When I got to the studio on the eighth floor the people I ran into while going to find my supervisor's office were very welcoming. There was Sallie who introduced herself as a promoter looking for a woman named Rebecca Sterling to discuss the project she's helping her with for her newest album cover. She was a dirty blonde and wore a business casual outfit. Yellow top and brown pants with black flats. She was cute but in a 'girl next door' way. Then there was Bruce who introduced himself as another music producer who also works as a music promoter. When I told him my profession he was jokingly upset I outshined him and I noticed that his teeth were so white that he'd pass the tissue test. He then seriously asked if I could take a look at the latest project he was putting together because he knew something was missing he was just unsure of what I was. I gave him my work number and email to lend him a new ear. We spent a couple more minutes getting acquainted with each other as he led me to the supervisor's office. His street casual clothes reminded me of how the guys wore clothes in the nineties. A clean baggie black T-shirt with a cartoon character redesigned to look thuggish with a blue bandanna on their forehead paired with long light blue jean shorts that were also big and baggy. He had on black and blue high tops that had a victory swoop as their logo. What I noticed most of all was that he seemed to pride himself on being fresh and clean every day. As we walked where the supervisor was I was greeted by more people but everyone was busy so I wasn't always stopped to talk which was good. The whole floor was designed to have the elevator be the only way in or out of the room except for the emergency stairs. There were cubicles with monitors and towers from various types of companies and a lot were the expensive pro gaming types. When Bruce stopped and knocked on the studio door I gathered that this was where I needed to go to meet the supervisor.
"Come in!" Shouted out a male voice.
Bruce opened the door and motioned me to enter and offered me a pleasant farewell. I thanked him and walked into the studio booth.
"Good evening, I'm Lucy Furr. The newest music producer here."
He turned around in his computer chair and looked at me with crystal blue eyes. I was so jealous that I couldn't pull my eyes off his.
"Well, you showed up after all! Welcome big shot. Hope you had enough fun at the party but now it's time to get to work. You got four hours left and after what you displayed a year ago we do expect you to be on top of everything you're in charge of. Do you understand?" I was lost in his eyes before I snapped out of my trance to answer his question.
"Yes, sir. Just point me to which cubicle or studio you need me at and I'll get to work immediately."
"Love it! Follow me, Ms. Furr." He sounded a bit excited.
We left his studio and headed to the window area with an empty cubicle. With two others connected to it and three other cubicles lined up against them on the other side. The stalls are gray carpet-like material with the occupied cubicles with pictures pinned up of their families I assumed. It was nice to get company from family-oriented individuals. I was eager to get started when the elevator dinged open. My curiosity took hold and I looked over to see a beautiful woman stepping off. I always wanted to see a gorgeous woman come out of nowhere but for it to happen here wasn't something I expected so soon. I wanted to go greet her just to bask in the glow she was emitting but I decided to sit at my station and use the login information on the paper I was given by my supervisor. After I was able to open all my tabs to get started with the projects I needed to finish for Jayson and other artists that reached out since I first started someone tapped me on my shoulder and cleared their throat. As I turned around to see who it was my eyes nearly popped out of my head. The gorgeous Hollywood woman who had climbed out of the elevator came up to me. My first thought was she must've mistook me for someone else but when I greeted her her response caused me to be even more confused.
"Would you be Lucy, the new famous music producer?" She had a smile but the way her words came off sounded fake. The way she spoke didn't match the devious look in her eyes she tried to mask away.
"I am. Is there something I can help you with?"
"There is actually. I was wondering if you had time to discuss some things with me during lunch tomorrow. I was hoping to see if we could get to know each other and see if we could work together on a new song I was thinking of making."
There was something about her that put me off so I was hesitant to agree at first but I figured it wouldn't hurt to just talk to her so I reluctantly coincided.
"Sure, that's fine with me. I'll meet you at the cafeteria tomorrow for lunch."
