My Lonely Duke

Losing my Job

Hazel POV 

I get off the bus which leaves me right in front of my Workplace. There isn’t much commotion here as it is quite early, people who work here usually come late. But I prefer coming early to avoid meeting anyone. Mostly I come by 8 and just go directly to my desk. The only people who may know me in this office would be the guard and my Lead. To everyone else, I just don’t exist and I prefer that way. 

I learned this lesson the hard way. Being from a friendly hometown, when I first came here I was over-trusting. I would smile at people, talk to them, try to win them over, but mostly I would tell them things about me, personal things. I trusted them with everything. I told them about my crush in office and slowly they started to tease me about it when the teasing went inappropriate and the guy himself was mocking me, I confessed this to my Manger. The result was me being alienated by the whole crowd for being a tattletale. 

I am lost in my thoughts when I hear a beep again, apparently, it has been beeping for quite some time and I was oblivious to it. Being confused I try to look around to where it was coming from and that’s when I finally notice it. It’s the entry gate where we are to scan our finger to get in. It is beeping every time I scan my finger. 

“What the hell” I let out a curse, crossing my fingers in a reflex. Yeah, I am not supposed to curse if I want to go to heaven. I can’t be a Bad girl as I don’t want to get punished. 

I try again and again, panicking to what was happening. There must be something wrong. There must be something wrong with the machine.I look around and see a security guard approaching me with a gun in this hand and batch at his belt. He gives me a disgusted look like I have disrupted his important work ( Sleeping I may say). 

“Show me your ID” he orders.

My hand moves nervously in the bag I am carrying with me, searching through my hand, then looking at the contents, trying to do it as fast as possible since the guard is giving me an annoying look. 

“Hurry” he barks 

“Thank God” I murmur as I finally get my ID and show him.

He is frowning looking at it and ask me to follow him to the admin office. 

I am already nervous thinking about what would have happened and everything that comes in my mind is not calming me down. 

Soon we are in the admin office and HR is waiting for me. 

I am sweating now, since being called by an HR is never good news. I slowly sit down to the seat that is offered to me in front of the HR. She is still busy writing something and arranging a few papers on her desk, then searching again for a pen, then dialing a number on her phone asking the guards to be prepared.

For what?  I think to myself. 

To my pleasure she beings finally. “Miss Hazel Jones, we are sorry to inform you that your employment has been terminated as of today”

“What” I scream out loud. 

“Ssshhh, let me continue,” the HR says. Totally nonchalant to my current state. 

“The Termination is due to the fact that you have not reported to the new facility you were assigned for 30 days, in the absence of any employee for a month, a mail is sent to employee’s provided mail address and if the employee further didn’t respond in another week, the termination process proceed.”

I try to say another word when she puts a finger to her lips to silence me. 

“You are given a day to collect all your belongings and return the ID to the admin and since this process is you being terminated when you were not given any work for 6 months, you won’t get any experience letter or any salary from the employer.”

I sit there for God knows how many minutes or hours before I could start to think again. This couldn’t be happening. I can’t lose a job not now not till the time I find another one. When was I relocated?, when did I get a mail?, when did I get a follow-up mail?. I am lost right now. 

“I didn’t get any mail for relocating or any other follow up mail” I mutter, scared of her silencing me again. 

“Your Lead is supposed to send you and we have been in CC for that. We have got two Mail from him and you are also included in the recipients, see here” 

She shows me a mail and I read it, again and again, trying to recall when I got it, why I missed it, it’s not like I get tons of mail all the time, then it hit me.

Couple months back when I confessed to my Lead, that I was being teased, he advised me to change my work email and I did the same, little did I know that all the emails from the company have been going to the old address and that he had played me as part of his revenge. 

I don’t have any way to prove it, all conversation was verbal, nothing in documents, I was so trusting of him that I didn’t take it in writing anywhere and that cost me my job. I can’t do anything now. 

Maybe this is what’s written in my fate, maybe I have to do something I told myself that I won’t do in a million years. Going back to my Home