The office was overwhelmed with shocks and sadness that day when the news about a senior vice president had a heart attack during running. Sam was found at a park by a stranger. When he arrived at the hospital, his body had stopped functioning for some time already. He went into a deep coma.

Sam was a mentor to quite a few, including Stephenie. A faithful Christian with a healthy lifestyle. He was also a fleshy encyclopedia after spending more than 20 years at the company. From administrative operations to the macro picture analysis, Sam was the person to look for. With what has happened, a strong sense of emptiness was up in the air.

A thin and cordial man, Sam was always ready to stand up for debates. He fought for staff when Chan the bully was unreasonable. Having worked for long hours from 8am to 10pm every day, one sometimes would hear Sam banging the phone after an internal call with Chan, swearing and shouting to himself in his room. Those were the times that he struggled to carry out some absurd tasks.

An insurmountable pant-up damage built up in Sam’s body. His urgent uprightness made him a senior vice president that got wide support from the team. As a positive figure under the management of an intolerant top boss, this competition was a must for elimination. The tension also highlighted the limitation and insecurity of Chan. The common tactic of curbing the brilliants and promoting the incompetents kicked in.

Justin was a contrast to Sam. He maneuvered Chan at the optimal level by being the confidant of the upper power. They could talk for hours in the room. Topics from “Who is what at the team” to “private issues”. Chubby and cheerful, he always wore a smile on his face. Compared to the stern outlook of Sam, some people did open their hearts more toward Justin. It was also the time of information collection, then reporting back to the chief.

Control was key to Chan while Justin was her soldier to carry out the plans. Dividing people with favorites benefited the anxious leader at the tip of the mountain because the attention would then just concentrate on attacking each other. A split unit diverted staff from the fact they got an incapable head that was leading the department to nowhere.

At that point, the division had already got a bad reputation at the corporation. If it was not necessary, other colleagues chose to bypass the coordination with Chan and finish the business. She wasn’t good at being a part of the team as she was eager to put herself under the spotlight. Her hostile attitude was also another reason. Therefore, Stephenie and the other 17 colleagues at that particular segment were pretty much trapped in an underworld that was detached to the overall surroundings.

Stephenie had a couple of close friends, King and Hank, but she paid extra caution to Justin. The closeness between him and Chan gave her the feeling of awkwardness. This dynamic was too much to be decoded. As days went by, the level of vigilance among staff was lifted. If they needed to talk, they would wait until the lunch hour because it wouldn’t fall under the surveillance of Chan’s gang.

It was impossible to use the word “comfortable” to describe this situation, where one spent eight to ten hours a day from Monday to Friday in it. An environment one had to prevent any possible denouncement from the others. The alertness tired the nerves of a person. The entire body was soaked with intensity. Stephenie felt vulnerable. She also became an easy target for viruses. The number of times she caught a flu were more than the total of the previous five years.

As a girl who didn’t have long-term stay in her hometown over the past 10 years, Stephenie got lost all the time. King and Hank were her guides. The reverse culture shock frustrated her for about 5 years. Despite the fact that she could speak the same fluent language, she had to fill the gap with detailed explanations of implications for certain verbal and non-verbal communications. It was an interesting and excruciating process of relearning her own culture. She resisted it in the first place. Later on, she thought it was no harm to survive across various practices.

King and Hank invested their life at the same company for almost 30 years. They watched Chan joining as a newcomer, then climbing up the ladder and now steering the ship. Both of them were disappointed with the stumble. They regretted the move of supporting the once diligent girl turned a tyrant-like director. Some people’s malicious nature was embedded so deep that only a big trigger by coincidence would set it free.

Chan failed the test. However, it always took a process to weed out a lump. It was all about endurance and faith. When the time is right, different parts would start falling into place. Stephenie kept hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel. To get through the blind searching period, however, true grit is required. After all the invisible fights every day, Stephenie weeped at many nights in order to discharge negativism and regain strength for the long march.

Next Chapter: Chapter 7 Outburst