Inmates Anonymous
As they walked down the hall to the office, Andrew found that Miss Dahlia rarely came to office, preferring the comforts of technology to get her work done. Miss Dahlia and Miss Karen were the two supervisors, and the biggest boss in their department was Mr. Edzel Ramos, a former child-star turned washed up actor and now the head of the events department for a multimedia company. In fact, he learned from Imelda, none of the bosses showed up more than once a week, if at all.
Brushing off the chills emanating from Emily as he and Imelda walked into the office. She sent him a telling glance and then with a wave, headed to her desk. With a sigh, he headed to Emily.
“So- what am I supposed to do?” He ventured. Emily ignored him, scribbling feverishly on some forms. He tried not to roll his eyes and asked again. Emily, without lifting his head, muttered, “Pick a table and type some letters to the sponsors.”
Suddenly he heard the thump of flesh hitting glass. He turned around to see another girl by the entrance, wincing and shaking a swollen-looking arm with an angry welt where it hit the glass. The girl herself stood in the middle of an explosion of papers, clad from fingertip to chin in a bulky sweater, laughing sheepishly at herself and with nobody in particular. Andrew blinked. Emily sighed from his place without even looking up. And Imelda came running to hug the girl, laughing hysterically too.
“Andrew! This is Anna. She’s one of our coordinators. She’s new too, like you! Ann, this is Miss Dahlia’s new toy- I mean, assistant.” Imelda laughed, bending down to help Anna pick up the papers. Even Imelda’s laugh made him tingle, Andrew reflected, but there was something oddly endearing about Anna. She grinned myopically somewhere to his ear and then stopped smiling.
“Er, Emily, here are the papers you had me photocopy.” She said in a more subdued tone. From out of Emily’s line of sight, Imelda rolled her eyes. Andrew sank to his knees to help the other two clean up the mess, making sure not to kneel on the gold-framed glasses that likely belonged to Anna.
Emily remained mute, writing idly and humming to himself. Anna took a step closer to the table, tensing. “Emily. The stuff you had me photocopy.” She handed him a sheaf that remained uncrumpled. He peered down his nose at her and frowned. “Did you check to see if they’re in order? You get so careless sometimes.” He sneered, waving a feather-tipped pink sparkly pen at her theatrically.
Andrew felt a surge of anger but held it back when he saw Anna’s fists clench. “Yes. They’re in order.” She breathed through clenched fists. Imelda handed her the rest of the papers and rose gracefully back on her four inch stilettos, widening her eyes knowingly at Andrew then wordlessly striding back into the inner offices. Andrew remained on his knees, watching the scene unfold.
“Maybe this is too complicated for you. It’s perfectly understandable if you don’t get this right.” Emily idly flipped through the pages, not meeting her eyes. Anna remained silent, tight lipped and furious. “Oh. Well. I must have given you the wrong pages to photocopy, silly me. I don’t need these.” Without looking up or at anyone in particular, he purred, “Andrew. ANDREW. Do be a dear and put these in the recycling bin. I do hate wasted paper.” And he held out the papers in Andrew’s direction. “Andrew?”
Andrew glanced up and met Anna’s hot furious gaze. She had the look of a warrior in her sharply tilted eyes, slits of fury, and knew that she was holding back more than he could ever know. Andrew rose, without breaking eye contact, handed her her glasses and, ignoring Emily, smiled at her. “I’m new here. Maybe you could show me around?” He smiled at her reassuringly, stepping aside to let her pass. Anna showed him her teeth (it could not in all honesty be called a smile.) and started walking.
And then saw Miss Dahlia watching him speculatively from inside her office. And Emily’s furious reaction in the mirrored wall. But Andrew had only been in the office 15 minutes, and he knew it was going to be a LONG day.
Lunch in the office was an awkward affair. Andrew wasn’t sure about what to expect, so he had packed a lunch, just in case. Everyone else bought their food from a creepy, glassy-eyed woman with wiry bronze hair and an onion-y smell, who went from office to office lugging a huge plastic bag of food.
He sat awkwardly at the end of a conference table, with Imelda at the head, reigning over her court as she dug into her salad. Everyone was chattering away animatedly, with the ease of a close-knit family. The guy next to him smiled over his mouthful of dinuguan ( note: a special Filipino dish made with pig’s blood and vital organs) and asked, quite sprayfully, “How long do you think you’ll last here?”
Imelda sucked in her breath and gasped, “ZANDER! That’s so rude of you! BE NICE TO ANDREW! He’s Miss Dahlia’s new assistant!” She punctuated every other word with a stab at her limp lettuce. Zander grinned unrepentantly at her, turned to back to Andrew again and said, “Hey. Just being honest. Dude, I give you three months, tops.” Then he flashed him what Andrew hoped, with all his heart, was not a flirtatious smile.
