Chapter 353 - A Respectful Reply

The manager pounded his desk violently to break the feud inside the room. How could he not be annoyed? The two employees argued with each other but neither were able to provide a clear explanation of the problem.

"I ask you both to be quiet! Slow down when you speak! Let us examine the root causes of this case one by one. You guys really make my head dizzy!" The manager complained while shaking his head. His hands were crossed.

Hearing his rebuke, both Lisa and Johan shut up. The two of them lowered their heads, showing regret in front of their manager.

"I'm sorry sir," said Lisa softly, her head bowed.

Johan on the other hand didn't make a sound at all. The man just looked down with a pathetic face while staring at his shoes.

"From your stories, I can conclude that Johan deliberately tricked Lisa so that I would give her severe punishment and get her out of this office, right?" The manager asked, trying to cross-check.

Johan nodded slowly, not making a sound.

"Then the reason you are doing this is because you like Lisa but she rejected your love. Is that true Johan?" The manager asked again.

Johan nodded. "Yes, sir, I sent a love letter containing a poem for her but Lisa refused me outright."

"Johan, you've been working here longer than her, you should know that there shouldn't be any romantic relationship between employees. You should also realize that love cannot be forced. Lisa has the right to reject you!" The manager replied firmly.

Lisa just stood there, watching Johan looking even more pathetic. In her heart, she was very happy to see that weirdo finally got his reward.

"Excuse me, sir," Lisa suddenly said. "If you have nothing to say to me, I want to return to my work."

"Wait, I'm not done talking. Since you are not guilty in this case, I will have to punish Johan and you have to listen to it," the manager said while waving, telling Lisa to stay in the room.

"Lisa, you better sit down."

Without saying much, Lisa immediately pulled a chair and sat on it. She looked at Johan who was still standing in front of the manager with his head bowed, looking both embarrassed and regretful.

The manager confirmed his seat while clearing his throat. "Johan, do you realize how much harm you've done to this company?" His voice blared, making Lisa startled a little.

"Sir, I know I was wrong, that's why I apologize for it. Can you give me a chance to correct my mistakes? I promise not to do it again. I am even willing to work overtime for a whole month to make up for it!" Johan begged as he clasped his palms together, a classic way of a hypocrite, Lisa thought.

Seeing the hypocrisy that radiated from Johan's eyes, the manager was getting annoyed and reluctant to accept his forgiveness.

"You are willing to sacrifice this crucial work for personal matters and you expect me to forgive you that easily? No, I won't! I want you to pack up all your belongings and get out of this office!" The manager pointed at Johan with annoyance and disappointment mixing up in his face.

Johan almost had a heart attack when he heard what the manager had just said. He didn't want to lose his job, so he tried to convince the manager to give him one last chance.

"Please, sir, I will do anything to correct my mistakes as long as I am given the opportunity to still work in this office. If I lose this job, what will I feed myself with later? Where would I live if I had no money? Please I beg you sir, please forgive me and give me another chance…"

Lisa looked at the skinny and disgusting man with a lazy and condescending look. A hypocritical man with two faces like Johan deserved no mercy. Even Lisa believed that God would be reluctant to forgive Johan.

"My decision is unanimous, Johan. You're fired!" The manager snapped, shocking both Johan and Lisa.

In the end, Lisa got tired of seeing Johan constantly asking for forgiveness and begging to keep his job at the Cendana Hotel. She rose from her chair and said to the manager politely, "Excuse me sir, I will go back to my desk. It seems that I have nothing to hear anymore."

The manager stopped, he looked at Lisa and then replied, "Okay, please come back. Your business is done here. You can continue your work."

Meanwhile, Alia had been busy typing on her desk and was getting curious. The woman leaned forward in front of Lisa's computer screen while whispering, "So what's the situation? I accidentally peeked and found out that Johan suddenly came in when you entered there. You weren't scolded, right?"

"Guess what, Johan suddenly apologized to me in front of the manager and admitted he was wrong. Isn't that weird? Fortunately, since he finally admitted that he was wrong, I didn't get fired," Lisa answered plainly.

Alia's two eyes bulged, stunned by Lisa's sentence just now. "Lisa, I didn't hear wrong, right? That damn Johan, the bastard who lied in front of the manager yesterday, suddenly admitted his mistake? What the hell did that weirdo want? Is he braindead or something?"

"I swear I heard and saw it myself! He's so strange."

"How come I suspect he's being honest because he has other evil plans? Or am I just thinking too much? Haha," Alia said, scratching her chin.

"I don't know either. Anyway, the manager decided to fire Johan from the finance department. I hope that guy won't chase me outside the office!" Lisa replied firmly.

***

At the boarding house, Lisa began to fret. She really wanted to contact Rangga to discuss Johan's case which looked very strange in the office earlier. She thought, if it weren't for Rangga, Johan would not have wanted to admit his mistake in such a short time. 

To be honest, Lisa was grateful even though she had a fight with Rangga last night. However, he was still hesitant to contact Rangga since the unexpected incident last night. 

If Lisa contacted him again, the man might fall in love with her again. Lisa didn't want that to happen. 

After a few minutes, Lisa laid down on the bed staring at the ceiling of the room, thinking. She grabbed her cell phone from her tote bag and then made a call to Rangga.

A connecting sound was heard several times, but there was no answer at all. Lisa clicked her tongue then put her cell phone on the bed. Then she waited a few moments while staring blankly at the glass in front of her.

For almost ten minutes straight, she stared into the distance with her face looking stunned, completely distraught. But once  her cell phone rang, Lisa immediately picked up the call without thinking.

"Hello?"

"Lis, why did you call earlier?" Rangga asked from across. His voice was as relaxed as ever.

Lisa cleared her throat. She gripped her cell phone tightly so that it didn't slip because of her sweaty palms. "Oh, I just want to say thanks for helping me. Johan has been fired."

"I already said, your problem is also mine, right? If he dares to disturb you, it's the same as bothering me. That's why I can make that bastard get what he deserves!"

"What were you doing to him though? How come that weirdo dared to admit his mistakes in front of my manager?" Lisa asked from across the line. Her tone sounded very curious.

"I just found out that Johan was a former criminal. He used to be a gambler and was once in prison. I threatened him to use his criminal record so he finally admitted his mistake and stopped bothering you.. If he hadn't wanted to admit his mistake, I'd leak his criminal record to his manager and to other companies so he won't be able to get a job after getting fired!" Rangga explained at length.