Office Drama

 Ethan glared at the employee before him. It wasn’t a unique sight in any way. He was used to the mixture of fear, awe and respect that he seemed to be able to inspire in his underlings. In his rather unbiased opinion, it helped contribute to a smooth working environment. Ethan’s employees may heavily disagree with him, but what do they know?

He had a rather simple routine he liked to follow while ensuring his employees’ (ahem, minions’) absolute obedience to him. It really only had two steps, after which he left them alone for the day.

Step one, of course, was to find some mistake they had made. Maybe they had put two sugars in his coffee instead of one. It didn’t particularly matter. Step two was to make their life miserable over it. This could be by either subtly threatening their job, or not-so-subtly hinting that they better improve, or else.

It worked like a charm. The little minion would be trembling in fear, and he could walk away knowing his job was done. Or at least, it usually worked. There was one employee who seemed unaffected by his warnings. He never even flinched away from Ethan’s cold glares.

Lucas Dustwood was a short man, who had to crane his neck to meet his superior’s eyes. But he never seemed to think of his height as embarrassing. Even now, with a pigeon feather mockingly tangling itself in his wild brown curls, he was the picture of stubbornness.

Ethan tried to match his stare, but his eyes kept drifting to the feather, incredulous. How did this man enter the building dressed like this? His shirt was crumpled and untucked, his tie was messily tied, and he looked half-homeless.

To be honest, he couldn’t even remember what he had been scolding Lucas for this time. In his haste to find any reason to threaten his job, the various incidents seemed to blur together in a haze. Was it about a photocopying error? He’d been distracted by the feather.

He couldn’t ask though. That would be embarrassing. He would never live it down.

“Do you understand what I’m telling you?” Ethan said slowly, trying to keep his words vague. From the lack of reaction from the shorter man, the words didn’t seem too out of place.

“Yeah, I got it,” Dustwood sneered, breaking the staring match. Ethan despaired at the lack of professionality. “I’ll get back to my desk now.”

Just as he turned around to leave the office, Ethan decided to have the last word. “Fix your clothes, would you? You look like a mess,” He blatantly stared at the feather in his hair. “And get that feather out of your hair. Do it quickly, or you’ll be late to your next meeting, as always.”

Unfortunately, unlike his other employees, who behaved like the little minions they were supposed to be, this infuriating man would never let him end the conversation on a winning note. 

“Don’t you have a meeting at 3?” He asked, eyes wide and falsely innocent. He glanced at the large clock on one of the office walls. “It’s 3:15. Are you late, sir?” Even with an expression like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, the last sentence was spat out with enough acid to make the butter evaporate completely, with a special emphasis on the final syllable.

The boss cursed. He rushed out of the office, ears burning red. He didn’t dare look back to see the face his employee was making. He’d get back at him. That Lucas Dustwood would be sorry.