Andrew blinked and tried to discreetly wipe his cheek. “I honestly- “ He began, when Anna jerked her fork up. “Hey. Be nice to him. He stood up to Emily and on his first day too!” She sent Andrew a reassuring grin and spoiled the effect by blowing her nose on a giant checkered purple and pink napkin. A silence greeted her remark (after her loud nose-blowing.) Then one of the older office people, a clean-cut man in his early 30’s, breathed, “Damn. You are so screwed.” The girl next to Anna was shaking her head mournfully too. “Good luck.” She whispered.
“Kinda takes the point out of getting to know you.” Zander laughed, jabbing him gently in the arm with his fork. Andrew smiled weakly.
“BUT!” Imelda interjected again, waving her glass for silence. “We’ll do it anyway. Everyone, this is Andrew. Go on, introduce yourselves.”
Zander grinned. “I’m Zander, I’m with the Advertising Group.” The girl next to Zander smiled shyly. “I’m Trina, I handle the budget and supplies. If you need anything – “ Hoots greeted this, and she blushed. “ I mean, If you need anything for the OFFICE. “ She emphasized the last word. “You just come to me.”
Zander grinned. “Yeah, you just COME to Trina.” He teased. Trina hit his arm, totally flustered. “MOVING ON.” Imelda bellowed, tapping her fingernail impatiently on her plate.
Then Anna waved the hand holding the napkin. “You know me!” She chortled. “Coordinating. And we’ll be working closely together, coz you’re the assistant of Miss Dahlia, she’s our director. I guess I’m your best friend from now on.” Everyone oohed at this, and she blinked. “What?”
“Ryan. Technical.” The clean cut guy grunted. Nothing else.
“Michael Lim. I handle all the PR work.” The suave-looking guy smiled, revealing a dimple that made Trina blush. “Good job, that. If you ask me, that Emily’s being a little too naughty.” And Imelda’s eyes lingered a little too long on Michael’s mouth. Andrew started to feel a little insecure. “But I’m glad you stood up to him, Anna. I’m proud of you.” Michael looked at Anna, with soulful brown eyes.
Anna just nodded vaguely, nose to napkin. “Thanks, dude.” Andrew detected a hint of wistfulness from Michael. So that’s how the wind blew, he thought.
“Good, that’s everybody.” Imelda announced grandly, flashing him a killer grin and making his navel twitch, rotate, contract and expand seven times rapidly. “We got your back, Andrew.” Zander whispered into his ear, making him shiver and leaving him with an odd sense of foreboding.
Andrew couldn’t shake the feeling that battle lines had just been drawn.
Brushing off the chills emanating from Emily as he and Imelda walked into the office. She sent him a telling glance and then with a wave, headed to her desk. With a sigh, he headed to Emily.
“So- what am I supposed to do?” He ventured. Emily ignored him, scribbling feverishly on some forms. He tried not to roll his eyes and asked again. Emily, without lifting his head, muttered, “Pick a table and type some letters to the sponsors.”
Suddenly he heard the thump of flesh hitting glass. He turned around to see another girl by the entrance, wincing and shaking a swollen-looking arm with an angry welt where it hit the glass. The girl herself stood in the middle of an explosion of papers, clad from fingertip to chin in a bulky sweater, laughing sheepishly at herself and with nobody in particular. Andrew blinked. Emily sighed from his place without even looking up. And Imelda came running to hug the girl, laughing hysterically too.
“Andrew! This is Anna. She’s one of our coordinators. She’s new too, like you! Ann, this is Miss Dahlia’s new toy- I mean, assistant.” Imelda laughed, bending down to help Anna pick up the papers. Even Imelda’s laugh made him tingle, Andrew reflected, but there was something oddly endearing about Anna. She grinned myopically somewhere to his ear and then stopped smiling.
“Er, Emily, here are the papers you had me photocopy.” She said in a more subdued tone. From out of Emily’s line of sight, Imelda rolled her eyes. Andrew sank to his knees to help the other two clean up the mess, making sure not to kneel on the gold-framed glasses that likely belonged to Anna.
Emily remained mute, writing idly and humming to himself. Anna took a step closer to the table, tensing. “Emily. The stuff you had me photocopy.” She handed him a sheaf that remained uncrumpled. He peered down his nose at her and frowned. “Did you check to see if they’re in order? You get so careless sometimes.” He sneered, waving a feather-tipped pink sparkly pen at her theatrically.
Andrew felt a surge of anger but held it back when he saw Anna’s fists clench. “Yes. They’re in order.” She breathed through clenched fists. Imelda handed her the rest of the papers and rose gracefully back on her four inch stilettos, widening her eyes knowingly at Andrew then wordlessly striding back into the inner offices. Andrew remained on his knees, watching the scene unfold.
