Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Eighteen

The office was fairly quiet all day.  The marketing team left at lunch.  George and his fellow accountants at two.  By three, the only people left were Maisie and her fellow sales agents.  And even they were running with fewer people than normal as several people were on vacation.  She was packing her bag, getting ready to call it a day when Mr. Roseberg walked up to her cubicle.

"A word in my office, Ms. Frampton."  He left without waiting for a response, so Maisie quickly shut down her computer and made her way down the hall.  Mr. Roseberg's office was in the corner of the building, and had a great view of the fountain in the middle of the grounds their office park sat in the middle of.  Of course, he tended to keep his door closed at all times so no one could enjoy the view except him.

"Close the door," he said as she walked in.  She shut it gently and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.  Though her numbers were great and she hadn't experienced any complaints from customers, she was still nervous.  Roseberg rarely called people into his office for positive feedback.

He cleared his throat.  "You're a busy girl, Ms. Frampton."

She squinted, trying to understand his intent.  "I certainly work hard, Mr. Roseberg, if that's what you mean.

"It's not.  Your extracurricular activities have come to my attention."

"My extracurricular..."

He turned his monitor around, showing her a split screen with her SFMD page on one half, and the Yahoo! article on the other.  "I shouldn't have to tell you that this does not reflect well on you or your work here."

"I'm sorry?  What does my social media activity have to do with anything here?  My profile is private and doesn't list my employment."

He cleared his throat again, louder this time.  "A quick google search shows where you work, Ms. Frampton.  This sort of frivolous pursuit is not appropriate for an employee of H & L, do you understand?"

She nodded her head and he motioned towards the door.  "You may go.  I expect this to be cleared up by the time you come back on Monday."

She nodded again and stood slowly.  Her face felt frozen.  She was 99% sure the company couldn't do anything to dictate how she spent her personal time, or what she did off the clock, but knew there was no reasoning with Roseberg at this juncture.  She'd check the employee handbook, then talk to HR.  Maisie had absolutely no intention of giving up the page just because her boss was a huge tool.