One Cup of Coffee, One Ruined Career

"No thanks."

Three cold words, and that was all I gave her.

Kitty's eyes went red, and the tears fell right on cue.

"Sis, are you still holding a grudge against me?"

"You were the one who wanted that milk tea. You just had to take advantage of the client."

"Now the manager handed the account to me. What was I supposed to do? How can you take it out on me?"

I was so furious it came out as a laugh. I folded my arms and looked at her, cold.

"I took advantage?"

"Kitty, who's the one stuffing whole rolls of the office toilet paper into her bag every single day?"

"The coffee in the break room, the little snacks, when have you not cleaned them all out and taken them home?"

"When it comes to mooching off the company, is there anyone here who can top you?"

Kitty's face froze in an instant.

She clenched her teeth and dropped her voice to a cold whisper, pitched so only the two of us could hear.

"So what? You've got it coming, all of it. Serves you right."

"What good does all your hard work do you now? You just had the bad luck to be the one they made an example of."

"This account and the commission landed in my lap. Bet that's killing you, isn't it? It's hilarious. A deal this sweet, I'd be an idiot not to take it."

Before I could answer, she suddenly staggered back a step, buried her face in her hands, and broke into sobs.

"Sis, even if you don't want it, you don't have to scream at me like this..."

"I was just trying to be nice and buy you a drink..."

The coworkers, who a second ago had been buzzing excitedly about which flavor to get, went dead silent.

A dozen accusing stares swung around and locked onto me.

"Oh, Kitty, don't cry. Some people just bite the hand that feeds them."

"Exactly. She screwed up and got punished, so now she takes it out on a newbie?"

"She really thinks she's something. She used to train the girl, and now that Kitty's been made permanent, she's jealous. It's disgusting."

Watching them fall in line with each other, all I felt was cold to the bone.

Back when these people couldn't close a single deal, they cried out of sheer panic, and I was the one who, for the sake of being coworkers, handed them accounts off my own desk.

After Kitty joined, she schemed every way she could to snatch deals right out of their hands so she'd get to stay, and behind her back they cursed her up and down.

But now, over one cup of milk tea, I was the one everybody had turned on.

Really something.

Someone sidled up to Kitty, all fawning smiles.

"Kitty, you're amazing. Barely made permanent and you land an account this big. What's your secret?"

Kitty wiped her tears, her face full of smug satisfaction.

"Honestly, it's nothing special. Mostly it just comes down to my own hard work and dedication."

"You have to be patient with clients, keep in touch, reply to every message the second it comes in."

"Not like certain people who think their seniority means they can just phone it in with clients."