Moore / What Are We?

Chapter 3

     I was sort of confused as to why I would start a new job on a Friday.  Usually they fire people on Fridays and hire on Mondays, right?  Well, I didn’t let it get to me.  This was my first professional position.  This was the kind of job I was supposed to have as a college graduate.  It was a job that I could proudly state was mine as I met up with old friends, a job I could put under work info on my Facebook account.  I had a job.  And even though I was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, I still felt important.  And stylish.  Nike had a sale on little black hoodies.

     When I arrived that Friday morning, I was stuck waiting this time but I wasn’t alone.

     “Hi.  My name is Andrea.  It’s my first day.”  She said, clinging tightly to a legal notepad.

“Hi.”  I replied.

“Do you work here?”  She asked.

“Yes. I mean, it’s my first day as well.”  I responded.

     There was a long pause.  By the time I realized I probably should have told her my name, it was too late.  Another woman came up to the front to greet us.

     “Hello Andrea and Jaydielle.  My name is Clarissa and I’m going to be your trainer for the next four weeks.  Come, follow me.”  She said.

     We proceeded to a smaller room where the entire back wall was covered by a map of the world.

     “This is what we call our map room.  It’s one giant globe to use as a reference since some of our clients have offices in places… like, the, um, Philippines or um, the Bahamas.” Clarissa tried to explain.

     The Philippines or Bahamas?  I looked over at Andrea, but the only thing she seemed to be focused on was the outline of PowerPoint slides.

     “Now, you may be wondering why start on a Friday.” Clarissa said.

     “Well, our goal is to have all your core training done by the end of today so that we can have you work on the front end of our cases by Monday.  Oh, and before we begin the actual training process, I will take you to your new cubicles and introduce you to your new team members!”  She said.  There had to be at least two good looking guys if she was that enthusiastic.

     Or maybe she just wanted to show off her cubicle.  “Here is my cube first, just to give you an idea of how you can dress it up.”  Clarissa said. 

I have to admit she did a lot with the little space she had available.  There were numerous framed awards from Michelson, a couple large candles, some lit, and she even made room for a small fountain.  But after standing there for at least five minutes, all I could hope was that I was not sitting by her.  The persistent sound of water made me realize how bad I had to use the restroom.

     “Oh yes, and my cube is slightly bigger since I have a trainer position.”  She added.  “Ok, so let’s meet everyone!” She said with even more oomph.

     We started with the cube directly across from her.  “Ladies, this is my cube mate, Anthony.”  She said.

     Anthony nodded, but kept his head in front of the computer monitor.  Boring.  Next, we moved onto the cubicle behind Clarissa’s space.

     “Ladies, this is my girl Shoniece.”  She said.

     Shoniece at least looked up at us, but did not smile. “Hi.”  She replied. 

     When Clarissa walked away, Shoniece muffled under her breath, “She is not my girl.”

     It was then I started to worry.  No one looked happy.  The more isles we went down, the more frowns we saw.  I could only hope it was Clarissa and not Michelson itself.

     “Alright, the section over here is better.  All those people I just introduced you to are veterans who haven’t had the opportunity to get a cubicle upgrade like me.”  Clarissa said.

     We followed her to a much smaller isle.  She looked down at her watch.  “Oh man, we seem to be running out of time.  Let me just drop you each off at your cubes and get the computers up and running.  We can finish introductions later.”  She added.

     She took Andrea to her cube first.  I followed.  Across from Andrea sat a boy.  While Clarissa set up her voicemail and computer, I took the time to introduce myself.

     “Hi, Jaydee.”  I said.

He turned around, rolling his chair closer to the isle. 

     “Dave.”  He replied.  We shook hands. “Get out while you’re ahead.”  He whispered.

     I rolled my eyes.  He returned to his computer to click on the mouse and then arose.  I had to have been at least three inches taller than him, and I stood five feet, four inches.

     “’Scuse me, I have to go to the printer.”  He informed.

     Then Clarissa turned.  “Dave, hey, could you please take off your hat?  Bad example.”  She said.

     Dave grumbled, then slowly took the hat off, as if the hair underneath came with the hat.  It was then I thought that Dave would’ve had a chance, even if short and bald, but the hair piece ruined it.

     “Alright, Jaydee.  It’s your turn.  Let’s set up your cube.”  Clarissa said.

     “Clarissa, there is porn on my homepage!”  Andrea interrupted.

     “Ha-ha, that’s probably from Steven, that weird guy who shit his pants during an orientation meeting.  He sat there last and not very long.”  Dave replied.

     Andrea looked like she was about to cry. So did Clarissa. “Ok, let me send in a call to our IT department.”  She said as she ran over to a nearby phone on the wall.

     “Can you please hurry up?  I don’t want Mr. Michelson thinking it was me!”  Andrea shouted.  Dave rushed over to her cube.

     “Here, let me help you out, WOW! Oh my.”  Dave said.

