It was the start of a working day. The office building was bustling with activity. Kelly, a slightly obese, bespectacled lady trudged into the building while holding a walking stick. She quickly became the target of mean taunts, especially by Sally, Kate and Trisha, who were secretly labelled as 'The Trio Bullies' due to their constant bullying of other colleagues.
"Are you lost? The soup kitchen is in the opposite building," mocked Sally.
"No, my name is Kelly, and today is my first day of work," Kelly replied.
"What are you working as? A janitor?" Kate chipped in. The Trio Bullies started laughing.
"No, I'm a financial analyst," Kelly said, but was quickly rebuffed.
"If I were you, I would've quit before Mrs Yim fired me," Sally taunted. "She's very demanding and it's obvious to me that you're not up to the mark."
Kelly quietly tolerated the Trio Bullies' taunts. However, she was befriended by Audrey, a fellow colleague and Mary, a janitor. Audrey showed Kelly her seat and guided her on how to use the system. During lunch, Kelly saw the Trio Bullies having lunch. Seeing an empty seat, she asked if she could join them, but Sally refused, claiming that she would ruin their appetite.
"There's an empty seat here. You can sit with us," Audrey said and waved at her. Mary was sitting at the same table. Kelly was grateful and sat with them.
"Just ignore them," Audrey whispered, discreetly pointing at the Trio Bullies. "They always behave like that. I have also been bullied by them, but I didn't bother about them."
"They also bullied me," Mary added. "They often spilled water on the toilet floor when I finished cleaning the toilet." Kelly's eyes widened upon hearing their stories.
Just then, the Trio Bullies got up from their table. Kate deliberately spilled coffee onto Kelly's outfit. "Oh no, what a shame," Kate said pretentiously. "I spilled my coffee onto your horrible outfit."
"Ha ha ha, I think it just got better," Trisha said wickedly.
"Hey, you...," Audrey shouted at the Trio Bullies, but Sally stared at her.
"You good for nothing," Sally threatened. "You'd better mind your own business or you'll be next." With a wicked laugh, the trio bullies exited the canteen. Audrey and Mary brought Kelly to the restroom to clean up.
The putdowns deteriorated by the day. As Kelly was walking back to her seat during working hours, Sally tripped her over, causing her to fall. Kelly's glasses dropped onto the floor and the documents which she was holding scattered everywhere.
"This will teach you to be more attentive," Sally bent down and said menacingly. As if that was not enough, she took Kelly's walking stick and broke it into half. "Oh no, give it to me," Kelly pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears.
"Why? You can't get up without your stick?" Sally smirked. She then threw the walking stick onto the floor and mocked at Kelly, calling her a 'pathetic loser'. Just then, Trisha walked by. "What if she lost her glasses too?" she suggested.
"Please don't do that," Kelly pleaded, but once again, her pleas fell on deaf ears. Trisha stepped on her glasses. "What a pity," Sally smirked. "Kelly, know your place. You're just a nobody." With that, she and Trisha cackled and walked off. Trisha even stepped on the scattered documents while walking. Mary, who was doing her cleaning duties, walked towards Kelly and helped her up, while Audrey helped photocopy a new set of documents.
The bullying intensified and one day, the Trio Bullies decided to pull a cruel prank on Kelly and locked her in the office for a night. As she was figuring out how to exit the office, the Trio Bullies appeared. They smiled wickedly at her.
"You love your job so much, don't you? Well, live here," Sally snorted.
"Since you're here, why don't you do our work as well? We need to submit it tomorrow," Kate added. The Trio Bullies then walked away. "No, please don't go," Kelly pleaded, but they ignored her. She searched her handbag, but her mobile phone was gone. The Trio Bullies had taken her mobile phone too.
