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THE REST OF HER DAY passed by uneventfully, and for once in her life, Emily was grateful for the lack of drama. Having grown up the middle child in a middle-income family, with no outstanding life experiences beyond a few boyfriend dramas and the successful completion of her studies, she had originally been excited to move to a large city and start in a world-renowned firm. She loved the drama of it all and the fear and excitement it brought.
Her mum was ridiculously proud of her achievement and had insisted on telling anyone who passed her sphere all about it. From the boy who bagged their groceries, to the parents of all her old high-school friends she hadn’t seen in years, Emily doubted there was a single family in her vicinity that hadn’t heard about her clear rise to fame. But as she sat there after five o’clock, sucking on the end of her pen with the draft concept of only one idea on the table, she worried she might have bitten off more drama than she could chew this time.
Meg was in the opposite corner of the room, cross-legged and according to her, meditating. Emily wasn’t sure if she was still awake, suspecting that Meg used that excuse to have a granny nap at work instead. With a holler, Meg sprang to her feet and ascended on some paper on the easel. The abrupt movement made Emily jump and drop her pen.
“I’ve got it! Giraffes, pfft, what was I thinking? Naturally, it needs to be a cheetah!”
Confused, Emily, shuffled through the papers spread across the desk. “I thought we ruled out animals? Weren’t we going for a scenic shot of a guy running through the desert?”
“Who the hell wants to watch someone else running? No. I was caught up on the brand name, but I forgot to think about the materials.”
Tired and confused, Emily asked, “So you don’t want to work around running free anymore?”
“Not quite, but kind of,” replied Meg cryptically. She began frantically sketching a man running through several shots. Then a scene where he stops, picks the brand of shoe they were promoting, and then takes off again, this time wearing the shoes and the last shot of him morphing into a cheetah. “This last shot will be up to you, Ems. A killer line inserted here about speed and the brand.” She tapped at the board as the idea spread across the two halves of Emily’s brain.
Actually, it wasn’t bad. She began to write one-line catchphrases and forgot to double-check the time. Before the girls knew it, the sky had dimmed and there was a soft knock at the door.
Gwyneth entered with a smile. “Knock, knock, girls. It’s past your bedtime!”
Meg smiled back at her. “I did it again, didn’t I? Forgot to leave on time. Sorry, G, for keeping you behind.”
“No worries, but you scoot off now. I want to get home to my kids.”
Mortified that she had kept Gwyneth away from her family, Emily packed up her things as fast as she could. “I’m sorry Gwyneth, I was just side-tracked with this idea.”
“Don’t worry about it, happens all the time.” Gwyneth smiled as she helped the girls out of the room and followed them along the hallway to the elevator. “I’ll be seeing you both in the morning then.”
She pushed the button, and as the doors flung open, the two girls entered and sent her their regards. Emily was so tired she could barely stare into the mirror that was the doors. Her hair was no longer straight and shiny, her face was pale and drawn, and it was rimmed with shadows around her eyes. In contrast, Meg looked as fresh as she had when she knocked into her that morning. With radiant skin, she smiled back at Emily’s reflection, her curls moving despite her standing still.
“Wow, that was a great day. I’m so grateful to have met you, Ems. I’m super excited to work with you.” Her phone vibrated, and she reached into her bag to read the messages. “Oh, cool! They are doing chakra readings down at yoga tonight. Do you want to come?”
Emily didn’t understand what a chakra was, nor how it was read. She doubted if they plugged her into an ECG that even that would find a pulse at this point.
“Sorry, Meg. I think I’ll sit that one out. I’ll head home and relax in front of the telly.”
Not fazed by the rejection, Meg smiled back. “No worries, you probably should. Your aura is looking dim right now. You might grab a kombucha on the way home. That helps to perk mine up.”
While Emily had once dabbled in the tang of the fermented drink, grabbing one for her aura had never occurred to her. At this immediate point in time, the idea she had been contemplating was whether to order in her dinner or just grab it on the way home. Either way, the tale would likely end with her catching up on a show on Netflix, wrapped up in a blanket her Grandma had knitted her back in her school days, and eating the food she didn’t have the energy left to cook.
The doors slid open.
“Okay, thanks. Have a good night.”
“You too. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!” called out Meg as she bounced her way out through the corridor and headed into the street for the night. Emily couldn’t understand how she still had that much energy left. Surely it was unnatural? As she headed down the street, with the lamplights now flickering on, she crossed her arms and dipped her head. Note to self, tomorrow, I need a jacket and a spare shirt.
****
THE NEXT MORNING, SHE stared at the reflection of her tidy ensemble in the mirrored walls of the elevator. So far, she had avoided any serious coffee catastrophes but found herself also somewhat disappointed to have missed out on the eye candy for the day. In fact, up to that point, she hadn’t run into anyone from work at all except for the old guy who worked in security. She doubted he even knew she had entered the building, as he was reading the newspaper through a pair of bright red reading glasses he had perched on the tip of his nose.
