Chapter 1My Former Boss Called Me to Work Overtime After I'd Quit

After the New Year's holiday, my former boss called. The moment I picked up, she tore into me.

"What time do you think it is? Why aren't you here yet? The project is about to be handed over. If it falls through, are you going to take responsibility for it? Get over here now!"

She sounded completely entitled, as if I were still the same pushover who came running whenever she called.

Before I could say a word, she hung up.

Then HR called.

"Why aren't you here yet? The boss is furious! You're usually the most reliable one. Even if you're unhappy about your year-end bonus, you can't just walk away from your work!"

I laughed and explained, "It's not that I'm refusing to work. I already quit before the holiday!"

Today was my first day at the client company.

* * *

When I brought up the fact that I'd resigned before the holiday, Ryan Walker, the head of HR, brushed it off casually.

"Oh, that. I saw your resignation letter. Ms. Hayes did too. But you know how busy everyone was before the holidays. We never got a chance to sit down and really discuss it. Now that the holidays are over, why don't we talk it through properly?"

"Talk about what?" I asked.

My resignation had already gone through. As far as I was concerned, there was nothing left to discuss.

"Your terms, of course!" Ryan replied immediately. "Ms. Hayes said she'll give you a 75-a-month raise. The economy's rough right now. You think other companies are just handing out raises like this on a silver platter? Do the math. That's like 900 more a year."

I couldn't help doing some math of my own.

The people in my department who clocked out on the second every day and never saw a project through from start to finish had reportedly received year-end bonuses of $1,500 each.

Last year, I brought in over $15 million in business for the company. One major project I handled from beginning to end was worth $1.2 million on its own.

I did the work of three people, logged more overtime than anyone else in the department, and never took a single sick day.

But when the Outstanding Employee award was handed out at the annual company party, every project I'd signed suddenly became Kevin Lewis's.

He got a $7,500 bonus and the latest iPhone.

My year-end bonus was $40.

The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed, and I wanted an answer.

"Ryan, why was my year-end bonus only $40?"

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

"Look, you have to understand. The company has its policies," he said, carefully choosing his words.

"You do a lot of work, sure, but sometimes you're too particular about things.

"You're not much of a team player either. You hardly ever come to team events, and you don't socialize much with your coworkers.

"When it comes to year-end bonuses, we have to look at overall performance."

I let out a disbelieving laugh.

I recalled last year's company team-building event, a weekend hike.

I didn't go because I had to work overtime.

There was a company dinner on a Friday night.

I skipped it because I had a proposal to finish.

Then there was the time the department went to karaoke.

I turned that down too because I had a client meeting the next morning, and I couldn't afford to be careless.

Every single time I missed a department get-together, it was because I was working. And now they were using those very things against me?

What about everyone else?

What were they doing while I was slogging?

Drinking, singing, taking group photos, and posting them online.

The captions were always things like "We're one big family" and "Best team ever."

So that was what "overall performance" meant.

"Any other reasons?" I asked.

Ryan thought for a moment, then lowered his voice. "Well, Ms. Hayes also said there were a few projects last year where, uh... the clients had some issues with your work, so..."

"Which clients? What issues? When did they complain? And why was I never told?" I pressed immediately.

"That... I'm not sure. It's just what I heard."

Apparently, I was bad at my job. Apparently, clients had complained. Apparently, I wasn't a team player.

And that was how they justified giving me a measly $40 bonus. At that point, the amount itself felt like a slap in the face.