‘Don’t try and wriggle out of it,’ Heather interrupted her. I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. Your friends were laughing about it in the staffroom. They didn’t know I was outside. And I know it was you who called me it.’
‘I... I...’ Emma didn’t know what to say. Should she drop the others in it by telling Heather that was what they all called her? She couldn’t do that even though, right at this moment, she was absolutely furious with them.
‘You see, you can’t deny it, can you?’ Heather continued, her rage mounting. She pointed her finger at Emma. ‘You’re nothing but a bully in the making.’
‘Me?’ Emma was incredulous. ‘I’mthe bully?’ Something inside her snapped. ‘Well, I suppose you should know what a bully looks like, because you’re the biggest bully I’ve ever met.’ She reached into her handbag and pulled out her notebook. ‘And I have the evidence to prove it.’ She waved the book at Heather. ‘In here is a detailed list of every time you’ve bullied or belittled me since you’ve been my line manager. Believe me, it covers quite a few pages.’
Heather tried to snatch it off her, but Emma was too quick and pulled it back.
‘Oh, no, you don’t. Because I’ve had enough and it’s me who’s going to report you. I’ve put up with it for so long because I was hoping that one day I’d finally impress you and you’d back off. But now I can see that’s never going to happen.’
She strode towards the door.
‘Where are you going?’
Emma stopped and turned back to face her. ‘I’m going to the general manager’s office. And we’ll see what he has to say about bullies.’
Before Heather could protest, Emma strode out of the office and down the corridor. After her outburst she was literally shaking, and knew she needed to calm down if she was going toput a rational case forward to senior management. She made a U-turn and headed towards the staffroom. They had so much to do this afternoon that she didn’t really have the time to waste, but she was so hyped up she didn’t think she could work in the state she was in. She switched the kettle on and as it rose to the boil she thought about what had just happened. How dare that woman accuse her of being a bully after all she had put Emma through. Yes, she had been complicit in calling her a witch, but she hadn’t actually said it out loud before last night and she hadn’t come up with the nickname. But she had condoned it and maybe that made her as bad as the rest.
Emma spooned coffee into a mug and poured the boiling water over it. As she put the kettle down, a noise behind her made her turn. It was Nick. She really didn’t want to see him right now.
‘Feeling rough?’ he asked.
She reached for the milk. ‘Not the best.’
‘It was a good night though.’
She nodded her head. The actual evening had been good, but she wished she’d left the pub on her own and definitely wished she hadn’t drunk so much. She wouldn’t be doing that again in a hurry.
‘But the after-effects maybe not so much?’ he asked.
She didn’t want him to think that it was just a hangover that was affecting her. ‘No, especially when I’ve just got it in the neck from Heather for calling her names.’
‘What?’ He looked confused, but she wasn’t going to let him off the hook. Nick had been the first one to call Heather the name and she wondered if he’d been involved in the gossip that morning.
‘She overheard a group of you talking about her. Calling her the wicked witch. Somehow she got the impression it had come from me.’
‘Oh, shit! Sorry. Yes, we were talking, and we did mention your name, but only because you’re the one she picks on the most.’
‘Well, she definitely heard my name because she’s holding me responsible for calling her that. She even said I was a bully.’
Nick laughed. ‘That’s rich. Coming from her.’
‘That’s what I thought, which is why I told her that I was going to report her to the general manager.’
Nick’s eyes widened. ‘Shit! You said that?’
‘I did.’
‘And are you really going to do it?’
‘I think so,’ Emma said slowly. ‘But not today. I need to think it through properly before I do. Rehearse what I’m going to say first.’
‘Well, I wish you luck with that,’ Nick said. ‘Only don’t be surprised if you don’t get the outcome you want.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s happened before and it didn’t turn out well for the person who accused her.’
