As the blinding light of the city swallowed the bus, more passengers got on making their daily commute. the interior wall was a bustling metropolis, some on the outside say that the buildings are lined with gold. I saw women with expensive designer clothes, men in black suits with briefcases. buildings as tall as the wall itself, some could even look over but those where only government buildings.
we pulled up to my workplace, a tall grey building like any other you would see in this city. Stephan stopped the bus knowing this is where I get off. I stood up and walked down the narrow aisle.
"thank you captain!" I said trying to be as upbeat as I could muster.
"haha! my pleasure miss" he said tipping his hat to me as I walked off.
I began walking up the concrete stairs to the revolving door to begin my day. my heart raced every time I walked through these doors, I genuinely enjoyed my job and I was good at it too, making millions for the company and getting some money from comission.
"here we go" I took a deep breath and walked in.
it was quiet with only a few people in the office this early in the morning, I walked across the polished marble floor over to the lift where a man I hadn't seen before was standing, waiting. I stood beside him.
he was wearing a dark blue suit, tan brown shoes, a white shirt and a black tie.
the lift arrived he extended his arm and said in a deep soft tone
" after you miss"
I didn't think much of it, and walked in with a quiet "thank you".
I pressed the number for my floor as he got in.
he stood next to me not pressing any buttons for his floor, the doors closed.
we stood in silence. did he realise that he hadn't pressed the button for his floor?
"so um, what floor?" I asked.
"oh 12" he appeared to be taken off guard by my question.
"oh that's the same floor as me. are you new here?" I asked trying to fill the silence.
"yeah you could say that, I start today."
"oh well in that case" I turned to face him and stuck out my hand ready for a handshake. " I'm Grace. welcome to the company"
he also turned to face me, this time I could get a proper look at him. he was tall, very tall. he made me look even shorter than I was. he had broad shoulders, a clean shaven face and mousy brown hair. he was handsome, a strong jaw and deep brown soul filled eyes.
"Nice to meet you I'm Liam, I look forward to working with you"
he shook my hand with a firm grip, his hands where large and rough. weird I thought to myself, usually people who live in the interior walls have soft hands from not doing any manual labor.
I gave him a smile, quite a genuine one.
we arrived at our office.
as usual I was the first one here, except for my boss and my new co worker.
"do you know where I can find Mr Smith?" he asked me as we stepped out of the lift.
"yeah I'll take you to his office."
we walked in tandem. "Mr Smith is an amazing boss, if you work for him you will be well taken care of" I said trying to comfort him before we got to his office.
"haha thanks" he said before knocking on Mr Smith's door.
"come in!" yelled a booming voice
Liam walked in without hesitation. the guy seemed confident.
I began to walk to my desk when I heard Mr Smith yell " Grace! you come in too, I need to ask you something!"
I pivoted on the bottom of my heel and walked into Mr Smith's office as he was shaking hands with Liam.
"please sit down!" Mr Smith gestured towards two chairs.
"Now Grace, I have a very important job for you today" Mr Smith said with a big grin on his face
" you will be showing Liam here the ropes, what we do, how we do it and most importantly of all! where the coffee machine is. HAHA!" Mr Smith laughed. I let out a small snicker to be polite.
" of course Sir that would be no problem at all" I said as confidently as I could.
"Excellent! Liam, you should feel very privileged that Miss Robertson is teaching you! she is very good at her job and she is one of the lucky few!" Mr Smith was very proud that he managed to snag me as one of the lucky few, people who are selected for their academic prowess from outside of the extorior wall to be relocated to the other side. it only happens every 50 years, the government's STP's come into the ghettos of the extorior wall and take you away from your family without warning after the testing is finished.
"really?" Liam looked at me for confirmation.
I let out a small sigh.
"yes I am, but it's not a big deal"
Liam seemed to look at me differently after learning about my past.
"HAHA! she's really something huh? anyway I won't keep you two here any longer, there's work to be done!" Mr Smith said in a cheerful manner.
we got up, my cheeks slightly flushed with embarrassment.
we walked over to my desk in silence.
