41. Chapter Forty-One
I show up for my first day of work twenty minutes early. Cole let me use his truck, and I had to make sure I wasn’t late. Since I’ll be out before he is, he said using his truck was okay. I’ll pick him up afterward. Once I park, I head inside.
The first half of the day is orientation, and the room for that is located on the second floor.
I’m on the elevator with two other guys. Both smile at me, so I smile back, even though I feel like I’m going to vomit. My shirt is too tight around my neck. My belt is digging into my stomach. The seam on my sock is crooked, and I’m going to have to fix that before I lose my shit.
Once on the second floor, I make a beeline to the bathroom to fix my sock. I loosen my belt and tug on my shirt, but of course it doesn’t stretch, so it does nothing to help. I splash some water on my face and force my mind to focus on everything Cole said to me this morning.
You’re going to do great.
You look amazing.
You’ve got this.
I get to the room with ten minutes to spare and there are two other people in here already. There is one rectangle table in the middle of the room with a large screen TV on the wall on the far end. The wall across from the door is full of windows and overlooks the city. The building isn’t quite in the center of the city, but a few minutes away and on higher ground. I bet the view on the higher floors is better. Hopefully my office will be up there. It isn’t a very tall building, only eight floors. If my office is on the top floor? That would be pretty cool. This isn’t New York or Chicago, but a view is a view.
Two more people show up before the trainer walks in. She’s dressed in a grey skirt suit with a white blouse and heels that must hurt her feet, they’re so tall. At the table are me and four other guys, all of which look around my age. We’re dressed similarly, which makes me feel more comfortable. Cole helped me pick out the outfit and swore it was perfect, but my anxiety is through the roof so everything feels wrong.
“Good morning, everyone,” the woman says as she puts down a stack of folders at the head of the table. “My name is Marie Harris. I spoke to each of you on the phone recently. I’ll be with you for the first half of the day as we go through paperwork and training materials. Most of it will be via video, but there are some packets for you to take with you, and of course, lots of things to sign.” She glances at the clock. “Thank you all for being on time. If we get started right away, we can get you lunch for twelve and send you up with your partners for one. Does anyone have questions before we start?”
We all shake our heads, and she gets started. She passes out a folder to each of us, each of them with our name printed on a label in the top right corner. The papers inside are specific to our jobs. One other guy here was hired to the marketing department like me, but the others are in different areas, like productions, planning, and accounts.
We get some forms out of the way and spend an hour watching a video about the company”s history. She gives us a ten-minute break; we get up and head to the bathroom. When we return, we each have a canvas tote bag at our spots.
“Gifts?” one of the guys says, looking inside. I didn’t catch anyone’s names.
I dig through my bag and pull out items with the agency logo on it.
A water bottle, post-it notes, pen, and our badges.
“You’re able to get to the second floor without a badge, but everything above us needs it, so make sure you have it with you every day.” Marie says. “Any questions so far?”
There’s a round of no’s. We fill out more papers and watch another video.
I didn’t eat breakfast because I was too nervous. By the time it’s eleven, my stomach is hurting and growling. So the hour drags. I’m ravenous once lunch comes. I expect them to order pizza, because I feel like that’s what you always see. But they order from an Italian place, and we get a huge salad, a pan of lasagna, and another of spaghetti and meatballs. Marie leaves us as we eat, and we devour almost all of it. Five guys with a ton of food? Of course we’re going to eat it. I’m grateful I don’t spill anything on my shirt. I wonder if this is some kind of test to see if we’re slobs. Like if we spill something on our clothes, we aren’t worthy of working here.
When we’re done eating, Marie comes back in and tells us to gather our things. The five of us aren’t on the same floor, so as we ride on the elevator, stopping at the ones we need, she explains what they are the moment we step off. She then brings whoever it is to their partner while the rest of us wait by the elevator bay, and when she returns, we get back on and keep going.
My floor is the sixth, which is cool. There is one guy left who’s going to the next floor. Marie brings me to the receptionist, Carol, who shows me to my desk, which is close enough to the window that I can see out over the city. I’m not sure why Marie didn’t walk me over to my partner herself, but I’m sure there is a reason. One that has nothing to do with me. Hopefully.
