Black Alexis Dominates White Ch. 01

The rest of the staff sat in the general office area, which was a wide open area bordered off by cubicles without any walls.

I showed Alexis to her small desk and cubicle area.

"Damn! Why is it so dead and quiet in here?" she firmly asked.

She was right.

But, I was a little more than taken back by the boldness of her comments as I attempted to explain.

My response was an excuse, and a lame one at that.

"Well, everyone is going over their lists of customers and planning their calls for the day. They're going to make calls to bring in new sales, and they're getting things together before they start their calls. That's what we've been doing and ..." I kept explaining.

"Is it?!" she interupted, again.

"Well, I don't hear any phones ringing. Just a dead zone with a bunch of old stiffs sitting around and all that boring ass music coming from the ceiling." Alexis ripped.

I tried to ignore her now blatantly rude comments and concentrate more on getting her started.

It was obvious the others overheard her comments.

Alexis was provided with a long list of our customers, both current customers and the old customers we had lost business to in the past few years. I explained to her that we have all been calling our former customers first and then checking on our current customer's recent order volume. I explained that we have been trying to get more sales because that's what we needed to do.

Then, I introduced her to the rest of the staff during a qick group meeting. I made an announcement in front of everyone. But, they did not welcome her in the way they would have normally welcomed any other new employee.

I showed Alexis how to use her new computer and showed her where to find the powerpoint presentation that would help explain everything about our product line of perfumes.

I instructed her to learn them.

We only had 6 named brands of bottled perfume at the time. Years ago, they had sold so well but recently sales had dropped several hundred percent.

When Meghan called me over to take an incoming call, I cut my introduction short and began to excuse myself.

Alexis stopped me before I could take my second step away from her.

"One question." she started.

I turned and hesitated.

"Y-Yes?" I asked.

She flipped through the first few pages of the large, 40-page list of customers that I handed her. Her gorgeous face now resembled one of a pirate's scowl.

"How long have you been doing this?" She asked.

"Oh my god. Forever. About 2 years." I answered.

"Why?" I asked.

I was standing there in anguish, knowing that I still had that call waiting for me. Yet, Alexis wasn't in any big hurry to respond.

I felt like I needed to say something.

"Why?" I asked, again.

After another 10 second pause she answered.

"Nothing. Never mind." she replied in an off-toned voice of near disgust.

I simply did not know how to handle her attitude at the time. For whatever reason, I tried to pretend to be something that I was not. I tried to be firm.

"Well. That's what I hired you for so just do it. Thank you!" I said.

It was the firmest tone I had ever used in my life. It was a tone that I had never heard from my own lips, and I surprised myself by it.

But, then I turned and cowardly walked away, retreating to my office to take the call from what I was hoping would be a prospective sale.

That call turned out to be a bill collector and it lasted a mere 3 minutes.

Still, I stayed in my office cowering over this brief but overwhelming encounter that I just had with my new employee, Alexis Barron.

I was never good at confrontations.

This may seem like a minor verbal exchange for most, but for me it was quite intimidating. I hid in my office making calls and looking over the multitude of bills the entire day, and avoiding her.

Near the end of Alexis' very first day, just 10 minutes before closing, Ginny tapped on the glass door to my office and I waved her in.

"Miss Burroughs? Gretchen?" she started.

"Yes, Ginny? What is it?" I asked.

She had this very concerned look on her face and seemed distraught over something.

Ginny was one of the seven women working for me before Alexis' arrival, which made us a company of eight. She had been with the company for 13 years, ever since she came to work for my late husband.

Ginny was a divorced white woman who was 56 years of age, and still quite attractive. She had kept her 5'10" 140 lb. frame in rather good shape over the years, and her slightly greying hair was partially hidden by an inexpensive blonde dye.

As Ginny stood before my desk I could easily see that she was becoming reluctant to say what was on her mind.

She seemed almost scared.

Her personality had always been very timid and shy, and I understood these feelings, but she had never really hid her feelings from me like this before.

"Ginny? What is it? Tell me!" I asked.

