Mid-September, day 1, year 1
I arrived early for my first day and sat down in my chair, staring dreamily at my computer monitor. The in bin looked a little fuller than yesterday. Grabbing the stack, I saw that most jobs were paper-clipped together, others were stapled, and two thick ones used binder clips. A work order on top of each was completed to varying levels, with many having a deadline of ASAP. I bit my lip and determined to change that line of thinking. “As soon as possible” would go to the bottom of the pile when I could get to it.
“You the new guy?”
I looked up and saw a thin man with a baseball cap standing in the doorway to the mail room. He was wearing a team sports jacket, carrying a newspaper in one hand and an oblong brown bag from a food vendor in his other. I stood and reached out to shake his hand. He just jerked his chin up quickly and tapped my hand with the paper.
“Keep it casual. None of that stuff with me.”
“I’m sorry. Who are you?” I sat down again.
“Eisenhower Brennan. They didn’t tell you all about me?” He removed his cap, scratched his head, and then put it back on again.
“I really didn’t meet anyone except for Mr. Manor and Ms. Cedar.” I shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Well, that’s fine.”
Turning while removing his jacket, he walked into the bathroom that was next to my desk. He closed the door, and at that moment, I learned exactly how thin the wall was between us. After the course of human events, he exited again and motioned for me to follow him. Moving slowly through the mail room, he made a left and then pointed to a little paneled room. “My office is in there if you need me.”
“What exactly do you do?” I asked, looking at all the boxes and rusty-green shelving.
“I’m in charge of the mail room, and now you.” He smiled, and I noticed he was missing quite a few teeth. “Most people call me Ike, so that’ll work for us, right?”
I nodded.
“Good, because I don’t go for all that formal junk.”
“Will you be training me?” I looked at the clock on the wall.
“Do you have questions already?”
I held up my hands. “No.”
He moved into his office and sat down in his chair. The room was barely bigger than the space for his desk and chair. An enormous pale-yellow printer took up the back portion, while the shelves had binders of all sizes, shapes, and colors lining the walls. I’m surprised any work could get done in there since the desk had piles of papers with more work orders on them.
“Good. After I eat my breakfast, I’ll sit with you, and we can go over how things get done around here.”
“Thanks. I’ll leave you to it then.”
For some reason, I started to bow as I backed away. He chuckled and closed his door abruptly. I felt very stupid as I hustled back to my desk. After getting comfortable, I counted the jobs and found there were nineteen. Most were due by the end of the week, and a few were simple edits. I took a deep, cleansing breath and leaned back in my chair as I got familiar with the work order.
During the next hour, many people passed through my hallway. Most were oblivious that I was even sitting there and often went by without noticing. I felt that I should have said something or made some sort of noise to get their attention. No sense bothering them now when I was sure they would eventually come by later. For those who stopped, I exchanged names and gave them an abbreviated version of what I was supposed to be doing for the company.
I had turned on my computer and started looking through the files. Folders of acronyms seemed to be how everything was stored. In each folder were more folders for current projects. The previous person did an awesome job of making it easy for me to catch on quickly. It was surprising that my boss hadn’t shown up yet, but I didn’t want to bug him since I understood where to find the files to edit.
By the time Ike poked his head in the doorway, I was already done with two sets of edits.
“You figuring it out?”
“Sure, but I don’t know if I should call people to pick up their jobs or deliver them.” I held up all the paperwork for the two I completed. “These are ready.”
He took what I was holding and looked at the work orders. “We don’t have voice mail, so it’s best to get off our duffers and deliver.”
I gave him a look because I wasn’t completely sure what he meant.
Noticing my confused look, he pointed to his backside. “We get off of ours so they don’t have to.”
“Gotcha. I’m not sure where everyone sits yet.”
He handed back the papers. “When the person who had the job before you gets in, she’ll walk you around. There’s a bunch of other policies and procedures you’ll need to learn and follow. Unless you have any other questions, I’ll go back to doing my job.”
“I’m good. Thanks for checking on me.”
He tipped his hat and went away. I looked through the rest of the work orders and files, looking for something to do while I waited. Not knowing what most of the acronyms meant, I started opening up some of the old work. Most of the layout was the same from group to group, which helped. Templates for almost everything were clearly marked and organized.
“Hello, Derrick,” someone said. I looked up to see a woman smiling brightly at me. “I’m Polly’s friend.”
I stood and shook her hand. “Thank you so much for telling my sister about the job.”
She blushed and tucked a strand of her brown hair behind an ear. “She was concerned about you and told me you’ve been looking for a while.”
“I didn’t want to rush into the first thing, you know?”
She nodded.
“Well, Ike told me you could walk me around to meet everyone. I finished up two of the jobs in the bin.”
“Wow, you’re going to show me up. That’s okay, I’ve moved on to a team now.” She leaned closer. “I’m sure you’ll fit in here.”
“I hope so. Ike also told me to talk to you about all the rules I’ll have to follow.” I sat down again. “It looks like you need to settle in first.” I pointed to her bag.
“I’ll go throw my things upstairs and be down in a bit. You can look through the Ops Manual while you wait.” She walked behind me and carefully took a wide binder from the shelf. “Everything you need to know is in here.” She tapped the cover. “It’s yours now.”
There wasn’t quite a ream of paper inside, but it was close. “I can’t imagine you missed anything.” I took the object as if it was sacred. “Well, take your time.”
She opened the door to the steps leading up, and I could hear her thumping loudly upward. Sitting back in my chair, I opened the cover and flipped through the contents for the next half hour.
“Sorry, I got stuck in a meeting.” I looked up and saw my sister’s friend coming through the door leading upstairs.
