The Reimbursement

My boss, Jessica Harrington, announced, "Starting today, I'm giving you special authority. Any reimbursement that doesn't meet standards, just reject it. Send it back for revisions until it's qualified!

"And at the monthly meeting, you'll be this month's Star Employee. Don't forget to go on stage and give a speech!"

Seymour's eyes lit up instantly.

"T-Thank you! Thank you, Ms. Harrington! I'll definitely work even harder and live up to your encouragement!"

Jessica looked thoroughly pleased.

Then she turned and shot me another sharp glare.

"See that? You, salespeople, are nothing but parasites in this company. You're all lazy to the core! Why can't you learn something from him? You guys always nitpick over trivial matters, wasting company resources. Aren't you ashamed?

"That's enough! Reorganize your reimbursement forms according to Mr. Landon's requirements and get it done!"

My hands trembled as I clutched the stack of papers.

The frustration lodged in my chest had nowhere to go. It just sat there, crushing, until my tears nearly overflowed.

The moment I stepped out of the boss's office, Seymour slipped out right behind me.

He looked me up and down with open disdain.

"Hah! Didn't someone say they were going to ask the boss to judge? Well? Are you satisfied with the judgment?"

With a smirk, he added, "Useless trash. Let's see if you still dare to cross me."

I returned to my desk with red-rimmed eyes.

I was in no mood to work at all. I just stared blankly at the reimbursement forms.

Then my phone buzzed.

It was a notification from my social media app.

I was about to swipe it away until the headline caught my eye.

"That idiot in Sales. I just wanted to put my bar receipt under his name for reimbursement, and he refused! If he won't let me claim it, then no one gets reimbursed! This time, I'll make sure he understands what happens when you offend Finance!"

I froze.

I stared at the profile picture on the post, that awfully familiar face.

It was none other than Seymour himself!

Only then did everything click.

All those ridiculous obstacles these past weeks were not about professionalism or strict compliance; It was revenge!

Last month, he tried to put his bar receipt under my name for reimbursement. He wanted me to help him expense it under a client entertainment budget.

Naturally, I refused.

So, this was his payback.

The comment section was full of office workers venting, cursing this kind of petty workplace bullying.

But Seymour was gleeful, jumping into the comments to clap back one by one.

"What's there to fear? What even is Sales? Companies are permanent, but salespeople come and go. They're just disposable trash. Finance is different. Finance is the company's lifeline. There's no way the boss would side with some loser over the company's lifeline."

Then I noticed an update.

"That broke idiot's been fronting event expenses for half a month. Came in yelling about having no money today. So I'm holding his reimbursement hostage. Let's see how that fool manages to close any deals from now on."

I actually laughed.

Finance? The company's lifeline?

Then what was I, the top salesperson, supposed to be?

He did not want me to close deals? Fine by me.

I would have loved to see who loses patience first.

I set my work aside and started coasting. Every day, I sat at my desk doing the bare minimum.

Soon enough, it was the end of the month.

A message popped up in the company's office automation system, straight from the Finance Department.

With the month-end approaching, they needed to reconcile and log every single sales order.

And the source of those order files?

The Sales Department.

Modesty aside, as the undisputed top performer in the company, even though I only worked half the month, I accumulated quite a stack of orders in my hands.