★🗯️🌪️🌙🎬☁️★
"that was fast," he smirks as i walk into his office with a bag of his food and a coffee cup in my hand that feels like it's burned through my skin by now. i fake a smile as i place the bag down in front of him. he gives me a weird look before opening the bag. what, is he mad i didn't place his sandwich in front of him? is he four? come on now.
"get back to your desk, i'll email you what you need to do." he says, not even looking at me as he unwraps his sandwich.
"but- uh- sir?" i say, still not knowing what to call him. "i don't know where my desk is,"
"oh, right." he says as he stands up and brushes past me. i follow him out of the office, down the hallway and into this larger room at the end of it. "this is your desk." he says, pointing to a random wooden desk sitting at the end of the hallway. it is off to the side, which is helpful, now i won't be in direct view of everyone else in the building. i nod and place my stuff down as i sit at the desk.
to my surprise, the desk is decent, and the chair is comfortable, but this area definitely needs personality. the walls are blank and boring, the desk has nothing but a laptop and a company mug with a single pen in it, and the desk drawers take a lot of force to get open.
the only other item on the desk is a sticky note with the laptop's password and matt's email address. when the laptop opens to the home screen, an email already pops up from matt.
To: emersonturner@sturniololaw.com
From: matthew4@sturniololaw.com
weekly list:
- my brother chris wants me to go to his house for dinner sometime this week. find a time that i won't be at a work dinner and tell him that's when i'm available.
- ask chris if he wants me to bring anything for dinner whatever night it ends up being on (i'm not bringing him a case of pepsi- tell him i said no)
- i need more laundry detergent.
- schedule a work dinner this week with bryan.
- find out when all my meetings are this week and print out what days they're on
- schedule a meeting with mr. nelson for the nelson case on wednesday at 10am.
- answer phone calls for me.
- print out all the pages for the nelson case and make sure you put them in the right order and file folder in the cabinet.
- call mrs. carson and ask her for more evidence on her case. i have to be able to support her in court and she needs more evidence.
- ask chris when the next time he's updating his brand website is.
- get my brother nick a funny card that has something to do with driving if that exists. he just got his license so bring me the card so i can sign it.
- find out when the lil skies concert is because chris wants to go so i guess i'll do that for our birthday as his gift. i need three tickets but don't buy them yet because i have to check my schedule when it gets closer to the date.
- bring me something from the breakroom. i don't care what.
"this is emerson from sturniolo law firm, how can i help you?" i ask into the phone, trying to not show how exhausted i am through my voice. this feels like the 400th phone call i've answered today. i don't know why they call my extension when they all need to talk to matt. when they don't need him, they ask me a dumb question that the front desk lady could've answered and then they hang up.
after transferring that call to matt, i got two other ones and had to put them both on hold until he was available. i went to the copy room and printed and copied everything he asked, then went back to my desk to answer more calls and schedule matt's meetings. i had to keep checking my email because every few hours he would come up with something new he needed.
this time, it was a text.
boss
Today 3:29 PM
can u get me another coffee?
yes
i sigh and roll my eyes at the text before quickly typing 'yes'. as i stand up and walk towards the elevator, his office door opens as i walk by.
"emerson." he says as i walk by the door. i stop and turn to face matt, who's standing in the doorway. "come in my office." he says with an unreadable expression. i feel like crying.
"yes sir," i say as i follow him inside. i stand in front of his desk again.
"sit." he says, his face still unreadable. i sit in the chair and fight the urge to just break down and cry. i've been so stressed out today, and if i'm about to get yelled at, i'm not sure if i'll be able to keep it together.
"what is this?" he asks, holding up a stapled stack of paper with furrowed eyebrows. i recognize the papers and it's files on a case i was working on earlier.
"it's the nelson case," i mumble.
"it's all out of order and your typing makes no sense." he says, flipping through the pages.
"i'm sorry, i'll redo it." i say, hoping he'll just let it go. nothing is ever easy for me.
"you can't! it's too late." he deadpans. my heart is racing in my chest and the way he's raising his voice is intimidating. "i already had the fucking meeting today and embarrassed myself when i couldn't read the words right. turns out, you just can't fucking spell!" he shouts. i sit there and look at my hands in my lap. my hand that is twirling the ring on my middle finger.
"look at me when i talk to you." he says, quieter but still aggressive.
"i'm sorry." i say as i look up to meet his eyes. it's taking everything in me to not cry.