Ginny grew more nervous and she took a deep breath as she began to speak.

"Well, I don't want to get into any trouble ..." she started.

I became frustrated.

"Ginny, please?! Tell me already. You're not going to be in any trouble from me. You know that." I said.

The 56 year old woman began to whisper.

"No. I'm not worried about that that kind of trouble, Ms. Burroughs." she softly said.

I wasn't sure exactly why she was so worried then, but my curiosity and concern were the only things on my mind. I just wanted to know what she had to say.

"Ginny, please?" I prompted, again.

"Well, the others voted for me to talk to you. They're all complaining about ..." she said, then stopped.

"What others?" I asked.

"Complaining about what?" I inquired.

Now, I was even more concerned about what this complaint could be.

Ginny continued.

"The others. I mean, all of us. Well, all of us except Alexis, the new girl." she confessed.

Ginny went on to explain that my new hire, Alexis Barron, wasn't doing what she was told to do. She explained that the younger black woman wasn't really doing anything at all.

"What do you mean, Ginny? She had to be doing something. What has she been doing all day then?" I asked.

Ginny stopped talking for a moment.

"For Christ's sake, it almost 5 now. Why didn't anybody come to me sooner?" I said a little louder, yet controlled whisper.

Ginny finally continued.

She told me that Alexis did not make one single call to a customer all day. Rather, she sat at her desk with her feet propped up and was talking on the phone with her friends.

She added that she had taken a lunch and did not sign in or out, and she had been gone for almost 3 hours. Furthermore, she didn't even watch the presentation of our product line, which was what she was supposed to do.

Ginny told me that Alexis used the computer to check her personal email on the internet every half hour.

I was beginning to get upset.

Ginny began to cry and I tried to comfort her.

"Listen, Ginny. Just go home. It's only a few minutes before 5 o'clock now and it's a Friday. There's not much more you can do today. I'll take care of this right away, okay?" I told her.

"O-okay, Ms. Burroughs." Ginny sobbed.

I thanked Ginny for summoning up the courage that it took to come to me and to tell me what was going on in my office. Then, as she headed out of my office, I asked her to tell Alexis that I will be out to talk to her in a few minutes, and to please wait for me.

"Yes, okay Ms. Burroughs. I will." Ginny answered.

I watched Ginny walk swiftly from my office and then bend over to say something to Alexis. She then suddenly grabbed her purse from her own desk and nearly ran out the door.

I was so upset.

On the inside, I really wanted to give this younger black woman a piece of my mind. I didn't like the way she was upsetting the others, and on her first day of work too?!

"How dare she?" I asked myself.

Just hearing that she essentially ignored what I had told her to do was enough to make me upset.

But, I was also afraid to confront her.

I had no idea how I was going to approach this black teenager to discuss these allegations. Yet, I also knew that it was my responsibility as the owner and the President of this company to do so.

I took a few deep breaths and stalled for a few minutes longer before I made my way over to her desk.

But, she wasn't there!

Nobody in the office was!

I looked at my watch and it was exactly 5 o'clock. Usually, there would be a little lingering after five and the fact that I thought Ginny had specifically told Alexis to wait for me made me wonder.

That infuriated me, but I also thought I would have to make sure that Ginny actually told Alexis to wait for me, like I instructed her to do.

I looked up Ginny's number on my cell phone and called her.

"Ginny? This is Gretchen. I didn't see Alexis out there by her desk. Did you see her?" I asked.

"Yes. Yes, I did." she said.

"Did you tell her to wait for me, Ginny?" I asked.

Ginny seemed extremely nervous talking to me.

"Yes. Yes, I did tell her Ms. Burroughs. I told her right away. Just as you asked me to." she answered.

My face was feeling so flush by now.

"Ginny. What did she say when you told her to wait for me." I asked, inquisitively.

There was a longer, almost deafening silence between our cell phones. I had thought I lost the signal for a moment.

"Ginny?" I asked again.

"Tell me now. What did Alexis say?" I probed.

She finally spoke.

