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Re: Guess why I am not
Amanda knocks on my door and I don’t know if I am hyper sensitive or not, but I think it is written all over her face. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70402-thinking.gif[/img] She has the little smirk across her face and there is a gleam in her eyes. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] I can’t remember what she asks me but I remember thinking that it was a stupid question, she probably took all day to think of that stupid question just to have a reason to talk to me and see how I would react. Despite the fact that my blood was boiling and I wanted to smack the smirk off of her face, I did nothing, and tried to pretend she didn’t exist. I swear she knew why I was out on Friday and I am 100% positive that she had everything to do with the hanging of the signs.
The day ends with nothing eventful happening. I managed to survive my first day back at the office, despite the whispering that occurred whenever I walked through a section of the office. In fact, the entire week passes with nothing eventful happening. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] It was awful. No one spoke to me, including my own manager. I was a prisoner of the floor my office was on. I didn’t want to climb the stairs to Orville’s office, or walk through any other departments. If I needed a bottle of water I literally would walk across the street to convenience store as opposed to going to the office deli. I just didn’t want to hear the whispering and receive the sideway looks from everyone as I walked by. Amanda didn’t even speak to me, she didn’t come into my office again, or come anywhere near me. In my mind, this only confirmed her guilt. Perhaps, she thought that she was being watched.
Maybe she was being watched. Who knew, it wasn’t like anyone was talking to me about it.
I hated that my manager wasn’t speaking to me. I hated that I couldn’t get the HR lady to return my call. I really wanted to talk to someone about what was happening with the investigation. I wanted to give my 2 cents, and see how Orville had reacted when he found out. Did they have to have a meeting to tell him or did he see the signs? I wanted to call him or talk to him and see how he was doing but I was terrified to do it. What if someone really thought that Orville and I had something going on? What if I called him to talk to him about it and they were monitoring his phone calls, what if they were monitoring mine as part of the investigation and they see that we spoke.
Would that somehow make it true in other people’s eyes? I know it sounds silly, b/c of course nothing was going on, but with no one speaking to me about it, I didn’t know what to think. I also noticed that I didn’t see Orville at ALL. Our jobs required a lot of interaction between our 2 departments. I used to see him on my floor on a daily basis for something. He wasn’t necessarily speaking to me, but he was on the floor, speaking to someone. I hadn’t seen him since the incident happened, not one single time, even for a second. He seemed to be avoiding me as much as I was avoiding him, or avoiding the rest of the company the way I was. This only reinforced my feelings that I shouldn’t call him or talk to him about it at all. I spent that entire first week frustrated that no one would return my call and that my manager couldn’t bring himself to even look at me.
I knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but it sure felt shameful the way I was treated. I was so confused, it was as though management wanted me to know this wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t directed at me, but at the same time I was the black sheep of the office.
My second week back at work a few starting things occured. I start receiving hang up phone calls at home from a blocked number, the whispering in the office had quieted down significantly, and a new HR manager was assigned to my case. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70409-waytogo.gif[/img] I was at my desk around 4 p.m. in the afternoon when someone named Debra from HR called me and asked me to meet her in an empty conference room. I walked down the hall to the room and closed the door behind me. She introduced herself and made it know that she “was HR”, she was the big wigs, they wouldn’t have called her in, from another state, to handle this case if it wasn’t necessary.
This led me to believe that they had discovered something incredible.
They had. They found out that Rachel told me that “9 times out of 10 it is a black woman who does this to a white woman” Rachel had been fired.
But were there any new developments on the investigation?
to be continued
Amanda knocks on my door and I don’t know if I am hyper sensitive or not, but I think it is written all over her face. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70402-thinking.gif[/img] She has the little smirk across her face and there is a gleam in her eyes. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] I can’t remember what she asks me but I remember thinking that it was a stupid question, she probably took all day to think of that stupid question just to have a reason to talk to me and see how I would react. Despite the fact that my blood was boiling and I wanted to smack the smirk off of her face, I did nothing, and tried to pretend she didn’t exist. I swear she knew why I was out on Friday and I am 100% positive that she had everything to do with the hanging of the signs.