“Maybe this is too complicated for you. It’s perfectly understandable if you don’t get this right.” Emily idly flipped through the pages, not meeting her eyes. Anna remained silent, tight lipped and furious. “Oh. Well. I must have given you the wrong pages to photocopy, silly me. I don’t need these.” Without looking up or at anyone in particular, he purred, “Andrew. ANDREW. Do be a dear and put these in the recycling bin. I do hate wasted paper.” And he held out the papers in Andrew’s direction. “Andrew?”
Andrew glanced up and met Anna’s hot furious gaze. She had the look of a warrior in her sharply tilted eyes, slits of fury, and knew that she was holding back more than he could ever know. Andrew rose, without breaking eye contact, handed her her glasses and, ignoring Emily, smiled at her. “I’m new here. Maybe you could show me around?” He smiled at her reassuringly, stepping aside to let her pass. Anna showed him her teeth (it could not in all honesty be called a smile.) and started walking.
And then saw Miss Dahlia watching him speculatively from inside her office. And Emily’s furious reaction in the mirrored wall. But Andrew had only been in the office 15 minutes, and he knew it was going to be a LONG day.
Lunch in the office was an awkward affair. Andrew wasn’t sure about what to expect, so he had packed a lunch, just in case. Everyone else bought their food from a creepy, glassy-eyed woman with wiry bronze hair and an onion-y smell, who went from office to office lugging a huge plastic bag of food.
He sat awkwardly at the end of a conference table, with Imelda at the head, reigning over her court as she dug into her salad. Everyone was chattering away animatedly, with the ease of a close-knit family. The guy next to him smiled over his mouthful of dinuguan ( note: a special Filipino dish made with pig’s blood and vital organs) and asked, quite sprayfully, “How long do you think you’ll last here?”
Imelda sucked in her breath and gasped, “ZANDER! That’s so rude of you! BE NICE TO ANDREW! He’s Miss Dahlia’s new assistant!” She punctuated every other word with a stab at her limp lettuce. Zander grinned unrepentantly at her, turned to back to Andrew again and said, “Hey. Just being honest. Dude, I give you three months, tops.” Then he flashed him what Andrew hoped, with all his heart, was not a flirtatious smile.
Andrew blinked and tried to discreetly wipe his cheek. “I honestly- “ He began, when Anna jerked her fork up. “Hey. Be nice to him. He stood up to Emily and on his first day too!” She sent Andrew a reassuring grin and spoiled the effect by blowing her nose on a giant checkered purple and pink napkin. A silence greeted her remark (after her loud nose-blowing.) Then one of the older office people, a clean-cut man in his early 30’s, breathed, “Damn. You are so screwed.” The girl next to Anna was shaking her head mournfully too. “Good luck.” She whispered.
“Kinda takes the point out of getting to know you.” Zander laughed, jabbing him gently in the arm with his fork. Andrew smiled weakly.
“BUT!” Imelda interjected again, waving her glass for silence. “We’ll do it anyway. Everyone, this is Andrew. Go on, introduce yourselves.”
Zander grinned. “I’m Zander, I’m with the Advertising Group.” The girl next to Zander smiled shyly. “I’m Trina, I handle the budget and supplies. If you need anything – “ Hoots greeted this, and she blushed. “ I mean, If you need anything for the OFFICE. “ She emphasized the last word. “You just come to me.”
Zander grinned. “Yeah, you just COME to Trina.” He teased. Trina hit his arm, totally flustered. “MOVING ON.” Imelda bellowed, tapping her fingernail impatiently on her plate.
Then Anna waved the hand holding the napkin. “You know me!” She chortled. “Coordinating. And we’ll be working closely together, coz you’re the assistant of Miss Dahlia, she’s our director. I guess I’m your best friend from now on.” Everyone oohed at this, and she blinked. “What?”
“Ryan. Technical.” The clean cut guy grunted. Nothing else.
“Michael Lim. I handle all the PR work.” The suave-looking guy smiled, revealing a dimple that made Trina blush. “Good job, that. If you ask me, that Emily’s being a little too naughty.” And Imelda’s eyes lingered a little too long on Michael’s mouth. Andrew started to feel a little insecure. “But I’m glad you stood up to him, Anna. I’m proud of you.” Michael looked at Anna, with soulful brown eyes.
Anna just nodded vaguely, nose to napkin. “Thanks, dude.” Andrew detected a hint of wistfulness from Michael. So that’s how the wind blew, he thought.
“Good, that’s everybody.” Imelda announced grandly, flashing him a killer grin and making his navel twitch, rotate, contract and expand seven times rapidly. “We got your back, Andrew.” Zander whispered into his ear, making him shiver and leaving him with an odd sense of foreboding.
Andrew couldn’t shake the feeling that battle lines had just been drawn.
Word count= 2,771 words
Words left= 47,229 / 50,000
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