The World Keeps Turning [Susan's Work Thread | Afternoon]

The world stops for no one. Life did not slow down merely because you needed it to. And that was the reason Susan found herself at Salem Ltd. today.

Yes, she had been given the day off but quite honestly she did not know what to do with herself. She did not wish to stay home alone and spin herself into a vortex of despair or drink all her wine and eat a few boxes of cookies and she did not want to wander for she had no place to be and no desire to interact with anyone at all. So the mess of a woman in her wrinkled suit jacket and messy hair trudged through the doors and toward the elevator.

Karol was there as she often was, working reception as she always had. Strange how the world did turn much slower on this side of things. The younger girl flagged Susan down with a wave.
”OH. MY GOSH Susan! I saw you on the news, you really caught the terrorist leader!?” she gushed. The businesswoman was not having it and did not even look at her.
”I don’t want to talk about it.” Karol floundered. The downplaying was expected, the bluntness and weariness was not. She continued to watch the short woman march as she searched for words.
”O-oh, ummm… have a nice day, Susan…!” The businesswoman did not answer as the elevator doors closed behind her.

Even alone her heart rate began to rise. Empty elevators used to be a joyous thing. No small talk, no interruption, a dedicated 15 seconds to herself but now there were connotations and painful fears tied to a simple up-down machine. The association gripped her as she glowered toward the doors expecting… what? The lights to go out? A demon to rip through them. Terui’s neck snapping echoed in her ears all too clearly. The businesswoman had to fight against herself to rationalize away the fear… but it never quelled the heartbeat in her chest, as it seemed to go these past few months. Terrified and exhausted and upset but still moving forward in the face of it, nothing she could do to prevent that. Her breath held as the doors dinged open to find…!














…just her office floor. Nothing out of the ordinary. The floor was mostly empty but the soft rings of phones and clack of keyboards could be heard wafting over the glass cubicles. Then a new anxiety cycled to the front of her mind: that she had not been present here for some time and some projects lay abandoned. Susan was terrified to be seen or spoken to for fear of this being pointed out and feeling like a disappointment. She held her head down as she sped-walked to her office.

Eyes were drawn to the door of Susan’s office as she quietly twisted the knob and slipped inside. Blood rushed to her ears as she sat down, suddenly very very glad she always had the blinds of her glass walls drawn and this had not changed since she had left. Finally alone, the meek woman took a few minutes to wring her hands and dread the incoming flow of work she had ignored and was just about to tackle before hunching behind her keyboard to chip away at the mountain. She popped a stick of gum in her mouth to easy the panicking feeling.

She was not long catching up on recent emails before the most terrifying sound imaginable graced her ears.

Knock knock

Susan paused like a deer in the headlights as who she expected walked through the door with his presence-commanding gait. Micheal Thornton. Her boss. It was not a positive anticipatory event.

“Susan. It’s nice to see you back.”
“…th-th-thank you sir, I was just getting… caught up o-on things.”
“I may need to interrupt you if I can steal a few moments of your time.” Her heart skipped a beat as she prepared for the worst, anxiously she swept her keyboard aside.
“Y-y-yes sir…?”
“That was impressive last night, everyone at the company thinks you’re a hero and rightfully so I might add.”
“Y-yes sir, thank you sir.”
“Corporate has made the decision to rent out a luxury hotel for the company Christmas party this upcoming holiday instead of holding it in the lobby like usual, we’re inviting everyone under the Salem umbrella. I wanted to ask if you would honor us by becoming our guest speaker?”

Susan stalled. This was not at all what she expected. Of course, she did not want to speak in public and not about this most of all.
“….Y-yes sir, I will be there to speak. …Wh-when is it again…?”
“The 19th of December before the weekend when most people take off, I am glad to hear it Susan. Now, onto more serious business. I will need you to clear your office this week. Your position is being deconstructed.” From middling highs to shocking lows, the businesswoman stared emptily as she slumped back into her chair as if the air itself had left every red bloodcell in her body.
“…………………………I…………I’m being fired…?”
“Laid off, actually.” Thornton circled her desk to sit in one of her consulting chairs. “I’m sorry Susan but it’s clear to me that your government position is taking more time than you have available to give the company. I had to open three more positions to make up for the loss of you at this one, you understand. I can’t afford to pay you salary without regular work hours and we need the extra office space.”

Susan gazed down into the void that was her desk, unable to believe this turn of events… or rather, horrified that this future had become a reality as she had feared. She picked her eyes up to give a pained expression to him just as her boss began to speak again.
“But there is good news. Don’t consider this being laid off, but a renegotiation of contract. I regret that I have to deconstruct your position. But. I would like to hire you on in a separate one. As a security subject matter expert and consultant.” The mousy woman still looked on in pain as she shook her head slowly, attempting to re-engage her mind.
“I-I… I-I don’t understand, sir I-“
“It’s simple, really,” he interrupted, “I can’t afford to continue to pay you for the bare minimum while you have other obligations which take up most of your time. Eliminating this position allows me to approach this from a different angle with the least bumps in the road. As a consultant you can’t be salaried but I can make an offer at your hourly rate per your current salary with no commitment. You can make your own hours and work when you want as long as you can justify them, your 401k will roll over, and it takes away problems back home you don’t need to think about when you’re chasing criminals. I’m still trusting you with a very important responsibility but I’m taking away the deadlines, we can negotiate the specifics later in the week. How does that sound, Susan?”

It was difficult to comprehend and everything was happening at once. Yet that didn’t mean her mind ever stopped putting puzzle pieces together.
“This is… to take advantage with my position in the Cadets…?”
“Well, you said it, not me,” Thornton smirked, “I see an untapped market here with which we have a unique foothold. It would behoove us to take advantage of that.”
“Sir… sir, that is an utter conflict of interest, you do realize this…?” her voice came in almost a gasp.
“I wouldn’t quite say that. We can offer solutions, no one has to take them. And it would not be you making that decision, would it?”
“I… n… no, it is STILL a conflict of interest. It is self-serving at best.”
“That isn’t illegal, Susan. You must admit that the people of Endymion could use better protection advanced by research and development from our tech division. Besides,” he stood up, swinging his legs toward the door, “…it’s only a problem if the government prosecutes themselves. In such a case I will take whatever my dues are.”

Susan was gobsmacked, glancing back to her desk and back to him.
“I-I… I-I will need to think about it. Th-this is no mere simple decision.”
“Please do.” He turned the knob and pulled the door open. “Friday, Susan. I want this office cleared out by the start of business on Monday.” Micheal Thornton shut the door behind him just as pointedly as he opened it in the first place, leaving the tiny woman even more conflicted with yet another hard decision to make…