They Mocked the Wrong Woman

2: 2

Lucia's smile froze on her face.

It only lasted two seconds before she was smiling again.

"Miranda, honey."

"You're still talking tough, even now."

She shook her head and sighed.

"Young people, you like to prove yourselves. I get it."

"But sometimes, honey, facing reality matters more than anything."

She kept at me, all earnest concern.

"I'm older, I've been through it, so let me say a few hard truths. Don't get upset."

"When you get to the new place, rein that temper in."

"Don't be so petty like you are here."

"Otherwise you'll just get burned."

I looked at her and said nothing.

Seeing me stay quiet only egged her on.

"I mean, look at you. All you did was give a coworker a ride."

"Such a tiny thing, and you had to make a face about it."

"Coworkers helping each other out, isn't that just how it should be?"

"Once you're in another department, you can't keep acting like this."

"Otherwise, who's going to bother with you?"

Three sentences.

Every one of them a hint.

She might as well have written I'm the one who reported you across her forehead.

I asked her flatly, "Lucia, do you not understand what I'm saying?"

Her face changed.

"What kind of thing is that to say?"

"I said all this purely out of the goodness of my heart."

"And you throw it back in my face!"

"With an attitude like yours—"

She jabbed a finger at me and started laying into me.

"—you'll get the same result no matter where you go!"

Beside her, Rita Fox set down her coffee and drawled, "Miranda, I'm not trying to pile on."

"Lucia's saying all this for your own good, you know."

"How can you just not take it in?"

I opened my mouth to speak.

She waved a hand, cutting me off.

"Enough, stop being stubborn."

"In another department, nobody's going to make allowances for you the way we did."

"Think about it. Using a company car for personal errands."

"Small thing, sure, but it's still the company's car."

"You've been driving it for a year without a word to anyone."

"So who eats the wear-and-tear cost?"

Terence Dickerson, sitting across from me, jumped right in.

"Exactly."

"They didn't fire you outright, that's already generous."

"And you've got the nerve to sit here talking big."

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.

"If I were you, I'd start packing right now."

"Save yourself the embarrassment later."

Three of them, working in perfect sync.

I waited two seconds.

Only when I was sure they were done did I speak.

"Are you finished?"

All three went blank at once.

Probably hadn't expected me to be this calm.

I held up one finger. "First, I'm not the one being transferred."

"I'll be staying right here in this team."

The three of them frowned, one after another.

I held up a second finger.

"Second, this past year, weekday or holiday, I've been driving you all around almost every single day."

"If we're going to talk wear-and-tear costs,"

"shouldn't your share get counted too?"

Rita shot to her feet.

"Why should it?"

"You drove us because you wanted to!"

"Nobody forced you!"

"And besides, you're the one who was driving, not us!"

Everyone in the room turned to look at us.

Lucia's face darkened, and she rounded on me in front of everyone.

"Miranda, have you fallen into a money pit or something?"

"Letting you drive us was a compliment. We wanted to build a good relationship with you."

I laughed.

For a whole year, eight in the morning I waited at the gate of their complex.

Six in the evening I sat parked at the curb.

When it rained, I brought the car right to their door.

When it snowed, I warmed it up ahead of time.

And in the end.

That was me being done a favor?

"Then let me do you a favor too."

I pulled out my phone and opened the calculator.

"This past year, I drove you to and from work more than six hundred times."

"At market rate, a carpool runs three hundred a month per person."

"Add in gas, maintenance, wear-and-tear."

I turned the screen to face them. "Not much. Five thousand each."

Seeing every one of their faces go sour,

I raised an eyebrow and went on. "You're the ones who said personal use of a company car."

"So today, the account on this company car gets settled in full."