Expenses Denied Chapter 1

The day the star salesman came to get his team-building expenses reimbursed, I rejected the claim without even looking up.

“Can’t do it. The budget’s been used up.”

He stared at me, his face a mask of disbelief.

“It’s the first of the month! How can there be no money? We have a hundred-dollar budget per person!”

But I held my ground.

He finally lost his temper and stormed off to complain to the big boss.

“Sir! You can’t let her get away with this! She’s intentionally trying to screw over my team!”

“If she won’t approve the budget, how am I supposed to keep morale up?”

“This isn’t just penny-pinching; she’s trying to tank the whole company!”

Seeing that things had finally blown up, I rose with a calm smile and pulled the last six months of receipts from my desk drawer…

* * *

When Rick Harrison’s expense report landed on my desk, I didn’t even raise an eyebrow. My fingers danced across the keyboard, typing the last digit of a spreadsheet. Only after saving the file did I pick up the thin sheet of paper.

His flamboyant signature sprawled across the bottom, and the amount in the box was a glaringly large number.

“Can’t be approved.”

I pushed the form back towards him, my voice flat and steady.

“This month’s budget has already been exhausted.”

The smug grin on Rick’s face froze, as if he hadn’t quite heard me.

“What? Sarah, say that again.”

I finally looked up, meeting his gaze directly.

“I said, the administrative budget for this month… is gone.”

“Impossible!”

He slammed his palm down on my desk, drawing the eyes of the entire office.

“It’s the first of the month!”

“The company standard for team events is a hundred dollars a head per month. The sales department has over a hundred people. That’s a ten-thousand-dollar credit line, and you’re telling me it’s gone?”

A younger salesman standing behind him immediately chimed in.

“Yeah, Sarah. Our team just won a huge contract. What’s wrong with a celebratory dinner?”

“You’re new here, maybe you don’t get how things work, but you can’t just shut us down like this.”

“Seriously, she has no people skills.”

“So petty.”

“It’s not like we do this every month!”

The murmurs from his team buzzed around me like a swarm of flies. I ignored them, my focus remaining locked on Rick.

Seeing that I wouldn’t budge, his confusion morphed into fury. His face flushed a deep red as he pointed a finger at my nose.

“Sarah, are you deliberately trying to make my life difficult?”

“Don’t think for a second that sitting in that chair gives you power over the sales department! We’re the ones making money for this company, not taking crap from some bean-counter!”

I leaned back in my chair, letting his spittle fly, my tone still infuriatingly calm.

“Mr. Harrison, rules are rules.”

“Your team’s overages from last month were automatically deducted from this month’s budget, as per financial policy.”

“Therefore, as of midnight on the first, this month’s budget was already zeroed out.”

My words echoed clearly into every corner of the office.

An immediate, deathly silence fell, broken only by the hum of the central air conditioning. The expressions of my colleagues, who had been enjoying the show, shifted. There was pity, a little scorn, but mostly, the detached indifference of people who were glad it wasn’t them.

They probably thought I was insane. A new accountant, daring to go head-to-head with the company’s golden boy, the untouchable top salesman.

What could possibly cost that much? they were likely thinking. She probably just doesn't want to release that much cash at the beginning of the month.

Rick was speechless, choked by my logic. His chest heaved. He had likely never encountered a situation where his usual tactics hit a wall of solid steel.

Finally, he squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth.

“Fine, Sarah. You just wait.”