HiveComb

The email in my inbox sat like a future obstacle I can't get rid of.

Subject: Meeting at 10 a.m. to discuss report discrepancies. It read.

It was from my boss. My hands shook as I clicked the button. It was as if I were unleashing a curse. I didn't know how my boss discovered the discrepancies in the financial figures for the last quarter. I had spent all night double-checking, trying to find out where the error was. Im-mediately, I found the mistake just after I had sent in my report.

But again, the numbers didn’t add up.

The next morning, I forced myself to work. Honestly, if there was a way to avoid being at work that day I would have taken it. But it wasn't possible.

I sat in my tiny cubicle that morning, sweating in the air-conditioned room. The sun was bright, much brighter than my mood. It spilled across the office windows, a sight I loved to see every morning. But that day, it felt like a burn to my eyes as I scrolled through the spreadsheet again and again. I wished the ground would open up beneath her desk and swallow me.

I could hear the hearty laughter of my colleagues from their cubicle. They were unaware of my struggles that morning. I tried focusing more on the clattering of my keyboard and the calculations on my screen as everything happening around me just seemed to be louder and disconnected.

“Zerah.”

I heard my name. I quickly jumped to my feet thinking it was my boss. But it was Ada, her teammate, leaning on the partition with a cup of steaming hot coffee.

“Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I forced a smile. “Just… tired.”

Ada didn't press further; she just walked back to her seat, leaving me to my thoughts and fear. I was terrified.

At 9:58, she and I were already seated in my boss's office. My heart thumped so loud that I feared he would hear it.

His office was too white, too bright. I wondered why he loved such a design. I tried reading his expression but Mr Add was always unreadable. He was more of a man whose very si-lence commanded authority. His sharp blazers and blue cut lenses gave him that fitting look of a man in charge.

“So, Zerah,” he said, without looking up from the file in his hand. He was flipping through the pages. “Do you know why you’re here?”

“I believe so, sir,” I replied. My voice was so soft I could barely hear it myself.

He looked up to me. Like he didn't expect such honesty. “Tell me.”

I swallowed hard. “I believe it is about an error in the Q2 report I made. After much double-checking, I discovered that the expenditure column didn’t really tally with the receipts. I… I overlooked a few figures. I'm sorry sie”

Mr. Jacobs leaned into his chair. “A few is an understatement. Six-figure error isn't a few he quoted with his hands.

I hesitated. I couldn't look him in the eye. “Again, I'm sorry sir. I know a little mistake in the books can be costly. I take full responsibility.”

There was silence that stretched awkwardly. The only sound I heard was the sound coming from the overhead AC. I was scared I would lose my job.

"So have you sent in the corrected one?"

I nodded. "Yes sir. I did that a few minutes ago."

“What do you think this mistake could have cost us?”

I finally forced my eyes to meet his. “I don't know sir. But I believe it will be to our detriment."

"Our credibility. With the board, with investors. They might think we're trying to siphon money. I thought you were trying to do the same.”

"I'm sorry sir "

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Don't worry. I won't fire you. Do you want to know why?”

I shook my head. Then nodded. I was tense.

“Because you owned up and corrected it in time too. Most people would try to hide it or shift the blame. You didn’t. That matters more than you think.”

I nodded again.

He dismissed me with a wave of his hands. “Just take this as your warning, Zerah. Hence-forth, double-check every report before it gets to my desk. Understood?”

I stood up. "Yes sir. Thank you, sir.” A huge relief surged through me, so sharp it almost felt like pain.

He closed his files. “Get back to work.”

I got out of his office and leaned by the door. Then I took a deep breath of relief and smiled. Whether luck or not, it had saved me from facing the music from the man in the darkened glasses behind the door, and I was grateful.

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