“Hi, Sherri!” A familiar voice called.
Sherri looked up from the laptop in front of her and saw Sandra standing in front of her office.
“Hi.” Sherri forced a smile. She didn’t want to make friends with any of the staff, but it was inevitable. She’d seem rude if she didn’t return their friendly smiles and pleasantries. However, Sandra was the last person she wanted to get close to. There was something about her overtly friendly smile and gestures that made her suspicious.
Sandra sashayed into the office with a huge smile on her face. “How’re you coping with your new boss?”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, Mrs Adams, how’re you coping with her?”
“Work is going on well, thanks.” Sherri focused her attention on her work.
“I hope she isn’t overworking you. She’s a workaholic. No wonder she can’t keep a man in her life.” Sandra laughed.
Omodara, a petite slender girl from the accounting department, poked her head in.
“Hello, ladies,”
“Hi, Dara,” Sherri smiled.
“What are you ladies talking about?” Dara moved closer to them.
“I was asking Sherri how she’s coping with work. You know her boss is the first to get to the office and the last to leave.”
“Oh, Mrs Adams, she works too much. I wonder how she finds the time to be with her family.” Dara said, “I read somewhere that her marriage has hit the rocks, poor woman.”
“Where did you hear that?” Sandra asked.
“On gossips blogs, of course,”
Sherri eyed both women, her lips pursed, unable to hide her disgust.
Sandra slipped out her phone from her purse and began to tap her finger on the screen.
“Why wouldn’t her marriage hit the rocks? Would you stay with a woman like her?” Sandra scoffed.
“Never! I can never marry a woman like Mrs. Adams. Apart from the fact that she has anger issues, she’s also arrogant and rude. I heard her husband chases anything in a skirt. Maybe that’s why she hates other women. Have you ever heard her talking to any of the female staff? I can’t stand that woman.”
“I was heading to the cafeteria, Sherri do you need anything?” Sandra pushed her phone back into her purse.
“No, thanks,” Sherri replied.
Sandra and Dara left the office, still talking as they walked down the hall.
The following morning, Sherri arrived at work and was called into the head of human resource’s office.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Sherri.” Adenike picked up her phone and played a recording.
Sherri’s heart skipped a beat when Dara’s voice filled the room. Her heart pounded in her ears as she listened to Dara talk negatively about her boss. It was the conversation Dara and Sandra had in her office yesterday, but who recorded the conversation and sent it to HR?
“Someone emailed this recording to me. Dara has been suspended, but she swore you were there when she had that conversation with Sandra. However, Sandra swore she didn’t see Dara yesterday or have any conversation with her.”
Sherri’s palms suddenly became sweaty as fear pricked her heart. She didn’t want to be in this mess.
“Sandra and Dara were in my office yesterday, but I was busy working. I believe Mrs Adam’s name popped up in their conversation once or twice, but my mind was on my work.”
“Thank you,” Adenike said. “You may go back to your office.”
Sherri’s knees wobbled as she walked out of the office. She couldn’t understand why Sandra’s voice was missing from the recording, or had she deliberately set up Dara to get her fired?
Her head suddenly felt heavy, as if someone was watching her. She turned around and locked gaze with Sandra.
“Good morning, Sherri. Had a great night?” Sandra asked from across the hall.
Sherri hurried into her office, her heart still thumping against her chest. She’d have to be careful and avoid Sandra, who knows what else she might be up to?
Haha… this is so relatable, a lot of frenemies in the office space!
This situation happened to an HR friend of mine at her workplace, (let’s call her Ms X). Another colleague came to Ms X and started gossiping about the MD, how he was a terrible leader, etc.
Ms X felt uneasy. She noticed the lady pressing her phone and putting it in on the table. Ms X also noticed a light blinking on the phone showing the lady was recording the conversation. Ms X started praising the MD’s leadership, defending him and countering every negative thing the colleague was saying… fast forward one week later, MD called Ms X to his office and played a recording of several people speaking evil against him… he asked Ms X as HR to write termination letters for all of them! Apparently that colleague had gone round the office inciting people she didn’t like to speak against the MD, recording their conversations!…..
Thanks for sharing Sherri’s experience. This is a reminder for everyone to be careful of what we say about our bosses.