After taking a shower Penelope was drying her hair with the towel. She had made chicken salad for dinner. She logged in to her I*******m and started scrolling while eating food.
Her friend from Washington, Vanessa, had texted her. She used to work with her in the coffee shop back there. She replied to her and all the other pending text messages. After dinner, she put the bowl in the dishwasher and called her, and told her about the job. Vanessa had got a job too, in Washington. She was a major in English Literature. She had gotten a job as a writer in some publication company. She promised her that she would come and meet her as soon as possible.
Vanessa was a lively girl. They kept talking about all that happened in the past three days till midnight. Vanessa was telling her about her meeting with his boyfriend's parents when Penelope excused herself that she had to get up early the next day. She prepared all the things for the next day and then slowly drifted to sleep.
*
August 4th.
The next day she woke up early and made breakfast. She took out an off-white dress and hung it in the bathroom. She took a shower and then got dressed. She made a summer bun and lightly straighten the tips of her hair. She did light makeup, wore perfume, quickly put all the required things in her bag, and locked her apartment. Hailey was standing in the lobby, the school bus had arrived, she was waving goodbye to her kids.
"Hey, good morning, Hailey." She greeted her.
"Oh, hi there." Hailey grinned. "Very good morning to you too and good luck.”
“Not that you will need it anyway." She winked and then chuckled.
"Haha, thank you. And no, I need a lot of luck!" She said. Hailey hugged her and smiled. Since she had no car, she got up early to catch the bus.
She reached the office right in time. She entered through the glass door and reached the reception. The receptionist called someone and gave her a card and told her to go on the third floor.
The elevator opened and she entered. A girl shouted, "Hold the door!!" She had blonde hair, dyed blue from tips. She had tied them in a ponytail and was holding a Starbucks coffee cup in one hand and her handbag with files in the other. She was probably in her early twenties.
Penelope quickly pressed the button to hold the lift and the girl rushed inside it. "Woah, that was close." She laughed proudly. "Thanks, though." She said, still catching her breath. Penelope nodded lightly and pressed her lips into a thin line. “Which floor?” She asked.
“Third.”
“Oh, I’m going to that floor too.”
"That’s great. What's your name, again?" She squinted at her.
"I never told you, my name."
"Oh... uh-- then, what's your name?" The elevator opened and they both stepped out.
"Penelope. Penelope Bloom."
"I'm Nora. Only Nora." She gave her the brightest smile. "You... work here? I've never seen you?" She said and pushed the door with her back. She was talking so fast.
"It's my first day here."
"Ah... right. Okay then, see you around. Bye." She said in a single breath and walked swiftly in another direction.
Penelope stood there, looked around. She didn't know whom to talk to now. She saw a man walking towards her. "Uh… Hey? Excuse me?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you please tell me where's Mr. Reed's office?"
"Come with me."
He said and they both walked towards a glass cabin. "Here, go inside." She nodded and slightly knocked at the door.
"Yes." A voice came. She opened the door and entered. "Hello, sir, I'm Penelope Bloom."
There was already a girl standing there with files and a laptop, explaining to Mr. Reed about her work progress. Her black dress hugging her body perfectly and her light brown hair was secured in a bun on top of her head.
Marissa Conner.
Her eyes studied her face for a minute then she closed the laptop and said, "I'll come later."
She walked towards Penelope and stopped for a second. She looked at her with her bright green eyes. Penelope felt intimated under her gaze. “Uh…?” She hesitated.
“Hello?” She didn’t know what else to say. "Welcome to Joseph and Vance Architects." She smirked and then left. Penelope looked at her face. That seemed familiar. She blinked twice but didn't understand this greeting and then looked towards the man sitting in front of her. She watched her leaving the office and then moved forward.
"Please sit, Miss Bloom."
She sat and smiled awkwardly.
“This was Miss. Conner. Our senior architect. You’d be working under her for the first 6 months.” He started saying.
‘I don’t feel so good about that. But anyways.’ She thought to herself. “You will also be assisting different projects with other people.” He explained. She nodded lightly. “Mr. Laurent is out on a two-week business tour. You will be having projects with him once he returns.” He smiled. They further talked for a minute or two about what kind of work she'd be doing here. “So, do you have any questions about anything?” He asked. She shook her head.