"Ms. Burroughs, she just said one word ... She said ... whatever." Ginny answered.

I could not believe what I was hearing.

I excused Ginny from the call and drove home so upset that I could hardly stay on the road.

All night I planned over and over again, in my mind, how I was going to approach this young black girl.

I planned what I was going to say to her.

After much deliberation I decided that I was just going to fire her and be done with it.

But, the next day was Saturday and we never worked Saturdays. Not ever.

Usually, I would sleep in until around 10 on the weekends and then get some things done around the house.

But, then I was awakened by a call on my cell at precisely 8 o'clock in the morning!

It was a number that came up as "unknown caller."

When I answered it, I heard this firm voice.

"Where the hell is everyone? It's 8!" the voice snarled.

"Who is this? Alexis, is that you?" I asked in my half-asleep state.

"Yes it is!" she said.

I sat up onto the edge of my bed and was just beginning to remember how rudely she had ignored my request to speak to her yesterday.

I heard her voice again.

"Don't tell me that y'all don't work on Saturdays." she said in a condescending voice.

I was still barely awake and already getting upset.

"No. We are closed on the weekends, Alexis." I began.

"But, I wanted to talk to you anyway. Why did you leave yesterday? I-I ... " I continued, my voice now stuttering and cracking.

But, that is when this teenaged black woman interupted.

"Not on the phone!" she said.

That is when she abruptly "clicked" her cell phone off.

I couldn't believe how this teenager had just hung up on me in such a rude way?!

Since her call came up as unknown, I couldn't even call her back.

I became so frustrated that I went all the way into my office on that Saturday to get her number from the resume she had left me. I was so determined to call her back just to give her a piece of my mind.

But, it turned out to be a disconnected number.

This entire event was making me more than upset now. I was more upset than I had ever been in my entire life. I convinced myself that I was going to march right in there that next Monday morning and let her go. She had been so rude and mean to me that I could hardly even believe it.

These feelings of aggravation lasted the remainder of the weekend. They were growing stronger with every passing hour. The way that I was being so disrespected like this was a feeling that made me want to do something drastic.

When I woke up on Monday morning these feelings were still there.

But, these feelings began to fade as I drew nearer to the office. I suddenly grew nervous and concerned. I began to fear any type of confrontation. I didn't have any desire to make a scene, especially in the presence of my entire staff.

I couldn't explain how I was feeling.

I knew, deep inside, that this was just an excuse that I was making so I wouldn't have to confront this very intimidating younger black woman.

When I finally arrived I simply scurried off to my office like the coward I was, and I avoided the entire situation altogether.

I was not proud of my actions.

I think the 7 white women of my staff were all surprised that young Alexis was still there that following Monday morning. I wasn't sure what they were thinking, but the looks on their faces seemed to be ones of true disappointment.

I tried reasoning with myself that maybe this would give me a little more time to figure things out. I wasn't sure what I should say to her and I simply didn't have any courage or backbone to approach.

Not at this time.

My actions were those of a cowardly, insecure and timid leader. They were not the actions of a company owner and President.

It was becoming terribly embarrassing for me.

Things went on just like that during Alexis' entire first full week of her employment.

Each day, she would arrive at 8 o'clock and grab her coffee, then sit there with her feet up on her desk. She would talk on the company phone while texting on her personal cell.

She never once talked to any of our customers and she had the internet up on her computer, conveniently turned to her email screen for the entire day.

Furthermore, Alexis was taking lunches anywhere from 2 to 3 hours everyday. Not once did she sign in or out as she was instructed to do.

Alexis did not speak to the others and, in return, they never spoke to her. She seemed to be in her own little world sitting out there and doing whatever she wanted to do.

It just seemed like this small black woman was somehow rubbing all this in my face.

There were times when Alexis would strut around the office on her 4 inched black heels as if she owned the place. She would be talking to what seemed like girlfriends on her cell phone for hours at a time.

By the end of the day on Thursday, every one of the 7 white women of my staff had approached me at one time or another that afternoon.

