Linda fell silent in shock. She muttered to herself,
“Oh shoot, I forgot about it. In Switzerland, a female employee who is pregnant or on maternity leave cannot get fired; they are legally protected.”
Perhaps Stefanie was vaguely aware of Linda’s attempt to terminate her at the time of massive layoffs affecting her female colleagues. So she got pregnant on purpose as a defensive measure, so that she couldn’t not be fired right away.
Taken by surprise and disappointment, Linda said to herself;
“Hm, what a cunning bitch. She’s just trying to buy time, hoping that she can get away. I don’t think so. This termination is ordered by the CEO, Ben.”
After a pause, Linda regained a grip and thought how to recover.
“In that case, we will ask you to move to another position for a while until you go on maternity leave. I know this has been very stressful for you, so I’m going to give you some time off. You don’t have to come to work, so you can relax and prepare for the upcoming birth of your child. However, please don’t tell anyone at work about what you have been through. If you keep it to yourself, we will find a new position for you after your maternity leave. We want you to come back as you have a lot of experience at this company. So please don’t worry. However, we will ask you to temporarily return your company PC and your company mobile phone while you are on maternity leave so that you can focus on your childbirth.
Linda ended the meeting with a superficial smile. Theo, who was present at the meeting, was so stunned by what had happened that he seemed unable to speak. Linda was cursing Theo silently, and her hunting attempt which ended in a failure.
“Idiot Theo. I’ll have to nail this guy later. Even if she avoided being fired temporarily, Stefanie wouldn’t be able to stay at this company anyway, now that Ben, the CEO, made the decision. I would have to let her alive during the pregnancy period and the maternity leave. But once the protection is over, I can fire this poisonous woman immediately. I will make the fact known within the company that she was officially on leave. If anyone tries to get her off the hook or help her in any way, the hammer of the CEO will fall on them. Yes, this woman is officially cursed. No one wants to pull their chestnuts from the fire.”
This time, unfortunately, Linda couldn’t entertain herself with her usual favorite pastime. But it was only a matter of time. The trap that Linda cast on Stefanie definitely surrounded her. She wouldn’t be able to escape it any more. Linda was going to slowly and surely strangle her to death. For a change this could be fun. Linda would have to notify everybody in the company about the intended termination of Stefanie and to disgrace her. A wry smile appeared on Linda’s face. “Watch me, I’m going to punish you for this misbehavior, Stefanie.”
Still, on the way home, Linda could not get rid of her anger and disappointment. She communicated the de-fact decision of Stefanie’s termination to the management team in Europe, disguising it as a redundancy decision by Theo. Even if she pretended that she was a pure administrator on this matter, Linda rather met unpleasant surprises by people on the fact that the company put a pregnant woman into the de-fact gardening leave, asking her to leave. Linda cursed the dammed woman.
“How could that woman have obtained the position of Finance Director, and then had the nerve to try to have a baby? How shameless could she be?”
Linda saw a scornful look on Stefanie’s face when she said she was pregnant. Linda was also cursed by Stefanie at that meeting. She felt she heard Stefanie’s voice,
“At the age nearing 40, you are still not married, and moreover, you are getting too old to have a child. You are a pathetic woman with nothing better to do than work. ”
Linda was also afraid of one thing,
“Telling the people at the company that Stefanie has effectively been fired might rather attract further attention and sympathy for Stefanie, who is pregnant and going through the tough turns. Stefanie, the mother with love, is tormented and the ruthless Linda, the aggressor.”
Indeed, Stefanie should have her place in the society as the mother of a child, even if she has lost her job, while Linda is still single and alone, a foreigner working away from her home country. Linda frowned as she thought back of those damn women who returned to their careers after spending time away from their work for a while to raise children.
Women in general were said to have a sincere desire to marry the person they love, but Linda had never been attached to anyone in her whole life, let alone falling in love. Love was something beyond Linda’s imagination. Why would she have to care about anybody else than herself? By contrast, Linda had no hesitation in sexual transactions. If it would be advantageous for her, Linda willingly slept with a Region’s Head who had taken her on as HR Lead in the past. Linda assumed that this was something all women would do easily without hesitation, even though they would never say it.
