Heart for The Lonely Souls

Chapter 4: First Impression

Lunch hour has passed. The soft chatters slowly subside as people retire to their desk and continue their work. On the other hand, I can't seem to brush off the nervousness I'm feeling with every passing hour. Although it doesn't hinder my work, since I've gotten used to working under pressure, I can't stop my brain from overthinking every possibility that could go wrong after my conversation with Dolores.

Many things come through my mind. Maybe I'm making a huge mistake. I don't think I'm a suitable person to train anyone. No! Dolores has put her trust in me for this job. I can't back out now. My skills, knowledge, and experience in the field should be enough to prepare everything I need to guide and teach any new recruit coming my way; however, what if I couldn't get along with them—and so on.

Dolores has informed me that she will bring them to the office after lunch hour. My pulse has been rising gradually while I keep switching my attention from the office door and the clock in my monitor. When I try to focus back on my work, Dolores enters the office space and claps both of her hands loudly a few times to get the attention of everyone in the room. Most of them stop what they're doing to look at her (including me), while some just give her a quick glance and keep working, but they're listening. Although all eyes are on her, it's obvious everyone is more interested in the stranger that's now standing beside her.

Dolores clears her throat before speaking up. "Good day, everyone. I'm sorry for interrupting your work, but I would like you guys to give a warm welcome to the newest member of our team." She turns to the new hire. "Please introduce yourself."

The man nods. He takes a step forward, giving a brief look of his surroundings before flashing a friendly smile.

The new hire is tall (maybe around six-foot-one) and muscular, he's got fair skin with a reddish-pink tone. His bright auburn hair is styled in a two block comma haircut, which compliments his olive green eyes, and clean shaven. He wears an army green blazer and pants, long sleeve color block shirt along with a gold watch on his left wrist. The freckles on his face enhance the sweetness of his features.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Brennan Ryan, but you guys can just call me 'Bren' for short," he introduces himself in a clear voice. "It's nice to meet you all and I'm really excited to be a part of this team!"

Everyone in the room gives him a mandatory welcoming clap after his introduction. Everyone, except for me. Not because I'm being a jerk or anything like that, I'm just too stunned to react at the moment. My jaw drops. He's the one I'm going to train? You have got to be to be kidding me! His appearance and whole demeanor remind me of those popular kids back in high school and college; the type of people I have never interacted with once in my whole life. It doesn't come as a surprise that I'm not the 'popular kid' type. I'm the weird introverted loner who tends to avoid social interaction as much as possible.

Putting the 'popular kid' and the 'weird loner' in the same room, it's the perfect recipe for the most awkward human interaction you could've ever imagined.

I shake my head. No, I shouldn't assume so quickly. There's a saying 'don't judge a book by its cover' and I probably should apply that in this situation. Well, as long as we can have at least a civil working relationship, I'm not planning to be friends with him anyway.

As the claps die down, people one by one go back to what they're working on, except for me. Dolores motions Brennan to follow her as they walk towards my desk where I'm seated. I put on a straight face, although I can hear my heart pounding loudly due to nervousness. When both of them arrive on my desk, I promptly stand up to meet face to face with them. Dolores' gaze wanders between me and Brennan.

"Brennan, this is one of our senior designers in our team," Dolores introduces me while patting my back lightly. "He's going to be in charge of your training from today."