All of them complained about Alexis and were there to ask me what I was going to do about her.

They all complained about how "lazy" Alexis was, and how she was wasting so much time doing nothing.

They complained about her talking with her friends on the phone and on the internet, and in chat rooms.

They all complained how "rude" she was being to them and all the "mean" things she was saying about us, and about our company.

These were words the others overheard as she talked to her friends on the phone.

They even made mention that Alexis always wore the exact same outfit every single day, and that her feet always smelled funny when she kicked off her shoes into the corner of her cubicle.

My entire staff complained that she always had her feet up on her desk like she was some sort of executive.

I didn't know how to answer them, except that I would be taking care of it very soon.

One of the women who approached me was Beth, a 48 year old woman, who was the only one of my employees to come see me twice.

Beth was the one who made the specific allegations of Alexis saying "mean" things about us.

Beth was an attractive, slightly heavy set divorced woman of 5'9" and just under 200 lbs. She was, perhaps, the one who seemed most distraught over Alexis' recent employment with our company.

She seemed to become even more withdrawn since the young, black woman began working for us in just this short period of time of a week.

Like the others, Beth really didn't want to tell me too much. It seemed as if Alexis had been so disruptive and had caused so much fear in them. Although they all felt compelled to mention things to me, none of them wanted to fully elaborate on the things they were complaining about.

I had to nearly beat it out of Beth to find out exactly what all these "mean things" were, which Alexis was saying on the phone.

Beth finally conceded.

"Well, she said things about you too, Ms. Burroughs." Beth said, softly.

I was irritated but also quite nervous. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to hear all this, or not.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well, she said things like you were a complete idiot ... and that you were a pathetic excuse for a boss ... things like that." Beth nervously confessed.

"Sh-She said what?" I asked. "What else?"

My mind was already racing.

"She told her friend that we were all just a bunch of dumb white bitches, and things like that." Beth described.

I told Beth to go back to her desk now.

I thanked her for telling me and then I told her that I would try and talk to Alexis today.

There were so many feelings running through my mind by then. I was so upset, maybe even mad. But, I was also quite nervous and afraid because I didn't know how I was going to handle this.

I had planned on speaking to Alexis that Thursday. I really wanted to.

I wanted to ask her about all these allegations that I was hearing, but I wanted to ask her without letting her know who was telling me about them.

In a small office like ours I knew that would be a difficult task.

But, I could not summon enough courage to talk to her that Thursday. Rather, I just stayed in my office the last few hours of the day and wasted any and all opportunity that I had to speak with Alexis Barron.

I decided that I would have to speak to her the next day, on Friday, and I would do this at the end of the day when she would come into my office for her weekly check.

Again, I wasn't proud of how I was handling all of this. But, I thought this could be the perfect time to finally do it.

Being a timid boss was embarrassing enough, but to allow a teenager to get away with all that she was doing was far beyond what anyone else would tolerate.

When Friday arrived, I finished my routine of cutting the checks in my office. At the end of the day, and like every other Friday, my employees would come into my office to get their checks. We would exchange pleasantries before the weekend and I would hand them their pay checks for the two week pay period.

As I was cutting the check for Alexis Barron, I thought about paying her for just the one day she worked last week and this week's earnings would be paid in two weeks.

Typically, this is what I would have done.

But, against my better judgement, I made out a check for Alexis for the full two weeks.

I did this only because I knew that I was going to let her go. I figured this would soften the blow of her termination a little. I also did not want her coming back in another 2 weeks for her last paycheck.

As always, my employees came in for their checks starting around 5 minutes before 5 p.m.

But, this pay period was different from all the others.

One by one, my white female employees came in and I handed them their paychecks. None of them would make eye contact with me.

Not one of them.

They all held their eyes downward, looking at the floor, and they all seemed so sad.

Perhaps, they were still saddened that Alexis Barron was still there?

It was almost as if they were disappointed that I had not spoken to this insolent new employee, and that she had not been terminated by now. Perhaps, they were even humiliated by the fact their cowardly boss had not taken any appropriate action against her.