CHAPTER NINE
I woke up slightly disoriented. I found myself seated on a chair in Mr. Fritz's office.
I am in Mr. Fritz's office!
Mrs. Khan was patting a wet face towel on me and Mr. Fritz was seated in front of me.
"Mr. McCormick, you do have quite a flare in the dramatics." Mr. Fritz said.
He turned to Mrs. Khan, "Thank you, Fatima. You may go."
He looked back at me.
I bowed my head, "I'm sorry, sir."
I continued, "What I did was stupid and very wrong. I desperately needed a steady income that I sent out my resume everywhere while tweaking it to fit the position. I know that is not an excuse for what I did. My friends warned me about this but I said it will only be for a few months. I-" trying hard not to let the tears that had formed in my eyes to drop, "I'm greatly sorry, sir."
"You know I can put you to jail, right?" he stoically replied.
I gulped. "Yes, sir. I'm willing to accept any charge you'll have against me."
"It may be difficult but I'll do what I can to return the salary I received for the past months." I shakily added.
"You're a smart kid," Mr. Fritz sighed, "you got great potential. You could've gotten any job through the honest way."
"I really liked you, lad, so I gave you a chance."
He then added, " I didn't tell you that I speak Spanish because I noticed something off about you. I could say the mistake of my part wasn't double-checking if you spoke those languages. I was highly impressed with your high results from the university."
He sighed again and a few minutes of silence he said, "What you did was wrong. You fooled people. But I can truly see that you're repentant, so I'll forgive you."
I looked up to him gratefully.
"But, you'll not get off easily."
I nod.
"You'll be let go from your position. Do you agree to that?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. Thank you so much, sir." I happily reply.
"Good. Mrs. Khan will work up the terms as of now you may go clean your desk."
I stood up, "Thank you, Mr. Fritz. This means so much!
"Yes, yes now go. And remember, you have a great future ahead of you just be honest!" he said dismissing me.
Before I could leave the door he asked, "Taylor?"
"Sir?"
"How'd you do it?"
"Do what, sir?"
"How did you translate the documents?"
I chuckled, " Google translate, sir."
"And how did you translate and speak to Mr. Chen and Ms. Gonzales?" he further inquired.
I smile sheepishly, "Airpods, sir. My friends spoke to me through my Airpod."
He laughed and I left.
The end.
YOU ARE READING
A Foolish Lie
Humor"A Foolish Lie" is my submission to a short story competition by PenIt. Excerpt: As I clean my work desk, I hear whispers from the people in the office. I'm sure they're talking about my deception. I don't blame them. What I did was wrong and I re...
