The first day at a new job always feels like the first day at a new school. You're "the new kid." Everyone will do one of two things. They'll pretend not to notice you, when in reality all they're doing is talking about you behind your back, or they'll try and be friendly. It's not a big deal to me, and considering how often I've changed jobs in the past few years, I'm sort of used to it. This time, was different. It was my first
real
job. My hands were shaking as I pressed button fourteen on the elevator. That day was the first day of the rest of my life. I could feel it. Just a few short weeks after graduating law school, due to a few amazing references from a couple of my favorite professors, I had landed an associate position at Johnson & Moore, one of the most prestigious law firms in the city. I couldn't believe it. In the entire twenty-five years of life, I never had such luck.
Just as the elevator door was closing, a hand stopped the door, and a man stepped on. He reached over to press a button on the elevator, but hesitated and stepped back when he saw that I had already pressed the one that he was looking for. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He looked young, maybe a couple years older than myself. He was wearing a dark suit, and I guess I could consider him attractive. I didn't think much of it, I was too nervous. When the elevator doors opened, I quickly exited and made the turn down the hall towards the offices. It wasn't until I went to open the door that I realized that the man from the elevator had the same destination as I did. He held the door for me, and I could barely say "thank you" before he had disappeared.
"Well, you must be Christina Yuan." I heard a voice say from behind a massive desk. A blonde head appeared out from behind it. "I'm Mandy, the receptionist, I was told you were coming. Mr. Johnson's office is just down the hall to the left, he told me to send you in when you got here." I thanked her and started down the hall. All the way down at the end of the hall I found a door that read "Eric Johnson" and knocked. I'd met Mr. Johnson before, and I was perfectly comfortable around him. He was an older man, in his late fifties, with silvery-white hair. He was very friendly and didn't seem so serious about his job, although he was.
"Ah, Christina, I've been expecting you. How are you?"
"I'm fine, Mr. Johnson. How are you?"
"Well, thank you. I wanted to take this chance to officially welcome you to the Johnson & Moore family. As a new lawyer here with us, we'd like to do our best to get you used to this crazy business. For the first few months that you're here, you're going to be working closely with my partner, Steven Moore. He's going to show you the ropes on how this place works. Unfortunately, you won't be meeting him today, although he is here, he's in meetings all day long. Tomorrow we can get everything started. For today, Mandy is going to show you around the office and introduce you to a few people, and show you your office. Have a nice day"
"Thank you again for this opportunity, Mr. Johnson" I said, leaving his office and heading back to meet Mandy at the front desk.
After a tour of the office which felt like it took a year and meeting about forty people whose names I had already forgotten, I was finally alone in my office. It wasn't too big, but I didn't mind. It was
mine
. I had my very own office. There was a medium sized desk in the corner, with a very stylish modern laptop sitting on top. There were a few bookshelves, still empty, and in one corner sat two leather chairs and a small table. There wasn't much in the way of décor, but Mandy had informed me that I could change that once I got settled in. There was also a door to the left of the desk, and it connected to Mr. Moore's office. I guess since I was to be working with him often, it made it easier to have joint offices. It seemed like I had been at the office all day, and I was relieved to be out of there when the day was over.
I was so tired when I went home; all I could do was crash on my couch. I changed out of my dress shirt and skirt, and threw on my favorite outfit, a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a tank top. I fell onto my bed, and fell asleep immediately.
The next day I was significantly less nervous to go to work. I rode the elevator alone, and I felt at home walking straight into my office. I said hello to Mandy on the way by. At least I knew one person, I wasn't a total outsider. I had just sat down when there was a knock on my door. I called out "Come in!" to the person on the other side. To my surprise, the door opened, and the person who appeared was the man from the elevator the previous day.
"Well, hello Christina! Nice to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you! I'm Steve Moore." He seemed so energetic, it was even making me tired.
"Hello, Mr. Moore-"
"Please," he interrupted, "call me Steve"
"Steve, alright, nice to meet you too. If you wouldn't, mind, please call me Tina, Christina is so…formal"
"Of course, Tina. So, how was your first day?" He sat down and we talked for a long time about what his plans were for my future with the company. I had forgotten that I had agreed to have lunch with Mandy, and before I knew it she popped her head in my door. "Hey, are you still coming?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."
