Aggrieved

Mr. Jude walked around in his office. He was restless. He had made the right decision, he tried consoling himself. He couldn’t understand why he was feeling like this. He should be happy instead. This was something that needed to be done.

Anything not useful should be discarded. He checked the time, he was expecting something. That someone had kept him waiting.

Helen came in and gave him a typewritten letter.

Helen was his secretary. She seemed to be nervous. He checked the letter. He wrinkled his face and continued reading.

“What is this” he stretched the letter back to her. Helen was confused. She must be busy in her mind trying to decide whether to take it from him. She stretched out her hand to take it but held it back immediately.

“The letter you requested, the letter you asked me to type” Helen managed to process. She was jolting. Mr. Jude was not surprised. He used to get that often. That was how it should be. He was their boss.

“Is this the name you are supposed to put in there?” Mr. Jude asked impatiently, his voice grew louder a little bit. Helen collected the letter and looked through it. It seemed she didn’t see anything wrong with it. 

“This was the name you mentioned, sir” Helen said confidently. 

“The name I mentioned?” Mr. Jude talked calmly. He collected the letter back from her. He took a look again. She was supposed to find this error. He shook his head and looked at her.

“Go and spell that name correctly” he handed her back the letter. She checked it. It seemed she found out the error. She looked remorseful.

“I’m sorry, sir” she apologized. She quickly turned to go out.

“Don’t make any mistakes again, or you will have to type a sack letter with your name on it” Mr. Jude warned her. She  didn't use to make such mistakes. She needed to be careful before Mr. Jude would find it unbearable 

He didn’t what that to happen and he meant what he said. She went out. 

He sat on his chair and threw his head backward. He was worried about his decision earlier. But now, his mind was occupied by his secretary's incompetence. She shouldn’t committed that kind of error, that was too cheap. 

Few minutes later, Helen came back in with another letter. He took it from her and checked. He nodded satisfactorily as he ran his eyes all over the paper. This was good. She should have done this earlier. There was nothing hard in it. She was just not concentrated.

“Tell Mary to see me” he looked up at Helen's face. She looked pleased. She was definitely happy Mr. Jude was satisfied. 

“Yes sir” she went out of the office. Mr. Jude continued gaping at the letter. This was what he wanted. He became relaxed. 

***           *******           *******        *****

Todd came into the lab. He was very unhappy this morning. He gnatched his teeth, he felt pains from one of his fingers. He had injured himself with his car door. That was what always happened when someone had lost himself. Todd was really lost. He woke up to complaints from his wife. That was what she had become recently, a nagging wife. There was  nothing significant in her complaints.

He gathered himself together and settled down in the lab. What happened at home must stay at home. He needed to be himself now that he was in the office. He needed a clear head to deliver top notch job. Another problem, his boss had also become a nag. He had even named him a destructive scientists. Todd believed that there was nothing wrong with his ideas. His boss was just one of those people who always pretended to be good. 

Todd believed weaponization was his calling. Everyone had their talents, his didn’t just align with his boss’s interests. That didn’t make him a bad scientists. 

Todd had not laid his hands on anything yet when he heard footsteps coming into the lab. The sounds must be from a high heeled shoe against the hard ceramic floor. It was definitely a lady coming and Todd knew well who it was. He continued with his work and waited for the incoming guest.

“Mr Phillips” a lady’s voice sang sweetly from the entrance. Todd looked up, it was who he expected to see, Mary. 

Mary was an intern here, a good one she was. She would be retained to continue working. That was certain unless Mr. Jude didn’t think like every other person. Todd didn’t believe in Mr. Jude as a good leader. Of course, someone that couldn’t see his potential.

Todd wanted Mary to be here, forever. He would like her as an assistant. She was one of the things that still gave him happiness since all the world including his wife had turned against him. It would have been better if she was his wife. Getting those frequent heartwarming smiles all day was enough for a man.

Mary was beautiful, everyone in their right sense would agree with that. She had everything one would expect from a lady to tag her a goddess, an angel, beauty. From her hairline that ran to the front of her ears. The sheer perfect eyes with moderate eyelashes, a carefully placed nose with the most inviting lips, she was killing.

“How are you?” Todd said in the best romantic way he could, but it wasn’t romantic enough.

Mary had a vibe of throwing a smile at everyone or Todd particularly. Todd would pay not to miss it. But the smile was on vacation this morning. Mary wore a dull face. 

“What is it?” Todd added calmly noticing her face. 

“Mr. Jude wants to see you” Mary seemed to be dodging Todd's question. The message was clear and the tone appropriate. Anyone would easily know he was asking about her dull mood.

“Mr Jude?” Todd asked thoughtfully aloud. He was trying to get his answer from her message. Mr. Jude must have been the cause of her gloom. Mr. Jude should be careful.

“Right away” Mary let out as she turned away. She wasn’t ready for any kind of talk.

Todd followed her and went on straight to Mr. Jude's office. 

There was something strange that used to happen whenever he was going to meet Mr. Jude in his office.

He was going to face the lion. He had tried finding out how everyone including him dreaded Mr. Jude that much but it was scientifically not understandable. His confidence and composure would leave him. He needed to do something about it. He regulated and monitored his breathing patterns. He was not sure if this therapy would give him what he wanted but he kept doing it.

He entered into the office before he remembered he had not knocked. Mr. Jude used to complain about that too. He was full of complaints, that must be the biggest factor in his big belly.

Todd watched him, he had not looked up since he made his entry. He might not even be aware of his presence.

Todd walked backward slowly with the hope of reaching the door before he would look up. He would just knock and come in and there would be no complaints about door and knocking.