Chapter 51: Epilogue: Part 2: The Hell Hole

If not, we can wait in the car. Just let us know.

Of course Matron`. Vanessa stared out the window for a little bit, then sighed as the familiar white building came into sight. And here we are. The parking pass will make sure the gate guard lets us through right away. She took a deep breath in as the guard blinked and lifted the gate. Good. Hopefully the reasonable receptionist is working today, and not ... her.

“Good luck Mama Vanessa!” Isa and Petra exclaimed together.

Vanessa grinned. “Thank you.” They’re wonderful.

Agreed, honey. Hopefully you won’t need to actually work today.

Vanessa stepped out of the car and started toward the building’s double doors. Yes. I really don’t want to have to deal with my co-workers today. She stepped through them as they slid open, and groaned softly. Crap. He’s even worse.

Just try to explain the situation. I’m sure it will work out.

You are far too optimistic Patron`. “Good morning.”

“Who the hell did you travel with? Travis saw your pass, but there’s no way that’s your car. Even if you did change it in, that would be a really dumb idea.”

“It belongs to my spouses. Speaking of, is the visitor’s waiting room available at the moment? The kiddos are with us, and...”

“Hell no. I highly doubt they’re dressed in any way that would give anything but a bad image for us if someone important came in; but kids are noisy and badly behaved. The last thing we need is one of the big investors to see that.”

“None of the big investors ever use that room. Anyone ‘important’ enough always goes straight to the VIP room. Besides, Isa and Petra are way better behaved than many of the ‘important’ people. That’s sad.”

“I highly doubt that. Brats are supposed to be neither seen nor heard. The answer’s no.”

“Lionel, what did I say about how we talk to others? That’s not appropriate for the custodial staff, let alone one of our best people” a woman suddenly spoke.

Patricia’s here; thank God.

She’s good?

One of the few decent people here. Why Lionel was promoted to main reception I have no idea. “I don’t think it fair to ask them to wait in the car while I talk to Howard. Especially for the kids.”

“How old are they?”

“Five. Fraternal twins.”

“Unless the parents are useless, five is definitely old enough for kids to know how to behave in public. And, did I hear you call them your ‘spouses’?”

“Yes. That’s part of what I needed to talk to Howard about. Can I tell them its okay to wait in the waiting room?”

“Sure. It’s not like any prospective customers ever come in on Sunday. None of them do.”

Vanessa pulled out her phone. I’m going to call to let you know you can come in. I’d rather not explain the telepathy as well. Not to most of these people.

Makes sense Kara thought.

“You guys can come in. The visitor’s room is the first door on the right when you enter.” One of you has something to keep the kids happy?

We keep a tote bag with a bunch of options in the trunk. We forgot it once; that will never happen again.

They’re still five. There are limits to what we can expect from them Ally.

Yes, but those limits are considerably greater than most kids Manny.

Vanessa pushed the up button on the elevator, and stepped into it when the doors opened. “You’re cutting it kind of close today”.

“Good morning Sally. I had an important errand to take care of on my way in. Is Howard in yet?”

“Yeah. I think he was discussing something with Brad about ten minutes ago. He should be done by now though. Why?”

“I have something important to discuss with him, and I’d prefer to do it before anything else comes up.”

“Good luck. Last I heard, he wasn’t in the best of moods.”

The elevator doors opened, and Vanessa stepped out, turning to the right. A few moments later she knocked on the open door to Howard’s office. “Come in.”

“I need to speak to you for a few moments.”

“Make it quick. I’m expecting an important phone call soon.”

Yeah, from the golf course I’m sure. “I’m giving my notice.”

“Uh huh ... wait, what?”

“Yes. I’ve applied for a promotion four times now, and every time you’ve chosen someone far newer for the position. After this last trip, if I can’t climb the ladder any further, there isn’t much reason for me to stay here.”

“Not with that attitude. Very well; I heard about your other news too. So, you may as well clear out your cubicle. We’ll apply the vacation time you currently have to your two weeks. In fact, I believe you have exactly two weeks vacation.”

“I have four, and I’m sure of it. If I don’t see what I’m owed for that on the last check, you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.” Vanessa turned around and quietly left the office. Can I kill my boss?

No honey; I know you really want to, but...

He’s not worth twenty-five to life. What did he do, anyway?

He basically fired me, Mami`. Considering how much of a boys club this place is, I can’t be too surprised by that. But what really has me angry is that he was going to try to rob me of the pay I’m due for some of my vacation time. She stopped at her cubicle. I’m not going to let that happen, of course. But the audacity to try that!

Scumbag.

Agreed Ally. Make sure to stop by HR and get in writing that you have the vacation time you do, what his official reason is for letting you go, and that your last paycheck will have the appropriate compensation on it.

I plan to. Vanessa sighed and shook her head. Looks like the busy body’s already know. Someone left an empty box at my cubicle.

Are there any documents that would be adequate proof if the company tries to screw you over?

Possibly. I’ll save them to my flash drive before I go. In fact, it’s possible that upper management has been breaking some of the company’s internal rules. I’ll get those too.

Just be careful not to take anything that could be considered classified to non-employees.

I will Patron`. She quietly woke up the computer, found the relevant files, and saved them.

“I hope these ‘spouses’ of yours are worth this” a woman spoke from behind her as she began to pack away her personal effects.

“I wouldn’t be doing this if they weren’t.” Vanessa packed the last of her things and stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have one more thing I need to do before I leave this place.” She gently pushed past the stunned woman and quickly made her way to the HR office. How do you three deal with the whispering and gossiping when they don’t think you can hear them?

We do our best to ignore it. Trust us on this; we learned the hard way early on that we needed to.

Thank you Matron`. She knocked on the open door to the office. “May I come in?”