Mr. Reed picked up the landline and asked the person on the other side to come inside the office. Nora knocked at the door and then peeked inside "You wished to see me, Reed?" She wiggled her eyebrows.
Reed gave her a straight look.
"Uhm... I mean… Sir." she corrected herself and mentally rolled her eyes.
He shook his head and wiped his face, "Yes, Nora, this is Miss Bloom, your new colleague." then he looked at Penelope "Nora will show you around and will explain your work to you." He smiled at Penelope. "Okay," Penelope said and left the room.
"Here, here. Welcome to the design office. That was Mr. Reed you just met." She dramatically rolled her eyes. “The ‘king’ of our empire.” She stretched out both her arms. Penelope got a bit dazzled by her. “That's Damen's office. He's our design head. Like after Reed. Reed is the main guy here, but…” She looked around and slowly whispered, “He doesn’t do any work.” She rolled her eyes. “Just the cliché. You know.”
Penelope nodded slowly. Nora cleared her throat. “Yes, where were we? Ah, yes, Damen. He’s out on a business trip. That lucky bastard gets to go out on business trips like that while us peasant work here in the dullness.” She wiped a fake tear.
Penelope was getting amused by every passing moment. “That's Marissa's. She’s the senior architect. Don't try to be friends with her." She looked around and whispered, "She is not like... you know-- uh very much likely to be socialized with." She said in a hushed tone.
"Anyways," she walked towards the working area. "Wo ho! Listen, everybody!" She clapped her hands in the air and loudly said "This is Penelope. Penelope, this is everybody." Penelope smiled and waved her hand. "That's it. Now get back to work! Chop, chop!" She said again. "Here's your seat, right beside me. Congratulations." She said in great excitement, shook hands with her, smiled brightly, and sat on her seat.
Penelope tried to absorb all the information Nora just shared with her and kept standing beside her seat with wide eyes.
"Here." She handed her a file. "You need to read this, there are reports attached at the end, you can see them, and then you should try to write a report like them." She paused for a moment. Penelope took the file and flipped through the pages. "What are you waiting for?" Nora turned around and looked at her.
"Me? Oh, nothing." Penelope said and sat in her seat. "Then start working, lady," Nora said and drank her coffee. Penelope sat there and started reading the file. It was going to be a long day.
“Hi, I’m Eric.” The guy on her right dragged his chair near her and greeted her. He had grey eyes with a tint of green in them. His hair was white. All of it. They looked natural. Not as if they were dyed or something. Just natural white. He looked Holy. She starred at them for longer than was required. Then she quickly blinked her eyes quite a few times and looked away to keep herself from drooling.
“Hello.” She smiled and looked at him briefly.
“Welcome abroad!” He stretched out his hand. She shook it lightly.
“Hi, I’m Jessica.” The other girl said. She was wearing a cute red top and was looking… pregnant. Penelope’s gaze shifted from her face to her stomach. She didn’t want to make it obvious or rude so she averted her gaze.
“Yes.” Eric nodded.
“What?” She asked.
“She’s pregnant.” He confirmed. “Oh… my God.” Her expressions changed from surprised to jubilant quickly. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you so much.” Jessica smiled from ear to ear. “It’s a boy.” She caressed her baby bump. Penelope smiled and congratulated her again.
“You can ask me anything about this report thing. Any questions… anything, you know.” Eric rolled a pen between his fingers. “Yeah… Sure.” Penelope lightly smiled and moved her chair back to her working station.
*
An Hour Later
Penelope moved her chair to face Nora, “Hey, I wanted to ask--” She started saying but stopped midway her sentence. Her seat was empty. Her desk was covered with so many papers. Blank. Crumpled. Drawings. Papers with doodles. Almost ten different colors of the pen were there. Everything thing was there except Nora, and of course her cell phone.
Penelope sighed and rolled her chair backward to her cubicle. She cleared her throat, hesitated a bit, closed her eyes for a brief moment, and rolled her chair towards Eric’s cubicle. She cleared her throat again.
