The Meeting

Chapter 10 - Workplace Woe's

I walk into the office at 6:15am, hoping I would have some time alone before everyone gets there. I stifle a yawn as I make my way to the front desk. Unfortunately I am not here first. Ashlee, the blond receptionist, is here already. She eyes me up and down as I come around the desk to sign in for the day.

“Good morning,” she says in almost a bored tone. She looks as tired as I feel. I don’t think I slept for more than an hour last night.

“Morning,” I respond, almost too cheerfully. It comes out sounding fake and forced and she rolls her eyes.

“So, will you be sticking around for more than one hour today, so I can actually train you?” She asks, pulling a large binder out of the drawer.

“I’m all yours.” I hide my purse under the desk and adjust my blue blouse, tucking it into my pencil skirt.

“Fantastic,” she replies, sounding a little sarcastic.

“Look, you don’t seem to be too excited that I am starting here, but I’m hoping that we can learn to be at least friendly to each other.” She turns her head slowly, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she looks at me.

“Why? You’re practically the reason I’m getting fired. He chose you and you’re taking over my position. I’m not leaving by choice and I don’t exactly have anywhere lined up. Give me one good reason why I should be friendly to you, and I will.” She sighs and hands the binder to me. “This is our policy and procedure manual. I suggest you read it thoroughly. He can be pretty strict and likes everything to be a certain way. This tells you what way he likes everything.”

“Alright.” I take the binder from her and I’m surprised by its excessive weight.

“Your main daily tasks will be answering the phones, looking after his appointments and personal schedule, sending out memos to authors and editors, and making sure he’s happy at all times. You don’t want to see him when he’s mad.”

“Oh, I think I saw him mad yesterday,” I respond, flipping through the first couple of pages, his angry eyes and snapping attitude fresh in my mind.  

“No, that wasn't mad. You wouldn't be here today if it was.”

That makes my nerves tingle with anxiety. Haven't I seen the worst of it yet? The thought is highly unsettling.

She leads me into his office and shows me how he likes to have his desk set up. She opens all his programs on his computer that he will need and puts a coffee down, ready for him.

“You need to make sure you know his schedule front to back for the entire day. As soon as he gets here, he likes a run-down of what his day will be. She flips open his calendar and I see different colored blocks all the way down the screen. It looks like there are at least 20. How am I supposed to memorize them all? “For now, just take notes,” she says, eyeing my confused face. I pull out a small notepad and jot down a bullet point list and the appointment times. So far, this all doesn’t seem so different from what I do for Hyde, except it’s a lot busier. I can do this.

She briefly runs through the program and shows me how to book appointments and change his calendar around. She skims over how to work the intercom, but they are the same as the phones we have downstairs, so I’m good with that.

“That’s pretty much it for now. I'll show you the rest as it comes up. There are a lot of little details, which are hard to explain right now.” Ashlee passes me my own mug of coffee and then I hear the swish of the doors. Damien strides into the office, ear pressed to his phone and a dangerous look in his eye. “He’s in a bad mood today, by the looks of things. We'll wait a couple of minutes and then go in,” she says, getting up and hovering by the desk, ready to go.