The First Day

When I slowly open my eyes I realize my alarm clock is screaming for me to wake up and I hit the dismissal and sit up slowly. Here we go.

The rest of the morning was such a blur until all of the sudden I'm sitting in that same office waiting for the same lady. "Ms. Rose," a lady in a short black dress calls.

"I am Natasha. I am the head of security. I just wanted to give you a run down and take your picture for your badge."

"Nice to meet you." "Follow me" walking down a hallway we turn into a room.

"What we do here at Tobias enterprise is very important for the well being of a lot of people Ms. Rose but it is also a secret. Being the secretary to Mr. Tobias is a huge deal and you will be dealing with a lot of secrets of the company." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

"You have to sign a non-disclosure agreement stating that you are not to tell what you hear or see here at headquarters also covering if you were to leave us you cannot go to a competitor...do you understand?"

"Yes" I swallow. "Here you go" she hands over a pen and the paper she sets in front of me. A lot of words stand out on the paper that make little to no sense to me.  I sign and she takes it away and clips it to a clipboard she is now carrying.

"Please stand on the yellow line" she points to a yellow strip of tape near a white wall. I walk over and stand looking at her as she snaps and it's finished.

"Come here please" I walk over to her and see a stamp pad and another empty sheet of paper. "We will need your fingerprints to put into our system."

"Okay" I swallow harder, a lump rising in my throat. When the door opens Mr. Tobias himself walks in looking all business with his hands casually in his dress pants pockets. A long purple tie standing out against his white shirt.

"Hello Ms. Rose" he walks over and holds out his hand. I quickly. Try to remove the ink from my fingers and place my hand in his.

"Good morning Mr. Tobias"

"Ready to start the day Ms. Rose" he smiles sheepishly

"Absolutely" we release each other's hands, he looks over to Natasha and smiles

"Hello Natasha, how are we today."

"Fantastic, everything looks to be in shape and we are ready for a very successful day" I look at the interaction and scoff to myself. I'm pretty sure they have been more than coworkers before....I roll my eyes and look away.

Walking around the room while the two of them talk about business I try to become fascinated by the plain white walls and simple decorations on the walls such as a photo in black and white with a jar full of some liquid...Hmm that's a weird photo...

When Mr. Tobias leaves I walk back over and she begins explaining security and what I have to do to get to where I belong. Sending me off with my name tag down another hallway.

I clip my name tag to the bottom of my dress shirt shrugging as I look at my picture. I don't belong here. I straighten out my shirt and continue walking until I come to the door. As I enter there is another desk with a lady with a low cut dress and short brown hair.

"Hello, I am here to start training, my name is Ms. Rose"

"Welcome. You have such a pretty name" she smiles

"Thank you" I choke out.

"Please have a seat for a moment and I will be right with you." She gets up and leaves through a door right behind her. I sit in anticipation. I can feel my heartbeat in my throat... She enters back into the room carrying a packet.

"Follow me" opens another door to the other side and I follow her. "It's nice to see a new face around here. Especially because of how private it is. Most people don't know what we do here." "what do you do here?" I ask....

"That doesn't concern you for now. Eventually when you have been working for us for a while we will tell you but for now you are just a secretary and that's all you are to worry about."

"Copy that" I call out. Keeping pace in my high heels. I watch as we pass multiple rooms with names I will struggle to remember and finally we reach a room that says secretary of M. Tobias. I stop. Wait a second.

"No one told me I would be getting an office." I stand there dumbfounded...

"Well of course Ariya. You will find all you need on your desk. The door behind you leads directly to Mr. Tobias's office" she says, handing me a key and then walking away.

I put my purse next to my chair and look around the room. It's a light grey with wood furnishings with weird paintings covering the walls that look like they are from another century... A small purple couch sits in the far corner. On the counter I see a coffee pot and a small note.

Hello.

I hope your day is going well. Here is a coffee pot...it's the best one and it makes an excellent addition to your office

--M

I feel the letters. Then inspect the coffee pot and realized that I have no idea how to use it. I knock on the door.

"Yes" I hear from inside the door. I open it and sure enough there he is... " I'm just exploring." I smile shyly.

"Well I'm glad to see you are taking well to the job so far. It is a lot of responsibility. I hope you enjoy your coffee pot"

"Thank you" I say dryly.

"No problem" he smiles and the phone begins to ring.

"I'll let you take that" I close the door behind me as I am now back in my office.

I look at my watch and realize I get off work in an hour. Where did the day go? I sink down into my chair. And my computer comes to life. For a second the screen looks strange and I lean closer.

"Identity confirmed...welcome Ariya Rose" my mouth falls open. What the heck is this? Looking at the computer screen I explore documents all explaining my duties and what is expected.

It seems I am a record keeper of who he talks to and what deals are made, I see a weird document with little bouncing dots on the bottom of the square, I open it and see a log of his calls with little notepads next to them of information of the call asking about appointments and other things.

I am to bring him food when asked and never to be late for work. Sounds reasonable enough. I keep snooping when I look at the clock and realize it's time to go. I grab my belongings and my packet of information and quickly say goodbye to everyone as I head out noticing that Mr.Tobias has snuck out.