It was my first day on the job. I didn't really like my cubicle that I was assigned to. There wasn't any easy way to see out. I thought about arranging the whole thing so that looking out would be easy. All I'd have to do is look up. The more I thought about it, the better of an idea it seemed. That way, the screen would be hidden and I would be much more available to the person who walked in on me. Privacy plus best policy. I typed up a small sheet of paper to my supervisor. All I wanted was permission to rearrange the cubicle so that I could be more productive. I even drew a picture so that the desk was facing the "doorway" and a little path was made for me to walk around and sit on the chair. I stood and walked to the cubicle opening and almost collided with a secretary. At least, she *looked* like a secretary.
"Excuse me," I said quickly. "I didn't see you coming."
"That's quite all right," she said in an accent that said she was from somewhere Tennessee. "You're new here and this being your first day, you're allowed some sort of excuse for running into people. Is there something that I can help you with?"
"Well, I was going to look for my supervisor," I began. "I wanted to show him or her a rearrangement idea to give me some sort of privacy and also give me the ability to see a person immediately when they walk in."
"You don't even know who your supervisor is," she asked with raised eyebrows. I looked into her eyes and found them to be light green in the center with hazel edges. They were quite beautiful. "It just so happens that *I* am your supervisor. What do you have in mind?"
I handed the paper to her and her hands casually and barely touched mine as she took it. While she was studying the paper, I watched her face. Small cheekbones, light brown hair, small ears. Her lips were full, but not like Angelina Jolie. More like Julia Roberts, but not as wide. And just enough gloss on them to make her lips sparkle a bit. I wondered if she noticed my eyes on her. I wasn't flitting down below in a way that would denote sexual harassment. And in no way did I want to get into that situation. First day on the job is NOT a good time to be hitting on the supervisor.
"Well," she finally said. "I agree with you, but I have one other addition to it. I have to be in the room for the first week for the majority of the time that you are in here to be sure that you are doing this as a way to help me out and not just some personal reason so that you can surf the internet. We do block you from going to adult sites, but to encourage employee rapport, you are allowed to go to game sites, etc. However, be advised. We do monitor your output of your computer and there is a sort of quota that you have to do in 9 hour shift."
"I hadn't expected that," I said with some surprise. She raised her eyes to mine and one eyebrow rose.
"And why is that?"
"Well," I started and then stopped. She waited. "I guess I didn't really expect you to agree with me. I didn't expect that I would nearly run into my supervisor on the first day much less that she would be interested in sitting in my cubicle for a week. I mean, aren't there other employees that might need your attention?"
She smiled without showing any teeth. "Let's just say that this is a small company. Once you've been here for two to three weeks, you're pretty much aware of what needs to be done, what shouldn't be done, and what definitely shouldn't be mentioned." "Such as?" I asked. I was curious.
"Well, such as flirting with your supervisor. You're not the first and you won't be the last. I know your attentive eyes have been on me. You have points added that you kept your eyes on my face and didn't go south with them. You won't get fired or laid off for un-collared eye movements, but you will have points taken off your application. When 12 points have been taken off, you take off. And in the case that you're curious about the system, I have a chart outside my office with everybody's names and how many points they have off of their application. I don't show who's got the most because that would make it too competitive in here. But if you see your name on the list, you'll know that I've got my eye on you and not in a good way."
"Ok, is there anything else?" I asked.
"Yes there is. There is a certain, unwritten policy in this branch that all abide by. While flirting with me is looked down on, I welcome interaction with my employees. Not so much that we are all one big happy family, and not so much the other way that everybody is secretive about everybody. If you wish to talk to me, I'm almost always available unless I'm spending time with a new employee. Then, all the other employees will know that I'm simply initiating another member of the company. Now, is there anything else?"
"Not that I know of," I answered. "But if there is anything, I'll be sure to let you know. I smiled back at her and she returned in with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. There was something about the way that she used the words "interaction" and "always available". When she said "interaction," I noticed that she had put her hand on her waist, but her fingers were splayed and pointing south and north. When she said "always available," her hand was between her breasts and then she was pressing against herself enough to accentuate her curves just a little more. It was two quick glances that I took and I wondered if she'd noticed. She didn't say anything about it and didn't react as far as I knew.
She smiled one last time and then walked on down towards her office. I walked over to the next cubicle. This was an odd place because the cubicles were not all pressed together to form a prairie dog farm. Instead, there were a good 12 paces in either direction before there was another cubicle. I began to wonder how many employees were in here. I heard the tapping of keyboard keys that stopped when I knocked on the wall. A male employee about my age popped up and asked what I needed. I explained that I had gotten supervisor approval to rearrange my cubicle, but that I needed help to move the desk. He grinned and told me he'd be right over.
"So you're the new guy, huh," he asked as he walked out of his cubicle. "Have you talked to the supervisor yet?"
"Yeah, I was just listening to the rules of the office," I replied.
"No, I mean, have you *talked* to her?" I was slightly confused and my face probably showed it. H grinned at me and then said, "Don't let her come over on you too quick or you get points on the board."