5 Chapter#05: First day at work

The brightest rays of the sun were coming through the half opened window. The soft wind blew which lifted the curtains of fine light cloth in air. The bangs of the alarm could be heard in dead silence.

Jenifer woke up and turned off the alarm. She was glad because she had no nightmare last night and she slept peacefully. It was about seven when she looked at the time. She got up, stretched herself and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

She wore a pair of white snickers, cozy pants, a black colored blouse and a stunning jacket.

"Good morning Mom!"

"Good morning Jen!" smiled Della while washing the dishes, "Do you want me to make the yummiest breakfast?"

"No thank you Mom. I'll only take the toast and a glass of orange juice." Jenifer looked around, "Where is everyone? The house feels like dead."

"Dalton went to school and Kate to her college."

"What about Dad?"

"He went to work."

"Work…already…but it's…"she stopped when she looked at the time. It was quarter to eleven. She remembered that she woke up at almost seven. "I could not have taken that much time to get ready." she thought.

"You were sleeping so I thought not to wake you up. You seemed tired. I thought you should need some rest." Della told.

"But I woke up at seven."

"That cannot be possible honey because I came in your room at eight to wake you up."

Jenifer got shocked. She could not accept what had happened with her, "Mom I'm too late now."

"You can take a day off."

"I had to meet Mr. Arnold today. He only comes on Tuesdays."

"At least have your breakfast."

"But he'll only be there till twelve. I'll take the apple only." she grabbed an apple and rushed out.

"The bus pass is in my bag. Don't forget to take it." Della gave a loud voice but Jenifer missed what her mother said.

Jenifer went to the bus stand and waited for the bus. She was continuously looking at the time. It was getting late. The bus arrived. Jenifer was about to go in but then she realized that she was neither having the pass nor the money. She was about to cry now. "I'll have to walk now." she sighed, "but it would take much time."

"Why have you stopped dear?" asked an old man from behind.

"I'm neither having the pass nor the money. I left them home and now I'm late for the meeting."

"A horrible day you're having." uttered the old man.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, "I'll just walk on."

"Come on in, I'll pay for you."

"Thank you for that Sir but I'm okay with walking."

"You don't want to cancel the meeting, do you? Hop on in young lady."

"Well thank you sir. I'm honored." Jenifer went in the bus and sat beside the old man. They both talked along the way.

"I was also having a daughter like you." the old man told his story, "It was her first day to work. She called me and told me about her day when she was coming back home but suddenly the call got disconnected. I tried to call her again and again. I got worried. It was the evening of winters. I had a call from the hospital. They told me that my daughter died in a car accident. I rushed to the hospital. I saw her body. She was cold. She looked in peace. I asked them how it happened. They told me that she accidently crossed the red signal and got hit by another car." his eyes filled with tears.

"I'm so sorry about what happened." Jenifer got emotional.

"No one could save her but from that day I try to help every single person who needs help."

"What was her name?"

"Olivia." told the old man, "This was the name given by her mother."

"That's a sweet name Sir."

They both talked a lot. Jenifer told about her life and the old man told about his. The bus stopped. Jenifer had to leave now.

"It's a goodbye I guess."

"Dear you made me feel that Olivia is still alive."

"She was never dead Sir. She is always alive in you." saying this she went off the bus.

Jenifer hurried to the reception, "Where can I meet Mr. Arnold?"

"Are you Jenifer John Wood?" asked the lady at the reception.

"Yes…yes I am."

"Wait here for a moment. I'll call you" after saying this, the lady went to Mr. Arnold's office.

"I hope he's not angry on me for being late." Jenifer thought.

After sometime the lady came back and told Jenifer to go to Mr. Arnold's office and meet him.

"May I come in Sir?"

"Yes please. Have a seat."

"Thank you Sir."

"So Miss Jenifer, you're late."

"I...I know. I mean I'm sorry."

"You need to be punctual. You know I was about to leave."

"My day just went horrible."

"So coming to the business, I called you here to write me an article."

"An article?"

"Yes, for the magazine next month. It is going to be a tricky one. Mr. Davisson told me that you are a perfect one."

"But why me?"

"That is because you like to get into stuff to find the mystery, the secret behind what happened and besides I am not having talented writers and journalists like you here. So, I called you."

"What is this article about?"

"It's about the mysterious places, the abandoned ones."

"I'm going to write on these places?"

"Not only write but you're going to answer every single question which rises in people's head."

"So you want me to become an investigator?"

"I want you to be more than that. Are you getting me?"

"Yeah but what is the place?"

"You and your workmate will be selecting the place."

"My team mate?"

"His name is Jack. You'll meet him outside."

"Is he a writer too?"

"Yeah but apart from being a writer, he's the editor too."

"How do you know Mr. Davisson, if you don't mind me asking?"

"He's my school friend. We're friends from fourth grade."

"That's awesome."

"So Miss Jenifer, you have time till the first week of next month."

"I won't disappoint you Sir."

"You should go meet Jack now. He's a very good guy. You both will make a good team."

"Sure Sir. It was nice talking to you."