First work day

“My first day of the job, I have to make a good impression besides that promotion will not wait for me forever.” she whispered to her mirror self. Her silk hair was well braided the previous day, each well twisted and the shortest brushing her shoulder, some makeup preparation followed for instance powdering her cheeks, lining her eye brows, some lip balm for hygiene and an hour down she was done. She chose her fitting black cotton stretchy blouse presenting her figure well, she preferred letting her hair swinging but at the joint on her head she wrapped her hairband around, to the toe covers and walkers her black flats to match her blouse. Full, by her satisfying breakfast of coffee and overnight doughnuts she grabbed her one hand shoulder folder bag, some final surveys of the room she reached for her keys and hang the bag on her left shoulder and exited. Injecting the key in the key hole her wrist twisted and a locking click followed, some light shoves on the door to confirm she took her leave to unwind her actions with her apartment at the end of the day.

The public service bus parked at the bus station for a brief five minutes within which passengers alighted and some boarded. Eager to be timely, she hurriedly boarded the bus at the entrance door and booked herself the first seat she saw at the window and nearest to the door. On its way to roam the city as it always did, the bus driver locked the doors and began his routine his counterpart readying himself to pick the tickets. “I have mobile cash.” Angela insisted, “Use that number.” The man in blue uniform-a badge similar to the marines but with a blue whale instead of an anchor-informed her, proceeding to the next. “Nigel it is?” Angela asked before completing the transaction, the addressed nodded tucking the tickets between his fingers and some in his chest pocket, “Any amount come through?”, he asked the driver. “Yes.”, the driver answered taking a left turn at the green light, played her part to the government and as a good citizen Angela rested her back on the seat. Her bag on her thighs she glared outside at the expensive cars mixed with scraps glued by rusted screws and a dying engine she saw the irony of life, the truth behind the roaring muscle cars and black tinted windows, she chuckled because she figured it out yet it wasn’t going to change anything. Theoretically mesmerized by how life could randomly bless and curse, her eyes caught the blue mail van that was parked at her destination and it dawned she was here.

Pressing the bell button placed beside the seat of each passenger the bus halted at the bus stop some feet ahead, her bag on her shoulder Angela rose herself at the bus’s end of motion and the unwinding of the doors as they gulfed pulled inside the bus walls she alighted. Confident, Angela glared at her wrist watch, it was a quarter to seven, she was fifteen minutes early so this was enough for her to arrange her desk, dust of the unwanted and get ready for the staff meeting. At the doors of the news headquarters, she studied the structure to the top which was equivalent to fifty pickup trucks stacked vertically, from there were satellite dishes pointing at different angles, the glass doors automatically winded open when she neared the sensors and closed when she was inside the building. Already passed the security search party, she headed for the elevator after signing at the receptionist or the secretary, Angela was in a dilemma since she had no idea news reporters had to sign before work. Inside the elevator she was alone at first, but before the doors could close few individuals walked in, each with their work ID on their chest pockets, three males in suits, one dark, another brown, and the third dark but shorter than the two. Clicking her floor, the four button she pressed lit green and one of the three strangers clicked three which lit red and the doors closed eventually the mechanical machine began rising. The interior three sides were made of some reflective mirror surface since she could see her mirror reflection, a half oval shaped device was on the top of the elevator doors before the wall at the top, in it were numbers which changed as the elevator went up and a bell sound at each.

On the third floor the elevator stopped and the ding sound on the oval device was the number three to indicate the floor they were on. The three gentlemen walked out of the elevator and into the room, the room was crowded with bunches of computers in opposite direction in the broadcast structure. Each structure had five computers one each side and a wall of mahogany barred each into a cube like structure, taking a guess Angela presumed this was the reporters room judging by the continuous random disorganized murmuring and consistent keyboard clicks. The doors eventually closed and the elevator began rising, Angela collected herself glaring at her mirror self she murmured “You can do this. You are the best you can do this.”. Injected the confidence prescribed the oval device turned and displayed the number four, the ding sound followed and the doors opened.

The room was twice the size of her apartment, the elevator door was at the center of it and on each end from the exit of the elevator was a door. On the left side were seats, similar to those of hospitals but with padded cushions for comfortability, armrests at each end and its back favoring structure how it leaned and S-like curved, these were definitely for guests. Beside each armrest was a small table with a glass surface on top, on these tables were napkins and a newspaper, the napkins were like paper weights for the newspaper because the fans that rotated continuously were likely to scatter the days news. On the right was a booth, booths if it was applicable, each booth had a number and in each booth was a service provider dressed in a white shirt and their work ID tag on. Angela familiarized with these kinds of services walked out of the elevator, an Atm like machine was suited behind the guest’s seat, there was a man dressed in black and a badge written GUM SECURITY, courteous she greeted the worker and expressed her situation saying it was her first day on the job. Booth three, with her ticket number she sat at the far end beside the table, there was a lady on booth three and while she waited, she grabbed the newspaper moving the napkins. Brushing on the headlines, she studied the content inside and more so the fashion and entertainment section, here she was up to date with trending subjects and all scandals she was juiced already, “Grace Mews”, she muttered the editor of the story she had completed reading.

