Flora, Fauna & Merryweather #AtoZchallenge

‘Gosh there she is, that must be our new boss.’ Flora was peering over the cubicle but trying to look like she wasn’t, she didn’t want Merryweather to start looking because she was not subtle in the slightest. ‘She looks like a child.’

‘She’s probably only ten years younger than us dear.’ Fauna had barely lifted her head from the spreadsheet that she had up in front of her, Flora had gotten used to Fauna just seeming to know things over the years, she picked up information like a sponge so she’d probably heard a thing or two about the new boss that had been filed away until it was asked of her.

‘She’s coming this way, sit back down Merryweather quick.’ They both got back into their seats and feigned hard work until Stefan, the managing director, stopped in at their cubicle.

‘Hello ladies, I’d like to introduce you to Aurora, she will be your new line manager.’ They swivelled in their chairs and exchanged hellos. ‘Aurora this is Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, they are a core part of our team, they’ve been here for a long time, a very long time actually, they know the ins and outs of mostly everything.’

‘It’s lovely to meet you all, I’ll be sure to come ask if there’s anything that I need help with, in the meantime which one of you is on the Hubert account?’

‘Oh, that’s me.’ Merryweather was startled out of her reverie, she hadn’t been paying much attention, she tended to switch off when Stefan started talking.

‘Brilliant if I can just get the latest reports finished and on my desk by five, I have a meeting with them tomorrow and need to brush up.’ Aurora smiled and started to edge away, a not so subtle hint to Stefan that she’s like to move on.

‘The nerve of that woman, couldn’t get away quick enough.’ Merryweather huffed as she spun her chair back to face her computer.

‘She’s probably got a lot of people to see and a full day ahead of her.’ Fauna was always trying to see the best in people, sometimes even though she meant well it just wound Merryweather up more.

‘Well I’m busy too and she interrupted my time, the least she could do was make it worth it, instead of giving me a task that I probably won’t be able to do on time, all those reports finished, that’s a big ask.’

‘Just do your best dear.’

As the weeks went on Aurora got tougher and tougher on Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, her demands becoming more ridiculous.

‘I can’t believe it the whole Hubert file revised…’ They were in a pow-wow of sorts, hushed tones trying to stop any other co-workers overhearing and realising how difficult they were finding these situations that Aurora was putting them in.

‘Yes’

‘…and she wants us to help you, even though we still have the paperwork from our own accounts.’ Flora was getting more and more frustrated.

‘That’s what she said.’

‘Silly fiddle faddle.’ It was as close to swearing as Flora got, so Fauna and Merryweather knew that things were close to breaking point. They were, in fact, unsure of how much pressure the rest of the workers were being put under, even Fauna who had until recently been sure that she was being this harsh with everyone was beginning to think that Aurora was setting them up for failure.

‘I’d like to turn her into a fat old pop toad.’ Merryweather was beyond riled up and holding on to her decorum by a thread.

‘Now dear that isn’t a nice thing to say.’ Although Fauna was thinking along the same lines. They started the work but each of them was half a mind on the task and half a mind on what they could do to prove that they were being picked on. ‘Why don’t we just go to Stefan?’ She asked after a while.

‘She’ll be expecting us to do something like that.’ Flora replied

‘Well what won’t she expect, she knows everything.’ Merryweather’s statement had meant to come off sounding sarcastic but she knew there was a lot of truth to it. They worked on it silence each hoping that the other would eventually find a solution.

‘I’ve got it.’ Flora was the best with ideas, ‘We should wait until everyone else has left and go and look in her office, she must have some kind of record of how much work is being allocated to everyone.’

‘You mean stay past five?’ A cardinal sin in Merryweather’s eyes.

‘Well dear, we do have all this extra work to finish, it’s not a stretch that we’ll have to stay a bit later to finish it anyway.’ Merryweather scowled at Fauna, even though she knew that what Fauna said was right, she didn’t like having to hear it.

They waited until the office had cleared out and when they were sure the coast was clear they snuck into her office. Nothing jumped out at them straight away, they were quick to go through her paper copy files but couldn’t find anything that would be useful, they then turned to her computer the files that were open were also of no use but there were a few that you needed a password to see. They made some guesses but were afraid that if they got it wrong too many times that it would give away that someone had been tampering with the computer.

A thud in the distance made them jump and hold their breath waiting to hear the footsteps of anyone coming, ‘Oh gracious we’re acting like a lot of ninnies.’ Flora bristled after a while, just as they were about to give up and return to their cubicle Phillip, a co-worker, appeared in the doorway. They all froze unsure of what to say, Flora was about to try and come up with a good reason for them to all be in the office, around Aurora’s computer, looking shifty, when Phillip spoke.

‘Is there anything that I can help you with?’ Flora wasn’t sure how to answer, but she was pipped to the post by Fauna who replied,

‘That depends dear, how good are you are getting into files that are password protected?’

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