Since I'm feeling generous today, here's another freebie, which is based on my experiences as an office temp. Bizarrely I did not even realize that the main character in both stories is called Melanie. (Not being one to toot my own horn I won't bother to tell you that this story was Highly Commended in the 2011 Inaugural Indie Writer's Festival in Australia!).
Permanently Yours
“Hi, I’m Melanie. The temp agency sent me to start the data entry
job today.”
“Oh yes, we’ve been expecting you. I’m Estelle,” said the friendly
young woman behind the reception desk. “Come this way and I’ll show you to your
cubicle.”
The day passed quickly. The job was straightforward, the people
seemed nice and there was a cake at morning tea for Tania’s birthday. Melanie
had no idea who Tania was but she dutifully signed the card and scoffed down
icing sugar and cream along with everyone else. The next few days passed by in
a haze and by Thursday she had settled into a comfortable routine. It was not
the most interesting job in the world but it would do for now, and maybe a
little further down the track she might be given some additional
responsibilities. Who knew, maybe this would turn out to the “the one”, the
elusive job she had been searching for her whole adult life. When she found
“the one” she could finally stop looking for something better and feel as
though her life had some purpose.
It was on Friday that she got her
first inkling things might not be quite as straightforward as they seemed. She
had emerged from the elevator in a fabulous mood because the sun was shining
and the weekend was only a day away. As soon as she stepped into the office she
knew immediately that something was up. No one else was wearing jeans. Not one
single person. Having worked in dozens of offices across the city Melanie had
assumed that casual Friday was an established institution, but apparently not
here. No one said anything directly to her about her attire but Melanie noticed
a few disapproving looks cast in her direction. She decided to ask her
supervisor what the policy was on casual Friday.
“Well it’s not officially banned, but
it’s not officially condoned either.” Big help that was, she thought to herself
as she made her way back to her desk. Since jeans were not “officially banned”
on Fridays she decided to continue wearing them until otherwise instructed.
Later she realized this decision might have saved her life.
Over the next few weeks she began to
notice other subtle signs that this was not a normal workplace. For starters
everyone was allotted the standard thirty-minute lunch break. There was nothing
unusual in this, most offices officially allowed thirty minutes for lunch. The
difference here was that people actually took thirty minutes. Even worse, they
actively monitored each other to make sure that no one went over time. Melanie
had assumed that every sane person on the planet recognized that thirty minutes
was not long enough for lunch. No one could realistically walk to the nearest
sandwich bar, line up, wait for their order, eat it and walk back to the office
all within thirty minutes. Every other office she had worked in operated under
LET (Lunch Equivalency Time) whereby thirty minutes of real time equated to at
least forty-five minutes of lunch time.
No one ever said anything directly to her about her extended lunch
breaks but after her timesheet mysteriously disappeared on a couple of
occasions she got the hint and began bringing leftovers from home like everyone
else. She heated them up in the microwave, being very careful to cover her food
so as not to assault the delicate nostrils of her fellow workers. Estelle had
sent her an email when she started outlining the lunchroom rules in detail and
Melanie did her best to comply with kitchen etiquette.
She had been there for just over a month when the CEO, who was based
overseas, made an unexpected visit to the branch. It was a Friday morning and
to Melanie’s joy he told everyone they could pack up after lunch and go home
early. Melanie had returned from the lunchroom and was about to turn off her
computer when she noticed that nobody else was making a move to leave.
“What’s going on?” she said to the other temp who had started a
couple of weeks before her.
Brent cast her a frightened look.
“Estelle said we can’t leave.”
“What? But the CEO told us we
could.” She wasn’t sure exactly what Estelle’s role in the company was as she
seemed to be involved in everything, but surely she couldn’t override the CEO?
“You’re not seriously going to stay?” she said in disbelief.
“I have to,” whispered Brent.
“There’s a permanent position coming up and they’ve asked me if I’m interested.
I don’t want to rock the boat.” Melanie wondered why they hadn’t asked her if
she was interested in the permanent role as she walked out the door, trying to
ignore the dirty look Estelle shot in her direction. She didn’t like her
chances of advancing any further in the company now, but she didn’t think
leaving early was a big deal either. She was only following the CEO’s
instructions after all, but when she arrived on Monday morning it was clear she
had made an enemy
Estelle was waiting for her at her
desk and as Melanie approached she glanced meaningfully at her watch to draw
attention to the fact that Melanie was six minutes late.
“Hi Melanie,” she said in her super
nice way. “The rest of us will be doing team-building activities for most of
the day so you’ll be on your own in here. It’s only for permanent staff.”
Melanie noticed how she stressed the word “permanent.”
“That’s okay,” she said, returning
Estelle’s fake smile. Estelle clearly expected her to be upset she was excluded
but she quite relished the prospect of having the office to herself. At
precisely ten o’clock everyone filed past her desk and out the door in an
orderly line, including Brent.
“Hey, where are you going? You’re
not permanent yet.” Brent didn’t answer but stared straight ahead with a
glassy-eyed expression. The morning passed by pleasantly enough. Melanie
finished her work, and had a cup of coffee as she read the paper online. After
checking her inbox she realized no more work had been left for her. This was
becoming a regular occurrence and she often sat at her desk idly while Brent
was given a wide variety of tasks. She’d thought about raising it with her
supervisor but he had made it abundantly clear he had a care factor of zero. To
fill the time she read a couple of chapters of Twilight: Breaking Dawn
then decided to go for a walk past the meeting room and maybe take a little
peek to find out exactly what “team building activities” entailed.
Meeting Room three was down a
long dark corridor and as she walked towards it her footsteps echoed loudly
through the building. She had expected to hear a lot of noise and laughter
coming from behind the door, but it was eerily silent.
“I must have the wrong room,” she said to herself, and was about to
turn away when the silence was broken by what sounded like a muffled scream.
Intrigued she put her hand on the doorknob and then pulled it back in surprise.
The handle was freezing cold. Something told her to turn around and go back to
the office immediately, but Melanie couldn’t help herself. Slowly she turned
the handle and eased the door open just a little so she could peer through the
crack. The light was very dim in the room and at first she thought it was
empty. It took her eyes a moment to adjust and then she stifled a scream as she
took in the scene at the far end.
Everyone from the office was there and they were arranged in two
circles. The outer circle consisted of her co-workers, while the inner circle
was made up of management. Right in the middle of it all stood Estelle and
lying on a table in front of her was Brent. He seemed to be unconscious. His
head was flung back and his throat was bared. Estelle was lowering her head
towards his throat when the door slipped from Melanie’s hand and made a loud
creaking sound. Estelle looked up sharply. For one split second Melanie saw the
exposed fangs and blood red eyes, then they were gone.
“Melanie, what are you doing here?” We’re just going through a first
aid refresher. Brent volunteered to be our victim.” Everyone laughed in unison.
“Now that you’re here you might as well join us.”
“No thanks,” said Melanie, stumbling as she backed out the door and
bolted along the corridor. She didn’t wait around till the end of the day to
put in her notice, but before she left she took a long lunch break, heating up
her leftover dinner in the microwave. She didn’t cover it over but let the
fumes pervade the entire office. As she walked out the door for the last
time she gave thanks that she’d gone extra heavy on the garlic the night before.
THE END
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