I took a deep breath before I entered the large building made out of complete glass. If there was a day where you were supposed to be worried and nervous, today was it.
It was my first day of work at Exhibit Laws, the famous company I had heard so much about, and I think my nerves had gotten the best of me. Maybe I drank too much coffee this morning and that was the reason to my unstoppable shaking as I walked up to the front desk, a lady sitting with a black headset on and a ginger colour on her hair that was tied in a neat ponytail.
She looked so professional that it scared the living hell out of me and for a second, I really did think about calling in sick and returning home.
"You are?" The lady, who I read as Sandra Lee on her nametag which was attached to her neatly grey business suit jacket, said and only for a second looked up to meet my eyes from her computer. She seemed busy as the phone kept ringing throughout our conversation. Once again, I thought of returning home. After all, I didn't want to bother anyone.
I tried to clear my throat yet my voice came out as a small tiny hesitant whisper, "I'm Jessica. I am supposed to start working here, today is my first day."
"Well, Jessica, get to your office then."
"I don't know where my office-"
I stopped talking once I realised she had stopped listening and had a new person on the phone in her headset. She had completely ditched me and was quickly typing something on her computer again. I watched her fingers move smoothly across the keyboard as she hummed to the person on the other side of the line. She nodded her head repeatedly times even though that other person could not see her.
I thought of interrupting her to ask her if she knew anything about my office, where it was or where I should go to ask someone else but she looked slightly annoyed and from the tone of her voice earlier, she wasn't amused by my existence. I decided not to bother her further and instead went to look around. This was supposed to be my own new working place and it was way bigger than my last one.
"It's huge," I mumbled quietly to myself as I tried to catch up with all the people running around. Almost every single person was wearing headsets and they all had each a station where they could sit down at the computer to answer calls and make notes. I was wondering what exactly the calls were about and who they were talking to. Stuff like that made me realise I had no idea what I was actually doing here.
I had moved from a small city outside of New Jersey to the big New York, only to be able to take this job. I had been lucky enough to find a place rather quickly and I could start within a few days of getting applied to the job. That led me to not have ever visited the office since the interview was held over videocam (ps, gotta love today's technology) but it also led to the fact that I was standing here without a single idea of where I was.
Everyone had always told me that this office was big but never did I think it was this big. Wherever I looked, there were people looking all kinds of stressed and if I tried to look further away, all I saw was hallways and glass offices. Were all offices made out of glass? Mine too? I wasn't sure how I felt about that, in a strange way, I didn't want people to be able to look into my office. I need my privacy whenever I work on my cases. I need to be unbothered and definitely not feel watched.
"May I help you?" A voice said next to me and I turned around in a quick motion, almost dropping my laptop that I had carefully brought with me just in case I needed it. I was met with a pair of big brown eyes that looked slightly kinder than the vibe I got by looking at his body language. He didn't look too old, certainly around my own age, and seemed almost annoyed by my presence, "You seem a little lost?"
"I am supposed to start my work here today but I don't even know where my office is or what I am supposed to do, I haven't really met the boss-"
"You must be Jessica?" He reached out his hand for me to shake and I did it without hesitating. He didn't say his name but I didn't ask either. Looking at his clothes, he seemed like an important person that knew his business. He was wearing a black suit with a white dotted shirt underneath and a similar tie. I did my best to not stare too harshly as I realised this man was extremely great looking, "I can show you around if you want me to?"
"Yes, I'd love that!"
My mood changed instantly and following him around the building, hearing him talk about the history of the business to how this glasshouse came to be, made me way more excited about starting to work here than I thought. I had never thought that a history of a building would ever get me excited over something but the way he approached me about the subject, keeping eye contact with me and talking with formal words and phrases, had me starstruck. By the end of the tour, I wished that the already large building was even bigger so that the tour wouldn't have come to an end.
"Your office is on the fifth floor," He said and pointed at the elevators. I nodded and thought that he was going to leave me like that, probably knowing the effect he had on me already. I tried to keep my cool and not show it too much but throughout the tour, I had been slightly clumsy and probably stared way too much to be discreet. Plus, I saw the smirk on his face. The bastard knew. "You want me to follow you there?"
I nodded eagerly.
We had already been on the fifth floor and I knew that his office was placed there too. He had shown me it. It was bigger than what I had expected any office in this building to be, even though the glasshouse in itself was like a full-on mansion, but he seemed to be highly put in this business so I didn't question anything. No part of me wanted to look like a fool (well, more than I already did, of course).
Once we reached the floor, he told me to follow him to his office to grab some stuff before we could continue to mine. The hallway was long and if you looked forward from where you were standing, it was slightly bent too. The building in itself was like a banana shape and the first time I saw it, I laughed at the shape. Today, it's probably the coolest thing to be able to say that I worked inside of it.
I don't really know what changed. Maybe the fact that Exhibit Laws had a few of the most famous law attorneys in the U.S. I was thrilled, excited and honoured to be part of this business name.
When they called to tell me I got the job and that I could start immediately, I screamed at the little coffee shop I had previously worked in. It was a big step for me to finally put my law school grades to use and to be able to follow the biggest dream of mine, to become a leading lawyer of my own. I was finally able to work with what I've always wanted and stepping in these hallways were no longer making me shaky, I already felt at home.
"So, what's your type?" The guy who had yet to tell me his name (but did shake his hand with me which had me very confused?) asked and it took me a minute before I realised his question. He wanted to know what my subject within this business was going to be.
"Sexual harassments, workplace safety, privacy rights and discrimination against employees," My smile was wide and I was talking with such pride. He didn't look confused, he knew exactly what I meant but somehow my mouth ended up explaining it to him even more as if he was stupid, "I'm an employment lawyer."
