I closed the door to my tiny, walk-in closet of an office. What used to be a records storage room was now a records storage room and my office. Boxes, suto organized, filled the room. Somehow, squeezed into the room was a small, all-be-it-nice work desk and 2 of the most uncomfortable-looking chairs--one for me and one for my secretary.
That was the real reason I took his job. To have my very own secretary. I feel terrible for her. Cooped up with me in such a tight place must not be easy for her. I was so excited when told, "Of the many pleasures of working in this department is having a personal secretary." That, more than anything, is why I took the job.
I am not exactly sure why I had one, to be honest. My workload wasn't the biggest. Never a fast typist myself, I could dictate to her. It made it even easier when rummaging through files. I could read off the required info while she typed.
But, work was more challenging now. After three months of having the job, I was assigned the task of digitizing all the records. At first, the task excited me. Finally! This was my chance to empty the office of those boxes. Then I could request a desk for..., but before finishing the thought, my boss broke the news that they still wanted hard copies of everything. They only wanted to add digital backups in case of emergencies.
So now, I was staying late. The stress was starting to get to me. I was so low on sleep I fell back into my chair and wanted nothing more than to sleep. With my head leaned back and eyes shut, I weighed my options.
'Sleep here and have horrible back pain or drive home, risking falling asleep at the wheel. Garunteed pain or potential death?' While wrestling with these options, my secretary walked in.
Sarah was a little short with blond hair primarily tied into a knot. At some point in the day, some of her bangs had pulled loose from her knot and framed her face. A large pair of tortoiseshell glasses adorned her face, and she wore a cream-colored cardigan sweater. She was still young like me. Both of us are in our twenties.