I was about to speak up when the department manager poked his head out of his office, wearing an expression of fatherly concern that made my skin crawl.
"We're all colleagues here, Matilda. Don't make this ugly."
"Besides, Mercedes was only thinking of you. You earn more than most of us. Treating everyone to a coffee run wouldn't even dent your paycheck."
My stomach turned.
My salary was higher than most, sure, but higher than a department manager's? Not a chance.
I was done wasting my breath. I slammed my laptop shut, kept my face blank, and said one thing:
"If anyone wants coffee, they can buy their own. I'm not paying."
What I didn't expect was the delivery guy showing up the next afternoon, arms loaded with two overstuffed bags, asking,
"Are you Matilda Chavez? Twenty-eight drinks. You paying by app or cash?"
Twenty-eight drinks. All Starbucks.
The delivery guy's voice carried across the entire open-plan office.
Heads swiveled. Conrad was the fastest, craning his neck until he spotted the logo on the bags. His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
I stared at those two bulging bags, and the anger looped all the way past fury and came out the other side as dead calm.
"I didn't order these. Whoever did can pay for them."
The delivery guy blinked.
"The person who placed the order said Matilda Chavez is covering it. Said it's her treat."
Before I could respond, a saccharine voice floated up from behind me.
"Oh, they're here already?"
I turned around. Mercedes, of course.
She stood with her arms crossed, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
"Come on, Matilda. The drinks are already here. All you have to do is settle the tab. You're not really going to make this poor delivery guy run back for nothing, are you?"
Her words were wrapped in politeness, but her tone dripped entitlement, as if spending my money were the most natural thing in the world.
I stared at her, cold and unblinking.
"Who told you I agreed to this?"
Mercedes blinked, all wide-eyed innocence.
"Everyone's been waiting. I figured last night was just you blowing off steam. You wouldn't seriously embarrass the whole department over a few dollars, would you?"
The words barely left her mouth before several colleagues had already torn open the bags.
I almost laughed. The bill hadn't been paid and they were already helping themselves. Did they really take me for a pushover?
I pressed my hand down on the bag, and my voice dropped to ice.
"You want afternoon coffee? Fine. Whoever drinks, pays. But don't pin it on me. I'm not covering a single cent."
The smug grin slid right off Mercedes's face. She hadn't expected me to shut her down in front of the entire office without leaving her an inch of dignity.
Her eyes narrowed, glaring at me.
"Matilda, seriously? It's barely a thousand bucks. What fraction of your salary is that? Do you really need to nickel-and-dime everyone like this?"
"Be generous for once. Think of it as building goodwill. Don't throw away an opportunity like that."
I nearly choked on a laugh at her twisted logic.
So refusing to bankroll their coffee habit made me cheap, and somehow I was supposed to thank her for the privilege?
I turned straight to the delivery guy.
"I didn't place this order, and I'm not paying. Find whoever ordered it and collect from them. If they won't pay, call the police."
Mercedes's expression flickered, and a thin edge of threat crept into her voice.
"Matilda, have you lost your mind? Calling the cops during work hours? Are you trying to ruin someone's career?"
"We all work in the same department. We see each other every single day. You humiliate everyone today, how do you plan on showing your face tomorrow? And just so you know, I placed this order as a department event. The manager already signed off on it."
I narrowed my eyes.
"The manager signed off on it?"
Mercedes's confidence swelled back.
"I told him this morning. He even said I was great at boosting team morale, and that someone with your salary should've been treating everyone ages ago. If you refuse to pay now, it's not just my face you're slapping. It's the entire department's."
