Commute - Camp NaNoWriMo April 2015

Chapter Forty-Three - New Project

Audrey (or Little Miss Snarky) is actually for once not filing her nails when I enter the room. Instead, she jumps up, runs over to me and hugs me.

"You're okay! Oh my gosh, you're actually okay!" she gushes, stepping back and holding me at arms' length to examine me critically.

"How do you know what happened?" I ask.

She tuts. "Your partner, Joseph, James, or whatever his name is, he rang up at seven p.m. on the day you disappeared asking if you were still at the office. Of course I told him no, you hadn't been here all day. Then he started freaking out, because he said you'd left the house at normal time and everything. Then you never turned up. He tried ringing you but he couldn't get through. We were all so worried!"

Oh great. Now the whole office knows about it.

"You didn't need to be," I tell her, "I was fine."

She clucks disapprovingly. "Well, we weren't to know that, were we, sweetie?"

I don't think she should be able to call me 'sweetie', seeing as I'm at least five years older than her. But I let it pass.

"So..." she says, smiling warmly. "Tell me everything."

I disentangle myself. "Sorry... Audrey. I have to go and talk to Miss French and Mr Clifford. You know... big grown-up girl sort of thing." Ha. Never call me 'sweetie' again.

All trace of warmness is gone. She glares at me, then click-clacks back to her desk and starts typing pointedly - can you type pointedly? I think so - on her keyboard.

I knock on Miranda French's door, and when she shrills out, "Come in!" I enter.

"No, I don't need another coffee, Audrey," she says without looking up from her laptop.

"This is Maya," I tell her, sitting down in the seat opposite.

She looks up, squeals, and slams the screen on her laptop down so hard I swear it will be broken.

Her reaction is basically the same as Audrey's except without the hugging bit. "Mr Clifford will want to see you," she adds ominously, when she's finished going on about how pleased she is to have me back. I nod, and slide out of the office and into Mr Clifford's.

"Hello, sir. It's me, Maya. I'm back."

He smiles warmly at me. "Yes, I did hear a lot of squealing from both Audrey and Miranda, so I guessed it was you. Do sit down."

I sit.

"Now, I've already heard everything that happened from James, your husband?"

"Fiancé," I correct. Hmm. Jamie sure has been making a lot of phone calls to my work lately.

"Your fiancé. Okay. And it sounds very interesting! From the way he described it, it sounded like quite a gripping adventure!"

He probably described it wrong. It didn't seem all that gripping to me. "Yes, sir."

"Well, Maya"- he leans forward in his seat - "I have a project for you."

"A project, sir?"

"I want you to write all about your experiences for the paper! It'll be great - like a continuation of the 'MEET D COMUTERZ' story. The public will love it."

"Mr Clifford-"

"Great. I expect that article in my inbox in two weeks, Maya. Good luck!"

Wait. When in that conversation did I say yes?

Oh well. I guess I'm doing it anyway.