Chapter 6 - A Gear in the Machine

The Xerox corner was the busiest place in the office. Helomoto had overheard quite a few conversations. This life wasn't as boring as he initially had anticipated, but it was going to be far more painful than he had thought.

Much of the banter was office gossip. He kept score: Thus far there were 3 office romances he knew about, one being a love triangle. Two of the lawyers complained about their achy knees. One of the paralegals had a penchant for picking his nose at the Xerox corner, as he assumed it offered him some privacy. Three quarters of the office voted religiously and escaped to the Xerox corner to fervently debate the candidates' platform. Another employee had a propensity for wiggling her legs to buy herself some time before she was forced to run to the bathroom to relieve herself. Helomoto judged her level of laziness.

"Stinky…" he thought.

Much of the group was overworked, overwhelmed and very critical of the quality of the coffee. The law offices of Jaxley, Smith and Cone was a drab and gloomy place. It ran like a factory and each of the employees was just another gear in the monster of the machine.

Helomoto suddenly realized he missed Melon.

"At least she had a stupid upbeat attitude," he thought.