If there was anything the entire staff at E&L company knew off heart, it was to never make a mistake that would end up on her desk on any day, especially on a Monday morning. Even at just twentyONE

o, she had made people way older than me squirm under her gaze and shiver as she walked past them and this is the case of the man standing in front of her. Her new prey for the week, Mr. Hathaway.

"What is this?" her voice boomed thunderously as she stared at the file scrunched in her fist. The man flinched at my tone, his eyes gazing down at the floor his mouth making silent prayers to whoever could save him.

"It... it is the r..."

"I didn't employ stammers to work in my god damn company. So I'll ask again, what in the world is this?" she asked again more sternly and Mr. Hathaway looked up from the ground, his eyes staring at something else but her.

"It it's the report from last month's sales ma'am." He answered more boldly this time but anyone could notice how shaky his voice was, no one could blame him. If they stood in the presence of the Bella Anderson, they would do the same.

"The report from last month's sales..." she repeated a chuckle escaped her lips. she glared at him again, rising from her chair. The sound of her heels clicking against the marble tiles was the only thing you could hear in the office, and the heavy breathing came from the man standing directly opposite her. She stopped in front of him with her hands tucked behind her back.

"The report from last month's sales... Mr. Hathaway, this looks more of a kid math book than a multi-billion dollar company monthly sales report." This was already giving her a headache and it was not yet ten a.m.

"What is the first thing they let you know when you are hired here?" she asked the irritation visible on my face.

"Mistakes are for incompetent people, fix it while you can before it reaches the heads table." He murmured.

"Louder..."

"Mistakes are for incompetent people, fix it while you can before it reaches the heads table!" he repeated his voice echoing through the office walls.

"See that wasn't so hard now was it?" she asked gazing at his face.

"I am sorry ma...." she hissed and he stopped talking. The second thing they knew was to not apologize before averting the mistake, and Mr. Hathaway seemed to forget that.

"It seems that you forget where you are and who you are speaking to." her grip on the papers loosened and the entire folder fell to the ground in front of her black stilettoes. Turning on her heels, she headed back to her seat which she already missed from standing for the last five minutes.

"I could spot the mistakes the instant my eyes landed on the papers John, and that doesn't speak good of you. Does it?" she asked and he shook his head sideways.

"If I didn't go through this report because I trust my staff to be competent enough to do their jobs well, then I wouldn't know how much we made this month, now would I?" she leaned into my desk, using the back of her palms to support her chin.

"No ma'am." Mr. Hathaway quivered.

"So you would agree with me that it would've caused a lot of strain on the company, right?"

"Yes. Yes ma'am." He answered again.

"You would also agree with me that we are not that company who would accommodate unnecessary strain, am I correct?" she asked again glancing down at her phone which buzzed at the message that dropped in the inbox.

"Yes ma'am... I am... I.' He began to plead his eyes in fear as he knew where exactly she was heading to.

The intense glare she passed to him for trying to beg shut him up completely and he rubbed his palms together anxiously. She reached for the intercom and pressed a button which brought up a green light.

"Ma'am." The voice on the other end said.

"Get me the head of HR," she said

"Yes ma'am." The voice replied and she leaned back into my seat.

"Ma..." He began to say.

"Step outside my office, you can come back in when Mr. David is here," she said to him picking up her phone as she swiped on the screen.

The message was from her mother, she wanted to have lunch with her today.

St. Louis by 1 pm. The message read. Typing and sending a quick reply, she opened my laptop computer. While waiting for it to sign in, she opened her drawer took out her glasses, and put them on. The intercom rang and she pressed the answer button.

"He is here ma'am, should I send him in?"

"Yes." The door opened and the two men walked in.

"David, I want you to run another interview for a recent job opening," she announced typing on my computer.

"Yes ma'am," David answered.

"Yo... Please, please... Please don't do this. I am sorry, it won't repeat itself again. Give me another chance." Mr. Hathaway began to plead.

"You should've known before bringing this trash inside my office. Whatever you want to do or tell him, David, do so before 10 a.m., I don't want an incompetent idiot inside my building." She answered harshly glancing up from her computer.

Three hours and two zoom call later, she cracked her neck releasing the tension settled in them. It was time for lunch and if there was one thing she had learned from her parents was to not be tardy. She shut down her computer, rose to her feet, and grabbed her phone and coat off the rack. Sliding her arms through the sleeves, she carried her bag and head out of her office.

"Put a call to my driver, tell him to get the car ready before I get down." She instructed her secretary who nodded and picked up her phone to place the call already.

The air of confidence that swarmed around the entire being of Bella Anderson was enough to last the entire species of mankind for a lifetime. Her staff watched her strut out of her office in awe, her black pencil skirt and black designer's chiffon blouse added to her intimidating form, her black red bottom stilettoes creating a resonating sound that brought dread and most of all motivation to her staff to not mess up, at any cost.

The automated doors opened and she walked through, finally exposed to the cool air outside. She put on her dark shade channel glasses which covered up her cold eyes, the black Cadillac jeep stooped in front of her and the doorman helped her open it while she climbed into her favorite car for the month.

"Take me to St. Louis." That was all she said and the driver nodded in acknowledgment as the car zoomed off.

She was going through her cousin's Instagram page, swiping through the pictures from her vacation in the Maldives when the car came to an abrupt stop. She glanced up from her phone and glanced outside the window, they were now in the suburbs of belvet, where the middle class and non-elites stayed. It was nothing like the evenly spaced mansions and penthouses with rare plants and trees in the estate, or the neat streets that didn't have kids running around. It was completely different and she wanted nothing more than to leave.