Bitch Boss Part 3

The collision between Susan and Bitch Boss is inevitable.

Last Christmas, Susan declined the team party invite. To a mature and balanced individual, it is not a big deal and will not take it to heart. But no, not Bitch Boss. She took it personally. "How dare you." This was the first thought that came to her mind. She saw this as an insult to her authority and a rebuff to her generosity. For Susan, the salary buys one's time during office hours, she cannot see why she must sacrifice her time to have dinner with people she does not enjoy the company with. Three hours bitching session? No, thanks. That night, she went to the spin class at the gym instead and had a fantastic time.

Susan is a lone wolf, a sigma female. Independent. Assertive. Loyal. Bitch Boss secretly admires how tough she is because she knows she can never be that person. She feels insecure. She knows deep down that if it was not her relationship with Weak Man, she would never have got to where she is now. She is obsessed with the relationship with Weak Man. She alone is the one and only. She also knows people in the office talk behind her back. How can they not? Bitch Boss and Weak Man come into the office before anyone else, around 7.30 am, almost every morning. They bring each other breakfast and coffee and have it in his office. To buy coffee, he needs to know what time she comes in. To find out the time she comes in, he needs to WhatsApp her. What relationship are you in to WhatsApp each other first thing in the morning about coffee? One time, Bitch Boss bought Weak Man soup for lunch. She asked Weak Man why he drank the soup directly from the paper cup without using the spoon, was it because the spoon touched the back of her notebook? The question itself is strange. But it is the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice, like a teenage girl, playful and overly girly, that gives it away.

Bitch Boss never does much work during office hours. Susan has seen from the reflection of the window she is on the shopping websites on her phone. But she stays late with Weak Man in the office, returning to "work" after dinner or a few drinks with him. On one Wednesday, Weak Man promised he would come back from a leaving drink to go through a report with Susan at 6 pm. Susan waited till 7 pm but he did not turn up so she went home. At 8.30 pm Bitch Boss called Susan from the office with Weak Man on speaker phone, asking if Susan had the report in front of her so that they could go through it together. Susan had every reason to be angry, not because she waited. It was because the lack of respect they showed towards Susan - putting drinks before work and the audacity to ring late in the evening.

It is clear that they are having an affair. But Weak Man is already married with two young kids.

Bitch Boss builds her team carefully. She likes to surround herself with cronies and yes-men who stroke her ego, like having a moat surrounding the castle, protecting, and fortifying her. They must be young so that she can manipulate them easily. They must also be early in their career so that she can bribe them with pay raises and promotions. Bitch Boss is pretending something she is not. She must stage the whole play to make it convincing. The cronies clap their hands and wave the flag for her as they have money signs in their eyes.

With Susan, being sent by the Head Office, Bitch Boss fears that people will notice if given half a chance, with her capability and experience, Susan can easily replace her. Money, love, and career can be taken away, because of that Susan. The world can come crashing down if she is not careful.

Bitch Boss has no choice but to put Susan in a box.

She makes Susan wait till the last minute for her input in a report so that Susan must work late. She undermines Susan in front of other colleagues, and Weak Man no less. She will not give meaningful work to Susan. She refuses to acknowledge her capability and would not recommend her for high-value projects. She turns Susan into a paper pusher and a PowerPoint monkey. But in front of others, Bitch Boss is over-the-top nice to Susan. That gives Susan the creeps. Now she knows what kind of enemy she has in hand.

To be an outstanding crony is to be able to suck out what the boss wants but does not say. Sensing the rotten smell of hatred and jealousy, the cronies stop talking to Susan. When there is a birthday cake, they will not share. They go to the pantry for lunch but never invite Susan to come along. They do not invite Susan to the team drinks. They make it known and plain that Susan is not welcome. The mean girls' antics you see in high school happen here.

For the people in the office, they can feel the tension, sharp enough to cut glass. It has been a long while since someone threatens the dynamic. How exciting. They are all sitting on the sideline to watch the saga unfold. Is Susan going to buckle under the pressure, all the isolation and belittling? Or is she coming out laughing, leaving Bitch Boss weeping in the ruins?

But you see, in any repressed regime, there are always the quiet rebels looking out for the underdogs. Susan is charming and charismatic. People cannot help but like her. She is sincere, does not gossip and most important of all, smiles. Every morning. Every day. Susan smiles. People, like Bitch Boss, undermine the power of a genuine happy smile.

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