“Next.”, the lady inside booth three uttered, Angela aware she was called for placed the newspaper back on the table and the napkins on top she rose and walked some feet to the booth. Just like the lad at the Atm machine she explained herself and a minute afterwards she was directed to the door on the left of the elevator, but for emphasis since Angela’s left may be her right and vice versa she described the door by its color and a wooden rose emblem. Thanking the lady, Angela walked to the blue door, studied the door and the color was a check and the rose she assumed was described she knocked. “Come in.” a voice responded, deep breaths Angela grabbed the door handle and pressed it down and forward force she walked in and closed behind her.

“Angela, we meet again. Welcome have a seat.” The manager, Mr Rayan, welcomed her. Angela recalled Rayan, he was among the interviewers was impressed by her work and resume, he also added some extra credit and insisted she was built for this. “So, you will go the first floor there is a secretary there tell her you are the new one and she will sort you out.” Rayan instructed her, Angela hadn’t said a word only smiled and chuckled by the warm welcome, “You can leave the bag.”, Rayan suggested noticed she was anxious on the luggage she was to carry along. Humbled by the chances she thanked Rayan taking her leave and walked to the elevator, clicking the down button on the wall a ding sound followed a minute later and the elevator doors opened. Inside the elevator she clicked the one button and it lit green and the doors closed within were five individuals. Uninterested by the strangers or workmates Angela wasn’t interested in conversing with the three men and two ladies who seemed older than her and had blue tags unlike the employees she interacted with.

“I’m the new one.”, Angela informed the secretary, expecting a new staff member the secretary rose and went behind her much larger booth inside what looked like an office behind the wall. She came out five minutes later with a box inside were some notepads, pen holders, a computer charger and other stuff she would figure after she had settled. Back in the elevator, she had her box held with both hands, potential written all over her and he could notice it.

On other parts of the building renovations were undergoing which included painting and some electrical changes. On the tenth floor, the whole block was evacuated and labeled as dangerous after one of the offices had a short circuit and a fan lost control nearly beheading one of the senior employees within. An electrical company was contacted to fix the situation, working accordance with the payment, a group of electricians was sent and three had spent the night on the floor fixing the issue but the last one on the shift had left a wire, a live wire, in the middle of the corridor, unprotected. Tired from working the whole night the electricians at that shift decided to take a break and head for breakfast and some sleep for the next group to take their shift. So, as they went down a group of painters contacted similarly by the electrical company walked in, purposefully to paint the exterior of the tenth and eleventh floor. Dressing into their blue work overalls, they unloaded their artillery and got themselves ready for the job, clamping the brush rollers into the long sticks they carried, opening sealed paint containers they began diluting the concentrated paint with some chemical liquid they carried in clear bottles with the label H2O.

Ready to earn what they would pay their rent and water bills, a worker with the elongated paint roller brush dipped the orange substance and carefully he raised the soaking brush on his shoulder and walked to the window. Unexpectedly as expected, anything liquid and electricity should not be in contact especially if the liquid has plenty of ions and the wire is live because the eventual result was an electric surge that caused a blackout within the five buildings connected to the building and the building itself.

This mishap caused the elevator sudden stop and followed panic by the residents and soon complaints because if the two people in that elevator unluckily perish the people responsible will be sued of every coin. Angela suddenly shrieked, “whoa!”, her legs lost balance by the sudden motion and her box fell with the contents unveiling themselves. Afraid that she would be tardy on her first day at work, her paranoid thoughts creeped in blaming her for this, because she had prayed five times instead of three was the reason this was happening. She had over prayed and now she was going to lose more than her job, she hadn’t enjoyed her first salary check yet and all because she over did her spiritual routine.

“Relax everything will be fine.”, the gentleman in a brown suit consoled her, he looked unshaken by the scenario, he noticed the lady trembling and blaming herself and he wasn’t going to let her ruin what was perfect. “I’m sorry it’s just that it’s my first day and I’m going to be late and…”, she paused brushing a tear and wheeze from her nose, “…Sorry I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I’m just paranoid.” She apologized. “It’s okay I understand and did you say its your first day?”, he asked politely, Angela nodded and got to fully analyze the lad, how well he was dressed, how amazing his haircut was, how his height was dreamy, his presence conformed her and the fears were shunned. “Yes.”, she answered her box arranged and, on the ground, instead of holding it till the elevator was back in action, “If you passed the interview then this shouldn’t be as terrifying.” He muttered with a hint of humor.

“I guess a group of observative people with five degrees grading me is far worse than in a nonfunctional elevator foot from the ground.”, she humored and both chuckled. For a minute they had a locked eye contact, the lad studied the lady, her beauty, how young she was and the physical baggage well cased within her clothing, both impressed by the other. Some conversing and the two had forgotten they were in n elevator with no electricity, they laughed, giggled, joked about their childhood memories that indicated they different backgrounds and eventually they exchanged contacts.

“What’s your name?”, he asked her, he was much closer to her and could sense how nervous she was, as a gentleman he reached down and carried her box for her and glared at her waiting an answer. “I’m Angela and you are?”, she asked shyly, her cheeks blushing by the unbearable beauty he had, “I’m Tony.”, he answered. “Ding!”, the elevator was back in action thanks to the generator that kicked in after some refill of gallons of fuel, Tony? Angela wondered if he was related to the infamous millionaire CEO, if he was the founder of the Masons company, was he the Tony Mason?