Learning How to Bend

NaNo Day 3 (Titles are overrated)

Two weeks later, I rolled out of bed with my alarm in the early morning hours, showered and dressed in a conservative skirt and blouse, then packed my work laptop into my computer bag and crawled into the first cab who answered my raised hand.  As we drove, Chelise kept her head on my lap, occasionally thumping her tail whenever I petted her fur.  Petting her was therapeutic, allowing me to escape from my thoughts for a few moments as I became absorbed in the simple feeling of her coat shifting between my fingers.  As the vehicle slowed, I moved my hand from her neck to the bar of her harness, slipped my arm through the leash, and climbed out of the cab when we arrived at Andino Incorporated.  I paid the driver before standing for a few moments in front of the building.

I did not want to go inside.  At all.  However unlikely it was, I was terrified of running into Thaddeus.  He had not sent me a single email since the barbecue, and that worried me.  But at least he let me keep my job.  Running my hands quickly through my hair, I braided it and tied it with a black elastic I usually kept on my wrist before walking up the five steps which led to the building's doors.  I didn't use the revolving one in the center but pulled open the manual one on the right and entered the lobby.

There were sitting areas to the left and right, reception desks in the center of each.  Directly in front of me, although a short distance away, were six elevators, three on each side.  A couple of the elevators only went to the upper floors, and only one in the back of building went directly to the penthouse office where Thaddeus spent most—if not all—of his time.  Hopefully that was the elevator he always took.  No mingling with the commoners in the lobby except if he were greeting someone for a meeting.  Although I found it equally likely he would just have any of his visitors come up to his office alone.  I could not help but wonder what was on the top floor.  I knew he had a personal assistant—a woman rumored to have an overly attentive and possessive hold on her boss—so I assumed she probably had a desk on the top floor.  I wondered what happened behind that closed door of Thaddeus Andino's office, if anything at all.  I had never met the woman named Antonia Marino, but just based off rumors, I had a gut feeling that cordiality between us was terribly unlikely.

Shaking my head, I waved to the receptionist on the right and greeted her by name before continuing to walk toward the elevators with Chelise by my side.  I did not usually echolocate when I arrived at the office; I did not need to.  I arrived early enough to see few people in the lobby, and I had made this walk enough that I had it mostly memorized.  Somewhat more at ease, I dropped my hand from the bar on Chelise's harness and instead had the leash loosely hanging around my wrist.  I had a couple things to do for which I needed to actually be at the office.  My current project involved too much coordination for me to work every day from home, much to my dislike.

One minute, I was walking forward.  The next...I slammed into something hard and firm, reverberating backward eliciting a soft shriek from my throat.  Fail, Chelise, I thought.  She was supposed to warn me about these types of things and stop me before I could run into someone.  A quick replay of the situation in my head revealed to me the golden retriever had stopped walking; I just did not feel it because there was too much slack in the leash, and my hand was not on the bar on the harness.  So this was my own fault this time, not the dog's.

"Oh my word, I'm so sorry," I said, putting my hand on my chest in an attempt to command my heartbeat to slow. "I didn't notice you were there."

"Obviously."

Oh, no. I groaned, flinching back slightly and going to rub my temple with the hand that was previously over my heart. "Mr. Andino.  I thought you would have taken the private elevator to your office."

"I usually do."

"You don't seem like the type of individual to change your routine." I dropped my hand.