First Day

Kriiinnnnnggggg...

I was just sleeping peacefully when the piercing sound invaded my dreams.

“Damn that alarm.” I immediately turned it off because the noise was deafening !!!

I got up from lying down in my bed when I remembered that today was my first day working at SMI. Therefore, I fixed my bed and stretched a bit.

Did I tell you that this is my condo? My parents bought it for me as a gift when I graduated from college. I live separately from them so that I can experience being independent.

I have a car. I bought it with my own money, which I did not ask my parents to buy me because we are not that rich. Dad is in the navy, and mom is a city councilor in our province. They live in Laguna while I am here in the city.

Since I don’t have anyone at home, I cook breakfast for myself. I fried a hot dog and made a sandwich. I was busy eating my breakfast when my phone rang. Looking at the screen to see who is it is, I see my mom calling, so I immediately answered it.

“Good morning!” I greet the most beautiful woman in the world.

“Ashley, good morning! What are you doing, darling?” she asked from her end of the line.

“Eating my breakfast, Mom.” I swallowed before I continued talking. “I applied at SMI as Editor-in-chief, and guess what, Mom?! They hired me! And today is my first day!” I squealed.

“That’s good darling. Well, I just called to say hello to you, and to inform you there's an invitation here from your high school. A reunion for your batch.” I sighed.

“When is that going to be?” I asked.

“Two months from now, darling.”

“Oh! Okay, thank you, Mom.”

“And Ashley, when will you come home? We miss you already.” Mom asked.

“I’ll come home on my day off.” My mother was happy with what I said. We bid goodbyes and ended our conversation before I became late for work.

I wore a black spaghetti strap body-hugging dress that stopped above the knee, and it was pretty fitted. I also wear a white coat on top of it so I would look formal. Light make-up, so I would not look too pale, and to complete my attire, I wore 4“ stilettos... there, I’m done!

It was already seven o’clock when I reached the building, but I parked in the opposite parking area of our building since I didn’t have a parking slot in the basement yet. I got out of my car and walked across the road.

When I arrived at the building, I greeted the guard. “Good morning Peter! You’ll be seeing this face every day because starting today, I’ll be working here.” I greeted him happily.

“It’s good to hear that! Welcome to SMI!” Peter replied.

“Thank you, Peter.” I made my way to the reception area.

“Good morning! They hired me yesterday, and since I don’t have an ID yet, I’ll leave my card here again.” She gave me a temporary pass.

“Good morning Ms...”

“Ashley. Just call me Ashley.”

“Ms. Ashley, I will give you your company ID and your employee’s pass later.” I nodded and headed for the elevator.

When I entered the elevator, I pressed the 39th-floor button. When I reached the floor, I went to the receptionist. I asked where the biometrics are located.

“It is located on the left side, Miss,” she replied politely. I mouthed my thanks to her. Yesterday the HR registered me for biometrics. Every floor has its biometrics, and it is synchronized all over the building automatically. They are sensors that check employees in and out of the building, without the trouble of logging in and out of the computer.

I headed into my office, and it surprised me that there was a nameplate ready on the top of my desk “Ashley Rodriguez Editor-in-chief”

I smiled. I approached my desk and hung my coat on the coat stand.

It was still early, and my work started at 9 am. To my surprise, there’s a folder on my table. It’s the information about our ongoing project. Maybe Abby, the editorial assistant, left this folder here? Which meant I needed to review the said project. I sit on my swivel chair and open my laptop. I was so engrossed reviewing the project that I didn’t hear when someone came into my office. When I heard someone talking, it made me jump. I turn my gaze to the person in front of me and realized that it was Abby.

“Miss Ashley, good morning. The CEO is asking for you.” My forehead furrowed.

“Did he tell you why he wanted to see me?” She just shrugged and shook her head.

“I don’t have any idea.” She answered.

“All right. Thank you, Abby.” I headed to the CEO’s office, and when I reached the door, I knocked first before entering. I took a peek inside to see if he was in there. When I saw him, he motioned me to enter his office.

“Sir, Abby told me you were looking for me?’

“Yes, take a seat.” He handed me a folder, which made me frown.

“I want you to review this project. This project was never approved because I know that something was lacking. The theme is good, but something is missing, and I can’t figure it out. Please revise this and give me the newest issue before 3 pm.”

My eyes widened. Is he nuts? I can’t believe this guy! Now he’s making my life miserable. It’s my first day today. And yet he’s giving me a ton of work with so much time pressure. He is so UNBELIEVABLE!!!

“You should leave now and start working your ass off. Show me what you’ve got.” He grinned.

“Don’t worry Sir, I will never fail your expectations.” He smirked.

“You should.”

“We will do it in no time.” He raised his eyebrows like he was amused by something. I excused myself and headed out to my office. He is getting into my nerves now.

“I won’t like you anymore!” I groaned. I walked into my office with heavy footsteps slumped down on my chair, and reviewed what he gave me.

Sticky notes filled the thick folder as the day went by. Abby invited me to lunch, but I refused and finished what I was doing. When I finished revising, I started typing on the laptop, luckily; I type fast. And in thirty minutes, I was done. Before three o'clock in the afternoon, I finished what I was doing. And to make sure I saved everything I had on my laptop, my flash drive, and I even emailed him the soft copy. Better to cover all bases. Now, I headed to the photocopying machine to print what I made.

“Huh! You thought I wouldn’t finish right away?! I’m not Ashtrella Rodriguez for nothing!!! Haha,” I was busy talking to myself while waiting for my copies to get done.

Proud of myself, I headed to his office as soon as the copies finished printing.

“I did it before 3 pm, Sir,” I smirked. As I dropped the printouts on his desk.

“I already sent it in your email.” Ignored. He continued reading the folder that I gave to him, ignoring my presence.

“How do you like it?” my eyes narrowed, staring at him, waiting for his response. After a few minutes, he looked at me with no reaction on his face.

“Impressive,” he said and smirked. My smile widened. “Gather your team and implement the changes. I need you to release this issue by next month,” He said.

Before I could leave. He said something else.

“By the way, the project that they’re working on right now is due on Friday. I will give you and your team time to finish this for the next 3 days. This project had been managed by the former EIC, and they still haven’t finished it until now. I need you and your team to deliver before I fire them all.” I nodded and left. The pressure was on me again, and I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

Why did the former EIC let this happen? This person was incompetent, and maybe that is the reason they had been fired? I thought.

I gathered all my team and informed them about the deadline. I ask the managers to give me an update on their work, asking for a soft copy of the photoshoot from the photographer. But he said that the former EIC deleted all the photos that were taken before. I sighed.

It was my first day of work, and yet, it was already very exhausting.