Tour With Me, Little Perry

Perry's pov

I inhaled deeply as I stood outside this office, my heart raced as different possible thoughts flashed my mind.

It's another friday of weekly performance reviews, I already know why I was summoned, without entering the office or hearing what Miss Kim had to say.

Miss Kim is our agency's Manager here at Bombas travel agency, Fredericksburg, Texas.

She's a very strict and rigid lady, she never bends the rules for anyone...no matter how close you are to her.

Finally, I gathered enough courage and knocked on the door a few times, before pushing it open.

My eyes went straight to her desk, she's facing her computer and seemed to be very focused on whatever she was doing.

I cleared my throat quietly.

"Miss Kim, you requested to see me?" I asked in a low voice, sticking my head in, with part of my body still outside.

"Ah, yes, come in" she invited me in.

I stepped into her office, although it's small, but it's well organized and neat.

Everything, from the files on the table to the files on the cabinet behind her, seemed to be in their right places.. nothing's amiss.

She paused whatever she was doing, she reached for a file in her drawer and flipped a few pages open.

"We checked the shopping list of the tourists assigned to you, and er... "

She removed her eyeglasses, raised her head and looked at me, there was an unreasonable expression in her eyes.

"... Perry, I've got to be honest with you, your performance isn't encouraging at all" she said.

Oh no! This doesn't sound good at all, I don't like how it sounds.

"I have compared your list with Tori's, she's way ahead of you and I would advice you meet her for some lectures"

Meet Tori for lectures? Hmph, that's just adding salt to an injury.

"Hey, hey, what's that expression you're pulling right now?!"

"Miss Kim.... "

"I don't wanna hear it" she interrupted me. "I don't care what's the personal beef you have with her, but you have to prioritize our company's interest here"

Miss Kim reached for her drawer again, she pulled out another file and slammed it on the table.

"Here" she gestured at the file. "Look at her performance, see for yourself and tell me if you still have the rights to argue with me" she said.

I closed my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Miss Kim" I apologized.

She glared at me for a short moment, before speaking again.

"If this continues, then I'm afraid our company will have to let you go"

"But... "

"Our company is just a small scale business, we're still trying to build up our reputation and not even the slightest mistakes are tolerated"

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am"

"You should step up your game, or you're leaving!"

"I will work harder now, Miss Kim"

Her eyes trailed my body, she must be assessing my outfit for today, after all, she always has a thing or two to say about my dress code.

"You're so unprofessional" she muttered.

Can you just say something nice about me for once? It wouldn't hurt you, alright? I wanted to yell out at her.

"Just leave my office!" she said.

"Thank you for giving me a second chance"

"Just go"

Not wanting to spend another second in her office, I turned and quickly rushed out.

A sigh of relief immediately left my mouth the moment I stepped out, I sometimes wonder if her office is somehow connected to hell's pit.

"Boo!"

Annie yelled in my ear and I jumped slightly in fright, which made her roared in laughter. Annie's my coworker and she's the only one I'm close to here.

"Annie, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I scolded her softly, with my hand on my chest.

"Come on, I wasn't that loud" she replied.

"Yeah, but you still managed to scare me"

She chuckled lightly and threw an arm around my shoulder, she glanced at Miss Kim's office behind us.

"Miss Kim called you in earlier, what did she say to you?" Annie asked.

"Same old" I answered.

She rolled her eyeballs as we stopped by my desk, I sat on my chair and she leaned on my desk.

"She's got to stop comparing you with Tori, that bit*h is a sl*t and she can do anything to get her tourists to shop"

"Hm, maybe I should be like her, because whatever she's doing it's really working for her.. who knows, it might work for me too" I said.

Annie flicked my forehead, which earned her a harsh glare from me but she doesn't look like she care.

"Are you even hearing to yourself right now? You wanna do whatever she's doing? You mean, you wanna be a sl*t?"

"That's not what I mean, Annie"

"But that's what she is" she said.

My phone beeped and I reached for it, I saw some unread messages from Morrison (my boyfriend), he must have sent me a few messages while I was in Miss Kim's office.

A smile crept on my face as I quickly opened them.

"He~ey, I know that smile" Annie said, pushing my shoulder lightly.

"What smile?"

"You've got a message from your boyfriend, right?"

My smile widened, I nodded but my smile faltered just as it came.

*I can't have dinner with you, I'm not sure I can make it*

*I can't come pick you up, I'm still busy*

*Don't bother coming over tonight, I'll be working overtime!* the messages read.

"Uh-oh, what happened to your smile just now?" Annie asked when she noticed my expression.

I stared at the phone for a while, before throwing it on the table. Annie picked it up and read the messages, then scoffed.

"Perry, are you sure your boyfriend loves you?" she asked.

There was no reply from me, so she continued.

"I think you should break up with him, he must be two timing you because he barely have any time for you" she said.

There still wasn't no reply from me, my mind was just occupied with the messages Morrison sent me.

It's been a week since we last saw each other, doesn't he miss me at all? Why can't he create time for us to hang out?

Maybe his boss wouldn't let him get off work until he's done working, I guess I should go over to his place and cook for him.

That could be counted as a date, right?

"Hey, Perry!"

Annie called and snapped her fingers across my eyes, I blinked and smiled at her.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked.

"Nothing" I replied.

"I'm telling you to break up with that jerk and you're smiling?"

I shook my head in disagreement with her words.

"Morrison is not a jerk, he's really busy and I can tell he sincerely loves me"

"Oh, really?" I nodded. "Then why didn't he create time for you?"

"Like I said, he's busy"

She rolled her eyeballs, lifted herself off my desk and snatched a grape from my plate.

"Whatever you say" she popped the grape in her mouth. "Anyway, I'll be leaving for LA in three days"

"Three days?"

"Yeah"

"Wait, how long have you been working on this plan?"

She tilted her head and think for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders.

"For some months now, I've found an apartment already and I'll look for a job after I've moved there" she explained.

"Wow! That's a pretty bold move, it's nice"

"Yeah... how about you come with me?"

"No, thank you, I'm good here" I said.

"You can't be so sure, you might wanna leave after breaking up with that scumbag"

I looked at her in the eyes, then shook my head.

"That's not gonna happen, not even in your wildest dreams"

"Well, if it does happen and you need to escape, just know you've got a friend in LA.. you can come hide at my place"

With that she strode back to her desk, while I hurry up to get my work done in time.. I'm planning to cook Morrison's favorite for him later.

★★★★

"Alright, Perry, think about what I told you earlier.. you can't let him break up with you first" Annie said.

"And remember what I said, it's not gonna happen"

She sighed, tapped my shoulder lightly.

"Just take care, I should head home since my Uber is here"

"Ok, good night" I said.

We hugged briefly before she slide into the backseat and left in her Uber, she waved at me until she's out of sight.

I checked the time in my phone, it's already 7:13pm, I guess I should have called an Uber earlier.

But I guess luck's on my side, a cab came by and I boarded it.

"Tank's lane, please" I told the driver.

"Ok, let's go" he replied.