Iris shuffled to her desk, greeting and waving at anyone on the weekend skeleton crew who made eye contact. It was odd though, as most people avoided her this morning. There were only a handful of people in the office when she and Ryan had their confrontation, so she was surprised by the chilly reception from Finance and Order Entry. Had word travelled that quickly?
She could hear the mumbled whispering of coworkers as they passed her cubicle. Claire from Order Fulfillment and Violet from Finance were particularly chatty this morning. Iris strained to hear, and only picked up a few tidbits of information they were whispering about.
"...with his briefcase and jacket, yeah." Claire whispered. "I heard he was sent home."
"Well, I heard from one of the ladies in Finance that it was that skinny girl in Order Entry." Violet sneered. "She put up some kind of a fuss this morning, and then he was gone."
"Do you think he was fired?" Claire asked.
"I really hope not." Violet scowled. "If he was, then..."
Iris tensed hard to listen, until the chattering stopped. She poked her head out the side of the beige cubicle wall and saw the pair of ladies scowling and staring at her.
"Good morning, Claire." Iris cheerfully greeted them. "Good morning, Violet."
The two ladies grunted incoherently at Iris and scuttled off to their workstations. The Order Entry department fell silent once they'd left. It was an eerie 'wild west ghost town' quiet, punctuated every now and then by faint whispers.
She had almost forgotten what it was like to feel this alone. Iris tried not to let it bother her, as she squeezed the squishy bee toy on her desk for comfort. The rumor mill was in full swing, and it had decided that Iris had done something to get poor Ryan in trouble.
Iris clenched her jaw tightly when she realized there would be no point in challenging their assertions. She knew that the more she pleaded, the more the swarm would insist on her guilt. She would have had an easier time convincing the sun not to set than to sway anyone in the office.
The hushed quiet lingered in the Order Entry department for a short while, until Iris’s phone began ringing off the hook. She couldn't even take a breath between calls before her call light started blinking again. It went on like this for hours, and Iris wearily took all the calls.
Iris was about ready to pull her purple hair out when Evelyn stopped by for a visit. She didn't often come in on weekends either but needed to catch up on the Whitley numbers. Evelyn was dressed in more comfortable, casual clothing today, and she was brandishing two steaming hot cups of coffee.
"Hey there. Afternoon, Iris." Evelyn beamed. "Looks like your phone's ringing there."
Evelyn handed Iris a cup of coffee and Iris clasped it with shaky hands. Evelyn quirked a brow and pieced together that something was wrong. Iris took a sip from her coffee and set her incoming call button on "standby."
"Thanks, Evee." Iris cracked. "Tough morning today."
"What's going on?" Evelyn asked. "Why is your phone going off like that? Aren't you supposed to have help? Where are the other girls?"
Iris popped her head above the cubicle wall and discovered that the other ladies were not at their desks. Their phones were left on in "park" mode, forwarding all their incoming calls to the next available person. Iris sunk back into her task chair and fought tears.
"Of all the childish, stupid..." she grumbled. "They hung me out to dry."
"What?" Evelyn asked. "I don't understand."
"The ladies, they sent me all their calls and took off." Iris replied. "We don't have enough coverage on the phones now, and we'll all get in trouble if Mr. Maker finds out."
"Wait, what?" Evelyn cried out. "That's BS! Weekend phones need staff. How could they all just abandon you like that?"
Iris took a breath and invited Evelyn to sit down. She relayed everything as best as she could, slowly and quietly. Evelyn's expression hardened as Iris explained, replacing her sunny cheerfulness with embittered distaste.
"That's all I can remember." Iris sighed. "I was up super late last night and have been having the worst nightmares lately. My brain feels like oatmeal."
"You should say something!" Evelyn called aloud. "That's... I dunno what it is, but it isn't right!"
Evelyn was a little louder than she should have been, drawing the attention of three men walking to the conference room. The passing party consisted of Lane and Javier from Accounts and Mr. Maker.
Lane was carrying a huge stack of papers that threatened to topple and didn't stop to check on the ladies. Javier trailed behind him with 3' long paper rolls with data and charts printed on them. He dropped two of the rolls, which Iris bent down to hand him. She felt a little dizzy from a rush of blood to the head afterwards.
"What isn't right?" Mr. Maker demanded. "What's going on over here?"
Iris could feel her resolve crumbling. She covertly reached into her pocket and pulled out the quartz worry stone she'd been using on the bus ride to the office and pressed hard into the groove on one side. She clenched onto the stone with all the strength she possessed and muzzled her terror.
"It's the phones, sir." Iris answered. "W-we don't have enough people on our phones today. I've been doing my best, but..."
"Where are the others then?" Mr. Maker fumed.
"I don't know, sir." Iris cowered. "They've been gone for hours, and it's just been me over here."