"Oh? Why don't we go to a restaurant a block away with the best stake in town?"
"Oh, that would be tempting but for now I'm watching my weight and I've cut out stakes for a time and I'm eating salads more nowadays."
"Okay then, cafeteria it is. See you tomorrow."
She was visibly not satisfied with that. I watched her walk off and my last thought was admittedly that it's a shame she's so toxic. Like all Hollywood wannabe girls I've met, she's beautiful but was a snob who had to have it her way. If you come in between her and what she wants rather directly or indirectly you better pray to whatever god you worship that she loses interest in the mutual object of attention or she doesn't find you as a threat before you can either calm her down or back off. Fighting with someone like her isn't usually a good idea since they watched too many Disney teen movies thinking that they'll have a better chance than those fictional characters they ended up idolized. Realizing I almost lost myself in this thought for a while I shook my head slowly and turned back to my computer to finally get started when someone sat down beside me so I looked over to see who it was out of curiosity. It was a guy that had long black hair with dark rectangle-rimmed glasses that looked like that one character in this cartoon movie about a talking dog investigating a town rumored to be haunted by the spirit of a dead witch that was killed long ago. The guy was named Crowcraft or something like that. Deciding to stop staring at him and to just introduce myself I slid my headphones off and knocked on our shared cubicle wall before he could place his headphones on. Turning to meet my eyes he reached across with his right hand to shake my hand. Leaning back so I could shake his back I grasped his hand and lightly squeezed as we shook.
"Hey, I'm Lucy. I hope we can get along and I'm looking forward to working with you."
Still looking at me he released his hand pulled it back and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm James. It's a pleasure to meet you as well."
"Not much of a talker while at work?" I asked while giving my best gentle smile.
"No, not really. I like to get started as soon as possible."
"Ah, I can respect that. I'll let you get back to it then. It was nice introducing myself to you."
"Same." He said with a smile.
As everyone's lunch break ended the other four cubicles filed with their residents and they all politely either knocked on my walls or tapped me on my shoulders to introduce themselves. There was Cassy, Joanne, Brittany, and Jonathan. Each had pins on their shirts and I just had to ask since it caught my curiosity.
"So I don't mean to be rude so let me know if you find my question as rude, do y'all identify as the pins on your shirts?"
They all nodded. "I identify as Pan and my pronouns are they/her," Cassy spoke up first. They gave off the energetic and excited type. Her voice was soft, warm, and cute. I wanted to hear her talk some more.
"Can I wear two pins or is one the max?" I inquired from them.
"Oh there's no restrictions really but honestly I think it'll be tacky and a bit cluttered if someone just wore a bunch every day," Jonathan said. His voice was warm as well but more comforting than anything. He must be good at vocal problem-solving issues. It helped me not feel offended when his words would typically be a razor coming out of someone else's mouth.
"Yeah, my only expectation is if you're applying it on a denim jacket." I paused with a smile. I moved my eyes to check to see if someone might understand the joking reference but they all looked puzzled or confused. Chuckling once while shaking my head with my eyes closed I waved the comment away. "Don't worry about it. It was a long-shot joke so it's okay. Thanks for answering my question though."
"Hey so Lucy, what are you working on?" Joanne asked. Her voice was light and sweet. I gotta watch myself around her. My right nipple perked up a bit when she spoke.
"Oh, I'm finishing up a new track for Jayson."
" Wait… THE Jayson? Like Jayson Charisma, Jayson? THAT Jayson?" she asked very fast and very pushy.
"Um… yes? Is that not allowed or is he terrible to work with or something?" I asked confused.
"Not not at all," Cassy reassured me.
"It's just that Mr. Big Shot only accepts specific producer projects so he's classified as a high-risk artist to work with. But not in a terrible kind of way. More like a don't get your hopes up kind of way."