    “David.  Please.”  Clarissa fired back.  “Alright, Andrea, I apologize.  An IT rep is on the way.”  She said.

     “Do they know it wasn’t from me?!”  Andrea asked.

     “Yes.”  Clarissa assured her.  “If anything, it’s Dave who has to worry.”  She said. 

     “What are you talking about?”  He replied.

     “Please, just go back to your cube.”  She instructed him.  He sluggishly retreated back to his cube.

     Within seconds an IT guy walked over to the isle.  For an IT guy, he was cute, standing taller than I, but not too much taller, and trim.  It was his thick, black framed glasses that got me wondering.  I usually went for the athletic type but if the guy knew how to wear his glasses right, he scored points.

     “So there’s some suggestive material on here, eh?”  He asked.

     “Yes, it was most likely the person before Andrea.”  Clarissa said.

     “It was the person before me!” Andrea exclaimed.

     “It’s cool, don’t worry about it.”  He replied.

     His calm nature had just bumped him up five points.  When he turned to look at the clock on the wall, I flashed him a smile and he returned it.

     “Alright, my work here is done.  You have everything filtered and protected.  If for some reason you can’t get into your major sites like Google or Pichunter, I mean, um, TMZ.com, let me know and I’ll take care of it.”  He said.

     He arose and glanced over at Steven.  “Shoot!”  He whispered to him.

     “I know man, I covered for you, but next time, you owe me.  You owe me big time, like ten Alexis Alexander videos.”  Steven chuckled.

     I wished I hadn’t heard that come out of the IT guy’s mouth.  At that point, he didn’t even deserve negative points.  And it was then I really started to wonder why I had accepted this position.

     “Alright Jaydielle, let’s hurry and set up your cube.”  Clarissa said.

     My isle was identical to Andrea’s except for the fact that a partition was missing from two of the cubes.

     “Unfortunately, we ran out of room and had to give you this spot here, hopefully temporarily.”  Clarissa said.

     I sat down in my chair. 

     “What’s on the other side?” I asked as I peaked around the corner.

     “Nothing right now.”  She replied.

     There was definitely enough room another one of these workspaces.

     “Oh my god! Is this my new cube sister?”  A voice shouted from afar.

     “Jaydielle, this is Brenda.  She’s going to be sharing this workspace with you on the other end.”  Clarissa informed.

     We shook hands.  “Hi, I’m in accounting but I’m not an accountant since I only assist with the auditing and they were going to give me an office but they felt like why a big office for only part time work and I’m not even salaried so I was like…”  Brenda explained before being cut off by Clarissa.

     “Thank you Brenda, I’m going to help set up Jaydielle’s phone now.”  She said.

     “Nice to meet you, Brenda.”  I replied.

     “You too, Jaydielle. That’s such a pretty name.”  She said.

     “Thanks, you can just call me Jaydee though.”  I said.

     “But Clarissa called you…”  Brenda said.

     “I know, it’s ok.”  I assured her.

     Brenda sat down.  Clarissa then turned to me.  “I’m so sorry.”  She said.

     “It’s ok, I get it all the time.”  I told her, thinking she was apologizing for calling me by my birth name even though I clearly put on my file to call me Jaydee.

     “She has a hard time paying attention to things.  If it bothers you, let me know.”  Clarissa replied.

     “What do I do if you bother me?” I thought.  While she played around with my phone and mouse, I scoped out my surroundings.  In the corner of the isle I could hear a woman’s voice.

     “Yes Mr. Albertson, the report is finished…yes, I sent it yesterday…well, if you didn’t get it…oh, see, I told you so…well, enjoy your day…and wear lots of sunscreen, I hear the UV index is at about an eight today over there in Reno.”  The voice said.

     Next to me it looked as if it was an empty cube for the nameplate was blank.  I couldn’t believe it.  That was the breaking point for me.  Why was I sitting in the corner of one, giant cube while the one next to me was empty?  As Clarissa fiddled with cords, I began to plan my escape.  And just as I arose to make a run for it, a guy walked over to the so-called empty cube.

     “Where you going?”  Clarissa asked.

     “Oh, um, the bathroom.”  I said. 

I couldn’t see his face, but I enjoyed the backside as he placed a piece of paper into the nameplate.

“The bathroom.  Go straight down this aisle, make a left and straight again, and it will be on your right.”  She replied.  “Thank you Danny for putting up your real nametag.”  She added.

     “No problem.”  He replied with a hint of sarcasm.  And then he turned, just as I did. 

     “Whoops, I’m sorry.”  I said.

     “Ha, it’s ok.  Are you the lucky one sitting there?”  He asked.

     “Unfortunately yes.”  I replied and then quickly exited.  My red face already made things awkward.  I couldn’t handle saying anymore words.  All I could think about was ripping his clothes off and pushing him up against the cubicle’s wall.  Never had I felt such an attraction in such a short time.  It was the only reason I decided to stay another day.  Too bad I forgot the directions to the bathroom.