Chapter 3

Vacating her office was the hardest part of the day. The insults and harsh treatment she had received from Elizabeth all morning were nothing compared to the pain she felt as she put her personal belongings in a box. There were stares directed at her as she passed. It was torture. She could even hear some of the whispers. At a point, she wasn't sure if the whisperers just wanted her to hear or if it was her own ears that were playing tricks on her.

"I don't see why she's being relieved of her duty. Annalise has always been a good head of department," she heard someone say.

"Maybe it was a misunderstanding with the boss? You know how that woman can be," another person said.

"I hear she's now an assistant. For me, that's an indirect way of firing her. We all know that Elizabeth's assistants never last."

"To be honest, I don't care what happens to Annalise. I've always disliked her leadership skills anyway."

"That's true. But she's good at handling difficult situations, isn't she? If she can handle her nappy hair, then she can deal with anything."

Annalise tried to block out their comments but it seemed like the more she tried, the more she heard.

Finally, she reached the door. She dared to take one last look at her former colleagues before leaving that department for good. Dalton was waiting for her just outside the transparent door.

"Oh, hey sweetie. Did you come to see me?" she asked him. His face was the only ray of hope she had seen all morning, but he was frowning.

"Annalise, I heard what happened," he said bluntly. Hearing him address her by her first name was already a problem.

"I know you must have heard. But I'll do something about it. I won't be stuck as an assistant," she said.

"But how could you thought? You were so distracted that you almost made our company fall?"

'Why is everyone blowing this thing out of proportion?' she wondered.

"Listen-"

"No, you listen to me. You're a careless person and I'm sorry that I didn't point it out to you earlier. Your carelessness makes it hard for me to put up with you," he said harshly. "Why don't you call me when you fix yourself and become a little more thorough?"

Her hands trembled as she watched him walk away. Maybe the box dropped from her hands, maybe it didn't. She could barely wrap her head around anything that happened around her. All she could hear were his last words and all she could see were his face and his back. How her legs led her to her new office, she didn't know. Her vision was blurred but her hands still managed to work.

The chair felt like thorns on her bum when she sat down. "Is it just the chair or does everything feel like a thorn right now?" she asked the empty office.

The telephone rang beside her. She rubbed her eyes to clear them but the only thing she could see was purple lines. She sighed and reached for the phone when it rang a second time.

"Hello-"

"Come into my office right now," came Elizabeth's voice and the line went dead. Annalise took a deep breath, straightened her skirt and pushed everything to the back of her mind. She would deal with those thoughts later.

Elizabeth didn't bother to look up when she walked in. "When is my next meeting?" she asked. The assistant was clueless. Elizabeth looked up at her and adjusted her glasses. She asked, "Aren't you Annalise?"

"Yes ma'am, I am," was the reply.

"So why are you just standing there like I didn't ask a question?"

'Come on, brain,' Annalise urged.

"Ma'am, the hour you gave to settle in hasn't elapsed. In fact, I just put my things in the office. I haven't had time to look at the work your former assistant left me," she said once her brain responded.

"Really? In that case, hurry up and get to work studying them."

"Yes ma'am. I'll get right to it," Annalise said and turned to leave.

Elizabeth called her back. "Let me say this to you for the first and last time. You will not leave my presence until I have properly dismissed you. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," came the reply.

"Great. Let me just give you some advice so that you don't go in there and waste even more time looking at the ceiling. It's best you study the calendar. Check all my appointments for this whole week, both the personal and the work-related ones. You can then zero down the ones for today," she said and took up her pen.

"Yes ma'am. I'll do just that," Annalise said. Maybe it was just her, but she left some kind of warmth in that singular piece of advice she was given.

"You can leave now."

Back in her tiny office, Annalise studied her environment for the first time. The office looked boring. The furniture was all brown. The desk was small and there was only a chair, which was the one behind it. There was a long couch facing the side of the desk. The walls were an immaculate white. There was an empty frame behind the desk. There was a big window beside the entrance. Surely, it was there to simply check when she was in or not. She was grateful to have another window behind her, which faced the street. There were just deep brown blinds to complement the window.

She sat in her black swivel chair, studying the environment. She looked down and saw the three drawers. One by one, she opened them and searched until she found Miriam's old notebook. It was no wonder that Elizabeth let her take the new one she bought. Miriam's notebook was filled to the brim! Annalise settled down to study the contents, starting with the appointments as Elizabeth advised.

In about twenty minutes, the telephone rang again. "Hello ma'am," she answered calmly.

"I believe you should be done now. Report to my office."

She got up and took both notebooks. For the first time that day, she felt confident.