He Eats My Commission, I Eat Him Alive

I'm a Gen Z rookie at work. When my boss is being poured a drink, I intercept the bottle. When he gives a speech, I strike up a chat. He opens the car door, and I hop right in. I don't do overtime, and I never take the fall. My manager wants to steal my credit and pocket my bonuses? Hilarious. The company belongs to my family. Your boss is my dad! Chapter 1 I reached the office at 8:59:59 am. "Beep! Clock-in successful!" I swallowed the last bite of my bagel, tossed my empty soy milk carton into the trash, and slid into my chair. Everything was perfect. Impeccable timing. I was a fresh college graduate working at one of the leading companies in the industry. It had taken two rounds of interviews just to get my foot in the door. My campaign pitches were solid. Three months in, I'd already racked up compliments from four different clients, and one of them even demanded that I be their sole point of contact moving forward. That instantly made me the most outstanding newcomer in my batch. Last month, thanks to my bonuses and commissions, I actually earned more than my manager, Finley White. Naturally, that put a massive target on my back. Finley started gunning for me, constantly dumping grunt work on my desk that nobody else wanted. He took plenty of other petty shots at me too, but I didn't care. As long as I did my job, everything else was none of my business. I was in the middle of editing a proposal when a notification popped up in the company group chat, announcing that there would be a meeting in the conference room in ten minutes. My coworker, Joel Howard, glanced at me before looking toward the office. He pursed his lips and said, "Watch your back. He's probably going after you again." I nodded with a knowing smile. To be envied was a privilege reserved for the talented. Nobody would bother to envy the mediocre. I stayed behind for a minute to gather my notes, so I arrived a little late. By the time I walked in, almost everyone was seated. Finley sat at the head of the table with an irritated expression. "Ahem." He cleared his throat, waiting until everyone's attention was locked onto him before speaking. "This is just our standard Monday meeting, but there are a few things I need to address. Some people are getting too complacent. I'm seeing a severe issue with people clocking in late and leaving early. I expect every team lead to go back and have a serious talk with their members. "Don't think that just because you have a little talent, the rules don't apply to you. This is a company, not your house!" Nobody said a word, but nearly everyone glanced in my direction. I flashed a grin. "Mr. White, why are we talking in riddles? Who exactly are you calling out?" The entire conference room went dead quiet. Out of Finley's line of sight, Joel gave me a thumbs-up. Finley frowned. "Asher, what is that supposed to mean?" Smiling, I dropped my printed proposal on the table. "You know exactly what I mean. If you want to call me out, just say my name. Why talk in riddles?" Finley clearly didn't expect me to say that. His expression darkened. "Asher, this is an official meeting! Drop the divisive attitude right now! Like I said, this is a company. Stop acting like you own the place!" That actually made me laugh. I pulled out the company handbook right away, and the first rule stated, "The company is our home. Protecting it is everyone's duty." "That's funny. When you want us to put in unpaid overtime or clean up the breakroom, the office is our home. But now suddenly it's not? Mr. White, it's better not to have such double standards." Now it wasn't just Joel. Half the room was staring at me like I was some kind of hero. Finley's face flushed a deep shade of purple. He slammed both hands on the table and stood up. "Asher Saunders! What is wrong with you? This is insubordination! You're slandering this company!" Chapter 2 Smiling, I pointed at the employee handbook. "I'm just pointing out a contradiction in your logic. How does that count as insubordination?" "You…" Finley's finger trembled with rage as he pointed it at me. Sensing disaster, the assistant manager, Edward Perry, rushed to play peacemaker. "Mr. White only has our best interests at heart. The company does need everyone to pitch in and care for it. "Mr. White, Asher is still young. If there's something he doesn't understand, we can guide him. Let's all just take a seat first." As Edward said that, he gently guided Finley back into his chair, then turned to me with a smile. "And Asher, there's no need to get so worked up. Young people tend to be too impulsive. That's not necessarily a good thing. "By the way, aren't we here to review the proposal for Apex Group? Asher, I believe you're in charge of it. Why don't you walk us through it?" With Edward taking the lead in defusing the tension, my team lead quickly jumped in to help me out. "Right, yeah! Asher's been pulling a lot of late nights on this proposal. Asher, go ahead and give everyone the breakdown." Seeing Finley still glaring daggers at me, I rolled my eyes, grabbed my proposal, and walked up to the front of the room. "Apex Group's goal for this campaign is pretty straightforward. They want to showcase their brand identity and core product highlights within a tight window…" Since I had completed the proposal on my own, I explained the details with confidence and ease. By the time I wrapped up, Finley's expression was still sour, but Edward was already smiling and clapping. "Excellent! This is a phenomenal proposal. The signing with Apex Group this afternoon is sure to be a success!" I never started trouble unless provoked. Since Edward was keeping things civil, I offered him a polite smile in return. "Appreciate the vote of confidence, Mr. Perry." "Alright, everyone. Let's give it one last push today. Once we secure this deal, dinner is on me tonight!" Edward announced, earning an appreciative round of cheers from the rest of the room. "Yes!" "Thanks, Mr. Perry!" The moment the meeting adjourned, I left the room, sat back down at my desk, and started fine-tuning a few minor details in the proposal. When Joel got back to his desk, he nudged me and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Dude, you're an absolute legend. You should've seen Finley's face. It was as dark as a thundercloud. He's literally staring you down right now!" I raised an eyebrow and glanced toward the manager's office. Sure enough, the door was shut and the blinds were drawn, but someone was peering through a tiny gap in the plastic slats, glaring directly at my desk. Shit! That scared the crap out of me! I rolled my eyes in sheer annoyance. Was he trying to give me a heart attack? "Let him watch all he wants. We're doing our jobs. Who cares?" Joel shot me a suspicious look. "Be