The day ends with nothing eventful happening. I managed to survive my first day back at the office, despite the whispering that occurred whenever I walked through a section of the office. In fact, the entire week passes with nothing eventful happening. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] It was awful. No one spoke to me, including my own manager. I was a prisoner of the floor my office was on. I didn’t want to climb the stairs to Orville’s office, or walk through any other departments. If I needed a bottle of water I literally would walk across the street to convenience store as opposed to going to the office deli. I just didn’t want to hear the whispering and receive the sideway looks from everyone as I walked by. Amanda didn’t even speak to me, she didn’t come into my office again, or come anywhere near me. In my mind, this only confirmed her guilt. Perhaps, she thought that she was being watched.
Maybe she was being watched. Who knew, it wasn’t like anyone was talking to me about it. I hated that my manager wasn’t speaking to me. I hated that I couldn’t get the HR lady to return my call. I really wanted to talk to someone about what was happening with the investigation. I wanted to give my 2 cents, and see how Orville had reacted when he found out. Did they have to have a meeting to tell him or did he see the signs? I wanted to call him or talk to him and see how he was doing but I was terrified to do it. What if someone really thought that Orville and I had something going on? What if I called him to talk to him about it and they were monitoring his phone calls, what if they were monitoring mine as part of the investigation and they see that we spoke.
Would that somehow make it true in other people’s eyes? I know it sounds silly, b/c of course nothing was going on, but with no one speaking to me about it, I didn’t know what to think. I also noticed that I didn’t see Orville at ALL. Our jobs required a lot of interaction between our 2 departments. I used to see him on my floor on a daily basis for something. He wasn’t necessarily speaking to me, but he was on the floor, speaking to someone. I hadn’t seen him since the incident happened, not one single time, even for a second. He seemed to be avoiding me as much as I was avoiding him, or avoiding the rest of the company the way I was. This only reinforced my feelings that I shouldn’t call him or talk to him about it at all. I spent that entire first week frustrated that no one would return my call and that my manager couldn’t bring himself to even look at me. I knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but it sure felt shameful the way I was treated. I was so confused, it was as though management wanted me to know this wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t directed at me, but at the same time I was the black sheep of the office. My second week back at work a few starting things occured. I start receiving hang up phone calls at home from a blocked number, the whispering in the office had quieted down significantly, and a new HR manager was assigned to my case. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70409-waytogo.gif[/img] I was at my desk around 4 p.m. in the afternoon when someone named Debra from HR called me and asked me to meet her in an empty conference room. I walked down the hall to the room and closed the door behind me. She introduced herself and made it know that she “was HR”, she was the big wigs, they wouldn’t have called her in, from another state, to handle this case if it wasn’t necessary.
This led me to believe that they had discovered something incredible. They had. They found out that Rachel told me that “9 times out of 10 it is a black woman who does this to a white woman” Rachel had been fired.
But were there any new developments on the investigation?
to be continued
Security spent hours scouring the building and parking garage for the signs. In total there were well over 100 hung up in every nook and cranny. 
I tell Debra of the issues between Amanda and myself and even run back to my office to get my log of issues. Debra takes notes as I talk and I begin to feel as though something may actually start happening, some resolution may come. 
Debra gives me all kinds of information regarding professionals I can call for support or advice. She gives me a form to fill out for reimbursement. If I even have to buy Tylenol as a result of the situation, I am to expense it. She tells me that I shouldn’t have been forced to use my PTO for the day I missed after I was told of the signs. She tells me she will be sure that I am not docked any pay/time. I feel that this woman has her act together and I pray that I don’t have to go another week without knowing something. 
I get in the car and decide to give Orville a call. I just wanted to tell him how sorry I was that we were going through this. I mean he really was a friend, there was no reason to avoid him, and after my meeting with Debra I didn’t feel as though anyone thought there was any truth to the signs so I felt safe in calling him. He was still in the office and he answered the phone on the second ring. 
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