Albert tossed1 the papers on my desk--his eyebrows knit into a straight line as he glared at me.
"What's wrong？" I asked.
He jabbed2 a finger at the proposal. "Next time you want to change anything， ask me first，" he said.
How dare he treat me like that， I thought. I had changed one long sentence， and corrected grammar， something I thought I was paid to do.
It's not that I hadn't been warned. Other women who had worked my job before me called Albert names I couldn't repeat. One coworker took me aside the first day. "He's personally responsible for two different secretaries leaving the firm，" she whispered.
As the weeks went by， I grew to despise Albert. His actions made me question much that I believed in， such as turning the other cheek and loving your enemies. Albert quickly slapped a verbal insult on any cheek turned his way.
One day another of his episodes left me in tears. I stormed into his office， prepared to lose my job if needed， but not before I let the man know how I felt. I opened the door and Albert glanced up. "What？" he asked abruptly.
Suddenly I knew what I had to do. After all， he deserved it.
I sat across from him and said calmly， "Albert， the way you've been treating me is wrong. I've never had anyone speak to me that way. it's wrong， and I can't allow it to continue."
Albert snickered3 nervously and leaned back in his chair. I closed my eyes briefly. God help me， I prayed.
"I want to make you a promise， I will be a friend，" I said. "I will treat you as you deserve to be treated， with respect and kindness. You deserve that. Everybody does." I slipped out of the chair and closed the door behind me.
Albert avoided me the rest of the week. Proposals and letters appeared on my desk while I was at lunch， and my corrected versions were not seen again. I brought cookies to the office one day and left a batch4 on his desk. Another day Ileft a note. "Hope your day is going great，" it read.