That's what friends do

13 朋友就该这么做

Jack tossed the papers on my desk—his eyebrows knit into a straight line as he glared at me.

杰克把文件扔到我桌上，皱着眉头，气愤地瞪着我。

"What’s wrong?" I asked.

“怎么了？”我问道。

He jabbed a finger at the proposal. "Next time you want to change anything, ask me first," he said, turning on his heels and leaving me stewing in anger.

他指着计划书狠狠地说道：“下次想作什么改动前，先征求一下我的意见。”然后转身走了，留下我一个人在那里生闷气。

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.

他怎么能这样对我！我想，我只是改了一个长句，更正了语法错误，但这都是我的分内之事啊。

It’s not that I hadn’t been warned. Other women who had worked my job before me called Jack 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.

其实也有人提醒过我，上一任在我这个职位上工作的女士就曾大骂过他。我第一天上班时，就有同事把我拉到一旁小声说：“已有两个秘书因为他而辞职了。”

As the weeks went by, I grew to despise Jack. His actions made me question much that I believed in, such as turning the other cheek and loving your enemies. Jack quickly slapped a verbal insult on any cheek turned his way. I prayed about the situation, but to be honest, I wanted to put Jack in his place, not love him.

几周后，我逐渐有些鄙视杰克了，而这又有悖于我的信条——别人打你左脸，右脸也转过去让他打；爱自己的敌人。但无论怎么做，总会挨杰克的骂。说真的，我很想灭灭他的嚣张气焰，而不是去爱他。我还为此默默祈祷过。

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 Jack glanced up. “What?” he asked abruptly.

一天，因为一件事，我又被他气哭了。我冲进他的办公室，准备在被炒鱿鱼前让他知道我的感受。我推开门，杰克抬头看了我一眼。“有事吗？”他突然说道。

Suddenly I knew what I had to do. After all, he deserved it.

我猛地意识到该怎么做了。毕竟，他罪有应得。

I sat across from him and said calmly, “Jack, the way you’ve been treating me is wrong. I’ve never had anyone speak to me that way. As a professional, it’s wrong, and I can’t allow it to continue.”

我在他对面坐下：“杰克，你对待我的方式很有问题。还从没有人像你那样对我说话。作为一个职业人士，你这么做很愚蠢，我无法容忍这样的事情再度发生。”

Jack snickered nervously and leaned back in his chair. I closed my eyes briefly. God help me, I prayed.

杰克不安地笑了笑，向后靠靠。我闭了一下眼睛，祈祷着，希望上帝能帮帮我。

“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.

“我保证，可以成为你的朋友。你是我的上司，我自然会尊敬你，礼貌待你，这是我应做的。每个人都应得到如此礼遇。”我说着便起身离开，把门关上了。

Jack avoided me the rest of the week. Proposals, specs, 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 batch on his desk. Another day I left a note. “Hope your day is going great,” it read.

那个星期余下的几天，杰克一直躲着我。他总趁我吃午饭时，把计划书、技术说明和信件放在我桌上，并且，我修改过的文件不再被打回来。一天，我买了些饼干去办公室，顺便在杰克桌上留了一包。第二天，我又留了一张字条，在上面写道：“祝你今天一切顺利。”

Over the next few weeks, Jack reappeared. He was reserved, but there were no other episodes. Coworkers cornered me in the break room. “Guess you got to Jack,” they said. “You must have told him off good.”

接下来的几个星期，杰克不再躲避我了，但沉默了许多，办公室里再也没发生不愉快的事情。于是，同事们在休息室把我团团围了起来。“听说杰克被你镇住了，”他们说，“你肯定大骂了他一顿。”

I shook my head. “Jack and I are becoming friends,” I said in faith. I refused to talk about him. Every time I saw Jack in the hall, I smiled at him. After all, that’s what friends do.

我摇了摇头，一字一顿地说：“我们会成为朋友。”我根本不想提起杰克，每次在大厅看见他时，我总冲他微笑。毕竟，朋友就该这样。

One year after our "talk," I discovered I had breast cancer. I was thirty-two, the mother of three beautiful young children, and scared. The cancer had metastasized to my lymph nodes and the statistics were not great for long-term survival. After my surgery, friends and loved ones visited and tried to find the right words. No one knew what to say, and many said the wrong things. Others wept, and I tried to encourage them. I clung to hope myself.