Courage & Resolve
1.5 - Getting Clever
Months passed, and Stefan continued to be nothing but obnoxious. He’d show up in her office, day after day, and say nasty things about her refusing to tell Genevieve that he did more for the company. When she was feeling generous, Amelia would tell him that her words wouldn't matter, it was his own work output, but Stefan wouldn't hear any of it. In his mind, her personal recommendation would be more than enough.
What was most frustrating of all was that nothing she did seemed to deter him. She could give him honest advice, lock her office door, take extensive time off, but whenever she entered a common area, Stefan would approach her and the two of them would be having the same conversation for the hundredth time that month.
Amelia had never been one to seek out help from others. She believed in her own inner strength, and had faith in her ability to weather any situation, so for months, she sat there and just took his abuse. It has been the same story with Samson, her ex husband. She’d recognized that their marriage was on the rocks years before she finally took measures to divorce him and move far away.
When the trees started to turn beautiful shades of red and orange, and the temperature started to drop, Amelia hit her breaking point. It was time for her finally try to say something to Felix, the head of the company.
The day began like any other. She got into work early, beating Stefan to the office, then she retreated into her office and locked the door behind her. She began working, but an hour later, when Stefan got in and leered at her through her the windows on her door that she snapped. Amelia rose up from her desk, and exited her office, which she carefully locked behind her. She then started to march upstairs. Stefan, noticing her sudden movement, hurried over from the rec area he tended to spend the day lounging away in and followed her up the stairs.
“Are you finally doing what you should have done from the start?” he sad eagerly. “Everyone knows I deserve that office!”
Amelia ignored him, and kept walking forward.
“I actually care about this company, while you only value your kids. Everyone knows that. Did you finally see the light?”
Amelia walked firmly past all the cubicles.
“Amelia, Amelia, work too much to handle…” Stefan taunted in a sing-song voice.
Amelia placed her hand on the door handle to Felix's office.
“Amelia!” a sharp voice interrupted.
Stefan shut up, and scurried away quickly.
“Amelia, what do you think you’re doing?” Genevieve said, stepping between her and Felix's office door. “You know you can’t go in there! Felix is a very busy man, and well, that’s why I work as his secretary! If you really need to see him, we can always schedule an appointment, but good heavens, Amelia, you know you can’t just barge in! How long have you worked here? You should know better!”
“When’s the earliest I can meet with him?” Amelia said, her voice shaking slightly.
Genevieve glanced around the room anxiously. “In here,” she muttered, gesturing towards her office.
Amelia followed Genevieve into her office, and Genevieve shut the door behind them.
“Here’s the thing, Amelia. This is something I'd never ordinarily tell an employee, but you've given me no other choice. You’re one of our top employees and I truly do believe I can trust you. So, to be completely transparent with you, I have no idea when the earliest time you can meet with Felix is."
"And why is that?"
Genevieve pursed her lips. "Oh, okay, fine! I'll trust you with this, but I better not hear this around the firm, or else. Felix has been so busy recently because he’s preparing to run for president! It's all very hush-hush right now, of course, we have some connections that are going to help him out that I really can't get into, but the future looks bright!"
There was no way. This was what Felix had been busy with since the day she began working at Beauchamp Law? Amelia honestly couldn’t care less at that moment in time, but for the sake of her job, she feigned excitement.
“That’s incredible news, Genevieve!”
“Isn’t it? A large part of he reason Felix and I founded this firm was because we saw how people were suffering, how a poor understanding of the law could ruin lives, and all of it just seemed incredibly unfair to us. We wanted to help out! At the time, this firm was the best we could do. But now that the Beauchamp name is more well known and President Laurent is stepping down, this is an even bigger opportunity for us to make a difference! And, of course, It's be silly not to mention just how much it would all benefit the company financially… I've gone on for long enough. Amelia, I hope you understand why Felix can’t meet with you at the moment.”
“…yeah, of course I do. It's a crazy time for you two, that's for certain.”
“But, in the meantime, I’m here! Please, feel free to come to me with whatever problems you might be having and I promise you, I will do my best to help you! So, what is it you were going to see Felix about?”
"If there was someone working here who wouldn't leave me alone, what would you do?"
"Well, that would depend on the severity of what it is they're doing, Amelia. At the very least, I'd personally give them a stern talking to, but if it's something more serious, I'm happy to talk to Felix for you, and we can figure something out."
“You know what? It’s nothing. Don't worry about it. I’ll just wait to talk to Felix when he's less busy. It can wait,” Amelia said, hating the words that were coming out of her mouth.
“Ah, I see. Of course. I’ll, uh, schedule you for the earliest possible opening in his schedule,” Genevieve smiled. “I just want you to know, Amelia, that we appreciate all you do here. Please, never hesitate to come to me with whatever problems you might be having.”
“Will do,” Amelia said, lying with a smile on her face. She then excused herself, and left Genevieve's office.
In Amelia’s mind, it had to be Felix. He was the person in charge. She knew that Genevieve would try her best, but it just wasn't within her abilities to get rid of Stefan. And a part of her wanted Felix to know just exactly who it was he’d hired. If Genevieve quietly got rid of Stefan on her own, which Amelia was sure she would, there wasn't a chance any of this would Felix, he'd never find out just how bad Stefan was.
Back in her office, Amelia sank down into her chair and rubbed her head, exhausted. She'd come into work today with another plan, a backup, just in case Felix refused to see her. Amelia had never seen the man personally, so she had a strong feeling that it would come to this. She'd just wanted to give Felix one last chance to actually treat his employees as family, like Genevieve had promised her on her first day there.
Just as she expected, as soon as Amelia took a moment to herself with her office door unlocked, Stefan pushed his way in. He greeted her with a smirk.
“Well? Is this office mine? If you need any help moving all of your stuff to the curb, I'm willing. I'm a generous man, Amelia, always ready to help out a woman in need.”
“No,” Amelia said simply.
Amelia zoned out as Stefan started to go on a tirade. She remembered the last time she'd locked the office door. It had kept Stefan at bay, but it had only ended up embarrassing her later that day when Genevieve came downstairs to talk to her. It had become yet another thing Stefan turned against her to mock her with.
As Stefan droned on in the background, Amelia moved onto the next stage of her plan. Now that she knew that Felix was trying to run for president, she was even more certain this would bring Stefan's harassment of her to a swift end. Felix was now a man who would be desperate to preserve his public image. Amelia picked up her phone, and started texting Jo.
“Amelia!" Stefan shouted. "You better put down that phone! I am telling you exactly why you need to give this office to me, and it is incredibly disrespectful to not give me your full attention.”
Amelia rolled her eyes, but once she switched to her camera app and pressed record, she did as he asked. She set her phone down on her desk in a way where the camera was discreetly focused on Stefan, then sat back, and enjoyed Stefan's speech. She sincerely hoped he was as vile as possible today.
“…your best friend is some shriveled old woman! You really think you can trust her to watch over your kids? For someone whose entire motto is that you love your children, it sure seems odd to me that you’d let some old person who probably has a subpar memory watch over your kids. This is why that desk should be mine! I work harder, and I am completely focused on this job! With you, it's an endless series of my children this, my children that, my husband is gone, and I'm going to make it everyone else's problem. That’s why I’ve been in here, everyday for months…”
Stefan, the dumb man, was too lost in his own rage at the situation to notice what was going on. For the first time in a while, Amelia allowed herself to smile at work.