my usual tasks.    *********** Time passed by so fast and before I knew it, it was already time for lunch. I grabbed my purse and headed for the elevator.    The elevator doors open and I see my colleague Abigail from Marketing, carrying a box full of stuff. She looks at me and bursts out crying.    “Abigail, what happened? Are you okay?”, I asked while gently stroking her back to calm her down.    “I just got fired.”, she whimpered and started sobbing again.    “Oh my! Here come sit down and tell me everything.” I said and led her out of the elevator to a nearby table.    Abigail sat and told me everything. Turns out she got fired by the new manager since she just came back from her maternity leave and was not fully familiar with the latest changes in her department.   I gave Abigail a big comforting hug and told her to call me if she ever needed anything before I let her go on her way.    This situation was really stressing me out. I scanned my ID and headed on my way out to grab something to eat. As I was passing the Front Desk, I saw this tall beautiful lady at the counter instead of Raj. Curious, I headed there and greeted her.    “Hi! I’m sorry to disturb you but what happened to Raj? He’s usually here all the time.”, I said, trying my best to not sound bossy.    “Who? Oh Raj, the Indian guy. Yeah, he got fired an hour ago.”, she said coolly.    I was shocked. What did the poor friendly Raj do to deserve this? I lost my appetite and just decided to go up to my cubicle and process these sudden changes.    I reached my table and just plopped my head on the table and buried my head in my arms as I closed my eyes and thought of what Abigail and Raj must be going through now. I found myself slowly falling asleep.    ************ “Lexie, get up. Lunchtime is over.”, said someone as I felt a tap on my shoulder, waking me up from my nap.    “Oh, thanks Michelle.”, I said as I stood up to go freshen up before continuing work.   I decided to put everything behind me for now and focus on getting my work done.    “Lexie, Sam said that the new manager, Mr. Thomson wants to see you in his office in 15 minutes.”, said Michelle as soon as I returned to my desk.    I could feel my heart beating in my chest like it was going a hundred miles per hour. A wave of anxiety washed over me and I was afraid. I kept thinking about Abigail and Raj and how I might be next.    I shook my head and told myself to stop thinking negatively. Who knows Mr. Mason may have told him that he was planning to promote me. Or it could be that the manager just wanted to get to know all of his employees. All these reasons kept popping in my head non-stop. I composed myself and took a deep breath as I walked to the elevator to go to the 20th Floor.   As I stood in front of his office, I stopped and stared at the huge white doors in front of me and said to myself, “You can do this Lexie!” as I knocked on the door.   ************ “Come in”, I heard a voice say as I pushed the door open.    There in front of me was Mr. Thomson, a 50-ish male sitting in Mr. Mason’s chair. I walked to his table but stopped abruptly when I saw Ms. Lee from Human Resource walk in and stand next to Mr. Thomson.    “Sit down Ms. Cooper.”, he said as he flipped through what clearly looked like my file.    “I see here that you have been a real asset to this company and your work is adequate for your experience.”, he said so coolly without flinching.    “Adequate?”, I stopped him.    “With all due respect Sir, I have given my best work this past 2 years ever since I was an intern here. Just ask Mr. Mason he will vouch for me”, I added.    “Well, Mr. Mason isn’t here now, is he?”, Mr. Thomson said in a stern voice cutting me off.    “Now, upon reviewing the finances of the company, I have decided that a few adjustments need to be done to help improve our financial standing. This includes retrenching some employees that don’t affect our company in a major way. Hence, I have decided to remove one employee from every department with immediate effect.”, Mr. Thomson said with no expression on his face while he looks at my file.    Panicked, I turn to look at Ms. Lee with the hope she will help vouch for me but all she mouths is the word, “Sorry”.    “Ahem!”, Mr. Thomson clears his throat loudly to gain my attention.    “As I was saying, I am going to remove one person from each department. I’m sorry to say that for your department, I’m going to have to let you go.”, he said staring right at my face.    “What?! No, please. I have worked so hard for this. This is my dream job and I was making good progress. You can’t just do this to me!”, I said raising my voice with each word.    “You have no idea what I am capable of! You can’t just waltz in here and fire people suddenly with no solid reason!”, I started screaming while holding in the tears that I can feel welling up in my eyes as I thought of Abigail and Raj and all those others who were going to be let go suddenly like they were nothing.    “Ms. Cooper! Remember who you are talking to and watch your tone!”, Mr. Thomson said sternly as he rose from his chair.    “Or what?”, I said tauntingly.    Mr. Thomson stood up, slammed his hand on the table, and said the words that I never imagined I would hear.   “That’s it. Get out of my office immediately. You’re FIRED!”