"Oh. I didn't know he could be that picky." I remarked flabbergasted. That wasn't the picture I got from him as we talked over the emails or at the party. I probably shouldn't mention that Jayson and I have been talking like close acquaintances since that's how things seem to them.
"Yeah, he's always been picky as fuck." Brittany chimed in. "It's a shame he's taken."
"How do you know him and how did you get him to accept your work? Also how long have you been here? I've never seen you around and I've been here for four years." Joanne asked.
"I designed something for him in my application interview a year ago and ever since he requested me to do three or four instrumentals for him since then. He's even asked me to touch up some instrumentals that missed their mark on occasions."
All of a sudden Brittany slammed her hands on her desk and stood up so fast all I saw was the shocking scene from the slice-of-life anime I watch at home. "Are you serious? Hold on, don't tell me you're that new music producer who shot this company's reputation higher than before by getting three of our top artists to the top ten charts?!"
"Um… if I say something other than a denial I'd be lying so…" I responded unsure of what was going on. If this was an amine I'd have the single liquid drop appear on my forehead.
Brittany sat down in her chair in disbelief and shock overtook everyone's face. The only one unmoved by all this was James since he was busy with his work. Since Brittany had her little outburst about half of the floor was looking our way now with so many whispers going around from everyone who didn't know to some giggles from the ones that did know after putting it together when they introduced themselves earlier. I started to feel a bit uneasy so I turned off my computer and began packing up everything.
"Hey Lucy, are you okay?" Jonathan asked.
"Yeah, it's just almost time for me to clock off so I'm just going to the bathroom and then I got to go. It was a pleasure and very fun to meet you all." I said hoping that my forced smile masked my worry and fear. They waved me goodbye as they put their headphones on I headed to the restroom.
After I flushed the toilet I spaced out trying to stare out at the window too high even to jump up to and smack with your palm. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even hear someone talking to me when they shouted at me. Jumping from getting snapped back to earth from my lonesome spacey stare I turned my head around and thought I almost was about to break my neck next. "Oh Jayda, hey. Sorry did I stay in here too long?"
"Lucy babe, I asked you a question first. So you're obligated to answer mine first." She stated as she approached me cautiously. Placing her hands on each of my biceps again I flinched as I looked into her eyes and I saw that she was pleading with hers for me to respond.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't hear your question. What was it again?"
"I asked if you were okay. I came in looking for you because Tyrone said he might've seen you come in here and I caught you staring at a window too high to look out. Is there something wrong? Did something happen?"
"Oh, I came in here for a second to reflect. A couple of coworkers and I were talking and apparently, I said something super shocking and unbelievable. Now I'm wondering if I just screwed up my chances of having a healthy work relationship with my coworkers. I hoped not so I ended up finding myself impossibly staring out that window… why did I just tell you that so carelessly?"
"Well I can't answer that question but I can help you find out if you messed up with any coworkers that you had talked to. However, can we possibly have that talk anywhere else besides the restroom? Also don't think I didn't notice that you flinched when I touched you. Are you sure there isn't anything that you don't wanna talk about?"
"No, I'll be fine. I just need to wash my hands and we can go. I'll be just a minute." Then I slipped out of her grasp and went to wash my hands. Looking around my surroundings I finally remembered where I was. Blushing so hard I'm sure my cheeks could cook an egg it was so red. I turned around to wash my hands and we left the restroom finally. Walking to my cubicle she picked up her bag and waved at Brittany, Joanne, James, Johnathan, and Casey.
"Hey guys, how are you?" MS. Sparks asked after placing a hand on James's and Casey's shoulders to get their attention along with the others who looked up and saw she was beside me. They all took off their headphones and replied they were doing good in unison. I found it both amusing and curious.
"Did y'all rehearse that or was it a coincidence?" Ms. Sparks asked probably just as curious as me.
Casey alone this time spoke up. "It was a coincidence, Ms. Sparks."
"Ah good well let's not make it a thing though, yeah?" She said as she laughed.
