Trampled

A tall young man in a shabby suit that did little to detract from his good looks walked past a girl sitting at a circular desk. She sneered knowingly at him while he stood in front of a door and took a deep calming breath before opening the door with shaky hands. It was never a good thing when he was summoned into his boss’s office and it was top on the list of his least favorite things to experience while at work no matter how often it happened.

He opened the door a crack and poked his head through and looked at the suave looking man sitting behind his desk a his spacious office while looking annoyed as he glared at his computer screen.

He knew that it was a bad bad sign and hr wished that he could simply disappear from here. If he was not desperately in need of a job he would not be here but unfortunately there was no one else would hire him.

If only he had had the fortune of being able to finish school he would not have to deal with everyone constantly piling on him and putting him down.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that he had been called a promising student by his teachers that meant little when there was no certificate to prove it so here he was stuck in a dead end job.

“Maybe I can come back later when I won’t take your time, it seems that you are busy.” He said and attempted to retreat and close the door.

“Cameron, you better get your ass in here right now!” The seated man yelled furiously.

He sighed inaudibly then walked in and shut the door behind him as he prepared for what was sure to be a very humbling hour, he was not even offered a seat so he stood with his hands clasped behind his back and his head bowed in submission while waiting for his boss to get whatever it was that he had supposedly done off his chest.

While Cameron was aware that he had not done anything, there was an unspoken hierarchy in the office and he was at the very bottom of the food chain. He was the office pinata and everyone wanted a chance to swing on him, at this point he was more or less used to the harassment and abuse.

“I don’t know how to deal with your inefficiency and I am sick of constantly having to clean up your messes.” His boss said scathingly.

“Maybe you can tell me what I have done wrong?” Cameron asked hopefully, tilting his head to the side.

“You want me to tell you what you have done wrong? That’s alright, I will tell you alright. We just lost our most important bid for the year to a rival company which will set us back millions and it is all your fault.”

Came to knew for a fact that he had nothing to do with anything concerning a bid. Around here he was simply a glorified errand boy but without the salary, even the cleaners were paid more and treated better than he was.

He also knew that Melanie the company’s CFO and Trent’s girlfriend was responsible for bids that the company put out, he could not understand why Trent was accusing him of something which was way above his pay grade.

“I think that you might have gotten the names wrong and I see why, you know Cameron, Melanie, confusing am I right? Maybe you wanted to see Melanie because she would be in a better position to explain to you don’t you think? Because I have no idea what you are talking about.” Cameron said a little lightheartedly in the hopes that Trent was just pulling his legs.

There was no way that all this was not a joke, a ridiculous one but a joke nonetheless.

Trent’s face went different impossible shades of red as he sputtered and Cameron winced, it was going to be a long day.

“Does losing millions of dollars sound like a joke to you? Are you calling me stupid? How would you ever know the importance of money when you will always be dirt poor” Trent roared, rising out of his seat and staring at him with veins bulging on his forehead dangerously.

“I am sorry Trent, I really…”

“It is Mr Clinton to you!” he scowled and Cameron swallowed uncomfortably.

“I am sorry Mr Clinton but I still do not know how it was my fault.” He ventured nervously.

“I am going to carefully spell this out for you because I know that you are slow and stupid you bonehead…” he said and Cameron winced.

“… Because of your ineptitude Melanie was unable to send off the bid in time, if you had typed out the documents as she had asked we would not be having this conversation.” Trent said and sat down then steepled his fingers on his table and stared at his face as if daring him to dispute his explanation and Cameron swallowed any complaints he might have had.

As a matter of fact he had done all of the work that Melanie had given him on time because to be perfectly honest he was more than a little scared of her, everyone knew that she was Trent’s main squeeze and did not dare cross her.

She flaunted it and wore it like a badge, using it to get whatever it was she wanted around the office, to get in trouble with her was to get in trouble with Trent and who needed that? Definitely not him.

Cameron became resigned to my fate because it was apparent that he was going to be taking the fall for Melanie’s mistake, what was left was for him to throw himself at Trent’s feet and grovel and hope the punishment for “his crimes” would not end him.

