The Misadventures of Anastasia Collins

Jeremy stood outside his boss's office, contemplating whether it was a good idea to go in. He had not needed to go into his office for anything other than to hand him a few documents or get him his morning coffee in a while.

They had a cordial relationship- okay that was a lie, He hated the man's guts and he had a feeling he hated him too, but then again, the man was not exactly friendly with everyone else. He was what you called a tyrannical dictator, and Jeremy was sure if he'd been born in Hitler's time, he'd have been much worse than him.

He took in a deep breath and opened the door to his office, knowing that his livelihood and his mother's recovery depended solely on him now. It didn't matter how he felt about him, his mother's medical bills still needed to be paid and to do that he needed a raise and he couldn't get one if he didn't at least try to speak to him.

The man glanced up from his computer to look at Jeremy, giving him a cold and irritated stare. Jeremy’s first instinct was to immediately turn around and leave, but that would make him look weak, not that he had to do much to become weak in his sight. He believed everyone not as wealthy as him was a Beta and while Jeremy thought it didn't make any sense, it explained why he treated his employees like trash.

“What do you want, Gerald?” The bald head man snapped. He was a young man in his thirties but he looked like he was pushing sixty with his receding hairline, fine lines marring his forehead and wrinkles covering his face.

Jeremy had a feeling his premature wrinkles were also as a result of his wickedness, but who was he to judge? Oh right, his underpaid employee.

“Sir, I wanted to talk to you about something…” Jeremy began, marching closer to his desk.

“Obviously, why else would you be here? To braid each other's hair?” He said with a roll of his eyes.

Jeremy snorted at the ironic statement, but quickly covered it up by clearing his throat. The last thing Jeremy needed was to be denied a raise because his didn't like the way he laughed.

“Speak,” his boss spat impatiently, like he was some kind of insignificant bug buzzing around him.

“Right, sir. I'd like to discuss a raise. I've been working…” He began his speech but was quickly cut off by him.

“A raise?” His boss asked with a mocking expression that confused him a little.

“Yes sir, a raise, I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important. See, my mother is extremely sick and needs urgent medical attention…”

“And you can't take care of her?”

“Well yes.” He nodded, glad he understood my predicament.

“And how is that any of my concern?” He asked with raised brows. It was remarkable how he lacked so much hair on his head, but had an abundance of it as eyebrows.

“It's not sir. It's just that I'd like a raise.”

“Why the hell do you think you deserve a raise?” All his attention was on Jeremy now, and he almost wished his boss was ignoring him like he had been. He wasn't scared of him by any means, he just robbed him off the wrong way.

“Maybe because I work my ass off…”

“And…? The janitor works his ass off, you don't see him demanding a raise.”

“I fail to see what that has to do with this, sir.”

The man had to be slow or something or just dense, but Jeremy knew that wasn't the case. When he'd decided to come to him, he already knew what he was going to get. His employment letter had stated that employees of the establishment would only get a raise every five years. At that time, he had been desperate, so he had taken the job, but now he felt cheated.

“How long does it state in your employment contract it takes for an employee to get a raise in this company?”

“Five years…” Jeremy answered reluctantly, knowing exactly where he was going well with this.

“And how long have you been working here?”

“Three years.”

“Now do the math.”

“Sir, I know all of this, but I was hoping you'd make an exception."

“Typical behavior of a beta male begging for scrap, you can't even take care of your mother.”

“Well maybe If you paid your employees properly I would be able to!”