Just then, Audrey and Mary came out from the other offices. Apparently, the Trio Bullies were too focused on bullying Kelly that they had forgotten about Audrey and Mary. "Audrey, Mary, I thought you already went back? What are you doing here?" Kelly asked. Audrey and Mary explained that they wanted to finish whatever work they had, but when Kelly told them that they were locked in the office, they were shocked. Neither Audrey nor Mary had the keys to the office. Audrey's mobile phone had run out of battery and Mary did not save the contact number of the security. As such, they could not call for help. "Well, looks like the three of us are going to spend the night here," Audrey sighed and said. "Not to worry, I have some food which can last us throughout the night," Mary comforted them. She took out 3 packets of cup noodles and some coffee powder. They ate and chatted, and Mary mentioned how some employees quit as they could not tolerate bullying from the Trio Bullies. Audrey added that the Trio Bullies were extremely two-faced, as they would always act polite in front of the bosses while bullying colleagues.
The next morning, Kelly, Audrey and Mary woke up and were greeted by smirks from the Trio Bullies. "Hey losers, wake up," Trisha said. "How could you do that to us?" Kelly asked angrily. "You could complain to our boss, but who would believe you?" Sally said mockingly. "I've worked here for years and my reputation is perfect, unlike you three, who are small fry." Audrey and Mary wanted to stand up against them, but Kelly held them back. She decided that she would not quit, no matter how hard the Trio Bullies tried.
"She's a tough one," Kate remarked.
"We'll see about that," Sally said nonchalantly.
A month later, the boss Mrs Yim called a meeting. "Everyone must be present," she said. "I'm going to make an important announcement." When Mrs Yim walked away, Sally said, "I hope we'll get a bonus. Or just me, at least."
"Or maybe she's going to fire the loser Kelly at least?" Kate added. "People like her are a stain on the image of our company." Audrey could not tolerate the mean comments and stood up against them.
"Yeah, you've been bullying everyone else since day one. See who's the one who's getting fired," she retorted. But the Trio Bullies ignored her and walked into the meeting room. However, Kelly was not among those in attendance.
"I told you she'd run away," Sally said confidently. Just then, Mrs Yim walked into the meeting room.
"I've gathered you here to tell you the news that's going to change everything," she began. "I've decided to retire and appoint my successor."
"I hope it will be one of those handsome guys from the headquarters," Trisha whispered to Sally, but Mrs Yim had heard her.
"What did you just say, Trisha?" she asked. "I said it's a shame you're leaving," Trisha lied without batting an eyelid. Mrs Yim looked at her suspiciously and continued, "Anyway, let me introduce your new boss, Kelly Yip." As Kelly entered the meeting room, everyone was stunned, especially the Trio Bullies. She was not wearing glasses and was walking without the use of a walking stick. "I can't believe my eyes," Sally said in astonishment. "Where's her walking stick?"
"I've already met some of you," Kelly began. "I've spent this month studying the team from the inside, and I know which ones of you aren't going to stay." That was when Mrs Yim revealed everything.
"I've long been getting anonymous complaints about one group of employees who bully others, but I had no evidence. Well, now I do," she said. Hearing this, the faces of the Trio Bullies turned pale. "Oh no," Kate whispered, putting her hand over her mouth. Audrey and Mary, on the other hand, smiled.
"Trisha, Sally and Kate, I'm asking you to leave the office. It was a test and you didn't pass it," Kelly continued.
"But if we had known you were our future boss, we wouldn't have treated you that way," Sally tried to explain, but Kelly stopped her.
"That's the thing," she said angrily. "Every employee should be treated equally well. I'm asking you to leave the office or I'll call security."
"You heard Kelly. Get out of here," Mrs Yim added in a tone that was not open to objection.
"You have no right to do that," protested Sally.
"If you have that much time to protest about your situation, I suggest you spend that amount of time finding wealthy husbands, as you're not going to find good jobs elsewhere. I'll see to that," retorted Kelly. The Trio Bullies left in shame. Kelly then turned to Audrey and Mary.
"Congratulations, Audrey and Mary," she said. "You've passed the test. From today onwards, Audrey will be promoted to team leader and Mary will be assisting her." Everyone applauded as Audrey and Mary accepted the offer, relieved that the reign of bullying had finally ended.
