Late on Your First Day?

The doctor said she'd experienced some kind of relapse from losing too much blood alongside a cold.

Diane had mentioned never losing blood but he didn't seem convinced.

After being prescribed medications and advised her to consume more vegetables and meat, Josh took her home before leaving.

And like a passing breath, Monday came to fruition. Phoneless, she had to pay a taxi to get to the bank where she checked her account balance.

'Ten thousand, five hundred and twenty what?'.

The bank statement she'd requested showed that Gwen had sent five hundred and the rest was from.... Josh.

She sighed before requesting the five hundred in cash and for the ten thousand to be reversed. The twenty dollars left seemed to be her original balance.

Her eyes roamed to the wall clock above the waiting area. "Shit! I'm late". It was already minutes past eight.

Grabbing her purse, she exited the building and hailed one of the cab drivers. The trip to the office was about ten minutes away.

The driver looked at her quizzically when they arrived at their destination before she paid up. The building before her had its name engraved at its top. "Timeless West". She pulled her suit trouser higher up her waist.

The automatic sliding door opened up to the general lobby. It smelled of freshly printed paper and ink; not so different from what she was used to at school. The heel of her shoes echoed against the tiles with each step and she felt herself being watched.

The receptionist was an advanced woman who was dressed in a dark blue dress and fully immersed in her typing as though she'd been doing a translation for Eminem.

"Good morning".

"Morning". She replied without sparing a glance at Diane.

"I'm Diane Franchester and this is my first day".

With a loud click, she stopped before raising her analytic eyes to Diane.

"Late on your first day?".

"I apologize". She bowed which pleased the old woman.

"At least you didn't give me some sorry excuse and you're properly dressed". She returned her eyes to the monitor. "Welcome to Timeless West". She nodded towards the elevator. "Your office is on the third floor, someone would put you through the usual procedures and send you on your way".

"Thank you" Diane murmured in return since it was a fact that old people favored respectful individuals.

After heading for the elevator alongside another female, she pressed the button for the third floor.

The lady beside her was a few inches taller and seemed to be fully engulfed in her phone. She wasn't normally the one to start a conversation, but it wasn't a bad idea to get acquainted with other staff. "Morning".

The woman didn't reply till the elevator came open.

Diane stepped out before turning to glance at the woman who sent her a disgusted look like- 'you're below me'.

"Hey there! You must be the new girl". A young man walked up to her before turning to face the elevator. "I see you've met our empress, Lucy".

"More like our female king". A lady behind spoke up before laughing.

The office was partitioned with see-through boards which measure a few inches below an average person.

"I'm Gerald and I'm partly in charge of the workers on this floor". The man seemed to be in his early thirties and quite friendly. "This is Jane".

The woman waved.

"Diane". She nodded slightly with a smile. Although she was going to be respectful to the older staff, she wasn't about to become a complete pushover.

Gerald gave the room a cursory glance before speaking again. "Since you are just starting here, I'll get down to it. This floor is for people who do all the typing and proofreading of articles, news, novels, drafts, and other things. The scouts or journalists go looking for the next big scoops while we just sit here moving our fingers". He moved around the array of office divisions. "How many words can you do per hour? And your résumé is blank so I think this is your first job".

Diane nodded. "About three thousand or less if I'm proofreading alongside".

He cupped his chin. "I guess that's sufficient enough. The receptionist, Mrs. Regina could do double that amount". He stopped at the seat beside the window. "You'll be working from here, this was formerly Lucy's".

"So she got promoted? Lucky".

"Hmm". He didn't give a straight answer before turning to leave. "Under your desk is a stack of the work she never finished and it's all due by Monday next week".

"Okay". She watched him leave before taking her seat. 'Holy Fuck!'. The number of papers stockpiled under the desk seemed like one month's worth of work!

How did that Lucy get promoted without working?

The prospect of spending a whole weekend working on these made her shiver. 'Well, it's not like I have anything better to do without my phone'.

She decided to start with the largest stack of drafts. It was a two hundred and fifty thousand words draft for a novel. From her rate of typing, it would take four days to finish just that one book!

But she'd have to do it within two days.

'There's a coffee shop not far from my apartment'. She sighed before cracking her fingers. 'Let's begin'.

__________

A couple of hours later and she had written about fifty pages worth of revisions. 'Damn it! I haven't finished half of this!'. She shut her eyes in fear of checking the time. 'I'll have to skip lunch'.

"Diane". Gerald came up from behind her.

"Sorry, but I'm skipping lunch". She tried not to sound rude while typing.

He laughed behind her. "You sound just like Mrs. Regina. And I just came to inform you that everyone has gone home, it's past four already. You could take the papers home and use your laptop".

Diane froze. 'But I don't have a laptop...'.

"Could I work overtime?".

He paused to think. "Okay, sure". Before tossing the key over to her. "But don't expect any bonuses". He pointed out before leaving.

No phone, no laptop. Life was hard....

And it seemed like she'd be spending the night in the office before going home early in the morning.