I have a boring life. I go to work, come home, and repeat. I was hired into a new job about an hour from home. On the first day on the job, I was shown my desk, which was a complete disaster. My new boss apologized for the mess but said they would rather me organize it.
I had walked into my new cubicle, and there were boxes of shit stacked with paperwork that needed to be sorted and processed. I needed to log them into spreadsheets. Then I could make a digital copy and shred the paper copy. I had a task on my hands before starting my job. It took me a few days to sort through all the paperwork and boxes.
A few people would come by, talk, and introduce themselves to me. I would be polite and talk with them, but I just wanted to organize everything so I wasn't a year behind in my work. I was hired to sort the data to find out what all their research has been telling them. They have been conducting research but have yet to log the information because no one believed it was their job.
I was also shown a storage room full of boxes, so I knew what was in my cubicle wasn't everything. So, every day for a week, I have been sorting boxes and logging numbers, digitizing the papers to get rid of them. Of course, the correct way is to use the industrial shredder company.
I had a good year of back data to go through, and then what is being dropped in an inbox daily. The different workgroups would finish with their results and drop them in the same box. I could have five projects in one box, if not more.
Because I was an office assistant, I had to dress semi-professional or office casual. I wore khakis and a polo shirt most days, and Fridays, I hear, are jean days. Since I didn't have a phone at my desk, I didn't need to worry about missing a call. So, I wore earbuds and listened to music to help improve my time.
The second week, most people had stopped coming by to introduce themselves to me, and I was able to get more done, and I was buzzing through more of the boxes as I finished stacks if I had everything for the month. I would scan it and put it on the server in its correct folder for the month and year.
I just happened to have my earbuds on one day during the second week, and my music had ended, and a song didn't start, so I could hear everything around me. Amy, I think that was her name, walked through with a dreamboat, and I overheard him say, "Who's the new guy?"
Amy responded, "Oh, I forgot you haven't been here since he's hired in...." They'd walked out of hearing range.
I just turned my music back on and got absorbed into my work again. Occasionally I would get up, take a pile of papers to the scanner, and scan them to a flash drive to transfer the files to the server. I saw the guy a few more times, we smiled and nodded at one another, but that was it. I didn't notice him for the rest of the week until Friday.
Friday, I was doing my usual, inputting numbers and listening to my music, when something moved above my computer screen, and I looked up. He was leaning over my cubicle wall, and when I looked up, he smiled. I removed my earbuds, he said hi, and I responded.
"Did you have lunch yet?" The guy asked, "By the way, my name's Chase." He stuck his hand to shake over my wall.
I stood and shook his hand, "Drew, and no, I haven't yet."
"Well, leave your earbuds and come with me." He grinned, and I looked at my watch; it was only a quarter to noon. "Come on. I've already talked to Larry." Larry is my supervisor.
"Okay." I laid my earbuds on my desk and picked up my phone.
We walked out to the parking lot and over to an SUV. It was a Cadillac, gigantic. I don't care to drive big things, I'm tall, almost six foot, but I don't need an SUV. I have a small car. The restaurant he took us to was just down the street. We could have walked to it as fast as we drove, but some people like their cars.
We were seated in a booth and asked if we wanted anything to drink, I told the waitress no, ordering water, and he asked for a beer. "You can drink. The company has no policy against it if you don't return wasted." He laughed.
"It's okay. I'll drink on my own time."
"But you do drink?"
"Yeah, I drink." Was this going to be 20,000 questions to find out what the new guy is all about?
"So, did you move here or what?" I looked at him oddly so that he would explain the question. I understood what he wanted, but I would make him ask more. "What made you come to work for us?"
"Needed a job." I smiled.
"Was that it?" He laughed.
"No, I lived here all my life, just a change of jobs, that's it." I shouldn't have said that, but I already did, so I opened up a can of worms. "I like to do different things from my last job."
"What did you do before?"
"CPA."
"So, you did taxes?"
"No, I dealt with numbers but not taxes."
"So why did you leave that just to input numbers into spreadsheets?"
"Less stressful." I smiled.
Chase chuckled. "Okay."
The waitress returned with his beer and my water and asked if we were ready to order, and we both said yes. He ordered a burger and fries, and I ordered fish, chips, and a coke. Of course, the questions began again.
"Were you out of work long before you started with us?"
"No."
"Do you like it here so far?"
"Yeah, the people are nice, especially Amy and Sam."
"Which Sam?"
"Samantha."
"Well, if you like either one, I know they are both single right now."
"It's okay. They're not my type." I smiled because I knew what the next question was going to be.
"What's your type?"
"Not female."
"Is that so? I know some men with whom I could set you up."