The Bogeyman

“Why in the world does the boss want to see me? Have I done anything wrong?”

I pressed the elevator button.

“The other day, he smiled and commended my work, but today he only asked me to see him when I’m done with today’s reviews, and he sounded so displeased.”

Elevator doors swung open. I stepped in and pressed button 6.

“Oh God, you know I have always put my best foot forward in this company, done everything in my power to ensure the growth of company; except that I took two days off last week, claiming that I was ill whereas, I went on a trip. You won’t let them fire me for that, will you?”

“Or could it be…no no no, I can’t believe I’m going to be queried for calling my fiancé through the office phone after I begged Laitan not to squeal. That girl is a tweeter; she must have told on me.”

“But then, it shouldn't be a big deal, the boss will only warn me and that’ll be all.”

On the sixth floor, I stepped out of the elevator and signaled to the secretary to inform the boss that I wanted to come in.

“Or, could he have found out about my trip? Oh no, Laitan told him that too. I should have known her jaw muscles have lost their contractility. This is a terrible mistake. I shouldn't have told her I wasn't ill. No wonder he sounded so sarcastic when I called and told him I was getting better.”

“Please wait a min ma’am, he said he’s not ready for you yet”, the secretary said after she made a call through to him.

“Not ready for me yet? Seems this is more serious than I think.”

“Ok, I’ll deny it! Yes, good idea. I’ll deny it and then present a doctor’s report tomorrow to prove that I was actually ill.”

“You can please go in now ma’am”

I started towards the door.

“But hey, I uploaded the pictures of the trip on facebook and even tweeted about it. Oh no, I can’t deny it. That’s it, I’m fired!”

I knocked and gently opened the door, “Why did I bring this on myself? I’ll tell him how sorry I am and hope he forgives me.”

I stepped into his office and saw him staring at his laptop screen.

“Thelma, I've been going through your facebook wall”, he said with a smile I thought was wry.

“I knew it, I’m screwed!”

I stood there mute. Apologies wouldn't help. Tears began to gather in my eyes.

Then he said, “I thought of a facebook page for our growing company, but rather than employ a new staff to handle that, I think you should handle it. You’re doing great with your page and I trust you’ll do great with our page too. What do you think?”

I was dumb!

How often do we create fears that don’t exist?