Love & Hate

[jenniferjones]

It was a gray Monday morning. Condensation pearled on the glass making the world look softly blurred. Traffic had crawled to a stop as it always did when it rained. Cars honked as they tried to escape the clogged arteries of the street below. From the height of her tenth-floor office, the city looked small, and the people who rushed to and fro as they made their way to work seemed more like little dark shapes than human beings.

Monday's were awful, but a wet Monday was a beast of an entirely different nature for commuters. She'd nearly been late - No, that wasn't true, Lynne was never late. The branch manager had arrived later than she intended to, which was still earlier than all of her other employees. Her first order of business today was an interview. Lynne was not looking forward to it. To say small talk wasn't her forte would be a polite way of putting it. Justin Bisping, read the letters at the top of the interviewee's resume. The tall, dark-skinned woman stirred her coffee as she refreshed herself on the recent college graduate's short list of achievements.

If the city still attracted young professionals, Mr. Bisping would have never been a candidate for the position, but with a lack of qualified applicants, his name had surfaced to the top of her list. It was a very short list. There was a knock on the door followed by the chipper tones of Mrs. Cauldwell, Lynne's current lead office administrator. The sixty-year-old with bleach blonde candy cotton hair was retiring from the position, which would hopefully soon belong to Mr. Bisping if he was somewhat competent.

"Heeeee's hereeee, Ms. Montgomery," Mrs. Cauldwell singsonged as though she were announcing a guest on a nighttime talk show.

"Yes. Thank you. Give me a minute or two then send the candidate in," replied Lynne in a clipped but polite voice. It was the tone she used at work. Being a woman, let alone a black woman made the young branch manager feel like everyone's eyes were on her, waiting for her to make a mistake.

Mrs. Caudwell disappeared as quickly as she appeared. The branch manager promptly checked her reflection in the window. Not a hair was out of place, and her bun was perfect as well as her bangs. She then smoothed down the dark lapel of her jacket and straightened her pencil skirt, before she sat at her desk. Lynne crossed her legs and rested her coffee cup on its coaster. The door creaked open. On the other side stood Justin Bisbing

 

[Wade Von Doom]

Before coming in, Michael was asleep in a waiting chair. He woke up at six this morning, with his phone alarm ringing loudly, but he tried his best to ignore it at get a couple more minutes of rest in. He was staying at a friends house in a rural part of the city, and while his room was more of a broom closet, it was the best he could afford with no job, and barely enough money to pay his friends low rent costs. Once he finally shuffled out of the sheets, he took a ten minute shower, brushed his teeth, flossed, even used mouthwash which he hated, all to make sure he got the job. He had finished up his last semester around a month ago, with his plans to go to California put on hold, since what he thought would be his new job fell out.

So, in a desperate search, he managed to find a wanted add for office administrator. He moved in with his friend, and with what little money he had, bought himself two work suits for the office job. He needed it badly. In his mind, he planned on staying for long enough to get the money needed to move out the state, and try finding something in Cali again. Longest he thought he would stay here for was around five months, since the pay wasn't too bad, and the hours weren't too long. Nine to five from Monday to Thursday, with a three day weekend. That's what the ad said. Getting dressed, he made sure to teach himself how to tie a tie, that way he wasn't struggling for the next hour trying to figure it out, and once he got in his car, stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts to get himself some coffee, and a bacon, egg and cheese on a plain bagel for breakfast.

The building itself wasn't too big in comparison to the other office buildings in the city, but it had the most office feel to them. It was designed like an H, instead of a square or rectangle, and the windows for each floor were black tinted from the outside, so you couldn't see through them unless you were up close. The lobby was big and open, with even some art hanging from the ceiling, and a small fountain surrounded by a big circle bench to sit on for long. It was probably the most interesting part of the building. The rest was how you imagined an office building looked like. Less 'The Office' more 'Office Space.'

Michael's interview was on the second floor, and his wait time wasn't too long, just another half hour. By that time though, when Mrs. Cauldwell went to get him, his head was leaning against the eggshell white wall, and his coffee was about to spill on his pants. Thankfully that didn't happen once his head jolted up upon hearing a voice. He took one more sip of his coffee, and placed it on the coffee table, before quickly standing up, following Mrs. Cauldwell, and slowly opening the door to Lynne's office. She'd be greeted by a kid with short brown hair, around nine years younger than her, dark blue eyes, and pale Caucasian skin color. The usual teen grad. "Good morning." He said to Lynne, offering his hand to shake her's. "I'm Michael. Michael Bisping."

 

[jenniferjones]

Lynne shot the hand Michael offered a withering look and waved it away before she chastised him, “Shut the door. Mr. Bisping. Then take a seat”.

It was hard to remember exactly when it started, but for as long as she could recall touching people especially strangers often made her recoil. Maybe it was the time her Haitian mother had rubbed her skin raw in the tub shrieking at her daughter, ‘You filthy slut!’ after she’d caught her studying with a male classmate in her schools' library. Or perhaps it was the jeering of her classmates when she was just a girl, calling her ‘dirty’ because her skin tone was so much darker than theirs. Lynne gritted her teeth, that is why she hated interacting with people, it made her feel weak. She swallowed down the bad memories his simple gesture had brought to the surface.

It was safe to say even to an observer that the interview was off to a bad start.

The young man eased himself into the chair across from her, and the branch manager gave him a once over as she spun a pin between her fingers. The thin metal object glinted in the fluorescent light of the room as it went round and round as Lynne sat silently passed judgment on the interviewee. Michaels slightly rumpled suit, crooked tie only made him look younger, and his disheveled dark hair was fashionable she guessed - but in an annoying way like the Barista’s who poured her morning coffee at the trendy Coffee shop she often frequented. In fact the two looked to be about the same age, Lynne couldn’t help but think. Her dark eyes scanned his resume one more time then her full lips pressed together in a thin, grim line.

Awkward silence, a tactic the branch manager often employed in interviews settled between them like an itchy clothing tag against the skin. The pen in her hand stilled then moved to his resume descending down the sheet of the paper line after line. Finally, the woman on the other side of the desk spoke, looking Michael right in his sparkling baby blue eyes which for some odd reason, Lynne also found to be annoying.

“You may refer to me as Ms. Montgomery. Now, Mr. Bisping, can you tell me a bit about your time at,” Her voice trailed off as she glanced at his resume quickly, “the Sparrow Gazette, it says here,” A perfectly French manicured nail tapped the paper, “you performed several administrative duties. Please describe them in greater detail.” Even though the Branch Manager was only thirty-two she sounded in that moment as though she'd lived two lifetimes. Sometimes the woman wondered if she'd ever had the luxury of being young.

Lynne took a sip of her coffee as she waited impatiently for him to answer her question - she had three more interviews after this one.