Entry 7: 1970s
Chapter 7: 1970s:
I opened my eyes to the sight of the sunlight shining through the window, it had been raining so much that I had forgotten to close the blinds last night. Admittedly, my mind was preoccupied with something else. Stretching my limbs as I sat up, I gave in the urging of the light and opened the window to let the warmth in. I stretched out my arms and let the warmth of the light tickle the tips of my fingers. I have no idea what today might bring, as a matter of fact I am frightened, yet in this sun light, I could not help but think that today will be a wonderful day.
Smiling, I slipped into my silk robes and went into the kitchen to brew myself some earl gray tea to pick me up. Humming, I went to the living room and opened my record player. It was a beautiful morning, and nothing accompanies it better than one of humankind’s creation; music. I selected from my collection of vinyl records collated throughout my life and put on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I returned to the kitchen and waited for my tea to brew while I prepare myself something to eat, a small bowl of mixed berries, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries and two pieces of buttered toast. Once finished, I carried my breakfast to the windowpane and sat there to enjoy my breakfast while basking in the sunlight.
In the midst of my meal, the music cascaded into Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – Autumn, there in the warm sun eating fruits and listening to music I can almost picture it. A meadow of flowers sweet and bright, the sun was warm and gentle, while the wind was playful and a little chilly, carrying a whiff of the running river as it surrounds the meadow. There was laughter and chatter, as everybody danced and cheered, their clothes dancing with them in a sway and swish of soft light colors. I swayed along, with them, taken with the flow of their joy and excitement. I remember the gentle hands that guided across the meadow, strong yet careful as I leaned into his chest.
Without much thought, I collected the journal from yesterday into my lap. I skipped over the jumbled mess of writing and found a new one, a blank fresh slate I began to write the memory in my mind, the laughter the moment, how it felt, how I felt, how I would always want to remember it. I poured my heart into the pages of the paper, carefully writing the memory with a precise stroke of my pen against the pages, I took my time, and I enjoyed the writing it just as I was living in the moment. I was so engrossed with writing that I had not realized the morning has slipped past me with the honk of cars on the streets below.
Rush hour.
In a hurry I threw the utensils on my kitchen sink and rushed through my morning preparation, slipping into my dress, while I combed through my hair in record speed, deciding to let my hair down rather than attempt to coif it halfheartedly. I skipped makeup and decided to put on a light lipstick I slipped into my stockings and my heels while I ran to the door snatching my bag a long the way while I condemn myself in a series of curses ever made by man in many different languages. How could I let myself lose track of time? Me this was unacceptable. I continued my condemnation all the way to the office where I barely made it in time clocking in.
Once my timecard was punched in, I rewarded myself for a job well done by taking it slow on the elevator, thankfully, I was able to hitch the elevator alone. That is until hands with pristine red nails stopped the elevator doors, the machine giving way to an equally pristine Sarah Beth.
Just my luck.
“Oh, hey sugar, almost late on your first day on the assignment, don’t you think you’re cutting it a little too close?” she gave me her award-winning sharp smile as she entered the elevator, a cup of smoking hot coffee in her hand.
“Good morning to you too, Sarah Beth you just getting in?” I took a step back, not to give her some space, but to have some distance between us in case she decides she does not want to drink her coffee anymore.
“Oh goodness, I’ve been here for an hour, I always clock in early, I make it a habit to always be available, when you know, someone doesn’t make the cut”
“I bet you do” I whispered under my breath.
“Sorry, what was that?” she stepped closer to me in one threatening stride.
“I said how very admirable of you, such an example to all other secretaries” I said with a smile. The ridiculously slow doors of the elevators began to close, and I prepared myself for a short yet excruciating ride with Sarah Beth.
“Hold the door!” a voice reached the elevator, and before I could press the button to keep the elevator open, Sarah Beth had tackled me to it like that button could be her life’s saving grace. A tall man clad in tan suit entered the elevator, and in that moment, I understood why Sarah Beth leapt for the button.
Fate was playing his silly games on me.
“Oh my Mr. Zander I didn’t know it was you. Laura, how could you not hold the door, good thing I was able to reach for the button.” Sarah Beth welcomed Zander in the elevator, practically stalking him into a corner. A whole elevator with only the three of us, yet Sarah Beth has managed to press against Zander like it was a closed can of sardines.
