1

"Ainsley. It is with a heavy heart that I fire you."

"What, Sir? Why did I suddenly get fired, Sir? What did I do wrong?" I asked successively. Surprised for sure. How can I not be surprised. Suddenly, I have to hear the most hurtful statement, for an employee like me.

My heart is already pounding. I hope this is all just a prank.

But, prank for what? It's not April, so it's definitely not April fools day. Come to think of it, it wasn't my birthday either.

Then what is all this?

Prank for what?

The middle-aged man sitting across from me sighed heavily. He didn't even answer my questions. Just looked at me with pity.

Actually, I hate being looked at like this, as if I am someone who needs to be pitied, even though I just need an answer.

"Sir, this must be just a prank, right?" I asked to make sure. "Ouch ... it turns out that you can joke too, huh. Hahaha...."

My lips can still laugh, apparently, even though the person in front of me is still wearing a face like before.

Again, my boss named Mr. Bobby sighed. Then leaned his body on the soft rocking chair, he was sitting in, while looking at me who was still laughing a little.

"Ainsley, this is not a joke, let alone a prank like you said earlier," said Mr. Bobby.

My feelings that had started to calm down a little, suddenly felt threatened again.

"You mean, I really got fired, Sir?" I asked carefully.

Mr. Bobby nodded, then handed him a brown envelope. If I had guessed, it would have to be severance pay.

How much, my severance?

Ten million?

Twenty million?

Or even a hundred million?

In a position like this, I still think about money.

"What is this, Sir?" I asked after I received the brown envelope. Even though I hope it contains money, but still I have to pretend I don't know.

"That's your dismissal letter, Ainsley. Sorry, I can't give you severance pay, because the company forbids it."

What?!

So I'm seriously fired, and no severance pay?

Really tragic and sad.

To confirm what Mr. Bobby said, I opened the envelope and read it.

And sure enough, I was fired from this company. Whereas three years ago I had to struggle to get accepted to work here, by beating many competitors who also wanted to get a job.

Then suddenly fired?

"But what's the reason, Sir? I don't think I've ever made a serious mistake."

"Yes, that's right, Ainsley. You have never done anything wrong with the company. But your fault is on Mr. Thomas, as the director of this company." Mr. Bobby explained.

Okay, if it's my fault with the old fart like what Mr. Bobby said earlier, it's true, but why should it affect my work?

"But that's an unprofessional name, Sir. My business with Mr. Thomas is a personal matter, not a work problem, why does it affect my career?" I tried to defend myself, but sometimes it's useful.

"I know, Ainsley. But, do I really have to disobey the director's orders? Of course it threatens my position Ainsley."

Whoops!

Alright, this time I have to give in, it's useless to argue again.

=======

Out of Mr. Bobby's room, I walked sluggishly to the division room where I worked.

After this I have to tidy up my things, and also say goodbye to my comrades in arms.

"Ainsley, what's wrong? Why are you so weak, come out of Mr. Bobby's room. After being scolded, huh?" asked Airin, as soon as she saw me enter the division room.

Airin's voice, which was quite loud earlier, of course, made me the center of attention. Because, everyone in this room automatically looked at me. You must be curious about the answer I'm about to give.

"I'm fired," I said as I walked to my desk where I usually do the tasks assigned by the company. Ah, to be precise now a former work desk.

If the name has changed to the former, it means that it must be forgotten. Like me, who is very diligent in forgetting the ranks of the former. Uh.

"Huh? Are you serious, Ainsley? Don't joke," said Tedi.

"Yeah, Ainsley, it's not funny when you're joking like that," said Gisel.

And a lot of other jokes that I don't care about.

Instead of answering their curiosity, I prefer to tidy up my things.

Seeing me who was cleaning up, my roommates walked over to me.

"Are you serious, Ainsley?" Airin confirmed, and I nodded.

"Aaarggh... Ainsley... I'd be sad if you left."

"I'm sad too, Ainsley."

"Especially me, Ainsley. If you go, then who will be our gossip partner? Hu Hu Hu ...."

Then, the atmosphere turned gloomy, and filled with tears. My friends took turns hugging me as a sign of farewell.

At first, I didn't want to cry, but because I was carried away by the atmosphere, I started crying too.

Needless to say, this makes me sad. In addition to losing my job, I also had to part with friends who had been going through hard times together.

****

Coming out of the office with the title of being dishonorably fired, made my head boil a little. Luckily it didn't explode. Try it, if it really explodes, it will be scary for sure.

Ah, I have to cool my mind. Sad you can, don't be frustrated. Especially when it comes to depression. Oh, don't be. Ainsley is not the name if you keep lamenting your fate.

While it was still two in the afternoon, I decided to stop by a cafe where I usually hang out with friends.

Eits ... even though I was fired without severance pay, but I was still able to just sit back and relax in the cafe drinking iced coffee, I don't know what the following days will be.

Don't worry about the days to come, what's important now is that my mind must calm down first, plus restore the mood that was destroyed earlier.