"That's a lie." Claire Donovan interjected. She came in through the office entryway, followed by the other missing phone operators. "We were just on break. We're allowed to get a lunch break, you know. She's making things up to cause more trouble."
"Oh? Is that so?" Mr. Maker asked.
Iris was stricken and stammered to try and plead her case. Her words failed her, and she started panicking.
"No, it isn't." Evelyn interrupted.
"How would you know?" Claire countered. "It looks like you just got here."
Evelyn clamped her mouth shut, and eyed Claire contemptuously. Iris looked at Warren with pleading eyes and desperation. Warren coughed into his hand and smirked to himself. Opportunity knocks, but seldom twice, he mused, silently.
"That's enough." Warren commanded. "I'll get to the bottom of this. You girls, go back to your phones and take the incoming calls. Iris, come with me, please."
Claire and the others watched Iris trudge away, smiling gleefully at their deception and her forthcoming punishment. Evelyn moved to follow her friend but stopped when Iris motioned silently for her to wait. Evelyn had done nothing wrong, and Iris wanted to ensure she didn't get caught up in the crossfire. Warren turned to escort Iris inside, closing the door behind him.
Warren Maker's office was bright and lavish, filled to rafters with shelves and mementos from exotic locations, photographs of scenic overlooks, and expensive decor. His life looked so eventful and fun. Iris looked longingly at one of the framed vistas at sunset. She fancied that if she worked hard enough, one day she might take a vacation like this. The thought vanished as quickly as it manifested, and she sat down in Mr. Maker's severe stainless steel guest chair.
"Can you tell me what's been going on today?" Warren asked. "First, that meeting in Mr. Cavendish's office, and now complaints from the phone staff."
He appraised Iris with a critical eye. She was timid and frightened, shaking badly. This was most excellent. Warren had judged Iris to be a "soft touch," and an exciting potential wellspring of information. He just needed to find the right buttons to push. After a series of rhetorical questions, his efforts bore fruit.
"I'm telling the truth, Mr. Maker." Iris answered. "Please, you have to believe me. I've been working on the phones for hours on end. They left their posts, and I was doing my best..."
Warren listened carefully to everything Iris said, taking in this latest information with great interest. He even got details on Ryan's sudden departure as a welcome bonus. Iris told him everything he wanted to know, then jolted to attention with a sudden realization.
"The call logs!" she realized.
"What? What about them?" Warren asked.
"Check the call logs, sir. They'll prove my story is true." Iris insisted. "Each call is logged in the system, including where it was routed to. Please, sir, can you check the logs? I don't have access at my level to check them."
"Very well," he answered, but if you have been lying..."
Warren typed into his computer and pulled up a new screen of data. His eyes traced over a few lines of information, and he closed the application just as quickly. A new opportunity had presented itself.
"Look, I'm sorry, Ms. Alcazar, but I cannot confirm your story." he replied.
Her expression was a concert of horror-stricken surprise and disbelieving sorrow.
"B-but it should be right there!" Iris protested.
"I want to believe you, Iris. I really do." Warren countered. "Look, I like working with you. You're persistent and dedicated, but you really need to be more honest when you're backed into a corner like this."
She clenched the stone until a sharp spike of pain radiated in her hand. Her breathing started to go ragged as she fought back tears. Please, just keep it together. Don't let him see... Warren leaned close to Iris and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. She startled at his touch, and he lingered just outside her personal space.
"Listen, I have an idea to help you save face." Warren offered. "You run along home for the afternoon and come back in on Monday, okay? I'll make sure you're paid wages for the entire day, and we'll keep this incident to ourselves, alright?"
This felt weird. Something wasn't quite right. She really was alone with the phones today. Why wouldn't the logs back her up? Iris started feeling queasy again, battling the urge to pass out.
"I believe it's customary to say 'thank you' when someone does you a favor, am I right?" Warren prodded.
"Y-yes, sir. Thank you." Iris peeped.
"Good girl." Warren smirked. "Now run along, and don't talk to the others about this just yet. I'll take care of everything."
Iris nodded and struggled to keep her breathing in check. She left his office with her head hung low, and practically dragged her feet walking back to her cramped cubicle. Evelyn sat attentively at Iris’s desk, keeping watch over the workspace.
"How did it go?" Evelyn asked.
"I'm heading home for the day, Evee." Iris winced. "He didn't believe me."
"What?" Evelyn gasped, while grabbing hold of Iris’s sleeve.
"Please, Evee." Iris whispered. "Just let it go. It changes nothing if you get involved. They may even take away your internship if you upset the wrong people here. Keep your head down, okay?"
Evelyn frowned and reluctantly released Iris's sleeve. Iris rushed for the elevator as fast as her weary bones would allow and pressed the "down" button repeatedly to summon her getaway elevator car.
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