The Accountant Who Went Blind (On Purpose)
From a stall in the office restroom, I overhear someone badmouthing me.
Henry Fielder, the intern I've been mentoring for three months, grumbles, "The guy's got zero people skills. He's a total fossil, like a robot stuck in one mode."
I'm about to push the door open and jump in when someone laughs and piles on.
"The paperwork is incomplete. The receipts aren't compliant. I can't reimburse it without a manager's signature. We could recite his canned empathy lines in our sleep!"
Once they're gone, I quietly head back to my office.
Later, Henry drops a thick stack of expense reports onto my desk. "Quit waving the rulebook and rejecting everyone's reimbursements."
I skim the fake receipts, and for once, I don't call him out.
Instead, I give a thin smile and say, "I have a headache. I can't make out the words."