Episode 3: Hophen could not attach to the cluster.

That gathering was not a big deal and every colleague should spend some time in joining it. Moreover the activity could elevate the team spirit and the efficiency of work. However, the admission fee including the USD7 was the prerequisite. It was equal to setting up a barrier for some people with a meager life. When Hophen took a deeper look at whom he was working with, he detected that most of his co-workers were living in a so different planet than his. The backgrounds of history and education were not similar either. When he found what the fact was, he was a little chagrined and heaved a sigh of upset.

He knew that the road ahead of him was bumpy but he did not select to give up his job yet. After the declination, he could predict that something hard to bear was going to happen very soon. He was right but it was calm before a storm. A week later, Lollipop could not wait to revenge the declination and the insufficient payment. When she saw Hophen coming back to his work after going to the toilet, she ordered him to reduce 5 minutes from his lunchtime. It meant that his regular and short lunchtime of 45 minutes was decreased to 40 minutes. He surely asked why she did so and her ridiculous excuse was that he had spent long in the toilet.

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The hotter it was, the tougher he was.

It was so unreasonable but he did not argue with her because he understood what was really happening to him. She obviously abused her power without the permission from Andy but it was no use reporting it to him. Andy did not ever ask the junior staff how they worked and he often contacted Lollipop for anything at the Café. Her prestige was invisibly formed in the minds of other colleagues. The only thing Hophen could do on that day was to eat fast at lunchtime because the diner was 10-minute distance from the Café he worked for. When he finished his meal, he had to spend 10 minutes again in going back to his work. If there was a long queue in front of the cashier at the diner, the condition of having lunch was much worse.

The greeter, Berry, was on the spot when Lollipop ordered Hophen to use 5 less minutes for lunch. When he did not hear anything from Berry for him, he was so sure that Berry took sides with Lollipop against him. From then on, he had sensed that the influence of Lollipop was widespread and it was comprehensible that no co-workers were willing to make a stand against their lead. Although he decided to stay at the Café to work, he was not confident of beating her. He just knew that he could not defend much each time when he was not fairly treated because her cluster was a lot stronger than a single man. What a helpless fellow!