“Not a problem.” I closed the book and put it on the desk. “I think I get the process, thanks to your notes.”
“Oh, they are very serious about those things,” she said, pointing to the Ops Manual. “You don’t keep that up to date and it’ll be the end of both of us here.” A tiny frown turned quickly to a perky smile. “Ready for a tour?”
I grabbed the two jobs I completed. “These two are done, so let’s drop them off.”
She nodded and waved me on.
To say that I met a lot of people would be an understatement. It is sad to note that I very rarely remember anyone’s name and hardly use it even if I know it. I’m not sure why that is the case; I guess most people in my life are just that—forgettable. The ones you would like to push out of your head, however, are the ones you are stuck with much longer than necessary.
One thing that I did notice was most of the employees were female. Quite a few of them were pretty, and a couple were downright beautiful. Beauty is not having to add, change, or delete anything. That’s for outer looks and inner attitude. To find someone who has both is very rare, but in the long run, I’d pick inner beauty over outer.
When the tour was over, we returned to my desk, and I sat down.
“I’ll stop by after lunch to go over all the steps from the sign-in sheet to billing the associations when you are done. In the meantime, if you want, there is some storage space downstairs where I keep clip-art binders and disks. You should check it out, and bring up anything you might need.” My sister’s friend opened a door across from the bathroom in the little hallway to the mail room. “Just watch your head down there.”
I stood up, excited to go exploring. “I’ll see you after lunch,” I said, heading down a rickety set of wooden steps. The walls, while plastered and painted white, had plenty of jutting rocks and orangey-brown dirt exposed. You could almost feel the dampness attacking your senses before getting to the bottom of the stairs. A cement floor was littered with unfolded cardboard boxes and what looked like cleaning supplies. I heard the door close above and felt very alone.
Ahead was a tiny alcove with wooden shelving. Stacks of binders with disks and clip-art images gave me the evidence I was in the right spot. I was glad for the warning to watch my head because the rafters overhead had wires hanging along with nails coming dangerously close to my level. After pulling out a few books and flipping through the pages, I realized that it would be better to take them upstairs since the lighting was not ideal down here.
As I gathered up two binders in each arm, I decided to keep looking for anything else that would help. I heard laughing, and it sounded close. It couldn’t be from above since this dungeon did a great job of absorbing light and sound.
“Is someone down here?” I called as I walked back to the steps.
A thick metal door at the bottom of the steps was left slightly open with a wooden wedge. I slowly pulled it all the way open so I didn’t drop the books. Moving quickly through and to the left, I could see more office supplies and kitchen cups up ahead.
Entering a big open area, I saw two fellow associates hurriedly fixing their attire and trying to act naturally.
“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt anything.” I really didn’t know what to do, so I stood there, looking around. “This place is like a maze.”
The woman picked up a clipboard and nervously tapped a pen while glancing at the other man. “I guess we can finish counting later.” She pushed by me and left.
“What are you doing down here?” the man asked with his hands on his hips.
“Oh, I was getting clip-art books. I’m the new desktopper. I missed you two on the tour.” I bounced on my toes and pursed my lips. “So, I’ll see you around.” I turned around quickly and allowed myself a quick wide smile.
I wondered what type of person would actually find such filthy conditions attractive enough to warrant a romantic encounter. Maybe I misread the scene. Maybe it was all my imagination. Would I ever let myself get involved with someone at work? And if I did, would I end up down here? My first day and here I was stuck in an awkward situation of keeping a secret.
When I got to the top of the basement steps, I opened the door and walked into the bathroom. I washed my hands and blew my nose. I’m not usually obsessive about such behavior, but I felt like I was coated with dust and dirt. Going into the basement would definitely be something I did sparingly.
I saw someone walk by out of the corner of my eye and realized I hadn’t closed the door. Checking the mirror one last time, I wiped off the books and tossed the paper towel in the trash.
Coming into my space, I saw there was someone sitting in my chair, facing the emergency doors. I put the books down loudly on the desk in hopes the person would spin around. “Can I help you?”
The chair began to turn slowly, and I saw her again.
“You already have,” she said, standing up, running her hands through her hair. “Don’t know what else you said, but I got the job.” She stood with her arms open wide, like she wanted a hug. “Come here, silly,” she said, stomping her foot.
“Alison, it’s good to see you again,” I said, holding out my hand.
She cocked her head to the side and waved a finger at me.
“What?”
Alison stared at me for a few seconds before shaking my hand. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”
I didn’t want to tell her exactly how I felt about her since I only knew her outer beauty. Could it be possible that she was ugly inside? I was bound and determined to get to know her, but for now, I wanted to keep everything very professional.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to see you again. I am happy we both got the jobs.”
“Happy, I can work with that,” she said, tapping my arm.
I really didn’t understand what she meant. At least I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
“We are supposed to be going into a meeting now.” She looked at her watch and nodded. “You ready?” When I furrowed my brow and didn’t move, she asked, “Didn’t you get a training schedule?”
I shrugged, and she handed me a piece of paper.
“What, did you just show up and start working?”
My sheepish expression made her smile.
“Don’t ever change.”
While she pushed me toward the mail room, I kept reading.
“Lunch with the owners?” I stopped and gave her back the paper. “Is that where we are going?”
“Nice try. That’s just for me. We are going to Human Resources now”—she pointed to a door at the back of the mail room—“through there.”
“How is it you know where Human Resources is?” I stretched out my arms and spun around. “What else do you know?” I asked, squinting one eye and pointing a finger in her face.
She tried to bite my finger, and I pulled it away.
“We’ll be late if you don’t stop goofing off.”
“I’ll show you the basement when we’re done, if you want.” Alison was going to be very difficult to work with, that was for sure.