"Ma'am, I ordered an iced coffee as usual," I said to one of the waiters at this cafe. Incidentally, he already understood me, so there was no need to tell me what to order.

"Okay, Miss, wait for it," replied the cafe waiter.

While waiting for the order to arrive, I took my phone out of my small bag and started playing it.

"Ainsley? " I heard a girl's voice calling me. How familiar does it sound?

Out of curiosity, I looked up to see who had called me.

"Oh, Alena? What are you doing here at this hour? Are you not working? " I asked, knowing that the one who had called me was my best friend from college.

Alena sat herself in the chair right in front of me. "I'm on vacation, Ainsley. To be precise, I'm on leave because I'm back home. Here, I just came back from my village, I stopped by here first because I was thirsty. Why are you so wild at this hour?"

"I just got fired, Len," I answered honestly. Yes, it's time to lie. It's a sin. Ansley is not the name if you like to lie.

"What?! You got fired, Ainsley? Did you do something wrong?"

"If it's the company's fault, I don't exist. However, I have a fault with the director," I explained. Maybe it's time I was honest about why I got fired from the company.

When I said goodbye to the office staff, I didn't tell them the reason for my dismissal, even though many of them asked. The only ones who know the reason are me, Mr. Bobby, and Mr. Thomas, the old fart's director.

"With the director? What's wrong, you?"

"Yesterday, the director asked me to be his wife, Len, and I flatly refused," I said, lowering my voice slightly, afraid that no one would hear other than me and Alena.

"Well, why don't you just accept it, Ainsley? It's nice to be the director's wife. That's a lot of money, Ainsley. You've become a tycoon, Ainsley. " Huft , people who only think about money.

I let out a shaky breath before going into more detail.

"Try if you were me, Len. Do you really want to marry a man who is the same age as your grandfather, and become your fourth wife? Do you want it, Len? "

"Ugh... I don't want to, Ainsley. " Alena's face that had been sparkling, now turned into a look of disgust.

"Well, that's also my reason, Len. The director is old, and I want to be the fourth wife, yes I refuse! I am single, and as poor as I am, I will not pawn my future just for the sake of wealth. Life I just made it uncomfortable once, I'm the one who lost," I explained passionately.

Luckily the cafe was deserted, so you can be sure that no one had heard my explanation.

"Wow, that's crazy!" Alena shook her head. "You're right, Ainsley. I also don't want you to be the fourth wife, let alone the battery."

"That's why I'm really annoyed, Len, was fired just because of the director's unprofessionalism. How can I not be given severance pay again," I grumbled.

"Without severance pay? Wow, your boss is really arrogant. When big companies fire their employees arbitrarily just because of personal matters, and they don't get severance pay anymore. If I were you, I would have cursed the director. " Alena looks annoyed with my problem.

"The old man is really annoying. Even though the company doesn't belong to him, he's just a director."

"Then why don't you just complain to the owner of the company?"

"I don't know who owns the company, Len. I've never seen the person, even though I've worked there for three years."

"Come on, Ainsley, you just have to be patient, who knows what's best for you. I don't think it's good for you to keep working there either, because the director will definitely do something else for you."

"Yes, yes." I nodded as I gazed. It's true what Alena said. The old fart director won't be silent if I keep working there. Maybe he even did something bad to me. If so, is it better to get fired?

"Eh, Ainsley, but don't worry, there's a vacancy in my office, exactly in the same division as me. Yes, even if it's only in the marketing department, it's not like your position in your former office. If my office is not a big company like your former office," explained Alena.

Hearing Alena say that there are vacancies in her office, instantly made me feel like I got a breath of fresh air. A smile emerged from my lips.

"Wow, are you serious? I want it, Len. It doesn't matter what department you work in, the important thing is that it's halal plus I'm not unemployed," I said enthusiastically.

"Well then, tomorrow you just come to my office with a cover letter. If I guessed it, you could be accepted right away, you have three years of experience working in a big company."

****

After discussing with Alena, I went home. Of course alone because Alena had been picked up by her boyfriend. It's also impossible to be together, it's in different directions.

Fortunately, the boarding house where I live is not far from the cafe, and not far from my former office. I purposely rented a boarding house near the office, to save money. Uh, now even fired. Very goofy I swear!

Walking leisurely, and feeling a little better, I headed back to the boarding house.

Actually, I want to sing while I'm singing, but because it's on the side of the highway, so I canceled my wish. It might be considered unreasonable later.

While I was busy walking, suddenly my clothes were wet from being splashed by a passing car.

"That's an insolent car," I cursed. "Here, taste my shoes!" I took off my shoes and threw them in the car.

And....

Got the back glass?

How come?

Guess it doesn't come.

Then the car stopped. Ouch, damn it! I'm sure after this I will be scolded by the owner of the car again.

Seriously!

What should I do?

My body was shaking, my heart felt like it was going to burst out of place.

Because I was so scared, and I couldn't think about it, I finally decided to lie down on the ground. Exactly, pretending to faint.

Hopefully with this pretense, the owner of the car will not curse, and do not ask for compensation.

To be continued