Hi, guys. I've decided to write the story with a non-linear approach. I have made distinctions between before and after Joe's submission. I wish I would've written in a linear approach, but that required a long setup with no action. I wanted to balance them both. So, here we are. Hope you'll like it.
Chapter 2: Samantha
Joe worked in an accounting firm. He walked towards his cabin, which was not his solo cabin. It is a mid-sized room where he works with two other people, his subordinates. Similar rooms are constructed to the edges of a large workspace leaving the middle open. The central space is filled with cubicles in such a way that leaves a nice room for walking in the middle.
A woman was looking at him from the open cubicles. Joe knew that women found him attractive. He was wearing a black and white business suit. He was nicely built and not just muscular, with a clean-shaven face except for the mustache. And his hair... Ah yes! His hair is just perfect. A man could only dream of that hair. He acknowledged her with a nod and walked on smiling.
His boss just yelled at him, so he was not happy. They were running late on a deadline, and his boss went too far with the scolding. So, he was angry himself. He reached his room, extended his hand, and pushed open the door. The room was filled with soft laughs by the two girls looking at each other. He heard her say, "He really said that. Aww." They were sitting facing the wall and sides towards the door. Maya and Samantha are beautiful women, friendly and almost always agreeable.
Maya just noticed him, her laugh vanished, and maybe his frustration was visible on his face. Maya was sitting cross-legged on her chair, her elbow on the arm of the chair and her chin resting on her closed fist. She was wearing a pantsuit. Samantha was in a skirt and suit. She looked back and noted him after a sudden silence from her friend.
Joe strolled in and asked, "Maya, what is the report status?"
"Ah, I'm working on it." She replied.
"I said status, didn't I." He put in firmly. He was never this firm with her before. She sure was shocked by his tone.
"Oh. A few calculations are pending, and a few documents are yet to be received from the client. I have to verify those."
"So, no improvement. Same as before." He said annoyingly.
"Same as before." She agreed with a hint of guilt. He knew he was projecting, and there was no need for this argument. It was a case of client-side pending. But at the moment, he was not listening to his rational mind. Chain of yelling, right? The wife yells at the boss, the boss yells at the manager, manager yells at the employees. So, he did that.
"What are you even doing here? If there is no improvement in the work, why do you even care to come to the office?" He animatedly flung his hands all around. "Just sit in your house and watch romance movies all the time." Clutching both of his hands to his chest, "Ah! He said that. Just dream over some random non-existent guy." Flinging his hands again.
Oh, he shouldn't have said that. Oh, that was not good at all, yet the yelling continued. "Here you are laughing at each other jokes, and the VP was yelling at me for YOUR incompetency. And I..."
Suddenly he was not feeling angry, that was good, right? Now he listened to his rational mind. He regretted everything he had said to her. If his boss went too far, he went way too far with Maya. He wanted to apologize to her immediately and couldn't make himself do that. His comments were not only rude but also misogynistic. He didn't know where that came from. So, he stood there, looked at her for a second, and walked towards his desk.
He sat down and noticed Maya was looking at him. Samantha was set on her screen as if she had no part in this. Maya was staring at him like she was expecting an apology. That look somehow conveyed a sense of a last chance, and he couldn't have made himself apologize to her. So, he turned his attention to the screen in front of him. Maya looked at him for only a few seconds. After that, she rotated her chair, put herself into her work, and shook her head like it was a mistake on Joe's part.
Yes, it was a huge mistake on Joe's part which most definitely would ruin his life.
________
Samantha entered the elevator just after an old-aged woman. She was holding the leash of his puppy in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other. She likes puppies. She has a dog waiting for her in her apartment. Just after the elevator doors shut, she bent down to pet the puppy. The old woman, Mrs. Moore, had put down the grocery bag. She smiled at her as she continued playing with the dog. A 'bing' announced Mrs. Moore's floor. She tried to get her bag up, but Samantha got there first.
"Mrs. Moore, please let me help you to your apartment." She said.
"No, Sam, I can do it myself. I don't want to trouble you." She replied