11. Collide
Collide
T he shared lobby of The Sharpe Agency was coming to life as the Monday morning warriors collected their to-go cups from the cafe that took up nearly half the space.
When Kellan stepped inside they headed directly to the reception desk, greeting the woman behind it with a bright smile and a wave.
“Hey Suzanne,” Kellan called out with more cheer than a Monday morning seemed to warrant. “Good morning and happy Monday!”
Suzanne looked up from her monitor, returning the smile. “Oh, good morning, Kellan. Mx. Sharpe is here…” She turned slightly in her chair and nodded toward the seating area tucked away near the windows.
“They’re early,” Kellan whispered, flashing Suzanne an impressed look. Offering Suzanne another quick grin, they spun on their heel and headed in that direction.
Seated in one of the modern lounge chairs was someone dressed sharply in a dark blue button-up and slim grey slacks, their short brown hair slightly tousled.
They sat perfectly straight, the fingers of one hand tapping their knee, hinting at a nervous undercurrent. As Kellan approached, the person stood.
“Hi, Kimberly?” Kellan asked, a slight look of confusion on their face.
“A-actually, please call me Alex,” they said. “I don’t go by Kimberly anymore. W-were you not expecting me this morning?”
“What? No… I mean, um… yes. Yes, we were expecting you.” Kellan closed their eyes briefly and shook their head. “Sorry, I was expecting you to be blonde.”
“Oh… yeah.” Alex rubbed their hand on the back of their neck. “I stopped dying it when I cut it short. My mom and my sister have blonde hair and I used to color it to fit in—.” They cut themself off, then added with a nervous chuckle, “Anyway, all-natural Alex now.”
“Well, good morning, Alex, I’m Kellan Davies. One of the Creative Directors on your team,” they said, extending a hand, their face open and kind.
Alex offered a shy but genuine smile and shook Kellan’s hand with a firm grip. “Sorry about the name thing… HR didn’t mention you had a preferred one.” Kellan’s expression shifted to one of quick understanding. “They did say you use they/them pronouns. Is that correct?”
Alex nodded, the smile deepening. “Yes. That’s correct. And no worries. I haven’t changed my name legally or anything, so it happens.”
“Well, I use they/them pronouns as well,” Kellan said, beaming back. “But my name was already Kellan,” they added with a soft chuckle. “Follow me…I can show you where your office is.”
Alex pulled the strap of their messenger bag over their shoulder and fell into step beside them.
Together, they crossed the sleek lobby, Kellan flashing two thumbs up to Suzanne as they passed by.
As they reached the elevator, Kellan swiped their ID badge over the security panel before pressing the button marked 3 .
Turning toward Alex, they continued without missing a beat.
“The Sharpe Agency occupies the top two floors. Executive offices, the fancy executive conference room, and screening room take up most of the fourth with HR, Finance, and IT.”
The elevator doors opened with a soft ding, and Kellan motioned for Alex to step in first. They followed, leaning casually against the back wall. “There’s also a small gym up there that’s open to all employees. You know, if you’re into that kind of thing,” they added with a wink.
“And the third floor…that’s us,” Kellan added with a grin.
“The entirety of the creative team is based there. The full-time staff is relatively small, but very mighty, I must add. We also have a strong contingent of freelancers and project-specific team members. Our internal web manager also graces the third floor with his presence,” Kellan said, adding an exaggerated eye roll for extra drama.
“There’s an accounting firm on the second floor,” they continued. “And finally, on the first floor, there’s a nice little family-run dry cleaner, and, my personal favorite, an amazing café-slash-bakery-slash-bistro.”
Alex tilted their head with a curious smile. “All in one?”
“Oh yeah. Triple threat. The croissants are no joke.” Kellan grinned.
“I’ll show you the good stuff after you’re settled in.
” Sensing a lingering bit of tension, Kellan glanced at Alex and offered a quick, reassuring grin.
“Don’t worry, I think you’ll fit in just fine.
You’re already ahead of the game… most execs don’t show up early on day one. ”
Alex’s smile was faint but grateful, the nerves still present but tempered by the easy conversation. As the elevator doors opened onto the third floor, they stepped out together .