“Uhm…”
Eric was wearing headphones and was so invested in his work that he didn’t acknowledge her in the first place. Penelope pressed her lips into a thin line. She picked up a pen and poked his side lightly. He got startled. “HEY!” He said loudly. Her eyes widened.
He removed his headphones and looked at her. “Uh- yes?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry… I was just… my music was too loud.” He chuckled awkwardly.
“Yeah…” She started looking at his hair again.
“What?” He asked.
“Huh?” She raised her eyebrows and looked at his face.
“Uh- you… poked me.” He pointed towards her pen. She looked at it and then looked at him again.
“Oh…” She remembered. “Yeah.” She was mildly embarrassed. “I—uh… Can you explain these terms to me?” She showed him the underlines points. He moved his chair close to her, his headphones around his neck.
She sucked in a breath and moved her chair as well to keep her distance. He took the document from her hand and skimmed through the text. “Yeah, sure.” He kept his eyes on the paper. “Give me the pen.” He took it from her hand. Their fingers brushed slightly. She pulled her hand back a little too quickly for him to notice.
“Huh?” He looked surprised.
She just simply shook her head.
“Scoot over.” He motioned his head.
They both rolled their chairs towards her desk. Eric explained all the terms to her by making a flow chart and adding sticky notes to every point. It almost took them 20 minutes to finish. After that, he asked, “Okay?”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
He rolled backward to his place. “Uh—” He looked at her again, “Next time you can just pat me if I’m wearing headphones. I’m just a little sensitive at my sides.” He placed both his hands to cover his sides.
Penelope bit the inside of her cheek to try to not laugh. She coughed to cover it up. “Yeah… Sure.” She said and faced her desktop. She closed her eyes and hit her head lightly with her fist. “I’m such an idiot.” She muttered to herself and then got back to work.
***
It was almost 3 o’clock when Nora said standing over Penelope’s shoulder, "HEY! DO WANNA GRAB LUNCH WITH ME?”"Oh, God." Penelope put a hand on her heart. "Why are you shouting, Nora?" She rolled her eyes and looked at her.“You were so invested in your work. I asked you calmly for the first two times.”“Okay, okay.” She shook her head."Yeah. Whatever. Do you wanna eat?" She put her hand on her side and pouted."What time is it?" Penelope looked at the time. The clock struck 2:45. "Fine, fine. Let's go." She stretched her arms over her head."Do you have to look at the clock to know about lunchtime?" She said as she entered the lift. "Where are we going?""Cafeteria. You are going to love that little cheese monster." She smacked her lips. "Alright," said Penelope and walked behind her. Nora asked for two burritos and paid for them.“How much for that?”“I got t
It was 6:50 in the evening, everybody was winding up their work. Most of the people had already left. "Let's get going," said Nora as she turned off the computer in front of her and packed her bag. "Yeah, just give me a sec." Penelope was still busy arranging her things. She cleaned her desk, put all her belongings in her bag, and shut down the computer.She paused for a moment and looked at Nora, “You really think—”“Yes, yes! For the love of cheesecake, yes. You should go with us.” Nora grabbed her shoulders and shook them. “All right…” Penelope removed her hands from her shoulders."Let's go." She said and put her bag on her shoulder."Penelope?" someone called from behind. They both turned around to find Nate standing there."Now what does this asshole wants?" Nora rolled her eyes. Penelope hushed her. "Yes?" She replied politely. "Miss Conner wants to see you in her office." He told her
They were almost finished when Nora's phone started to ring. "What the fuck? Why don't people let me have my food in peace." She cursed and then picked up her phone. Her expression changed instantly when she saw the caller ID and excused herself to answer the phone."A bad temper she's got," Penelope said and giggled. "Yeah, but she's soft at heart," Damen said and wiped his mouth with the napkin. Penelope looked at him. "No... no, no. I wasn't saying it like that." She put her hair behind her ear. “I only meant… I – uh… I—” Her sentences were inscrutable. "All right, all right. Calm down, missy." He tried to put her at ease. “Why do you panic about such little things?” He put a meat slice in his mouth. She just shrugged in response and sipped water. Slowly. Very Slowly. Nora came back and dropped her phone on the table. "What happened?" asked Penelope."Uh—my agent is at my house. I was trying to change my apartm
