Another day of report processing, meetings that should have been emails, and emails that should have been nothing at all. Why hasn't the hour hand on the clock moved in what feels like days? At least Annie is back from lunch, bringing with her the telltale hum and bounce of someone who is perpetually happy.
"Alex, how was your lunch?" asked a smiling Annie. It wasn't idle chit chat, she genuinely cared about everyone and everything around her. I adored her for it, but it looked exhausting at times.
"I haven't gone," I replied. "I'm trying to get this report out before Steve asks for it, and I'm hoping to skip lunch and duck out a little early today..."
Her glare said it all, she hated being left alone in our office. We had recently been moved into what many would consider a large closet, to make room for the sales team expansion. It was dark, windowless, and could only be accessed through the IT storage room. No visitors, just work. Frankly, I didn't mind it.
"...that is, if the hall monitor approves, of course" I continued. Always the rule follower, I had taken to referring to her as the hall monitor, or detention officer, when she shot me those looks. A quick eye roll and tongue sticking out let me know she approved, but disliked the idea of spending the final hour of the day here alone.
"How was your lunch Annie?" I asked.
"It was great actually. They finally put up that new gazebo behind the parking lot. I ate my wrap, scrolled TikTok, and pretended like I wasn't going to be left alone in this jail cell...again!". Oof, right, this will be my third day in a row of 'late lunch'. I do feel slightly bad, but the sooner I can escape the better. My wife Katie has tickets for us to see a Rolling Stones cover band at the local festival beer tent, and I want to squeeze in a swim before we go.
"Take it up with Steve, this new report takes me most of the morning and if he doesn't get it by one he'll be hounding me."
"What did they change on the report this time?" Annie asked as she approached, leaning over my shoulder to peruse my screen. Her blonde hair fell onto my shoulder, as I caught a whiff of her perfume. Fresh lavender, always.
"A few extra boxes on the first page, nothing big. But look at this..." She watched mindfully as I spent several minutes highlighting the extra hours worth of work they added to the report, which hardly anyone reads anyways.
"Seems to me like someone got payback for ditching their work partner early" Annie added with a wink, as she walked off to the left to round our desks. I couldn't help but glance at her shapely backside as she turned away, a feature that nobody misses. Annie isn't tall, by any means, and 2 children have added some weight to areas of her smaller frame, which she tries to hide with oversized sweaters and long jackets. Today though, that sweater is just short enough, and her yoga pants are just tight enough to give a perfect view of the curvy ass I have checked out many times before.
Annie slid into her chair across from me. Our desks were back to back, with no partition, as it was the best layout we could agree upon given the room size. It also made it much easier as we passed each other items and reports throughout the day. She held up her phone and quietly listened to something as I returned to my report.
Several minutes went by and I couldn't help but notice she remained glued to her phone. For the ever studious employee, it was an odd sight to see.
"What has you hooked there Annie?"
"Oh, sorry, I..." she turned red and put her phone down. "Have you seen this new thing on TikTok called phone swap?"
"No, I'm not on there much, what is it?" I asked.
"Friends, ex's, siblings, they trade phones and get filmed while they go through each others things. It's wild! I couldn't get enough of it on my lunch. Just a silly reality tv gimmick I guess, but you'd have to really trust someone, and can you imagine what people might have?" as she reddened up again.
"Ha, you mean the 13,000 pictures of your dog, kids, and your crafts? It would turn the world upside down," I replied.
"You think you know me sooooooo well," she exclaimed with a smirk and eye-roll.
"I do. We've worked together for 4 years, and have spent 3 weeks inside this jail cell with only each other for company. I doubt I know anyone better."
"You'd be surprised mister!" as she returned to her work.
"Whatever you say hall monitor."
The afternoon dragged on minute by minute, feeling like an eternity. With the primary report complete I fiddled away with emails, while I monitored some stocks for myself in the background. Annie typed away, but routinely stared off from whichever invoice she was reconciling as if trying to really picture something that wasn't there.
"That's it, I'm caught up" Annie triumphantly said aloud. Her phone immediately went up, and I recognized the telltale video intro from earlier.
"More trashy phone swaps?" I enquired with a raised eyebrow.
"You know it."