"I caught that," He mumbled, making me feel ashamed that I even continued speaking. He made me nervous, his presence was strong and self-sufficient. He knew himself well and he knew what his superpowers were. Grabbing the things he said he needed, he then moved us further down the hall to get to my office. We passed a few offices with people inside of them, talking widely either on the phone or with someone else sitting at their table, seeing straight through. By this point, I already knew my office would be made out of glass too and oddly enough, the one this man had shown me earlier was not. His were the only office that you couldn't see inside of, "It's because of safety. We don't want any traitors here. It's happened before so we decided to make everything out of glass."
I looked at the handsome man with a confused gaze, not knowing how to take his words. Had I said something out loud or was he being extremely creepy? I shut my mouth extra hard, just in case I was thinking out loud. It tends to happen sometimes.
"I'm good at reading people," He chuckled as I yet again raised my eyebrows in a suspicious manner. How the hell? "At the end of the day, that's what I do these days. I read people, try and figure people out."
"What's your subject?" I asked, the curious and more confident part of me kicking in.
"I'm a family and divorce lawyer," He shrugged as if it was no big deal and a little part of me was wondering whether or not he was working against or for divorces. I had no time to ask before he opened a door and shoved a key in my hands, "Here's your office."
I looked around. It was way smaller than his but it was still enough space to have room for everything I needed. It was already pretty furnished. I spotted a sofa in the corner, it was white and looked fluffy. Something I would probably get a great use out of whenever I was working late (because I was certain there would be those times) and next, I spotted my desk. It was beautiful. The desk space was big enough for two people and I wondered why I'd need so much space. Who had this office before me and why the hell did they buy such large table?
"Thank you," I cheered, quickly putting down my bag and unzipping my laptop on top of the desk. It looked lonely, laying there by itself.
"Is there anything else you need?"
I bit my lip, "Perhaps, your name?"
"Justin Bieber."
The way he said it sounded so smooth, it was like he had introduced himself a hundred times before. I was still fairly new to the whole introducing myself as a businesswoman, mainly because this would be my first real business job. I had never worked at a law attorney before and this was a once in a lifetime chance. I would be lying if I didn't lie slightly in my interview, telling them how experienced I was and how ready I was for this job.
I was young, twenty-three years old to be exact. People rarely got into the business this young, people were barely even finished with law school by that age. I was lucky to finish early and to get a job like this, I would have never thought in a million years that I would be one of the youngest women hired in this building. It was both a great and a scary feeling.
"Jessica?" Justin interrupted my thoughts, bringing me back to reality which made me realise that I was standing next to a highly positioned person in this business and daydreaming. Was he the boss? Either way, it is not exactly the first impression you want to send off.
"I'm sorry, I'm just really excited to be here."
"Yeah, we get that a lot. You should get to work, you're already a few hours behind."
I looked at my watch, seeing that the time had passed from eight am to suddenly being almost noon. Trying to swallow a harsh cough that had suddenly shown up in my throat was a harder task than I thought and I almost ended up choking.
"I'll start working asap," I promised, seeing him smile politely as he closed the door behind of him and wished me good luck.
I stared at the desk space, feeling the need to go shopping instead of sitting here and answering emails. It was so empty, I needed to decorate. I had a few things with me, prepared as I was (or not), and placed those things on top of the desk.
It was a file divider that I knew I would be needing in the future as well as a candle that smelled like a fluffy new washed duvet. The perfect smell to work in. I loved my candles and I don't think I'd be able to survive without them. It was a daily need for me to be able to process anything in my brain. It's like coffee, I need my daily dose of it otherwise I won't be functioning throughout the day.
When I felt like the desk space was slightly less empty and I had lit my candle, I began to open my laptop. They had promised me my own computer setup in the office in the near future but I had told them to not rush considering I would be using my own laptop much more often, needing my information to move around with me so that I can work on my cases from anywhere. I never walked without my laptop in my bag.
Which might not be the smartest decision, considering I now lived in New York and not the innocent little town that I grew up in. Things could happen here, robbery was a common thing. I never thought much about it until now, in all honesty.
Sighing, already seeing two hundreds of unread emails in my mailbox (and to remind you that this was my first day of working here), I realised that this job was going to be tougher than I thought. Sure, I was about to work on things I've always wanted to be part of but I never thought about the time I would have to be able to put down on it.
I would be needing some extra time outside of work to be able to finish these future cases up. I was so certain that I would be giving everyone my all to make sure to serve justice in this world. Women that get sexually harassed at work was a subject close to my heart and a change I definitely want to be part of.
"Come on," I mumbled quietly to myself as I kept on getting distracted by the people walking outside. I couldn't hear anything since the walls apparently were soundproof (something that Justin mentioned multiple times during our tour around the building) but I saw the stress on people's face and I began to question my choice.
Obviously I would've never wanted to stay at that little coffee shop for the rest of my life and obviously, this is what I am supposed to be working with but seeing all these stressed out people made me realise that this place might not be the best place to start at.
It's like throwing yourself in the middle of a storm, on purpose.
Then again, I was already inside the building and there's no return now.
//
Whooo, a Christmas Eve surprise? It's not December 24 but it's... well... almost Christmas? It counts ;)))
I hate posting beginnings of stories because I know the whole introducing part can be pretty boring but I have so many plans for this story & it's going to be so great my vision is amazing ok pls bare wit me 😭😭
tomorrow I'll also wake up alone on Christmas, having to actually go to work lmao, so send me a merry Christmas by leaving a vote perhaps? *flutters eyelashes* pretty please
Anyways
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY. I will update this story again tomorrow tho so y'all know that's coming ;)))