“Good morning, Sarah Beth, Laura” Zander removed his hat greeting us.
“It is a fine morning isn’t its Mr. Zander, I thought the rain was never going to let up, up but when I opened my eyes this morning, the sun was shining!”
“It is nice, isn’t it? How about you Laura how did your morning go?” Zander asked stirring the conversation to keep Sarah Beth from reporting every detail of her morning routine to us.
“Nothing special, I had breakfast by the window while listening to some music and I-“ I stopped and both eyes looked at me expectantly.
“and you?” Zander urged.
“wrote something” I said barely above a whisper, I looked up at the winding up number of the elevator as we are taken further up into the building. I did not look at him, but I can feel the knowing smirk on his face.
“Is that why you were barely on time with your hair a mess?” Sarah Beth snapped.
“I couldn’t let the moment go to waste” I answered truthfully still looking at the numbers, refusing to look them in the eyes.
“I think you look beautiful with your hair down” Zander stepped towards me, so that he was in perfect sight of my angled head, and just before the doors opened to our floor, he smiled and left.
I did not wait for Sarah Beth to get a chance to ruin the warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach and I stepped out before her, practically skipping my way to my desk. Nothing was going to ruin this day for me.
Or so I thought as I buried my face in my hands as I leaned against my table, my head was pounding. My morning had been puzzling circus maze of playing where is my things. I arrived at my desk devoid of my typewriter, sending me into a haze of trying to find which one was functionally in our spare room, after that I was sent into a wild goose chase for ribbons, a whole drawer of mine, swapped clean of ribbons and no one in the entire floor can be bothered to spare one, so I had to get myself one in the supply closet only to find that there were no more ribbons, sending my down to the basement to get our floor a box of new ribbons.
Just when I thought I was about to begin working, someone had spilled a whole pot of coffee area, running my desk, my chair, my things everything on my table, thus sending me to the recess corner of the whole floor where a rickety old chair and a wobbly table was kept as spare. It was an obvious that everything that has transpired this morning was not an accident, even fate could not but that cruel, and it was obviously no secret who the perpetrator of this circus act is. I just comforted myself in the knowledge that in my station, out of sight, I would be out of her mind.
The smell of roasted earth wafted my senses and I looked up to see a gentle smile offering me coffee and sandwich. I smiled and took the offering with a grateful heart, like a peasant receiving alms for the first time. Zander placed his food next to mine, the very same food as mine, grabbed another questionably stable chair and sat across me.
“I’m thankful Zander, but what are you doing here?” I exasperated, and he looks at me as if I were the fish out of water.
“Eating lunch” he answered nonchalantly and continued inhaling his meal. He accompanied me throughout my lunch break and left exactly right after it.
Until a few minutes later when he returned carrying three boxes of paperwork stacked on top of each other, his hair disheveled and along with his shirt, his jacket and tie completely missing from his person. One after the other he lined these said boxes on my table, boxes filled to the brim with papers with unruly handwriting; this should keep me busy for a while.
I was preparing to bury myself in work when Zander pulled out a pair of glasses in his pocket propped them on his nose and sat right where he was just sitting a few minutes ago.
“What are you doing this time?” I sighed at his antics, and just as before he looked at me like I am the one not making sense between the two of us.
“Working”
“Here?”
“Yes here?”
“Why here, you have a perfectly fine office with no coffee spills” He sighed and removed his glasses so he can look at me straight in the eye.
“This desk is all the way across the office floor from my office, and I am not about to send you back and forth across this office floor when we are working together, so this solves that problem, it saves time and its very efficient” He made the gesture of spreading his arms to highlight the work propped on my table.
“There is barely enough space to fit the two of us,” I reasoned, and instead of thinking his decisions over, he leaned in and gestured for me to lean in with a beckoning finger. I sighed once again and humored him, crossing my arms, and leaning in towards him.
“That just means I get to be closer to you” he whispered in my ear, and I shot up, swiveling my chair to turn my back to him as fast as I can.
Hopefully, he didn’t see my face turn cherry red.