29. Non compliant colleague

The sound of clicking heels resounded through the large office as she entered, and the smell of her perfume greeted the workers.

Some of them turned their heads towards her, greeting her with polite smiles.

Kimberly answered back with the same energy, feeling on top of the world.

Dressed in a black leather skirt and red blouse that matched her red lipstick, Kimberly swayed her head to the right, her curly brown hair moving with the same motion.

Satisfied with herself, Kim went to her seat as the head of the office and sat down and soon after, some of her team members started submitting their files.

Kimberly collected the files and assured them that she would look over them. After that, she called some of the members who had already submitted their files and showed them what needed to be corrected and when to resubmit the files.

Having finished doing that in two hours' time, Kim went through her desk, looking for a particular file but which was nowhere to be found.

"It has been two weeks already, this has to have been submitted to me by now," Kim mumbled to herself. "Mr. Baker?" Kim called and Noah, who's seat was not too far from her, raised his head. Upon seeing the person calling, Noah got up and headed towards her desk.

"You called for me boss?" Noah stated and Kim pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling. It was obvious that being referred to as boss was pleasing to her ears.

"Where is the file regarding the budget supply and taxes for the project? Have you not been done with it yet?" Kimberly asked him.

"That file, I am sure you didn't give me that file to work on," Noah's brows creased as he thought carefully. "But if I do remember correctly, you gave it to your assistant, saying he should be able to take care of the most important file. Right?"

"Oh, right," Kimberly's head turned towards Declan's desk and she grimaced. "Thanks. You may go now. I will talk to him myself."

"Sure boss," Noah said before going back to his desk.

Letting out a huff of breath and gathering all the strength she had in her, Kim got up and walked towards Declan's desk to find him sitting lax on his chair as he chatted on his phone.

"Hey Declan," Kim called out his name and he ignored her. "Mr. Dean, can I have your attention please?" Kim called out again, but got ignored once again as Declan let out a whistle while looking at a picture. "What is so important that you will ignore me like this?" Kimberly grabbed his phone and snatched it from his grasp. Taking a look at the picture on the phone, Kim almost dropped the phone on the floor, but Declan caught his phone on time.

"How could you be viewing such explicit images at work?" Kimberly flushed.

"Explicit?" Declan laughed obnoxiously. "They are just nudes."

"Nevermind that. Where are the files I gave you to work on?"

"What files?" Declan looked at her innocently, which only infuriated her.

"The ones on the budget for this project," Kim reminded him.

"Oh that?"

"Yes, I need the file to continue with some of the work."

"Here then. You can have it," Declan grabbed a file from his desk and handed it to her.

Kim took hold of the file which was already gathering dust. She opened the file and it appeared untouched.

Declan, on the other hand, had an unbothered smirk and Kim resisted the urge to bash his face right there and then.

"If you are done, can you leave my space? I want to get back to those amazing pictures my girlfriend keeps sending me."

"Hey!" Kim barked, startling everyone around them, and they turned to look at them.

Realizing the attention she had garnered, Kim lowered her voice.

"Can I talk to you outside? It will just take a moment," Kim stated. "Please," Kim added when he wouldn't budge.

"Of course," Declan got up from his chair, heading outside the office and Kim followed after him, the two stopping only when they were a good distance from the office.

"Declan, why do you keep acting like that? Ever since you got promoted as my assistant, you have provided no help at all. You arrive at work late, sometimes you are absent and the only thing you do is sit at your desk all day doing nothing," Kim let out.

"You have a problem with that?" Declan quirked an eyebrow.

"I just don't understand why..."

"Of course you don't f*king understand," Declan gritted through his teeth, his nose flaring up with anger. "You f*king ruined my plans. You were acting all quiet and innocent, but apparently you aren't all that. You learned of the promotion that was meant for me, then went behind my back and had my name written over yours," Declan stated and Kim let out a gasp.

"Now because of you," Declan took a step forward and Kimberly took a step backward until she was cornered against the wall. "I've lost face in front of my colleagues and had to kiss up to your stupid ass to become a mere f*cking assistant. So if you think that I am going to assist you in any way, then think the fuck again."

Declan let out a breath, punched the wall beside them before walking away angrily. It took Kimberly a few seconds to regain her composure.

"I can't keep going like this. If this continues, he might ruin the whole project for me. I have to do something," Kim let out, making a decision right there and then.

Walking to the technological office department, Kim went directly to the office, already having prepared what to say.

She knocked on the door and Mr. Sanders gave her permission to enter.

"Miss Wells, are you here to report on you already?" Mr. Sanders said, not looking up from the papers he was signing.

"I do have a report to make," Kim breathed out. "I wish for one of my team members to be replaced."

"And who might that be?"

"My assistant. I would like to replace him with someone else."

Mr. Sanders looked up from his desk to look at Kim.

"Did you say you wish to replace Declan in his position? The guts of you," Mr Sanders sneered. "Because of you," he pointed a finger at her. "I couldn't be a man of my word because of you. You ruined my whole plan and now you want me to follow your wishes after you destroyed the young man's carrier?"

"Mr. Sanders, how could you say that? And I didn't do anything. I was given this promotion based on merits only."

"Merit my ass. And Declan's job is to assist you when you fall short of what to do. So are you saying that you can't do without him? Maybe your position should be given to someone else."

"No," Kimberly quickly stated. "I understand what you are saying. I will go now."

"Good for you."

With that, Kim walked out of his office, almost tripping on her feet as she did, as she quickly walked into the nearest restroom.

Kimberly opened the tap and used the water to wash her face.

"Fancy seeing you here. It was almost hard to recognize you," a familiar voice stated, and Kim turned to find none other than Erin, whose existence she had almost forgotten.

"Erin," Kimberly shook off her surprise and called her friend's name. "It feels like such a long time since I last saw you."

"It should be, considering the effort you put in to avoid me," Erin rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't avoiding you at all, I was just really busy."

"Busy having the best time of your life after getting promoted? Bold of you to say that after lying to me."

"Lied to you? I never promised you anything."

"Of course you would say that," Erin let out a snort.

"It was beyond me anyway. There was nothing I could do."

"You could have f*king tried. But you didn't even want me there. Some fake friend you were."

"Then do you think you deserved to be there? While I worked my ass off for this company, you did the bare minimum and yet wanted to jump on the chance."

"You b*tch! Do you deserve to be there? You badmouthed the boss saying the same thing, but you got this little position, and you are already on a power trip. I can't believe I was friends with you."

"Maybe you would have had a chance if you hadn't snitched on me."

"What?"

"You think I wouldn't know? You are the only one I talked to, yet somehow, everyone else seems to know what transpired between us."

"Do you really think that I am capable of such? Did you ever know me after all the time we were friends?"

When Kim didn't reply, Erin let out a scoff. "You changed your wardrobe, and now you look like the fake version of the bitches that you always claimed to hate. Well, good luck is all I can say," Erin walked out of the restroom, leaving Kimberly to herself.

Kim leaned on the wall, questioning herself if what she did was the right thing.