Today was a new day. She had brought a spare shirt, had worn her highest heels on the off chance of a Harry rematch, and picked out a skirt that while delightfully wrapped around her petite frame, also made sure her boss wouldn’t make inappropriate comments on its length. She felt confident.
As the doors swung open again, she entered to find Gwyneth missing from her post. That’s strange, she thought, noticing a mug of coffee sitting by the phone with steam rising from the lid. Maybe she had to do a quick errand? Heading toward her office, she heard a commotion coming from the boardroom. As she was about to disappear and close her door, Meg startled her by tapping her on the shoulder.
“Hey, partner! Are you not coming to the staff meeting?”
“What staff meeting?”
A knot of tension gnawed at her stomach. Had she missed something yesterday?
“Silly billy,” scoffed Meg. “You didn’t set up your emails on your phone yet, did you?” Grabbing her hand, she started to pull her toward the boardroom.
“Was I supposed to? Did someone tell me to?”
“Everyone knows that you never have time to read them in your office. It’s a rookie error, no biggie. I’ll help you put it on when we get finished from this.”
“What’s it about?”
“Who knows!” Meg smiled as she gently shoved Emily through the large double door. “Boss said all staff, so that means all staff.”
“But I didn’t get the email—” She cut her words off as a room of people turned to stare at her entrance. The desk which yesterday, had been empty, was now covered in papers, notebooks, and artwork. The chairs were filled with the bodies of all the staff, most of whom she hadn’t even met yet.
“Emily!” boomed her boss from the far end of the table, rising from his chair. “Glad you could make it. You’re only, wait, yes, ten minutes late.” He held up his watch for emphasis. “Not bad for a newbie.”
Murmurs of sniggers escaped the lips of some staff and she felt heat rush to her face.
“Sit! Sit. No need to be embarrassed. Johnny here was forty minutes late on his first one. Weren’t ya, mate?” He gave the young be-speckled gentleman to his right a slap on the shoulder. The poor guy went a bright shade of pink and pushed his glasses back up his nose.
“Well, technically, you didn’t email me until then, Jimmy,” the young man replied.
“Pish-posh. I copied in all staff. It’s hardly my fault IT is a slack bunch of weirdos. Anyway, she’s here now so let’s get stuck in.”
Emily slunk into the chair closest to her and placed her handbag by her feet. Pulling out a notepad and pen, she turned her attention back to Jimmy.
“Right, you lot, so I’ve brought you all in here because of two things. One, we have a chance at a big contract and I want to win it. The deadline’s in a month and it must be a big team effort, but this one’s worth a fortune and you all know how much I enjoy the money. Two, I know that H&R has been sniffing around here again, and I also know that they will compete for the contract against us. Anyone caught fraternizing with the enemy will be hung, drawn, and quartered.”
The buxom woman on her left snickered and leaned in close enough for Emily to hear her whisper, “If it was with Harry Craig, it would be worth it. I would take a flaying for that hunk of man junk any day.”
Jimmy pointed his finger in Emily’s direction. “You’re new, so I suspect you’re one of the few women in this room hasn’t been shagged by anyone at H&R yet. If I have to buy you a chastity belt to get this contract, I’ll bloody do it.”
“Hold on, Jimmy,” Gwyneth interrupted. “First, I’m an H&R virgin, and secondly, I don’t think your suggestion to purchase a new staff member a chastity belt is appropriate.”
“Right again, G.” He held his hands up in mock surrender. “But don’t think I haven’t seen your tongue rolling out of your mouth when the weasel comes calling.”
He gave her a wink and a spray of pink flushed on her cheeks. “Well, I may not be a spring chicken, but I’m not dead yet.” She smiled.
Bewildered, Emily gazed around the room. Despite the crude language, inappropriate behavior, and innuendos, not a single staff member seemed perturbed by the whole conversation. In fact, several of them seemed to find it all rather amusing.
Jimmy began to roll off a range of requirements, from baseline drafting requirements, concept and development time-frames, through to customer engagement teams and product testing. This would be a massive undertaking, and Emily could feel her hands sweating as she scribbled furiously. The rest of the surrounding staff took notes here and there, but also interjected and asked questions and posed suggestions. She felt like she was wearing a sign above her head that screamed inexperienced in neon letters. Meg was busy doodling swirls and lines, seemingly oblivious to the work required. As the meeting came to a close, and the room started to vacate, Emily whispered to Meg, “Hadn’t we better get started on this today?”
Meg laughed and packed her things into her handbag. “No rush, partner. We’ve got another fifteen jobs we have to complete before this one can even get started. Let the rest of them fret about it. We have time.”
Emily suspected time was the very thing she didn’t have. As she followed the lead and retreated to her office, her phone dinged in her bag. Staring down at the text message, a frown crossed her brow. This wasn’t good.