*Alias's POV*
He threw me to the wolves. What's so wrong with showing me, or at the very least telling me where to
go? I helplessly glanced around the lobby of the enormous building, completely lost.
There must be a help desk around here somewhere. I tried to reassure myself, reminding myself that I am not the first person to be new- and lost- here. My eyes landed on a lady behind a large, circular desk at the far back of the lobby, typing away on the computer in front of her. Relief washed over me as I made my way to her, confident she would help me at least locate my office.
"Hi, I'm Alias Star, I'm the new head of Marketing and-"
"And?" She didn't even look up at me.
"And I'm not sure where to go, can you help me?" I tried to hide my irritation.
She let out a long sigh before typing something into her computer. Not very friendly to be a help desk.
"You're on the 23rd floor," she said coldly, "and I am also not a help desk. I am Taylor Shaw, head of the accounting department- which is located here on the first floor. The help desk is over there." She pointed to a small counter located in front of the elevator.
How did I not see that? I wondered to myself, but shook it off as nerves.
"I'm so sorry for assuming, thank you for helping me," I smiled at her apologetically. She didn't seem interested and went back to whatever she was doing as if I were invisible now. I let it go and walked over toward the elevators. Once inside, I pressed the buttons for the 23rd floor and hoped that the people in my department would be kinder than Mrs. Shaw from accounting.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened signaling my arrival on the 23rd floor. Employees sat at their desks quietly, no one was chatting with one another, eyes were glued to the work in front of them. Every single door was shut on the offices lining the walls. No one even looked up at me as I exited the elevator.
This is worse than a prison.
I spotted a large office at the very end of the floor behind the rows and rows of grey cubicles. The door was open- it was the only one with an open door.
Must be mine.
I made my way over to the office and as I got closer, I noticed my name engraved on a gold plaque to the left of the door. As I entered the office, I was a bit surprised to see a remarkable similarity to my own office back at Star Marketing. Abstract art, my absolute favorite, lined the walls of the large office. There were motivational quotes spread throughout the room, and everything was organized neatly, even the mountains of folders on my desk were in organized stacks. I couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face as I spotted the sparky pens that I always used carefully placed on the left side of my desk. Kane Rhodes pays more attention than I realized- he even noticed I was a lefty. I giggled to myself in realization that he must have orchestrated this all for me.
As soon as I sat down in the large, black office chair, everyone began emerging from their offices and cubicles, making their way to the elevators. Is this a fire drill? There's no alarm going off. I wondered to myself what everyone was doing and watched as they carefully entered the elevator in a single file line until I was the only person remaining on my floor. I grabbed my phone to text Kane and if there was something going on, but I saw he had already texted me twenty minutes ago!
Alias, every morning we have a 9:30 meeting with the marketing department in the conference hall on the 16th floor. Be on time. -Kane
Shit, it's already 9:28! I ran to the elevators and repeatedly pressed the down button as if that would make it open faster. After what seemed to be an eternity, the elevator doors opened. I jumped inside and prayed I would make it in time, not wanting to break a rule my first day. When the doors opened again, I spotted everyone behind a glass wall focusing their attention on Kane.
Maybe he won't notice if I stand in at the back. I thought to myself as I slipped in behind the large crowd.
Wrong.
His eyes landed on me as soon as I found a place to stand. He looked at me with irritation, but I didn't see his text in time! He could have easily told me about the meeting at breakfast, but no, instead we small talked about ourselves as if we even needed to know each other. He could be mad at himself for all I care.
The meeting drug on, every single point was negative. There was no encouragement or acknowledgments of success. Every meeting I held with my team, I always announced our wins and encouraged the team before we discussed the negatives. I think it's important to let your team know what they are doing right before telling them what they could do better. Somber looks were on everyone's face, trying to process all the criticism they just so harshly received. I looked at Kane, who seemed totally unfazed by the deafening sounds of crushed spirits and carried on pointing out what could be done better. I couldn't take it anymore.
"What was the best deal someone made last month?" I yelled over the crowd that instinctively parted so that Kane and I were looking directly at each other.
His jaw clenched, and he looked angry. "Ms. Alias Star, everyone. Our new head of Marketing for our starter company project."
