The Employee They Underestimated

I Clocked Out Right on Time

Brennan smiled as he responded to everyone's flattery.

Finally, his gaze landed on me.

"Cassian, stay late tonight and fill out everyone's phone bill and transportation reimbursement forms."

Then, he announced, "Everyone, give your receipts to him."

The whole department started shoving receipts onto my desk. They were acting as if being one second late would ruin their image in front of the new boss.

I looked at the messy workstation in front of me and lowered my head with a small laugh. "Sorry. I'm clocking out."

Then, I dug my briefcase out from the pile.

The receipts stacked on my desk scattered everywhere, fluttering down to the floor.

I languidly stepped over the thick layer of receipts under everyone's stunned gaze, picked up my bag, clocked out, and left right on time.

It would be disrespectful to my slashed year-end bonus if I was even one second late to leave the office.

Since I was no longer allowed to do sales or earn commission, I decided to coast at this company.

...

The next morning, I clocked in exactly on time.

As soon as I walked in, I saw two people rummaging through my workstation.

Brennan stood off to the side with his arms crossed.

When he saw me, he shot me a sideways glance. "Cassian, give me the files for the major clients. I'm going to follow up with them."

I shrugged and pointed at the messy desk. "The files are all on the computer. Sadly, the computer hasn't been set up yet."

Brennan curled his lip. "Then, hurry up and set it up."

I shook my head. "Sorry. I need to go take a dump first."

Then, I hummed a little tune and swaggered right past him.

I only strolled back into the office after dragging things out for two hours.

…

In those two hours, my workstation had magically become spotless and organized.

I had just brewed myself a cup of coffee when Lucien walked over with Brennan.

Lucien looked at me with open contempt. "Cassian, send the major client files to Brennan immediately. If you delay those orders, you won't be able to bear the consequences."

He warned, "And don't even think about hiding anything."

I pulled a stack of documents from a folder and tossed them onto the desk. "Here. The major client files you wanted."

Brennan looked overjoyed. He grabbed the files and quickly left.

That afternoon, Brennan came back fuming.

Then, he rushed straight into Lucien's office.

A few minutes later, Lucien marched to my workstation with Brennan behind him. "Cassian, what is wrong with you? Why aren't the clients' personal contact numbers in these files? And why didn't you include the follow-up notes?"

I smiled.

Those were major clients I had worked hard to bring in.

Their private contact information came from personal relationships I had shamelessly built, favor by favor.

Why would I hand that over so easily?

Besides, those clients only gave me their private numbers because they trusted me.

Since Brennan wanted to visit them so badly, he could follow the official process and rely on his own ability.

Why stand here barking at me?

I lowered my head and continued sorting receipts.

I organized one stack before slowly pasting them onto the forms.

Only after I finished every receipt in front of me did I stretch lazily and speak at an unhurried pace.

"Mr. Blackwell, I'm just back-office support now. My job is to paste receipts and organize spreadsheets. How would I know anything about what you're asking?"

Lucien snapped, "Weren't those clients all brought in by you?"

I smiled. "Hold on, Mr. Blackwell. Stop right there. They weren't brought in by me. They belong to the company."

I returned Lucien's own words to him, exactly as he had given them to me.

Lucien could no longer hold back his anger. He snatched the receipts from my hand and started tearing them apart. As he ripped them, he growled, "Are you going to drag this out with that snarky attitude of yours?"

I clapped and cheered him on. "Mr. Blackwell, you're absolutely right. I've been saying these salespeople keep exaggerating their transportation claims. It was time someone cleaned this up."

Only then did Lucien realize what he had torn apart.

Those were the reimbursement receipts for the entire sales department.

He threw the ruined receipts onto the desk, furious beyond control. "Cassian, do you even want this job anymore? If you don't, get out right now!"