The tormenting proposal

What a wonderful prompt to write on! As humans, there are some things we see as not important, and we do overlook them just because we want to get things done in a hurry. Taking necessary precautions while attending to tasks is very important because it will save a lot of stress in the long run. I love getting things done perfectly, and sometimes this makes me impatient about it, thereby not getting the result I wanted. I once had an experience that landed me in failure because I overlooked certain aspects that I should have been more careful about.

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I once had the opportunity to be a secretary in one organization. I always tried my best to perform my duties excellently. But I guess I cannot have my way all the time; after all, I'm human, not a computer. Sometimes down the line, I wasn't feeling too well, and yet I was expected to still be up to the task, trying in my little capacity to stay updated and active, but fortunately, I couldn't cope for long. I make sure to check my email every day because that is the channel of communication in my company. When I was indisposed, I couldn't check my mail, and at that time, I took some days off work.

An assignment was sent to my email without my knowledge because my boss thought I would check it out, which I didn't. The weekend, Sunday, to be precise, when I resumed back to work, I was a bit better, then I decided to check my mail, and I saw that I had justices left to write a proposal, which I would be submitting on Monday morning. I was gassed because I wasn't expecting to see such. "Why didn't he call to inform me?" was the first question I asked myself. I was so disturbed because, at that point, I didn't know what to do. What I was supposed to write on was not something I could just paraphrase and achieve a good write-up in a few hours, but "Do I have a choice now?" This was the question running through my mind.

Out of fear, I had to put a call through to my boss, because at that point I didn't know what to do. "Hello boss, good evening. I logged in to my mail now only to see I have a proposal to write that will be submitted tomorrow morning," I said to him via our phone conversation. "Yes, I hope you have worked on it; I don't want any disappointment," he said. With fear, I replied, "Sir, I'm just seeing it; you could have put a call through to me; I couldn't check my mail because I was not in good shape." Before I could finish my statement, he snapped, "Is that coming from you? Don't give me such flimsy excuses, woman; you should know you are to check your mail from time to time in case any information is being passed across," he said, sounding angry already. "I will try my best, sir," I said and cut the call.

Now I'm left with no choice but to find out how I will get the proposal done before the next morning. I began to ransack my brain, searching Google for answers and communicating with people I knew could help me out at that dying minute. I was up all night, straining my eyes in front of my computer system, with my head banging as if it were going to fall off my head. "How could he do this to me knowing fully well I'm just recovering?" I said angrily, pressing my phone and trying to call a friend who always has an answer to every problem. I called twice, and his number wasn't engaging. Then I thought, "Was he sleeping? How can he sleep at this time when I needed him most?"

In my attempt to finish up the proposal a night before submission, I slept right in front of my system while typing. The next thing I heard after several hours was a cock crow in the morning. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. "It's morning already?" I asked myself as I jumped out of the chair and rushed to the bathroom without checking the time. I had my bath, rushed my dressing, and immediately picked up my phone to check the time, only to see 8.30 am while the time for resumption was 8.00 am. Before I can get to work, I will be spending another 30 minutes, which means I will be at work by 9 a.m. That day, I hated what I was going through; it was so rough for me.

On getting to work, my boss was already furious, so I rushed to his office, panting so heavily and holding my bags on my chest. "I'm so sorry, boss. I was trying to complete the proposal; that was why I came a bit late," I quickly said before he could say anything. "Before I give you the query you deserve for your lateness this morning, where is the write-up?" he asked. I dropped my bags on the ground to search for the write-up, but I couldn't find it. "Where did I keep this?" I asked myself. My boss was already getting infuriated. "Sir, I think I left it at home; let me quickly go get it." I rushed out of his office without waiting to hear what he would say to me. Everyone at the office was looking at me and asking among themselves, "What was wrong with her?".

On getting home, I met it lying on the table where I left it the night before. "Oh God, see where I left this, I said, rushing out of the house. It took a while before I got a bus to take me to the office; my phone was ringing repeatedly, and my boss was calling. I couldn't pick because I didn't know how to reply to him. I saw his message on WhatsApp asking me, "Where was I?" I couldn't reply to that either. His messages started popping in, and I saw the one that caught my attention: the proposal is due for submission. Upon getting to the office, my boss looked disturbed, and I gave the written proposal to him. I looked sober and humble because, at that time, I knew I had failed him.

"Why didn't you send the soft copy?" he asked. "Soft copy," I asked myself, looking dumbfounded, "oh! Soft copy," I replied. He looked at me in a very disgusting manner. "Drop it and leave my office," he said angrily. I knew I was in big trouble. After a few minutes, he called me on the intercom. "In my office now," he said. I immediately dropped the call and rushed to his office. "Can you explain this? It's so ridiculous," he said angrily. While I was trying to compose myself to give him a reply, he said, "We can't possibly present this; it's not presentable at all." I felt a cold chill run through my spine, and I became speechless. "You know what will be your punishment for this, right?" he asked. I nodded in reply. "This is nothing to write home about," he said and hissed, then threw the write-up back at me. That month, I knew my salary would not come in complete, and before the incident, I had budgeted all I wanted to use that month's salary for, but unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to achieve it all because I would be paid half of it, and that got to me really bad.

Thanks for your time, and your comments will be appreciated.