Mind of His

35. Rain And A Cup of Coffee

Artwork by the lovely Annie_Darkmoon❤

*******

I groggily sat up in bed. What day was it that my clock was beeping at this unholy hour of the morning? My eyes widened. Monday. The first day of my new job.

I threw aside the covers (which had somehow gotten tangled upside down during my sleep) and turned off the alarm. I was excited for this fresh new start. It was still dark outside, but nevertheless I felt energized and ready as ever to face the day.

"Music, I need some music."

Soon enough, The 1975 was blaring through my phone's awful speaker in the bathroom as I danced in the shower. Then I mumbled the lyrics to Africa by Toto as I brushed my teeth.

I stepped outside of the bathroom by 5:55 and smiled to be greeted by the rising sun outside my window. I changed into black paperbag pants, a frilly white blouse, and a tan peacoat then slipped on my favourite vintage loafers. After one last swipe of mascara, I put on my glasses and was on my way.

I clutched my cross body bag close to me as I walked down the street to the bus stop. A few business dressed people were waiting, staring down at their phones dully. Normally that would be me; Monday early mornings get me every time. But today was different. I felt like a kid going to their first day of school.

I listened to my music on the bus, using my wired earbuds because I had forgotten to charge my bluetooth ones. I smiled at the gold morning sunlight on my face as Journey played in my ears.

When I arrived at work, a woman named Daniella told me she'd be showing me around today. She was a short woman with dyed blue hair and glasses. "Call me Danny," she said after I shook her hand. We immediately hit it off and kept pleasant conversation as she showed me around and introduced me to various people we crossed paths with.

We got to a large room with many cubicles. It was bustling with activity as people walked in and out with papers and filming gear.

"We're filming at least one video per day," Daniella explained. "Sometimes we film here in front of the news room." She waved her hand to a lighting set up at the front of the room. "And other times we're filming in the studio." I followed her over to a small studio with a green screen and fake plants and backdrops.

"Cool," I said. "So will I ever have to film a segment?"

"If you got a good story that Jenn approves of, yes. Otherwise, we're all doing articles and social media posts," she said with a shrug. "It's great. There's always something happening in the world of celebs, so we're always busy." I rembered Jenn as the woman who interviewed me. She was pleasant and told me they 'need more intelligent women like me' on the team. I hoped with the good connection that we already had, I would be able to write the kind of articles I wanted to write: factual, inportant articles not ridden with fake news, gossip, over dramatic headlines, or clickbait.

Danny next showed me the lunch room, which  was a small room with giant glass windows overlooking the street. It had a coffee machine, microwave, mini fridge, and a few tables. A random guy sitting at one of the tables eating Subway waved at us. We went back to the news room where Danny showed me my cubicle. It was a small desk and computer, and I liked that it had walls tall enough to have a bit of a private space.

"You'll personalize this space as you go," she said with a wink. "Go crazy, make it your own! Every Christmas we have a decorating contest. It really is a family here at Popnews."

I smiled. I think I'm going to like it here.

*******

Because it was only my first day, I didn't have a ton of work to do. My starting position was sending subscribers emails about new articles on the website. There was only one email that needed to go out today then Friday.