Carol is old enough to be my mother and looks like she’s had a lot of cosmetic work done on her face. Her shoulder-length hair is shiny, light brown with blonde highlights. She’s dressed as well as everyone else around here.
“You can have a seat and Jessie will be over soon. He’s our in-house copy machine fixer.” She rolls her eyes.
“I take it breaks often?”
She nods. “Too often.” She looks me up and down. “You know how to fix them?”
I chuckle, holding up my hands. “No.”
She nods. “All right then. Have a good first day.”
I take a seat and look around the floor. This area is open with small clusters of desks and glass paned wall partitions to separate the spaces, giving it a modern look. It isn’t at all like Mad Men, which I secretly hoped it would be. There aren’t many shows I’ve watched over the years, but that was one I binged. Bunch of handsome men in suits? Yes, please. The casual attire everyone is wearing is still nice; there’s just something about a suit.
“Good morning, you must be Bryan.”
I glance at the man walking toward my desk, extending his hand with a big smile on his face. I get to my feet.
“It’s Bryson, but I get that often. You’re Jessie?”
He could be about thirty. Dark brown hair that’s long enough to tuck behind his ears. He’s dressed like everyone else here in slacks and a button up.
We shake hands. “Sorry about that. I could have sworn they said Bryan.”
I shrug. “Probably did.”
“Have you had a tour of the floor yet?”
“Nothing more than the walk here from the elevator.”
“I suppose that should be first on our list. Come on, then.”
We spend the next half hour going through the entire floor. He explains the different areas and introduces me to a few people who aren’t busy. The floor is broken up into different types of marketing, like television versus magazines versus social media, etc. I’ll be on social media, which I already knew. He shows me where the bathrooms are, the coffee and break room, the copy room, and supply room. There is a small mailroom also.
“The cafeteria is on the second floor and the food is decent.” He pats his stomach. “Wife prefers I eat home-cooked food, but every now and then I’ll grab a slice of pizza from down there. You married?”
I shake my head. “Nope, and totally fine with that.”
“You’re young,” he says with a chuckle. “A lot of young guys in the company have the same outlook you do. You’ll fit in just fine.”
After the tour is done, I follow Jessie back to his desk where he goes over a few of the programs they frequently use, none of which I’m familiar with, but all seem simple enough. He tells me I’ll be shadowing for the week to all meetings and see how he works on projects so I can get a feel for how things go.
When four o’clock hits, we grab our stuff and head out.
I notice Cole’s truck is at half a tank of gas, which is still plenty, but if I don’t put gas in it when I have the opportunity, I’ll never be able to. Since there’s plenty of time to spare before picking him up, I stop for gas then head to his office.
I’ve never been inside, and since there is still time before he’s done, I go in.
His office is in a large office building, and I check the board to see which floor he’s on.
Harper Construction — 3rd floor.
I take the elevator up and follow the doors for suite 311. The sign on the door says please come in. So I go in and step into a small waiting room with two chairs and a table between them with a short pile of magazines.
“Be right with you!” he calls from another room. It’s the only other door in here.
He’s probably with a client. I hadn’t really thought about that.
I move to take a seat until I hear laughing from the other room. I freeze halfway to sitting. No, that’s not just laughing. It’s giggling. Like from a female.
The door is ajar, and I step closer to listen. Because I like to torture myself. I should have stayed in the car. Through the slit in the door, I see long legs and high red heels. I shift a little, noting there is a woman sitting on a desk. Cole’s desk, I assume, since it was definitely Cole who called out to me. Unless he shares an office with someone else? That’s not what the board said. It was only Harper Construction and he’s never mentioned sharing an office with anyone.
I listen to them chat, but I swear I can’t hear anything because my ears are ringing so damn loudly. I snap out of it where I hear clacking on the floor.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
Tomorrow is Tuesday.
I see red. The door opens and I’m face-to-face with mystery date woman. The woman Cole fucked. The one who was just sitting on his desk, giggling like a fucking school girl.
I want to vomit.
“Oh, hello again.” She smiles and keeps walking. Cole looks up and sets eyes on me, and when he does, his face drops.