Joy Campbell had been utterly bamboozled, and the grand architect of her deception was none other than Austin, whose demeanor during the interview had been nothing short of a breath of fresh spring air, all charm and grace.
Unlike her colleague Leanne, who was sensitive and quiet, Joy was a natural-born showstopper. She could carry the weight of an entire conversation on her shoulders, leaving panels of interviewers in stitches with her wit.
After the other interviewers had their turn, Austin, seated at the center, glanced over her resume. "Graduated from the School of Communication at Stonebridge University?"
Catching his gaze, she saw him smile. "I'm four years your senior from the same school. I graduated the year you started. Hopefully, we won't miss out on working together this time."
Back then, fresh out of college, Joy still had a hint of naivety about her, easily swayed by his smooth talk into a flutter of excitement.
Partially swayed by looks, she chose Austin's dashing presence over offers from a tech giant and a renowned advertising agency.
It wasn't until she started working that Joy realized he didn't remember her at all.
From a distant junior he never knew existed, she had become nothing more than a workhorse under him.
Austin was for sure an excellent boss, but according to her, that meant he sucked at being a person.
Overtime became the norm, with her brain cells drying up faster than they could regenerate, all in the name of creativity, creativity, and more creativity.
The disillusionment was gradual.
During one meeting, after Joy had spent three nights on a proposal, Austin frowned at her work. "What is this, a flashback from a thousand years ago? This would've been outdated twenty years ago." Rubbing his temples as if in pain, he sighed, "Mia, show her how to do this properly."
Mia, with a pout that could spoil yesterday's dinner, said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Great, more babysitting for me. It's not like I'm your nanny."
Austin's tone lightened, teasing, "Aren't you, though? Otherwise, I might just have to hire another."
"Stop it, you're so annoying!"
Standing there, Joy felt like the unnecessary nanny in a drama between a CEO and a femme fatale.
Running on three days of no sleep, surrounded by colleagues barely holding back their laughter, she cursed Austin for the first time in her mind.
Thus, the classic standoff between the working class and the capitalist was set in stone.
Joy couldn't stand Mia's
pretentiousness, and the feeling was mutual. Usually, Mia couldn't get the upper hand with Joy, but with Austin's backing, she became bold, seizing any opportunity to make Joy's life miserable. That laid the groundwork for years of curses directed at Austin.
Joy's disdain was hardly subtle. During a competition of dad jokes among colleagues, she'd be the first to burst into laughter, but the moment Austin stepped out of his office, her radiant smile would vanish, replaced by a cold facade as she turned to her keyboard.
Or during a company barbecue, when Austin took the seat next to her, she'd barely wait five minutes before suggesting to a colleague, "I'm craving some grilled meat, let's swap seats."
Austin was seemingly oblivious to her unilateral animosity, he had no clue at all.
Sometimes he'd approach her desk, asking, "What joke was so funny?"
When Joy, cornered by the necessity of her paycheck, reluctantly shared the joke, he'd respond with a deadpan, "What's the punchline?"
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