Chapter 16
Ms Michaels was right; I barely stopped all morning. I got my badge and clearance sorted with security on the first floor. Then we went to accounts and finance on the third floor where I gave them my banking information for them to send my bonus through and set up a transfer to deposit my salary every month. After that, we went to HR on the sixth floor and I filled out my insurance information and in case of emergency contact, we stopped off on the tenth floor and got one of the IT guys to head to my office to start setting up my desktop. And finally, we went to purchasing on the twenty-ninth floor and I picked up my company phone and laptop, both state-of-the-art. We made it back upstairs at around 10:30. This time through the staff elevator, which could only be accessed with my ID badge, and was situated somewhere in the middle of the office. We walked out and Ms Michaels, gave me a very quick tour, she showed me the kitchen, bathrooms, and how to get to the conference rooms, then at a very brisk pace took me to where my office was situated.
“Most of our employees are on the lower levels, Mr Ben's office is actually down here.” She pointed down a corridor I hadn’t been down. “The office he’s been using is Mr Daniel’s. But while he is away Mr Ben is acting CEO, so it was expected for him to use the office.” Ms Michaels explained as we walked through the floor. “Mr Pratt, as Head of Design is also on this floor. Here is a layout of the building and who is on what floor, but a lot of them you can't access from the visitor's elevator.” She handed me a map I didn’t see her pick up. “I’ve also left a list on your desk of all the departments, their heads and where the head’s offices are, their functions, and phone numbers and email addresses should you need them. The resumes of everyone coming today are on your desk in order of their appointments, the schedule, is printed on top of them. IT will have created an email account for you on our server, you can set your own password when you get a chance. I will email you the appointments Mr Summer has already set up for you later today. This is your office,” she pointed at a large wooden door, there was a desk outside of it, “this is where your assistant will work.” She motioned to the desk. “That closet has all your office supplies in it, I will send your assistant the relevant forms for more once you have hired one.” She motioned to a door behind the desk. “This is a conference room you may use when you need to call a team meeting. Once you have hired your team, they will be given areas to work in, but you will probably need to hold a staff meeting a few times a week, so this room has been reserved exclusively for you.” The door to the conference room was directly opposite my office door, with my assistant’s desk sitting in between. “Dial 1 to be put through to your assistant's desk from your office phone, I will be back later for your lunch order, and I will email you with the requisition forms for decorating your office, with the list of artworks you can borrow, and furniture you will be able to use. You have fifteen minutes until your first appointment, good luck.” And with that, she turned on her heel and left.
“Thank you... for your... help.” I tried to call after her as she sped away, my voice getting quieter as she paid me no mind. I opened my office door, the IT guy had left a Post-it with an email address and password stuck to my monitor, my office was about half the size of Mr Summer’s, but still fairly big considering it was my first one. I had a roughly eight-foot by four-foot window, the view wasn’t as vast as Mr Summer’s, but it was still amazing to me, and while his office faced South, mine faced west, so I would be able to see some beautiful sunsets. I sat down in the wide-backed, leather chair behind my desk and flipped open the first file of resumes on my desk. I double-checked the name against the schedule and gave the information a quick once over. I then booted up my desktop and logged onto my company email. I changed my password quickly and opened a blank document to record the interviews. I typed a few questions I knew I wanted to ask and started drafting an email to my personal account with things I would need to get done at home tonight, so I was better prepared tomorrow. All too quickly, there was a knock at my door, my first interview was with the assistant in the marketing department downstairs. Her name was Alice and she had been with the company for two years, but she didn’t know much about how the fiftieth floor was run, I put her in the maybe pile after around fifteen minutes of chatting. I saw three outside hires, who varied in ages and experience, a young man from purchasing, an older woman from customer service, a sweet very young girl from records and Kendra, Mr Pratt’s second assistant.
“Hi Kendra, why would you like to work for me? You already work in the design department, and I bet you have a much better chance of moving up working for the head of the department rather than just a team leader.” I was genuinely curious as to what her answer would be.
“I’m more likely to get fired or sent back downstairs than I am of getting promoted by Mr Pratt, sure he has his favourites, but I’m not one of them, Mr Daniel hired me after Mr Pratt let go of a girl a month, for five months in a row. Two got pregnant, one had a boyfriend he didn’t like, one had a girlfriend he didn’t like, and the fifth turned out to be the niece of someone who he had a falling out with a long time ago. It’s only a matter of time before either I get fired or Mr Pratt does. Besides, from what I’ve heard. You’re the future of this company, and I want to be by your side when you take over his department.”
“I don’t understand, he can’t do that, it’s illegal. How has he gotten away with this kind of behaviour?” I was appalled.
“Well, he claimed they weren’t good fits and used minor infractions as excuses, but everyone knew the truth.” She shrugged, like it wasn’t disgusting, and downright wrong of him.
“Okay then, I have two more questions and they’re the most important ones. You ready?” I teased, but she nodded looking determined. “Can you make a caramel latte?” She frowned.
“Yes of course, I had to learn how to make several kinds of coffee as that was one of my main jobs as Mr Pratt’s second assistant.” She was so serious it was adorable.
“Okay, the second question is, can you start right now?” She squealed and jumped out of the chair.
“Yes, I will just have to ring Mr Pratt’s first assistant and let him know I’m moving here. Oh, and Elaina, I won’t be able to cover her at lunchtime.” She bit the corner of her lip and wrung her hands.
“You can still do that for now; I can handle the phones for a couple of hours by myself,” I reassured her. “It’s not like it's ringing off the hook, I doubt anyone has my number yet!” I laughed. Kendra was the last person on my list, as I was trying to send her off to relieve Elaina when Ms Michaels knocked on my door.
“Oh good, I was hoping you too would hit it off, this is a much better fit than Mr Pratt’s office, don’t you agree Kendra?” She appeared almost maternal. “I brought you a menu and I’ve written my email on it; I will be putting Mr Summer’s order through in about ten minutes so you can send me your order or Kendra can do it for you. IT already forwarded me your staff email address, and don’t you worry about Mr Pratt, I will let him know Mr Summer thought it best you move elsewhere and send him a few people that might be better suited tomorrow.” Ms Michaels gave Kendra a little wink and walked off after handing me the menu. I gave the menu a quick glance, before shooing Kendra off to relieve Elaina. I put my order through myself, and I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting through the emails Ms Michaels sent me, ordering office furniture, and going through some of the resumes of designers and engineers already in the company to see who I wanted to offer an interview. By five, I was exhausted, Kendra had been amazing, getting her own office up and running and helping me with both my picks for interviews and my decorating my office.
“I usually only work until five, because I come in at eight, but I can stay late tonight if you want?” She kindly offered, popping her head through the door, which I was keeping open, it seemed silly to call her on my phone when she was so close.
“No, no you’ve done plenty, honestly and feel free to come in at nine tomorrow. We can work on a flexible schedule until the team is up and running.” I insisted. “Goodnight and thank you for all your help today. I have a feeling I will be leaning on you pretty heavily until I get things squared away.” I smiled, tired but immensely appreciative. She nodded with a small smile of her own, Elaina came in as Kendra left.
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