One Step Closer

CHAPTER 1. - The Office

Marian POV ~

I stood in front of the mirror in the female washroom in my new workplace. I was supposed to present myself to the human resources manager in ten minutes.

"You can do it!" -I muttered under my nose.

"You can do it." - I took a couple of deep breath to calm my nerves. As always,I needed to boost my confidence in advance. In my head, I rerun the conversation between me and the human resources manager.

"You will be responsible for the junior admins, the temps, and the cleaner on a daily basis." -said the elderly lady on the day when I accepted the position.

"You will make the orders for the office supply and make sure you do that efficiently. Make sure the cleaner does her job properly because in the last few weeks she was neglecting the dusting and washing the floors in the main staff room. You also need to be available time to time for the director of the company. You need to set up the meeting rooms, make sure the projectors and all other equipment are working. The list is not exhausted of course. I will email you a proper explanation of the job description." - she snapped her folder close in her hand, and smiled at me. That time I thought it will be a piece of cake. Now I don't feel so confident at all.

I was staring at myself in the mirror and took in my reflection. Average height, a bit out of shape, curves here and there but at least my two piece suit covered up the major problems. My high heeled M&S shoes probably will kill me by the end of the day but I wanted to look smart on my first day at least. Hopefully I will last more than one day, thought bitterly thinking about my previous experience with a nursing home, south side of the city. I hope at least I'll get a chance to get a grip and show my ability to take over a busy office. I have never done this before. This job was way out of my league but since I received my certificate in office administration, I could apply for a job like this. Although I didn't have experience, this company was desperate to take someone with immediate start. I was wondered what happened with the previous junior office manager. The human resources manager briefly said she left with no notice and left a big mess in the office. Maybe she wasn't competent in this role, obviously not.

Ok, my hair looked all right, I washed this morning, it was very slippery, it was hard to pull it up into a chignon but somehow I managed to make a messy one after half an hour trying. I looked down my hands, my nails were freshly polished, nothing out of ordinary, just a French manicure. Yesterday afternoon I popped into my favourite salon, called Remy's. I get a discount because my friend is one of the best nail technicians who ever worked for Remy. Remy is very vain, she wants the best staff in the city, she takes her employees to competitions, and my friend, Shana won several places in these.

She did an amazing job, like she always does; my nails looked well looked after and still proper for an office appearance, just the way I like.

I bought my two piece suit in M&S, on sale of course, as I couldn't afford anything on full price. I couldn't show up in cheap stuff here. This office was a posh office, I decided at the first glance when I arrived a week ago for my brief interview. The sturdy oak table at the reception area, the plush chairs and sofas in the lounge, all the cleverly picked decoration, delicate floor lamps, contemporary pictures on the walls, this was the place where rich and influential clients could wait for their appointment, it all looked expensive and probably designer made. When I got the job, I immediately checked my balance because I know I have to buy some new skirts and office wears. My balance was painfully low. Not working in the last few weeks took a hard turn in my financial situation. I lived on my pay checks and if there was no work, I had to spare every coin and really watch my spendings.

I still could manage to buy something on the sales, so I ended up in this two piece suit from M&S, standing in the toilet. It was very simple, dark navy blue, strictly cut jacket with a pencil skirt. I had only five minutes to show my face.