So this is what is left

 

Winnie looked like a beady bird as she studied Macy. Perhaps she was getting her ready for a Cinderella ball instead of showing her her workstation. No, not so. She shoved the notebook full of dos and don'ts at the reception desk.

"Do they still do things so old-fashioned?" L came to Macy's defense with a scowl. Winnie didn't have time to chat. There were things to do at her desk, evidently.

"You have no idea the life of a receptionist," Winnie informed L. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

With that Macy was left on her own with Winnie, who gave Macy the cold shoulder. It felt like the beginning of a very ugly day. Macy was to read the thick manual, which hadn't been updated since 2019.

"Did you work through the pandemic?" Macy wanted to know as she skimmed through the intense document.

"Of course, I did?" Winnie looked back at Macy with a sour frown.

"How many used to work in this department?" Macy was curious, trying to make everything work-related.

"A dozen or so, actually," Winnie answered a phone call then and got on her computer to check a file.

Macy felt a little dizzy. It was all so strange. This was not the universe she was expecting. Even Wade didn't seem himself.  Macy did her best to be diligent with the reading. Still, the computer was cold. It wasn't even on.

"Do I need..you know, a password, perhaps?" Macy asked about thirty minutes later. Winnie was so busy transferring calls and answering questions. Macy listened, hoping she would remember the script for what needed to be said.

"Silly, you'll need a user name, as well," Winnie said she'd show her the computer after lunch.

"Oh." Macy hadn't really thought of lunch until her stomach woke up from Winnie's words.

"I'll take you to my favorite noodle place, just down the street. We can really talk then."

Macy looked at her wide-eyed, wondering what this meant.

Please Mister Please

 

Macy had such high hopes of joining the company. She could wait to be on an actual team in the banking industry. This would be big time. Scoring an apartment from an old classmate and wanting her in his circle.

"He must have had a crush on you, back then, huh?" L summed it up right away when Macy couldn't help but gush about her new job.

"Oh, no, it was never like that," Macy blushed, thinking she probably should smile so much at someone she just met. "He was my math tutor."

"Oh, was he?" L smirked, all casual yet professional in the same outfit. Macy looked down at her Mary Janes. She just didn't feel right for the part.

"There's a lot of work, you know, putting files in order, and then some," L mentioned, sometimes there were late nights. "At least for me anyway."

Macy nodded, knowing she had time on herside. Still, she was nervous. So very nervous. Evidently, L noticed how she jumped at every little noise in the old elevator. By the time they got to the bottom, Macy felt nauseous. 

"Would you like me to drive?" L looked at her as if she could read her mind.

Macy nervously replied, "Yes, please." She dug in her satchel for her keys, telling L on the way to the park garage that it was her grandmother's old car. "She hardly ever drove it. She's really into saving the planet and all." Macy found herself rambling, and L clicked the key, finding the car immediately in the crowded garage. The silver Camry beeped back.

"Don't we wish all grandmothers were that way?" L shrugged and opened the door for her like a scene from a movie. Suddenly, Macy felt she was in her own Mary Tyler Moore series, perhaps. L took control, and out they drove with no problem. Macy had never noticed the big city so intense and overwhelming, even in the dark shadows of the bright sun.

It wasn't long until L found a spot for the car and showed her the way in. Honestly, Macy felt she'd found her new best friend, even if she was certain it wasn't that way. She knew she couldn't ask much more of this streetwise person who never met a stranger. L knew everyone.

Before Macy knew it, L handed her a sweetened ice coffee. "I know it's winter, but the coffee can really burn you if spilled it." Maybe it was an omen for what was to come. Once they got where Macy thought she was going, things got strange. She could even see Wade laughing at someone behind the counter near the cubicle offices. Macy spilled her drink down her thrifted outfit, which might have looked more librarian than office material. 

"Well, that does it," An older gentleman in a dark suit and tie looked her over, "We don't need preschoolers here." His hands were on his hips as he shook his head, no.

Wade came to Macy's defense. "Hey, what are you talking about. She's a hard worker. I should know."

"Woo, that's enough."

"She came all this way from Colorado, can't you give her a chance?" Wade protested. Macy could tell his lanky body was ready to kick that higher up in the ass.

"I hear it's a mess in reception, after all the layoffs. She's cute. See if they can use her?" The balding man crossed his arms, giving them a straight lip.

Wade went to call someone. He then asked L if she could take Macy to see Francine.

"That's his better half," L told Macy on the elevator down to the lobby. "I suppose she's been wanting to meet you, anyway."

"Really?" Macy couldn't imagine why.

"I hear she's always asking him, ' What's the deal with you? '" L sighed.

Macy felt a lodge of anticipation in her throat. No way did she want to have to work with Wade's fiancée.

Then & Now

You know, I never expected this to happen. It was kind of a joke that Dean and I got together anyway. 

We'd been friends on this gaming site. Not sure how we hit it off. It was nothing big. I think it all started with "Spam". I thought we were talking about, um, online "spam", but he was talking about the sliced up stuff in a jell that so many Asians stock up on. I'd never had it.

Back then, I thought he was maybe somebody from BTS. He liked K-dramas. I liked K-drama. Imagine a guy loving K-dramas! Yeah, I should have known there was a catch.

Dean is not Asian. Of course, our next step was on the phone. A lot. We could barely stand it. You know, not really being face-to-face. I felt like he was my whole world. 

My dad did not like that. I was too young to be this serious. "I'm not in high school anymore," I had wailed about the matter. After all, nothing had worked out. I ended up at a daycare. Ugh. But now I know it could have been worse, and sometimes, I feel toddlers know me better than adults. Strange how you never knew these things until later.

So yeah, virgin me made the big move to Denver. Of course, the only person who told me not to go was my high school mate and math tutor, Wade Woo, who begged me not to go. I didn't know he even liked me. Well, I didn't listen, and he went off to a better University, but I said I'd keep in touch. His last words before I left were, "You better write me." Of course, I never got an address.

Life was good, but not completely. It was a start of lot of hugs and doing things together. We didn't have a relationship right away. But we had our own place. He worked in IT support at a big company, and of course, I got on at a day care and took online classes. Didn't see my parents until the Christmas I decided to drive home alone. 

Yes, that was the biggest hiccup with Dean's family, me having his old car. It had a lot of problems, but I got to drive his newer car, and I saw all sorts of weather patterns between Colorado and Illinois. It was a wick drive with wind and rain, then snow and ice. Yeah, I was a real champ by the time I got there, and home just wasn't home anymore. Dean was home.

I love him. I still do. He's got a charm about him that I might only notice. He's like a warm cup of London Fog (my favorite tea). He always found out-of-the-way bookstores to take me. We'd have challenges where he'd find a book I might like and I'd find a book he might like. Then we would exchange them and give it read.

And to think he'd thought I would love Ruby Dixon. Was he just trying to spice up our sex life?

We didn't break up because of any falling out. It was the fact that life was getting expensive. Parents could only help us so much. And I gotta say, his room was not his. It was never ours. Yes, it all slipped away.

But Wade Woo called me when I was home. "You never did write me," he snapped.

"Well..I didn't know where to write," I started.

"Look, I think I can get you a job." He never really did listen. He was one to give orders.

"Oh."

"Yeah, come to Chicago. You can sub-rent my place. I'm moving in with my fiancé." 

I took a deep breath and said, "OK."

Yeah, my parents think it'll be a disaster, but I have something to prove. I got another old car. This time from my grandmother. It's always been under warranty, until now. Of course, I haven't driven it, since I got to Chicago. I've met someone in the building who works where I do, and L drives so much better than me.