8

"Yeah they delayed my flight by another hour, Mr. Nayel is going to kill me," I shudder a sigh as I tell my dad on the phone.

"I'm sorry you had to go through so much trouble for your old man," Dad's voice laced with remorse.

"No dad it's nothing, It's going to be alright do not worry about a thing"

"You take care of yourself, sweetheart," Dad tells me.

"You take care of yourself please, I'm going to be calling you twice a day to make sure you take your medication okay?" I say sternly.

Dad laughs loudly, "Alright sweetie".

"I think we're about to take off, I'll call you later okay?"

"Okay sweetheart"

"Bye dad," I say.

"I love you, Maria," Dad says.

I smile, "I love you too dad" and I hang up.

I quickly text Nayel saying I had a family emergency and will be taking half the day off, we have 2 important clients coming in today which wasn't something out of the ordinary but Nayel had trusted me with the task of presenting the meeting which was a very big opportunity for me as I had mentioned to him that I want to broaden my expertise from more than just law stuff. He was surprisingly very accommodating and supportive about it. Plus it's a Monday so I know he won't be pleased about this but I can't help it. My flight was supposed to land in New York at 4 am but it got delayed 3 times and now I'm going to land at 10 am. I press send and put my phone into airplane mode as the plane started taking off.

I changed into black high-waisted pants and a button-down white silk blouse on the plane as I'm already so late I cannot afford to go home and change. I'm going to be heading straight to work from here. I didn't get to shower this morning so I put my hair in a loose bun applying a little makeup which is harder than I anticipated on a moving plane but hey you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm just praying the first meeting with the clients goes well and that Nayel is in a good mood.

....

I hurriedly rush out of the gates, everyone must think I'm deranged I've been running around the airport like a crazy person. I'm surprised they didn't put me through security.

I hail a taxi cab and give the driver the address and ask him to be as fast as he can. I fix myself in the cab, redo my makeup which is also insanely difficult to do in yet another moving vehicle.

We're about 10 minutes from work and I just realized I never switched my phone off airplane mode. I look up to see over 12 missed calls from Nayel along with a series of angry text messages. fuck fuck fuck fuck. I take a deep breath, I'll just explain the situation to him once I see him, it's fine. It's all good. I hope.

The fact that he called me so many times goes to show the meeting with the potential clients didn't go as planned which is sort of my fault, I was in charge of that meeting. It would've been my first solo presentation ever with the clients, I usually help out someone from the sales team but I persuaded Nayel that was ready for this responsibility and he gave me a chance and I fucking blew it. He has every right to be pissed. I feel like such a let down, lately I've been trying to dwell into more things at the firm aside from law-related stuff and Nayel has been generous enough to let me do as I please and I just ruined my one shot that I had. Ugh.

....

I gulp and nervously fidget with my fingers as I step out of the elevator to our floor. I don't know what I'm so anxious about, it's not like he's going to fire me but he is going to yell at me which I hate but more than that I was responsible for most of the meeting today and I just screwed it up for him probably. I'm a massive people's pleaser and I can't stand people being unhappy with me which is probably the most important reason Nayel and I don't get along. I'm always trying to please him but he never seems satisfied with anything I do.

I sigh and knock on Nayel's door. I hear a come in and step inside closing the door behind me.

Nayel looks up from his computer and instantly a look of pure rage flashes his face, "Look who decided to show up" he checks his wrist," 1:50 pm what an amazing time to show up to your 9 to 5" Nayel barks.

I gulp, "I'm sorry I texted you th-"

He cuts me off, "I didn't get a bloody text"

"I'm sorry sir" I mutter.

"What you did today was highly unprofessional especially when you knew how important these clients were for our firm and I put you in charge of the meeting and presentation because I thought after working with us for almost 2 years you'd be responsible enough. How many times have I told you and every other employee if you need a holiday I need at least a 24 hours notice, I got absolutely nothing from you. You look alive and well, I'm disappointed and frustrated. We might've lost Barry & Jacob's." Nayel snaps angrily, shaking his head.

He's right, I should've given him a heads up that I'm out of town and potentially could be late or miss a day or two. I should've texted him the minute I got on the plane to Charlotte because I had no idea how long I'd be staying.

"I'm sorry I was-" I mumble once again, bitting my lower lip.

"I don't want to fucking hear it, you can't just come and go as you please. this is highly unscrupulous. What am I fucking paying you for? I might be lenient with you sometimes because you are a good worker but don't test me, I am still furious" Nayel snaps.

"I'm sorry" I gulp.

Nayel sighs, still pissed off, "Keep your sorry's for yourself, I don't want to hear it. Just go make sure everything is ready for the second meeting"

"Will I present this one?" I ask.

"No" he scowls, "I didn't know if you were coming in today so John from IT was briefed and he's handling it, just make sure everything is ready," He says.

"Yes sir" I nod and walk out of his office. I close the door and lean against it. I feel a tear roll down my cheek, why am I crying right now? What is wrong with me? I swear I'm the biggest baby ever.