Psychopath in the Next Office

“I’ll take care of it,” Linda said, looking into Amelie’s eyes.

“I’m sure there’s a good solution for all of us. But while I am arranging things for you, it’s better not to say anything to Hans, your Department Head,” Linda added.

“It’s just for you. It’s not good for your career to be perceived as being reluctant to relocate to the Swiss office because of your child. You know how people in this company are – so male dominant.” She said it as if she really thinking about Amelie.

Controlling her mounting excitement,Linda called Hans, the German department head who had promoted her and murmured anxiously.
“You know that Amelie’s move to Switzerland has been delayed, and that is affecting your department in many ways including her team’s morale, I’m afraid. Actually Amelie called me today in person and asked for a tremendous increase in her compensation. She said that it would be very expensive for her to send her child and her current partner’s children to international schools in Switzerland, who all will have to move to Switzerland, accompanying her. True, international schools and babysitters in Switzerland are very expensive, far more so than in France. But she asked to triple her offered compensation. Of course, I would like to meet her request to make this career move as easy as possible for her, but I am afraid it’s a bit too much. We already offered her a new contract for the Aftersales director position in Switzerland, which is double what she was paid in France. But now she would need us to triple it. I would like to know how you feel about this; she is to work for you and it’s important for you to know all these.”

Hans, a German Vice President of Aftersames Europe who decided to hire Amelie for the director position, was shocked. “Really? I can’t afford that. It would go over the this year’s budget by far. How could she even suggest such a thing? When we offered her the contract, she seemed to be fine with the offered salary.”

Linda continued, as if she had been waiting for that reaction from Hans. “Well, it seems that Amelie has a moody side; she often changes her mind and makes greedy demands out of the blue. I’ve talked with Elliott, the French human resources manager, and he told me that she’s had many problems with her team before. Amelie treated her people poorly, and there have been a lot of complaints about her brought up to the local HR. Some of the stories included really unbelievable ones; but I cannot really share them with you. Bottom-line, she is a typical French woman – headstrong and unstable, I am sorry to say. She brings her personal likes and dislikes into her work, and everyone around her is constantly being pushed around. Of course it doesn’t matter how many boyfriends she has in her personal life or how hysteric she gets in quarrels with them. But it’s a problem when she brings this attitude into the workplace. I am afraid that her problematic temperament is now surfacing after she’s secured this job. She’s turning her personal problems like her children’s education into a company’s problem, and now she’s asking for a big pay raise as a matter of course.”

As if by magic, one lie after another came out of Linda’s mouth. It was amazing how credible and smooth they were. Who would have thought this was a fabrication? Linda continued, “Amelie didn’t show any sign of such a problematic personality in front of you or me. It’s a shame we didn’t know it before she was offered this position. We should really make sure that Amelie’s temperament shouldn’t cause any big problem after she started working full-time as the Aftersales director. Oh, but please don’t talk to her directly about it. She told me that she didn’t want to share her private issues with you, especially her current boyfriend in France and their children. You are a man and the department head, it’s understandable why she didn’t want to talk to you about it directly. She is eager to be seen as a strong woman who is accepted in a male-dominated environment. It’s also wiser of you not to talk to Amelie about her private issues; there is a risk that you might be thought of as a sexual harasser and a male boss who intrudes into the privacy of others.” Linda made a serious face and sounded as if she was really worrying about Hans.

Hans was fooled. With Linda’s cunning tactics and lying skills trained in her life-time career, it was nothing to manipulate a German men. Naturally, Germans find other German-speakers a lot more trustworthy. On top, Linda was a super sophisticated fake-story-teller. One week later, it was decided to cancel Amelie’s promotion offer. Of course, Hans did not check it directly with Amelie at all, following Linda’s advice. If he had, he would have immediately discovered that Linda was lying about her pay rise request. Linda just formerly reported to Rachel, her HR boss in the US, about “Hans’ trust issue with Amelie” in a probation period so that she had to terminate Amelie’s work contract. It was true that Amelie said to Linda that she couldn’t accept the Swiss job offer as it was. Rachel signed off the decision.

Linda called Amelie at her home in France.
“Amelie, my dear, please listen. I really tried hard to convince Hans about your request for flexibility. But unfortunately, Hans insisted that the only acceptable solution was for you to relocate immediately to Switzerland and work there 100% of the time here. In order to be respected as the Aftersales director in a male-dominated environment, you should accommodate such a basic condition. I mentioned about your family, and I tried my best to ask for his favor, but Hans finally got emotional and mad at your attitude. He just snapped and said, no more talk! I was so shocked how he was and couldn’t stop my tears falling, feeling sorry for you. Unfortunately things aren’t looking good right now, so you’d better sign the paperwork to end your Swiss contract for now. Don’t inquire anything with Hans or anybody else in the company. I’m sure things will change soon, and Hans will offer you the contract again if he calms down. It’s just best to be quiet and leave the matter with me, OK?”
Linda’s voice sounded as if she was wholeheartedly on Amelie’s side, with her perfect acting. Amelie, struck with surprise at the unexpected turn of events, was in no doubt. She just hung up the phone and sat still.

Linda set to work on the finishing touches. The rest was business as usual. Without missing a beat, Linda sent an e-mail to all relevant parties – the entire Aftersales department, HR and Management.
“We regret to inform that Amelie’s contract as Director of After Sales has been terminated due to questions about her qualifications. This was a tough decision, but one that was made by Hans, the Aftersales Head in Switzerland. Amelie left the company on the same day. We wish Amelie all the best in her future and her success in external opportunities.”
The message was clear. By the department head Hans’ decision, Amelie was fired, and she must not stay in the company. To make things sure, Linda immediately closed Amelie’s e-mail account and deactivated her phone number. She also contacted other human resources personnel in other departments about Amelie’s personality issues encountered by Hans, and warned them not to give Amelie a second chance.

Amelie was feeling like having a bad dream. Before she even noticed it, the situation deteriorated so quickly that she was forced to leave the company without a chance to explain herself. Everyone in the company already knew that Amelie had been fired by the powerful Hans, and it was unlikely that she would ever be able to go back. No other positions were available within the same company in France, where she used to work until a few months ago. Hans had not contacted her even at the last chance. She thought that Hans was mad and didn’t simply want talk to her just as Linda said. In the midst of her predicament, Amelie’s was not seeing things straightly due to the hope that she might one day be able to get another position through Linda. Only if she had thought about it without biases, she could have realized that Linda had orchestrated the whole thing and stood between the two parties to bring Amelie down.

Linda couldn’t help but be delighted as she looked sideways at the puzzled reactions of those around her with Amelie’s departure. She had punished that damned woman on behalf of Heaven. The silly Amelie had been punished by Heaven for trying to get promoted in front of Linda. Now Amelie was just a pathetic unemployed woman who had been fired because her boss hated her. Her successful career in the company and a recent promotion were completely offset and cancelled out. Linda was so amused that her female rival had lost her good reputation on top of her job. The important thing was to make sure that Amelie never had a chance to talk to Hans or anyone else in the company. As far as both of them never spoke, it would never be known that Linda tricked them cunningly. True, the French bitch was a speck of dust in the office and should have been cleaned up immediately. The dust in this Swiss office would have dulled Linda’s brilliance. Linda did what she had to do – cleaning. It was all about achieving justice; Heaven had given Linda the opportunity and authority to do so. Linda vowed to continue punishing and removing those abominable women, and to polish her cleaning skills by keeping practicing.

_{This story is fictitious and is not based on any real persons or organizations. Copyright: Kunoichi4You 2024}