Linda’s life was exciting enough without love, as long as she could enjoy her hunting of the others, beating them and winning. Still, Linda instinctively had a strong desire to be seen as a normal human being, to hide her psychopathic character. The fact that Linda had not taken that “normal” step, getting married and having children, may now turn a real disadvantage for Linda’s career, if people noticed her true nature. As a cover, she might as well get married, at least.
Linda never forgot to pretend that she had a full personal life as a normal person does. ”I keep my professional life separate from my private life.” In truth, there is only one thing that Linda puts her heart and soul into, day and night. How to outsmart people, how to kick her rivals down the road while pretending to be a nice person. How to take advantage of the others so that she can enjoy the sweet fruits without any work.
Linda often had lunch with her colleagues at the canteen in the office building. Lunchtime was an important networking time in Switzerland and Linda must take advantage of it. She should gather information about the inside and outside the company, while at the same time selling Linda’s image as a sociable and friendly person. Some employees brought their own lunch boxes and ate inside the office or on benches outside, taking into account the cost of eating out. Linda hated cooking; she didn’t want to have to spend time and energy on such chores. As a result, Linda appeared in the canteen almost every day.
In this respect, Linda’s “partner” and pet, Taro, was great. He did all the housework, including the cooking, very well. He was happy to cook for Linda. This Japanese man was a bargain Linda found with a Dating App. As is usually the case with Japanese men, Taro was not good at flattering women. He was actually awkward and having trouble communicating in any language. The fact that Taro was not good at talking was a real advantage; Linda didn’t have to worry about other people knowing what was actually going on between them.
Linda was also having her life plan as she was cleaning up her potential enemies in the company. To have a spectacular career and to be admired. To make it come true, Linda would need someone’s support. With Taro’s support at home who would do all the house chores, it should work out perfectly. The point was, Taro shouldn’t continue working outside. If both men and women were pursuing their careers separately, it wouldn’t work. One of them had to play the role of supporter to make it work. A successful career woman would need support from an obedient man like Taro. Taro, being a Japanese coming from male-dominant culture, wouldn’t submit to Linda’s leadership easily. Hence, Linda should make it happen by her magic. Linda trusted that Taro himself wanted that subconsciously.
“Today, the role of men and the role of women can be switched. Don’t worry, Taro, I’ll go out and make plenty of money. All you have to do is wait for me at home. Be faithful to your role as my pet, OK?”
The problem was that Taro’s was recently transferred to the French-speaking part of Switzerland, far away from where Linda was. To see each other, they had to travel for four hours in one way. This would be difficult to continue when Linda got even busier with her career. Linda concluded that the current way was not sustainable. Apparently Taro thought of his new assignment as a big career opportunity and was enthusiastic about his work. A normal woman would want to wish him success but Linda didn’t have the slightest idea of supporting this man in his career.
Linda was thinking, “How ridiculous. What good would it do to have a project in the middle of nowhere? Why don’t you just take care of me? I need to make sure that Taro would never make a living on his own. Just make him realize what will happen if he ever tries to leave me. It may cause him a small pain but it would be for his own good eventually.”
Linda was steadily working on her wicked action plan to fix the issue. Until she executed the plan, however, Linda pretended perfectly as if she was supporting Taro’s career. She would say to her colleagues innocently,
“Taro is so excited about the big project he’s been assigned to. I am crossing my fingers that everything will go well for his big project!”
Linda knew the magic of words. Linda would call Taro as “my better half, meaning he is the one who complements and completes Linda’s indispensable half. The magic word worked to make people believe that Linda had a partner like any other person and she can build and keep an affectionate relationship. This magic word concealed the nature of the relationship between Linda and Taro – a master and a servant. To make sure the servant shouldn’t run away, Linda limited the scope of Taro’s social circle as much as possible and kept him isolated.
Despite all these state-of-art manipulators, there was something not perfectly hidden. For some reason, the sight of Linda and Taro walking close together hit people as bizarre. It looked as if a giant spider was dragging away her prey. Her fangs were so deep into the prey’s body and the poor creature couldn’t move any more, with her poison reaching every corner of his body. The monster was dragging away him swiftly, to painless death.
This story is fictitious and is not based on any real persons or organizations. Copyright: Kunoichi4You 2024
Psychopath in the Next Office 