“I am very sorry Mr Clinton, I promise that that is the last time I will ever make such a mistake again.” He said, hoping that that would appease his heated temperament.

“Cameron, I have tried so hard to be patient with you, the only reason I agreed to employ you in the first place despite your subpar qualifications was because Lilia begged me to and everyday I regret giving in but that is by the way. For this costly mistake that you have made I will have to dock your pay for the month.”

Cameron’s heart dropped to his feet and he rushed to beg him.

“Please Trent I can…”

His eyes hardened and Cameron corrected himself.

“Mr Clinton I cannot afford to lose any money right now, my bills are…”

“Cameron, you should be thankful that I am not firing you and I am only holding off on doing that because of the promise I made to my cousin but if you think that I am being unfair to you then you are free to resign.” He raised his eyebrow tauntingly and Cameron gritted his teeth and forced a smile on his face even though deep down he was boiling with rage.

“I will manage just fine Mr Clinton.” He said and when Trent waved a dismissive hand at him he left the office.

As he walked past Trent’s secretary’s desk with his eyes stinging from the tears of impotent anger that he was struggling to keep at bay, she did not even bother to hide her snicker and he squared my shoulders and walked straight to his cubicle.

By end of day everyone was going to know that Trent had yelled at Cameron and the office would be agog with gossip of how useless he was but by this time he was used to it and it all just felt like water on a ducks back, what was important to him was losing his money.

Thinking about having his money cut made him want to just get out and start walking with no direction in his mind.

He fantasized about how easy life would be if someone just stepped up to him randomly and told him that he was the heir to a huge billion-dollar empire, every single one of the problems plaguing his life would just disappear.

He sighed dispiritedly and shook those thoughts off his mind, things like that only happened to characters in fiction not real life and definitely not to unfortunate fools such as himself so it would be best that he faced his realities.

*

“The landlord came by for the rent just now, did you see him?” His roommate said as soon as Cameron stepped foot in a dingy apartment with cheap yellow curtains, a threadbare rug and furniture that looked like it was just about to disintegrate if someone touched it.

“Yes I did and I made sure he did not see me, he is just going to have to wait because I have nothing to give right now.” Cameron said wearily.

“What does that even mean? It is the end of the month, should you not be getting paid today?” he asked looking perplexed.

“Also, as much as I hate to ask because I know things are hard for you but I am going to need the money I loaned you.”

“I am sorry Roman but Trent decided to dock my pay because his girlfriend fucked up royally at work.” Cameron said tiredly as he collapsed on the rickety couch and relayed the account of the day to Roman.

“He can’t do that!” he protested looking vexed.

“Yes he can, he owns the company you see and I am just another low level staff he can replace at the snap of a finger.” Cameron answered.

Just then his phone rang and he picked it up and when he saw who was calling he groaned in dismay.

The day just kept getting better and better.

He answered the call and listened to his girlfriend speak.

“I know i told you we could go to Claude’s but something came up, I promise I will make it up to you when…”

He was cut off by her shrieking and he winced as he listened to her complain then end the call without waiting for him to get in a word edgewise.

“Woman trouble?” Roman asked sympathetically.

“I can’t really blame her, I keep making promises and I am unable to fulfil them. It has to be tiring at some point, she has been so patient with me. I don’t deserve her.” Cameron said sadly and Roman came over and sat beside him on the couch with a serious expression.

“She is the problem not you man, she needs to be more understanding of your situation and be more supportive.”

“But she is so beautiful, I am just so afraid that one day she will be tired and walk away. I know she will find someone right away.” He said despondently.

“Then that will be her loss not yours, you are a great guy and you don’t need her harping on you all the time when you are dealing with so much.” Roman said.

In truth Cameron was surprised that she was still with him. He considered her status above his, she was a gorgeous girl and whenever they went out he could see the envious glances men threw in his direction.

His phone pinged and he hurried to pick it, hoping that it was Lilia texting but the message on his phone was not from her and it dumbfounded him.

He stared at the phone with a perplexed look, there was no way that this could be right, there had to be a mistake somewhere.