"Since you falsely accused my grandmother, you can apologize to her."
Glen stepped in front of Eleanor at once, shielding her.
"Pauline, don't push your luck. It's such a small thing. Do you really have to make a scene until everyone's miserable?"
I let out a furious laugh.
"My grandmother tried to help out of kindness, and she got slandered and cursed at with all of you crowding around her. If nobody's willing to apologize, then we settle it with the police."
Something vicious flickered in Eleanor's eyes as she turned, grudgingly, to my grandmother.
"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. I hope you won't hold it against someone younger like me."
Glen watched Eleanor take the hit and rounded on me.
"Pauline, if you hadn't broken the rules and occupied the employee housing, none of this would have happened."
I was about to argue when Grandma sighed and took my arm.
"Pauline, honey, let's go home. The pork ribs I've been stewing for you are just about done."
I knew she didn't want to put me in a hard spot, so I forced the anger down and went back to the room.
The next day, the moment I walked into the office, Eleanor stopped me.
She shoved a printout into my arms.
"Pauline, I've already put together the records of all these years you've spent bringing people in to occupy the employee housing. Figured at a hotel rate of a thousand a night, so you can just pay the company a hundred thousand in back-rent."
I couldn't help the scornful laugh that slipped out. A thousand a night, five-star hotel prices—how did they have the nerve to open their mouths.
I tossed the printout in the trash.
"I'll pay, sure. But how are you going to prove the employee housing belongs to the company? Show me the property deed, or a company lease that proves it's the company's building, and I'll pay the hundred thousand right now."
With that, I pushed past Eleanor and went into my office.
Half an hour later, my office door was kicked open.
Glen stormed in, furious, and kicked my desk. It went over onto the floor, the computer and everything on it crashing down with it.
"Pauline, have some shame. You never get enough of freeloading off the company, do you? Eleanor asks you for the housing fees and you deliberately give her a hard time. I think you just don't want to pay."
I looked over the wreckage on the floor and spoke calmly.
"Glen, does the employee housing belong to the company? Why on earth should I pay?"
His eyes darted away for a second, then he answered like he had every right.
"The employee housing has had company staff living in it for years. How is it not the company's? Don't try to change the subject. Pay Eleanor the housing fees, and apologize to her."
I gave a cold laugh and asked back,
"And if I don't?"
Glen exploded again.
"If you won't, then get the hell out of the company."
I was quiet for a few seconds, then took out the resignation letter I'd already prepared the day before.
Eleanor walked in, her eyes full of triumph.
"Pauline, are you really quitting? Jobs aren't easy to find these days. There aren't many good bosses who'll give you employee housing this nice. Otherwise renting a place would run you two or three thousand a month."
Glen was just as certain I'd back down.
"Pauline, admit you were wrong and pay the full hundred thousand in housing fees, and I'll give you one more chance."
I pointed at the resignation letter.
"Don't forget to approve it."
Then I picked up my bag and turned to leave. Glen's shout came from behind me.
"Pauline, I'll be waiting for the day you come crawling back to me."
After that, I planned to rest for a while before going back to work.
A week later, while I was buying groceries at the store, my phone rang. It was Grandma, her voice choked and frantic.
"Pauline, come home quick. Your coworkers are trying to throw us out."
I raced back to the building and found my room torn apart. Clothes dumped on the floor, everything else smashed to pieces.
Grandma, one hand pressed to her chest, reached out to stop the coworker wrecking our family photo album. He shoved her, and she went down hard, her head striking the corner of the table.
"You old wretch, faking an injury on purpose, are you?"
I rushed in, my eyes burning red.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Eleanor looked down at me from where she stood.
"Pauline, you're not an employee here anymore. That means you've got no right to live in the employee housing. You wouldn't move out, so we all decided to help you along."
The others chimed in behind her.
"Never seen a nerve like it. Fired, and she's still squatting in the company dorm."
Grandma lay on the floor, blood pooling around her. I couldn't think about anything else. With shaking hands, I called 911 for an ambulance and the police.
In under ten minutes, Grandma was lifted onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.
The officers arrived and asked what had happened.
Eleanor answered as if none of it mattered.
"Pauline's been squatting in our company dorm, disrupting all our lives. My coworkers and I were kind enough to help her move out, and instead of being grateful, they went and faked an injury to shake us down."
I turned, pulled open the drawer, and slapped the property deed down on the table.
"This whole building is mine. Why would I move? You're the ones who should be packing up."