It stopped raining shortly after he dropped her at her place. The car stopped at a red signal. He starred out of the window at the almost empty road. The sky had begun to clear out. The wind was taking the clouds away. It was a bit chilly. How can be someone so scary and scared at the same time? He thought to himself and smiled. The car behind him honked causing him to stop smiling and to focus on the road. He came out of his thoughts. “Sorry!” He waved his hand lightly out of the window and accelerated the car. He was going to Nora’s house now. He took out his phone and dialed her number. She picked up after the second ring. “You have reached Nora’s voicemail. Unless it is extremely important that you’d die if you didn’t seek my expertise don’t say anything. Have a good night and let me have one as well.” She had her nose pressed between her fingers. He rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Oui, madame.” He shook his head and continued, “I’ll be at your pl
Sunlight kissed her eyelids good morning. It was a bright day. Everything was looking more alive and fresher. She pulled sheets over her face and then turned over. Her phone buzzed under her pillow. She opened one eye and looked around. She had slept peacefully last night but was still tired from the wearying week. She checked her cell phone. There was a text message from her cousin sister, Flora. “Hello, dearest. I’m going to Ohio with Auntie Betty. I’ll come back in a week. I would have called you but then I thought you might be sleeping. Anyways. I’m hoping to see you soon. I love you. -Nana.” Her grandmother had asked Flora to text her on her behalf. Flora was 10 years older than her and had two kids. She had always been a supportive person in Penelope’s life. When everything was falling apart, she helped her get things together and rooted for her success. There were other messages from Nora as well. The first one was an hour later the tim
4:47 p.m. All of her work was done by 5 in the evening. Damen hadn’t said anything to make her more nervous than she already was. He was trying to get work done as soon as possible. All the awkwardness and tension had settled down. “Should I send it just now or schedule it for tomorrow morning?” She looked at him. He was sitting beside her. “Schedule it.” There were empty noodle bowls, and some snacks lying on the table. She scheduled the email and powered off her laptop. She stretched her arms over her head and slouched back. “Thank you.” She put her glasses over her head. “For helping me. That too on the weekend.” He tilted his head to look at her. She was smiling at him. He gave her a half-smile, “It was nothing.” He looked away, “You are my friend.” “Let me treat you to a meal.” She excitedly said. He raised an eyebrow at her. “What?” “I’m gonna eat until you are broke.” He widened his eyes. She laughed in response.
10:16 p.m. She didn’t say anything all the way back to his home. The car slowed down in front of his house. He parked it in the garage and moved out. He took out the suitcase and walked inside the house. After a minute or two, he came back. She was sitting still. He opened her door and bent down to pick her up. “I can just… walk.” She looked at him with no expressions. “Like that?” He gave her a disappointing look. “Yeah. I mean… just lend me your hand.” She stretched out her hand. He grabbed it and helped her in getting out of the car. She was leaning on him trying to walk but couldn’t. She couldn’t put pressure either on her toes or heel. He picked her up without letting her say anything. She put her arms around his neck awkwardly. He walked inside the house quietly. He entered his room and carefully dropped her on the bed, grabbed two pillows, put them under her foot, and stood straight. There was a moment of silence. He scratched his neck
“Here, take your medicines.” He came out of the kitchen with an apron around his waist. “Oh,” He stopped right in front of her chair. “She slept again?” He put his hands to his sides. Her mouth was slightly opened and she had her eyes closed. He waved his hand in front of her face. “Hey!” He poked her arm. “Penelope!” He tried again but there was no response. He sighed and put medicines in his apron’s pocket. “How is she always sleepy?” He shook his head and sighed again. The clouds had covered up the sky. He chose not to wake her up and sat on the chair beside her. He wiped his hands on the apron and leaned back. “I don’t want you to suffer.” He said in a hushed tone. Almost inaudible. “I know you don’t want me to help you. Still, you are stuck with me here.” He smiled sadly and looked at her. He slowly put a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He kept looking at her. Sadly. “I’m sorry you broke your foot because of me.” He said and leaned back in his chair