THE HOUSE OF CHEN Chapter 13

Gossip
courtesy photobucket.com

 

The next day all the girls wanted to know how the date went and if he tried to make a move on her.   Cheri said, “I had a very nice time and you will have to ask Lee if he made a move or not for I don’t know that much about men and their moves.”

This just whetted their appetite for what happened, but she said, “You should go out with him and then you will know all about how he seduces women.”

This just caused their stomach muscles to tighten and become tense for they realized she wasn’t going to tell them what wanted to hear.  Finally Cheri said, “Back to work for you, before we all get into trouble, I think the boss is coming.”

While she just went about her business the rest of the girls were thinking about Cheri’s date last night, and wanted desperately to find out all the details.  

 

When they couldn’t get her to tell them any more than she had told them they began to make up stuff and spread it around.

Of course the men in the department heard what they were saying and began to evaluate their chances with Cheri if what they heard was true.

The last to know about the rumors was Anderson her boss but when he did he was quite upset for it was affecting the work of the department.  

He called Cheri in to his office and asked if what he had heard was true.

She said she didn’t know what he had heard but would like to know if it concerned her.

He went through a whole list of things people were saying and asked if they were true or not.  

She said, “How long have you known me and have I ever conducted myself in the way you described?”

He said, “No you haven’t or I would have found out about it.”

She told him about going out and having dinner and then Lee dropped her off and went home and that was all there was to it.  

He said, “That’s fine, and exactly what I thought, but I wanted to hear it from you.”

The next morning, Anderson called all of the staff together and asked, “Who started the lies about Cheri.  I want you to tell me who you heard them from.”

While they all stared at each other he continued, “If I don’t find out I will fire the whole bunch of you for there are plenty of qualified people who want your job.”

One by one they told him who told them the lies about Cheri until it came down to three girls in his department.  When faced with the fact that they had started the whole thing they admitted they had made it all up.

Anderson told them to clean out their desks of there personal stuff and leave for they were fired.

Then he turned his attention to the rest of the staff and said, “How many of you have passed these stories on?”

Every one of them raised their hands.  He said, “I should fire the whole bunch of you, and if I hear of this happening again I will do it.  I won’t tolerate any lying about another fellow worker.”

He turned to Cheri and said, “Call the employment bureau and get a list of replacement people who are qualified for the job they were hired to do.  

She had no option than to do as he said, for he was angry about this foolishness that was upsetting the whole office.  

 

With his last words he made it clear if you value your job you will not gossip about their fellow workers.  

Cheri was called into Anderson’s office and said, “I don’t want you to feel guilty about what just happened for it wasn’t your fault.  This has been getting out of control for some time now and I knew I would have to deal with it sooner of later.  

There are many things, very serious things they don’t know about and as we have to deal with them I don’t need a bunch of people upsetting each other by gossiping.”   

 

To be Continued