Hello hello and welcome to this week’s Microfiction Monday, where I will be answering the prompt to write a contemporary piece under 300 words about a character that tells us something about who they are, through what they say, or the actions they take. Follow the narrator, as they encounter one of the usual suspects, and not everything turns out the way they expect…

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I sat down at my desk, and paused, something was not right.

I moved the pens from the left side of my desk, to the right, ignoring Bryan’s snickers, and wondering again if I should contact HR.  On the one hand, it was harmless, moving my stuff around didn’t hurt anyone, and he didn’t hide anything anywhere I couldn’t find it.  On the other hand, he had no reason to touch my things, and he knew that it bothered me, so that was harassment, right? 

It didn’t matter though, I wouldn’t be here for much longer, not that he knew that. 

I had applied for certification last week, my documentation was all order, and I had aced the written exam.  Once I received the paperwork in the mail, I could apply for somewhere else, somewhere without Bryan, and maybe the next person who occupied this desk would be less easy to rile.

The job offer preceded the paperwork, and it came from my bosses boss, who had heard I was getting certified, and had a vacancy that would be easier to fill by someone who already knew the landscape. 

There would be better offers at other places, we paid at the low end of the scale, but the experience would be an asset for my next job, and the perks were what sold it.

It wasn’t the bonus, or that I would get an office with a door that locked to prevent people from touching my things, it was that my role would be a supervisory one, to a single employee.  I could barely contain my smirk as I thought about Bryan’s up performance review…