honest with me, Asher. Do you have family on the board or something?" I chuckled and started stacking my papers neatly. "Oh, totally. My dad owns the whole company." Noticing how casually I said it, Joel figured I was just joking. He cracked a few more jokes and went back to work. Chapter 3 The signing with Apex Group went off without a hitch. They were already thrilled with my proposal, and since our company's quote was perfectly reasonable, closing the deal was a no-brainer. With that wrapped up, everyone in the office breathed a collective sigh of relief. Edward gave us a massive grin and told us to head home and relax for the next two days, promising our bonuses would be sorted out when we got back. The team cheered, and I was more than ready to get some rest. Back in my tiny apartment, I immediately muted the company group chat and a few other higher-ups. I grabbed a few cans of beer and a bowl of popcorn, then settled in to enjoy the soccer match. But the peace didn't last long before my phone started blowing up. Annoyed, I picked it up only to find a string of missed calls from Joel. "What's up, Joel?" The second I picked up, Joel practically shouted into the receiver, "Man, you finally answered! Check the group chat now!" "Why? You know I never look at it when I'm off the clock." Joel was panicking. "Seriously, just look! Finley is absolutely losing it!" Confused, I hung up and unmuted the work group. A barrage of notification pings instantly filled the room, with people tagging me left and right. I patiently scrolled up to figure out what the hell was going on. It turned out that Finley wanted to throw a celebratory dinner tonight since the department had just landed a major account. But it was a long weekend, and a bunch of people had already left town for quick trips. Someone joked that Finley could just give everyone the cash equivalent of the dinner money instead. Everyone backed the idea, but Finley seriously stated it was a team-building event and attendance was mandatory. He tagged everyone a few times. Meanwhile, people in our side chat were tagging me to see what I was going to do, but since I had my notifications muted, I hadn't seen a single thing. Feeling like his authority was being challenged, Finley ordered everyone to get to the office immediately. When everyone else showed up and I was still missing, he snapped and started trashing me in the group chat. "Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you landed the deal! "@Asher, get over here right now! If I don't see you in five minutes, you're fired!" That message was from an hour ago. He had sent several more after that, all tagging me, and my private chat with him was completely flooded. Looking at the texts, I just laughed in disbelief and didn't bother replying. I threw my phone onto the couch and went back to my game. When I was off the clock, I wouldn't answer to anyone. No way I was going into the office. But when the weekend ended and I arrived at work, I found Finley standing right by the time clock, blocking me from punching in. "Asher Saunders, you're already fired! What are you even doing here?" I stared at him, completely bewildered. "Since when?" He pulled out his phone and sneered. "I said it over the weekend. If you didn't show up within five minutes, you'd be fired!" I raised an eyebrow. "Just because you say I'm fired doesn't mean I am. Where's the paperwork? You don't own this place!" Finley glared at me with a cold smirk. "I'm the manager. If I say you're done, you're done." Chapter 4 Hearing Finley say that, I actually burst out laughing. I casually pulled out my phone and started recording. "Mr. White, so you're saying the company is your personal kingdom? That even if you fire me, you don't have to follow any standard procedures or provide a legitimate reason? That all it takes is one word from you? Is that what you're saying?" Finley sneered and glanced at my phone with pure contempt. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing. Let me tell you something. Catching me slipping isn't going to be that easy! "I made it perfectly clear in the group chat that anyone who didn't show up would be fired. I've got the proof. Everyone else made it except for you. Alright, cut the crap. I don't want to hear your excuses. Just pack your things and get the hell out." The look Finley gave me was dripping with sheer arrogance. He was clearly convinced that I had no moves left to play. I gave a soft chuckle. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm a full-time employee now. If you want to terminate me, you have to give me a month's notice. And if the company is letting me go without cause, you owe me at least three months' severance. "Furthermore, that notice has to be delivered in writing. So everything you're spouting here doesn't mean a thing." Finley had been waiting out here since early this morning, so a lot of people in the department had already guessed he was coming after me. Even though they were sitting at their desks, their eyes kept darting over to us. Joel was practically sweating bullets, but he didn't dare say a word. All he could do was keep glancing in my direction. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you refusing to leave?" Finley's expression instantly darkened. He glared at me like I was something disgusting, visibly on guard for my next move. I looked at him, amused. "I'm not refusing to leave. I'm telling you I literally can't leave. You haven't given me proper termination paperwork, so why would I go?" This situation was just hilarious. I didn't even want to quit. He wanted me gone but didn't want to pay up, expecting me to just walk away on my own. No way in hell was it going to be that easy. "You violated company policy! That's the reason for your termination!" Finley was shaking with rage. Pointing a finger right at my face, he yelled, "Listen carefully. Don't think you can do whatever you want just because your proposal was decent! "You don't run this department! I don't care who steps in to save you today. You are packing your bags and getting out. Nobody can stop me!" I raised an eyebrow. "And exactly how did I violate company policy?" Finley let out a cold laugh. "I made it clear over the weekend. Anyone who didn't show up was marked absent without leave. Skipping work is a violation of company policy. "You weren't in the office on Thursday or Friday either, and with Saturday's unexcused absence, that makes three consecutive days off the grid. That counts as an automatic resignation! Now, get lost!" I couldn't help laughing. This absolute clown of a manager really loved throwing his weight around. This petty managerial role was probably the closest he'd ever get to actual power in his entire life. "Wow. Look at you, throwing your weight around."