"sorry doesn't always cut it." he says. "i'm not forgiving you that easy."
"i don't blame you. i embarrassed you and i'm sorry. it won't happen again." i say.
"okay now get out of my office and get me my coffee." he demands, me standing up before he finishes talking and leaving.
i cry when i get in the car. one more phone call and i would've cried on the phone with them. how does he expect me to do a weekly list, daily list, and interrupt my work to get him coffees three times a day?
feeling the hot tears roll down my face, i pull out of the parking lot and go to the cafe across the street. i get his coffee and drive back into work, only to find that my parking space is taken since i left. now, i have to park in the very back since that's the only open spot.
"you're late." matt deadpans as i exit the elevator. was he waiting for me in front of the elevator? no wonder no work gets done.
"sorry, someone took my parking spot." i mumble and avoid eye contact as i hand him his coffee cup and brush past him to go to my desk.
i respond to more emails and head to the break room so i can get a break. apparently i can't do that either.
"why are you in here?" matt asks, standing in the doorway. he seems pissed, but what else is new? i stopped in here for five minutes to get a pizza slice that tastes like shit, making my day even worse.
"because i'm starving." i deadpan. if he wants to be a bitch, i will too.
"it's not your lunch break-"
"i don't care." i shake my head.
"i don't like your attitude. first you were quiet and now you're being aggressive." he scoffs.
"i haven't had a break all day, sir." i start to explain. "i haven't eaten anything, i've been answering calls and emails nonstop, and i've already been yelled at three times by you." i say, swallowing the lump in my throat so i don't cry.
"five minutes." he says as he turns to leave. i look down at my pizza and shake my head. i was starving and this shit wasn't even worth it. i grab a random chip bag out of the basket on the counter and walk back to my desk. i rest my head in my hand as i scroll through the new emails and read file reviews for new cases matt has.
"emerson." he pretty much whispers. he scared the living shit out of me, but he doesn't care.
"yes sir," i say, letting out the sigh i've been holding in all day.
"did you get my text?" he asks, looking down at my desk to find my phone.
"no sir, i put my phone in a drawer so i don't get distracted." i say looking up at him. even though he made me cry, his eyes are still so pretty.
"that's good but check what i texted you." he says before he puts his hands in his pockets and turns around to walk back to his office.
i jam the shitty drawer open and check my phone.
boss
Today 4:57 PM
on ur way home make sure u get the things
i asked for in the weekly checklist
okay
why are you such a dry texter
and you're so quiet in person too
idk
see?
like that
like what?
you barely reply to me
i'm sorry
you apologize for everything
okay
there it is again
sorry i just don't know what else i'm supposed
to say 😭😭
and you have an attitude
i have to go
is there anything else you need before i go?
nope
actually
come to my office
Read 4:59 PM
i'm unsure why he tried to continue a conversation that never started just to say i'm quiet and a dry texter. how would he know? he knows nothing about me. he texts me demands he has and he never says please or thank you.
"come in," he says when i knock. everyone else in the building is up and leaving since it's 5pm.
"hey," i say as i walk up to his desk and sit down.
"look, i know you're frustrated, but there's no reason for the attitude." he says, clasping his hands together and putting them on the desk in front of me.
"yeah... you said that." i mumble with furrowed eyebrows.
"i know."
"okay..." i say. "did you want me to just give you the card for nick tomorrow morning when i get here?" i ask.
"mm... i need it tonight." he says, leaning back in his chair and tapping his pen on his lips. "how far do you live from here?" he asks.
"ten minutes." i reply.
"can you just bring the card back here, then?" he asks. my brain is screaming and crying but i plaster on a fake smile.
"yeah, of course." i say.
"thanks," he says quickly.
"you're welcome," i smile, taking in this once in a lifetime thing he just said.
★
with my first day at work being done, i walk back into my apartment and put my purse down. it's now 5:40 because i had to send matt four million photos of all the funny cards in the store in order for him to find one he thought nick would like. i've never met nick, so i was the worst person to send for that job. if he had time to stare at photos, why didn't he have time to come here and buy it himself? our text conversation ended with 'i'll add the money from my breakfast and coffees and this onto your paycheck' and i just liked the message.
i showered and made pasta for dinner since i got home late and had no time to make a good dinner tonight. i curled up into a ball in my bed and didn't even get a chance to turn on the tv before i passed out.
i just hope tomorrow gets better.
★🗯️🌪️🌙🎬☁️★