Maya looked at the tall building before her. She couldn't imagine she finally landed a job and was coming late on the first day. The nervousness she felt working in the building was more than what she felt when she first came here for an interview. She has heard stories of people who get fired on their first day at work for little mistakes such as this especially when they have a no-nonsense boss. She hopes to have a kind boss as she steps inside the building.
"Please can you show me to the manager's office?" She asked the first attendant she saw. She realized his face looked familiar; she must have seen him when she came for the interview
"Right this way ma'am," He said without hesitation as he led her to her destination barely giving her a second look
Maya followed immediately, thankful for the fact he didn't waste any more of her time. She began to rehearse a reasonable excuse to give for coming late on her first day of work. She hardly noticed any other person or thing around her as she was deep in her head.
"Ma'am we are here "The voice of the attendant startled her, bringing her back to her senses and yet without a reasonable excuse for coming late.
"Don't worry you will be fine " the attendant assures her with a smile on his face as he leaves her by the door. For the first time, Maya felt confident. She was surprised that the attendant could tell what was going on inside of her. Just as she was about to knock on the door, it swung open with a mean-looking young woman staring at her
"You are late, I have been waiting for you, Please come inside," the young lady said with irritation in her voice. Maya could tell she was angry but had no idea who she was. The woman sensing her unasked question decided to answer.
"I am Nancy, by the way, the temp secretary. I have been waiting for you. I need to report to another office this morning but you have been nowhere to be found. How can you be late on your first day." She was about to continue when Maya cut her short.
"I am sorry." Maya interrupted her with an apology as her ranting was becoming too much for her and she thought a simple apology would be all she needed. True to her thinking, Nancy stopped talking and became calm. It was as if she suddenly forgot everything she wanted to say.
"This is a detailed report on your work description and my number is attached over there in case you need to ask any questions," she instructed Maya as she started packing her bags. Maya could tell that she was in a hurry.
She looked in the direction where Nancy pointed and discovered a laptop was there and her job description was displayed on the screen.
"Please, where is the director?" She was surprised that nothing had been said to her about him.
"Oh, she will be here soon, I guess she is running late too. And that is her door " Nancy added pointing to a closed door not too far from the table Maya was sure she would be using
"Can't you wait a few minutes to put me through some things around here?" Maya asked, looking confused as she started scanning around her office. She noticed her office would be like a passage for anyone who wants to see the director. There would be no one coming to see the director that would escape her sight. Not that she was new to it but she always preferred to repeat these things in her head, lest she make a mistake that would cost her job.
Nancy glanced at her wristwatch and dropped her bag reluctantly. "I will give you just five minutes of my time," she said reluctantly, making Maya conclude that she must be a nice person. Albeit reluctant, she still stayed, which made her one of the good ones in Maya's books.
She listened with rapt attention as Nancy explained every single job description on the laptop to her. She realized she had a lot to learn on the job and it wasn't going to be as difficult as the interview sounded.
"I will be going now as I said before you can call me when you have any questions." Nancy announced as she got up to leave after a thorough explanation to Maya."Thank you very much." Maya appreciated her.
Just as she was walking her to the door a much older woman walked in with a broad smile on her face. "You must be my new secretary?" She asked, looking at Maya with a smile. "Yes, she is," Nancy replied on her behalf before bidding them goodbye, leaving Maya with the director.
Any form of anxiety Maya was feeling about seeing the director vanished when she saw the smile on the face of the director she could tell she would not be a difficult person to work with. "Come inside" She instructed Maya as she walked to her own office. Maya followed her wondering what she would say. For one she was glad the director didn't come earlier; her last coming would have been the first subject.
"My name is Sharon. I am the director of this firm. We will be working together on a lot of things. I am sure you will be able to catch up on some of these things as you continue to work here. There are so many others I would like to introduce to you too but that would be later, for now, we have a meeting to attend to."
Maya listened as the director spoke, making sure she took notes of very important details. She could tell her boss was a simple woman. She immediately felt at ease in her presence and knew she was going to have a great first day. She was still thinking when her boss, Sharon called out to her, "Maya are you listening? Get your notes and let's move to the conference room."
"Yes ma," Maya replied, rushing to her table and getting her note and pen. When her boss came out of her office, she rushed after her. The meeting must be so important, Maya thought to herself and since she was not familiar with the system, she knew she had to work ten times as hard compared to others but she didn't expect what and whom she saw.