They all nodded I saw Ms. Sparks turning to me and saw that a small smile slowly was coming back out from my lips that were tensed.
"Are you all getting along with our newish worker here?" She asked when she turned her attention to the others again.
"If I may," Johnathan asked first. "I'm not sure what it is that's going on but if we had offended…" he trailed as Ms. Sparks held her hand up.
"Let me rephrase the question. I spoke to Lucy…" Then I cut her off so suddenly as Igrabbing on her coat sleeve. She looked over toward me and saw that I was silently begging her to not bring up the thing that caused me so much fear. However, to say she was puzzled would be an understatement. With a nod of understanding, she turned back to the others and began to switch the meaning of the sentence she was going to say, "That is to say, Lucy and I spoke about her first day as she was washing up and she told me that her day was a full experience and I wanted to thank you all for welcoming our new in-office employee."
"Um, on second thought I think it would be best if I should say something," I suggested. She nodded and I turned to Johnathan. "I was worried that I might've screwed up somehow when I told you all who I was making projects for because maybe one of you wanted to work on a project with Jayson but couldn't but then a newbie came along and well you know."
"Oh honey, no! I can't speak for everyone else but I was shocked that someone like you is that talented. I'm sorry if I did or said anything that made you feel as though you ruined any chances of having work friends." Brittany apologized.
"Yeah, you got no worries with me either. Tyrone would kill us if we made the new girl cry so try not to show him those tears." Johnathan said jokingly.
"Oh, no problem," I reassured them with a sigh of relief then I looked back at Ms. Sparks. "There's somewhere I wanna go and show you that has the best dolls that make me smile. Would you like to go check it out with me? And no it's not porcelain or Barbie."
"Well, that piqued my curiosity so yes I'll be glad to see what dolls you're referring to."
"Right, so anyways I got… I mean we got to get going. So I'll see you guys tomorrow." I said with a small unstable voice and waved them goodbye. Shouldering my bag and tugged at my left sleeve near my wrist.
"Right, I'm sorry to interrupt you all. You're doing good everyone. Keep up the great work. Be sure to get home safely when your shifts end."
"Thank you Ms. Sparks and see you tomorrow Lucy. Y'all take care."
As we approached the elevator Rebecca was just finishing her discussion with Sallie and waved at Ms. Sparks but stopped abruptly as she saw me following close beside her. For a moment I thought I saw a quick flicker of anger in her face but then she smiled at Ms. Sparks again and went back to talking to Sallie. I wondered what that was about when Ms. Sparks pressed the down button to the elevator and looked back at me. We were patiently waiting for the cart to arrive and I caught myself looking at her profile even though there were clear signs that her past was still here in the workplace I'm still grateful that she came into my life. This woman has uprooted me even if I'm not sure how or why and I'm finding fewer reasons to be concerned with it. The doors to the elevator slid open and we walked inside. We rode the elevator to the third level of the building where I parked my Super Snake and I honestly am shocked that Ms. Sparks would be willing to ride in these types of vehicles. I'm left wondering if Ms. Sparks is into me or if I am just a distraction like I fear. I wouldn't be surprised I am since I'm nobody special. I was so deep in thought that I almost didn't catch her shouting my name again.
"Are you okay?" She asked with concern in her eyes again. I almost felt my heart melt. I can say that for a person to have those eyes and eyelashes she can pull me back from anywhere.
"Yeah. I'm alright. I was just deep in thought. I'm sorry for causing such concern."
"Don't worry about that," she assures me. "When I care about someone as deeply as I do you they're always the priority. Either way, I'm glad you're okay. Would you like to go home instead?"
"No, I'll be fine babe," I reassured her. "I want to show you the dolls that I hyped up so much to you."
With worry still in her eyes she reluctantly accepted my words and I unlocked the car doors. As we climbed into my car I was shocked once more at how she is willing to be seen in my geeky-ass car but at the same time, I began to love that she still hasn't said anything about it.