(This is my first story so im working out some stuff. Hope you enjoy)
It was a hot summer day when I met my new coworker. I pushed through the doors and into the reception of my office, feeling the relief from the air conditioning as I entered. The reception was beginning to become familiar after the few weeks that I had been working here. I strolled towards the desk and signed in at the reception, greeting Anika, the lovely Polish blonde sat behind the counter.
I had only ever seen her behind the counter.
It was as if she never left her little station in the reception. She was a constant in this building, always there when I arrived and always there when I left. Yet even though she remained in her seat for over 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, she never failed to greet me with a little wave, a kind smile and a warm hello
I asked about her weekend like always. Listening to her tell me about her kid and how tall he's getting and all of the friends he's making. She really was a lovely woman.
I gave her a warm smile before heading further into the building and making my way towards the lift. I pressed the button to go down and waited.
I was new here. I'd only been working in this job for a few weeks so I was still a rookie. The work was pretty basic. I did what I was told, even though the job was pretty boring. I mostly spent my day filing reports away or moving boxes down to be archived. Most of the time I worked on my own. I didn't mind it. I could listen to a podcast and set myself into a consistent rhythm, letting the time pass in mindless ignorance.
The lift bell rang and I stepped inside, pressing the button for my floor almost subconsciously. My floor was far from the others. It was a small tight area on the lower, far side of the building, packed with old shelves which used to house boxes upon boxes of files. Due to my work, the shelves were now mostly empty. I was nearly finished going through all of the boxes but I probably had a week or two of work left before it would be completed.
The lift doors opened and I turned on the lights before making my way to my solitary desk at the end of the floor. The lights blinked to life, illuminating the floor in a yellow tinge as I made my way past the dust covered shelves. I was so absorbed in my routine that it wasn't until I was at my desk that I noticed the young woman sitting in my chair.
Her dirty blonde hair fell down about her shoulders, covering the upper half of her tight black shirt. She had a cute round face with piercings in both ears as well as one in her nose. She was young, probably still in college. If I had to bet she was probably on summer break. She had clearly settled in well already as she had already planted her feet firmly upon my rickety desk. I had no idea what she was doing here.
"Hello, who are you?" I asked, unsure of what to make of this young woman.
She didn't reply. She had her eyes closed and headphones on, evidently listening intently to something on her phone.
"Hey, why are you here?" I asked, raising my voice in the hopes that she'd hear me. I didn't enjoy my little paradise being intruded upon.
With another lack of an answer, I gently shook her shoulder.
"JESUS CHRIST!" she exclaimed, jumping half a foot out of the chair, her feet clattering from the table to the floor. The sudden movement resulted in half of my stationary making the short journey from my old desk to the concrete floor.
She turned quickly towards me, her long blonde hair whipping around her pretty face as she pressed a hand against her chest. She had sparkling blue eyes with flecks of brown. I don't think I'd ever seen such beautiful eyes.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack" she sighed breathlessly. "I wasn't expecting you to be in so soon".
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. It's just you didn't hear me when I called out to you. What is it you're doing here? This is where I work".
The young woman looked at me quizzically. "I'm new here. I was assigned under you for the time being while I prepare for college" she answered, her tone making it seem as if this was an obvious conclusion.
I hadn't heard anything of the sort. No one had consulted me about anything regarding a new person in my department. But then again, I was rarely consulted about anything. I enjoyed doing my work on my own and now I was going to have to manage some college student. This had to be a nightmare. I could already see my work becoming more troublesome.
"I didn't hear anything about it" I replied, trying to not let the frustration leak into my voice. "I usually work down here on my own. Am I supposed to show you what I'm doing?"
"Yes!" the woman exclaimed. "I'm officially your new assistant" she declared proudly, puffing her chest out. "I'm Malcolm's daughter, he thought that it would be better to spend my holidays working rather than lounging around at home. My name is Amber" she introduced, extending her hand towards me.
Malcolm's daughter. I despised Malcolm with every fibre of my being. He was a power hungry parasite who sucked up to those above him while stomping on those below. I'd often fell victim to his vicious tantrums, threatening to fire anyone who happened to be near him when he was behind. He seemed to think that everyone other than himself had a severe lack of work ethic.
He had been my boss for only a few weeks and had been causing me trouble from day one. I don't think that I had done anything to earn his ire but he seemed to relish causing me trouble. And now I had to deal with his daughter.
I shook her hand, hiding my irritation at being given a role as childminder. "Nice to meet you Amber. I'm David. I guess I'll show you what it is we do down here and then we can get to work. Is that okay with you?
"Aye aye captain" Amber replied, a bright smile lighting up her face as she jumped up and made a mock salute. "Ready when you are".
I spent the next couple of hours showing amber the ropes. Making sure that she knew what kind of work we were doing and the manner in which it was expected to be done. She took to it very fast, barely needing an explanation before figuring out what was next. We eventually settled into the work in silence. It was not an awkward silence but instead oddly comfortable. It was in this silence that we spent the next few hours gradually filing and moving boxes underneath the old yellow lights, in the narrow space between the rusted, dusty, shelves.