“Welcome to the fun zone,” Kellan said, their arms spread wide to encompass the whole space.
Alex chuckled softly and followed them into the bright, open workspace.
Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a direct view of the ocean.
Unlike the darker lobby, this floor was bright and airy, with colorful artwork and movie campaign posters lining the soft white walls.
Light wood floors, white leather furniture, and blonde wood tables gave the space an upscale beach vibe.
White metal desks with matching wood tops were divided by low filing cabinets and glass panels, each featuring a frosted strip for privacy without blocking the light.
Offices and conference rooms were set along the interior, enclosed by glass walls and doors with the same frosted detailing.
Kellan led them left down the hall, passing the copy room and a small break room.
Pausing, Kellan pointed down a small hallway.
“The restrooms are just down this hallway on the right. And if you prefer the stairs to the elevator, that’s the middle door on the left.
Fair warning though, you will need your ID badge to get into the stairwell, which IT left in the top drawer of your desk.
And you’ll need it to open the door onto any of our floors. ”
Walking again, they passed a conference room with two large televisions bookending the space.
The same blond wood topped the long, rectangular table, flanked by white leather chairs.
“We can’t get onto the second floor from the stairwell, but you can always exit onto the first floor.
” Kellan continued, not missing a beat of their guided tour.
Stopping at the first office, Kellan swept their arm out with a flourish, adding a slight bow at the end.
“So this one here is yours. The office right next door is Cassandra’s, but you can call her Cassie.
She’s the other Creative Director. And my office is next to hers.
” Turning, Kellan pointed to a section of cubicles in front of Cassie’s office.
“This section of desks is where our coordinators and designers sit. ”
Nodding, Alex stepped into the office and placed their messenger bag down on the desk. Alex looked around, taking in the space before sinking into the white ergonomic desk chair.
“Do you want me to set up a quick intro meeting with the team for you this morning?” Standing just inside the office door, Kellan watched as Alex took in their surroundings.
“Oh, and I printed a little how-to guide for you. It has the info you need to log into your computer,” they said, pointing to the lone piece of paper on the desktop.
“I also included the names, phone numbers and pronouns for everyone on our team and a few other folx you might need, like IT and admin.”
“Um, yeah. A-an intro meeting would be great,” Alex said, glancing out at the desks, their eyes a mix of nervousness and excitement.
“Do you think we could bring in some coffee and donuts or something? I can give you my credit card…” Alex trailed off.
Clearing their throat, they continued, “n-not that I expect you to…”
Kellan waved off Alex’s concerns. “I’ll take care of it. I can use the company card and place an order with the cafe downstairs. We order from them all the time. Do you have a specific coffee request?”
Alex walked over and handed Kellan their credit card, a kind determination on their face. “I’d like to pay for it actually. It’s not really an official work thing. And I’ll take a large vanilla latte with oat milk if they have it.”
“Perfect. I’ll send out a meeting notice to have the team gather in the conference room at 10,” Kellan said, disappearing down the hall.
Glancing at their watch, Alex noted the time—8:45 a.m. They still had 30 minutes until they needed to be upstairs to officially check in with Leah.
Deciding to use the time effectively, they booted up their computer, following Kellan’s detailed step-by-step instructions to log in.
Grabbing a notebook from their messenger bag, they double-checked that all the programs they needed were installed.
Inevitably, they would need to reach out to IT for some stuff.
They looked through the desk drawers, finding their ID badge, and jotting down a list of supplies they needed.
Twenty minutes later, Alex closed their laptop, clipped on their ID and headed out.
They had seen a few folx walk by their office earlier and there were a few more sitting at workstations when they headed to the executive floor for their meeting.
If anyone was surprised by the sudden appearance of a new face, they didn’t let on.
When Alex returned about 45 minutes later, the floor was full of life.
The sound of several conversations hit their ears.
Most of the desks had either someone sitting at them or other signs of occupation—laptops open, coffee mugs and water bottles.
As Alex walked past the glass wall of their office to their door, they could see Kellan and another person sitting—no, waiting for them, it appeared—their backs to the glass.
They both turned toward the door when they heard Alex step in.
The moment seemed to stretch, time elongating as recognition slowly dawned on Alex’s face.