"Here is your cubicle." He pointed to the little boxed in cube, connected to several others. If I stood facing the next cube, I could see over the dividing walls to my 'neighbor's' desk. Not the most private, especially since I was hoping for an office, but you take what you can get as a newbie. I walk around the 5 by 5 foot space, admiring it's blank walls and cheap carpeting. I have no right to judge; it's a real job, & one I had been searching for for months. At that point, anything was better than sitting in my mom's cold, damp basement searching for jobs while she yelled at me to find something that would get me out of there, fast. I'd take it, and be happy.
"Any other questions about what's expected of you?" My short, round boss peered over his glasses as he asked. I looked down at him as I pulled my chair out to sit.
"Nope. I think Julia covered everything in our walk-through this morning." I sat and swiveled around to face him.
"Perfect. I'll let you get to work then. I'm just down the hall in my office if you have any questions, and your cube-neighbors will be more than happy to answer any questions. Welcome to the team." He reached out to shake my hand and left without another word. I appreciated that. I hadn't had a steady position since my internship in college, and that lasted only a few months. I was treated like a teenager there, given no room to breathe or many chances to grow and learn for myself. Finally, I was expected to take responsibility for myself.
I logged into the company's network using the first three digits of my first name, 'S-I-L,' and the last four of my last name, 'U-D-G-E,' as my user i.d. and my social security number as my password. The set-up of their software was easy enough, and I'd already had a chance to play around on it and set up my desktop earlier in the day. But now I was left alone with no one watching, and I needed to remember where I was supposed to go next. I looked along the tabs near the top of my screen and saw 'ticket queue.' I clicked it and saw a page list of open tickets from around the office. I scanned the subjects of all of them and realized they were all pretty simple fixes. My screen refreshed, and there was a new one at the top of the list. 'Mouse problems,' was the subject, so I clicked it. It was an email from a woman named Veronica. Sexy name, I thought to myself.
"My mouse isn't working. I had gotten a new one because the old one broke. But this one isn't working, and the cursor won't show up. I'm using the common area computer to send this, so I guess it's not an urgent problem, but it'd be nice to be able to use the one in my cubicle. Thanks!
-Veronica."
I smiled to myself. This was going to be easy. My first task here at the new job is the easiest thing I could do, and I was going to get paid for it. I hit reply.
"Veronica,
Are you using a mechanical mouse (the kind with the ball in it) or an optical mouse?" Send.
I scrolled through the other problems and sent a few emails in response. Nothing too difficult. I refreshed my email and saw that Veronica had replied.
"The kind with the ball in it. This office is stuck in the 90's, so you know. I know it's your first day." I smiled. So, people knew me without having met me. I felt honored.
"Oh, don't be too hard on the 90's, they were a good time. Anyways, luckily for my first day, my jobs have been pretty simple, including yours. Turn off your computer and plug in your mouse while the computer is off. When you turn it back on, it'll work."
Almost immediately, "I'll let you know if it works, thanks!"
I replied with, "It will, trust me." I went on to work on a couple more fixes that I could answer through email. I checked the clock at 11:30. Not even noon yet, and I was starting to drag. I needed some coffee. I walked around the office & found the break room. There was one woman in the room, holding a book in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other at the large round table. She was extremely attractive. She had long, light brown hair that was up in a high, messy bun, and dark rimmed glasses. She was dressed business casual; she almost resembled a sexy librarian from a dirty film. She looked up at me over her glasses when I walked in. The way her eyebrow rose as she glanced at me from over the frames made my heart sink into my stomach. Damn. I thought. She's hot.
"Hi." She said softly, putting the book down and leaning back in her chair. "You must be the new IT guy." She smirked, but I couldn't tell if she was laughing at me or not.
"That's me. Is that funny?" I walked to the coffee maker and opened the thermos I had brought with me.
"You didn't tell me your name." I turned to look at her over my shoulder.
"I've been in here five seconds, I haven't exactly had a chance." She tilted her head to her side, trying to figure me out.
"Calm down, I'm not getting on your case. I meant you didn't tell me your name in your emails. I'm Veronica. Thanks, by the way, I forgot to email you back. That did work." I turned to face her and looked her in the eyes for a minute. They were wide, a piercing blue color. They were beautiful. Who knew that the first problem I'd have at work would be the easiest fix in the world, and from probably the sexiest woman in the office?
"I told you it would. I'm Silas. Would you like some more coffee?" I reached behind me and grabbed the pot. She reached out and held her cup under it.
"Thank you, Silas. Nice to finally meet you." We were both quiet for a minute.
"Well, I should get back to my desk. Computer systems from the 90's means I have my work cut out for me here." She laughed, picking her book back up.
"By the way, you have beautiful eyes." I turned to tell her before I walked out. Her eyebrows rose in shock, and her glasses slid just a little bit down her nose, leaving her eyes exposed over the frames in that sexy way again. I walked out back to my cube.
The rest of the day went smoothly. At five o' clock, I rose to leave.