“Of course” the older man replied, looking up from his computer. “What can I do for you today?”

“I wanted to confirm a few important things while I’m still an employee here.”

His eyebrows rose. “So the gossips weren’t quite correct it seems. Close the door behind you.” Vanessa nodded, closed the door, and sat down in front of him. “It’s highly irregular that someone with your record would just quit on the spot. Do you need to file a complaint before you leave?”

“I merely put in my notice. Leaving today is Howard’s idea.”

“I see.”

He’s not surprised by this. Howard’s done this before.

Who’s not surprised honey?

Carl, the head of HR.

“Well, whatever the reason might be, there are a few formalities that we need to take care of before I can do anything else for you. Read this and be sure to sign both copies.”

Let’s see ... It’s informing me of the rights I still have. Included in them is the right to file a discrimination complaint, and the right to a physical, dated copy of any of my personal records. “Do those records include unused vacation and sick time I’ve accrued?”

“Yes. Give me a few moments and I’ll print those for you. If you wish, the computer can also calculate what your final pay check should be.”

“Please. Also, I’d like my copy of any other personal records that are on file.”

“Of course.”

“Is it possible to get an official statement concerning the company’s reason for letting me go early?”

“It’ll still be pending until I get and process the request from Howard. Let me check if he’s already done that.” She watched his eyes return to the computer, then shake his head a few moments later. “Of course he’d slack off on this.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Company policy states that, for any employee who is fired for any reason, their immediate supervisor has to report when the decision was made and why as soon as possible. Howard’s ‘as soon as possible’ tends to take the better part of the day, requiring me to be the one to reach out if I find out first. Give me a moment to check in with him.” Vanessa nodded her head as he reached for the phone. “Hello ... no, I can’t wait, and he knows why ... yes, I’m pretty sure I know exactly who he’s on the phone with right now, and they most certainly are not more important than this ... yes, I’ll wait a moment while you connect me.”

He sighed and put the earpiece down for a moment. “They’re all like this. Somehow, they believe that making their golf arrangements is more important than company business.”

“Utterly ridiculous.”

“Howard, I just received information that you are letting Vanessa go early. Can you confirm this, and if so for what reason?” He paused for a few moments. “Uh huh ... no, I heard you the first time. Seriously though; you’d have more time to ‘work’ if you just filed your report right away like you’re supposed to.” Vanessa heard a click as the call abruptly ended. “Why the department VP thought he’d make a good manager, I’ll never know. Anyway, his official reason for letting you go is ‘lack of team based cooperation and incompatible lifestyle choices’. You are aware that you’re required to report any alcohol or drug related convictions that may come up I hope.”

“Yes, and no such thing has occurred. His problem is that I got married. Here’s the temporary license while we wait for the official one.”

“I don’t see why you marrying would...” he started as he looked at the paper “oh; I see. Eight years ago, this would have been against company policy, and thus make the second part of his reason defendable. Now, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t marry multiple people.”

“Besides, perhaps, what the richest of our clients think.”

“At worst, that would mean some of them insisting on other people for their projects. Those clients tend to gravitate straight to people like Howard anyway; so it’s no real loss. If lack of ability to remain monogamous really was a problem, there most folks here would be significant liabilities.” He hit a few more buttons before the printer in the room began to whir to life. “I imagine your time is quite precious today, so I’ll answer what I can quickly and let the print out fill in the rest. Between your earned vacation and sick days, you have two months of paid time off.” He reached over to the printer and pulled the stack to him. “Here is what you should expect your final check to be before taxes.”

“Do you need anything else?”

“This should be sufficient. Can I call or e-mail you if I need any additional information?”

“As long as it’s something that is part of your private records or publicly available information, yes.”

“Thank you. You’re one of the few decent guys here.”

“I wouldn’t still have my own job if I wasn’t.”

Vanessa nodded, put the stack of paper into her box, and stood up. “Regardless of that, you could have done just what you needed to by law, and let me leave without helping any further. Thank you.” He nodded his head as she opened the door and stepped through it.

Some jeers and sneers, and some of the usual stupid crap people like to say. But the funny thing is that none of them went on for very long Allison replied.

Those are the harpies I told you about. She stepped into the open elevator. They’re probably looking for evidence that their screwed up opinions are right.

Their presence is getting really tiring. I’m really tempted to...

Mami` ... calm down for a moment. I’m almost back to you guys; then we can leave and you don’t need to deal with them again.

By the way, what reasons did your boss give for letting you go?

Essentially, not being a team player and ‘incompatible lifestyle’. Utter bullshit, all of it. The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out. I see them.

‘Incompatible lifestyle’? What the fuck does he mean by that?!

Mami`, you don’t need to be indignant for my sake. It means he doesn’t approve of our relationship, and he’s using that as one of his reasons for firing me. That’s one of his big mistakes ... I’m already starting to plan my vengeance.

You’re going to shake things up here?

Of course! They’re not going to get away with all the discrimination I’ve had to deal with here. Vanessa smiled at the group of women as she stepped into the room.

“Mama Vanessa!” a very excited Isa shouted and ran to her; wrapping her arms around Vanessa’s legs. “Can we leave soon?” Vanessa smiled inwardly at the surprised gasps that came from the harpies.

“Very soon Isa. I need to do one more thing, and then we can go.”

“What’s in that box?”

“All of my belongings from here, Petra. We can get breakfast, then go to my apartment and start packing everything up.”

“And then you can move in with us?”

“Of course!”

“Yay!” they both shouted, eliciting loud gasps from the women. “Who are they?” Isa asked, staring at them.

Vanessa handed the box to Emanuel, then knelt down next to Isa and began to whisper in her ear. “Mean people. They were making fun of what I had with your daddy, and now were definitely making fun of everything I have with all of you.”