Travelers and Timelines

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Yes of course ma'am we will get that taken care for you right away. Thank you for being so patient with us. We are sorry for any inconvenience our services may have caused you" I hung up the phone with a sigh. I'd just spend the better part of the last hour on the phone with a woman whose insurance plan didn't cover the mixer that was stolen from her Upper East Side apartment. What she didn't seem to realize was that I had nothing to do with her policy, and I had no power over whether she received a mixer or not and she proceeded to yell at me about how incompetent I was for almost the entire phone call. I brushed my fiery red hair back from my eyes as I rose from my chair and looked out the window that was across the office from my cubicle. Rain pounded against the glass almost as if it's trying to beat its way into this miserable office. I walked slowly to the window, gazing upon the overflowing streets of New York. People pushed and shoved their way through a sea of umbrellas in a massive hurry to get wherever they were going. The city I'd been living in for five years had an energy that was indescribable but, unfortunately I was not going anywhere for at least another few hours. I dragged my feet to the break room and grabbed my mug from the cabinet. My mug was easily distinguishable from the other employee mugs emblazoned with quotes or crests from their alma mater colleges. Mine was hand crafted ceramic with a beautiful blue patina across the surface. Little details resembling henna patterns were carved into the handle and it even had little feet on the bottom like a clawfoot tub. I'd created the mug back while I was in art school at Pratt. I poured as much coffee into my mug as it could possibly hold and sat down at the small round table.

"Hey Jupiter, rough call?" a coworker named Alice asked as she wandered in.

"Yea you'd better believe it. Upper East sider is upset because we don't replace her stolen mixer."

"Upper East siders are the worst, guess they realized too late that money doesn't always equal happiness."

"It may not equal happiness but it sure would offer me a better apartment" I joked and we both chuckled. The room fell silent after that, Alice and I really didn't have anything else to say to each other. This was par for the course with this office; everyone knew each other on a superficial level. They knew I was Jupiter Jackson; the redhead who sells ceramics in small galleries on the side, but that was all they ever cared to know. "Well, I'll see you later Alice" I nodded as I left the awkward break room and slowly made my way back to my desk.

"Jackson! Might I have a word?" I cringed at the sound of the booming voice behind me.

"Of course sir" I turned around to be greeted with our customer service manager. He was an older man with a protruding belly and a wicked temper.

"Lets head back to your cubicle, we can talk there" he stated and followed me back to my own three walls of personal hell. I'd tried to make them more appealing with pictures of places I wished to travel to like London, Paris, Italy and New Zealand, but it didn't really work. "I have just received a call from a Mrs. Harriash, apparently you treated her very poorly in your recent conversation. Remember Mr. Harriash is quite a well known man around New York and it would be foolish to lose his business over something as silly as a mixer wouldn't it Ms. Jackson?"

"Sir I was only reading the policy back to her as company protocol states" I said, taken aback. I thought I had been perfectly polite with her.

"Well make sure you check your VIP client list next time. They are toward the very top, if you bother to check anything."

"Yes sir" I mumbled and looked down at the floor. I hated being spoken to as if I was stupid or worthless, which was often how an encounter with the manager left you. I would have told him off already if I didn't desperately need this job to make rent. I sank down into my chair to deal with the rest of the day at work and try to make it go as quickly as possible.