Penny For Your Thoughts
A short story was written and produced for One2one academy. Monica Kray is a team leader at Fusion Technology; today is the first time she meets her new team. Follow her story to understand more about the type of English used at work.
Chapter 1
The Office
It was 8:30 in the morning, coffee in hand I reluctantly moved forward in a coffee shop queue that somehow seemed to draw me into an abyss of the collective. The suspense of waiting to swipe my card held my attention long enough not to abandon the task and live to tell others about a soul-destroying experience that we all relate to in one way or another.
finally, it was my turn, in an attempt to own the moment, my card slipped into the machine with effortless grace and dared I say style if that was at all possible given the circumstances.
Never needing any assistance with all things technology, I was nothing short of embarrassed having inserted my card the wrong way round.
Following a juggling act to put my card back into my wallet with one hand, still holding my Latte with the other, the office was in sight. As I approached the large glass that separated work from the outside work, I paused to check that the correct button had been pressed before I made my way into the reception area of the building.
To my right, two cream sofas were positioned symmetrically under a large painting depicting a City landscape scene. It projected an image that screamed business complemented against an array of chrome planters and tropical plants.
Charlotte was almost too perfect,
smiling her eyes lead the way towards the lifts like a beam of light. It would be rude not to acknowledge, so I returned the smile before disappearing around the corner.
My very first time at this office and a new team to train were enough to put fear in any manager but I had prepared myself for such an occasion. The lift doors drew open, as I entered and pressed the floor number a hand emerged from nowhere and prized back the doors effortlessly.
Closely followed by a tall, clean-shaven man wearing a pinstripe suit, I realised that I would have to interact even if it was just a facial expression. The third floor please he said in a soft voice badly befitting the image that he was trying to portrait. The doors drew closed and no sooner as it moved, it came to a stop.
Something both he and I shared was that we both exited together albeit parting in different directions. Business etiquette forced us both into an uncomfortable bye with unnatural voice tones.
I had chosen the side of the corridor solely based on a chrome plated sign. My adventure was about to begin and I knew that the brown fire door marked Fusion Technology was all that stood in my way from this challenge.
The fire door was difficult to navigate, so I used both hands to pull on the handle. A large modern and open plan office took most of my attention span; I was expecting to find someone on the other side but no such luck.
From the corner of my eye, I could see someone behind smoked glass; I knew that I had to make a beeline towards them if I wanted to get this party started.
The silhouette took human form and I could now see more tables chairs and people immediately behind theirs. Hello, my name is Monica Kray and I’m from head office; those words sounded like something out of a movie in my head but the reality was very different, in fact quite the opposite.
At this point, I hoped that I was in the right office, had I made a mistake, it would have been the topic of laughter for some time. We have been expecting you, Tom Harding, from the projects department, pleased to meet you. Can I offer you a coffee or something to drink? No thank you I’m fine Tom, pleased to meet you too, is there somewhere I can leave my stuff?
He gestured to a desk behind his and as I draped my jacket around the chair and placed my bag on the desk, I realised that there was little time left before the meeting was scheduled to start. A silent alarm vibrates three times to warn me of any up and coming events without alerting anyone.
Chapter 1
The Office
It was 8:30 in the morning, coffee in hand I reluctantly moved forward in a coffee shop queue that somehow seemed to draw me into an abyss of the collective. The suspense of waiting to swipe my card held my attention long enough not to abandon the task and live to tell others about a soul-destroying experience that we all relate to in one way or another.
finally, it was my turn, in an attempt to own the moment, my card slipped into the machine with effortless grace and dared I say style if that was at all possible given the circumstances.
Never needing any assistance with all things technology, I was nothing short of embarrassed having inserted my card the wrong way round.
Following a juggling act to put my card back into my wallet with one hand, still holding my Latte with the other, the office was in sight. As I approached the large glass that separated work from the outside work, I paused to check that the correct button had been pressed before I made my way into the reception area of the building.
To my right, two cream sofas were positioned symmetrically under a large painting depicting a City landscape scene. It projected an image that screamed business complemented against an array of chrome planters and tropical plants.
Charlotte was almost too perfect,
smiling her eyes lead the way towards the lifts like a beam of light. It would be rude not to acknowledge, so I returned the smile before disappearing around the corner.
My very first time at this office and a new team to train were enough to put fear in any manager but I had prepared myself for such an occasion. The lift doors drew open, as I entered and pressed the floor number a hand emerged from nowhere and prized back the doors effortlessly.
Closely followed by a tall, clean-shaven man wearing a pinstripe suit, I realised that I would have to interact even if it was just a facial expression. The third floor please he said in a soft voice badly befitting the image that he was trying to portrait. The doors drew closed and no sooner as it moved, it came to a stop.
Something both he and I shared was that we both exited together albeit parting in different directions. Business etiquette forced us both into an uncomfortable bye with unnatural voice tones.
I had chosen the side of the corridor solely based on a chrome plated sign. My adventure was about to begin and I knew that the brown fire door marked Fusion Technology was all that stood in my way from this challenge.
The fire door was difficult to navigate, so I used both hands to pull on the handle. A large modern and open plan office took most of my attention span; I was expecting to find someone on the other side but no such luck.
From the corner of my eye, I could see someone behind smoked glass; I knew that I had to make a beeline towards them if I wanted to get this party started.
The silhouette took human form and I could now see more tables chairs and people immediately behind theirs. Hello, my name is Monica Kray and I’m from head office; those words sounded like something out of a movie in my head but the reality was very different, in fact quite the opposite.
At this point, I hoped that I was in the right office, had I made a mistake, it would have been the topic of laughter for some time. We have been expecting you, Tom Harding, from the projects department, pleased to meet you. Can I offer you a coffee or something to drink? No thank you I’m fine Tom, pleased to meet you too, is there somewhere I can leave my stuff?
He gestured to a desk behind his and as I draped my jacket around the chair and placed my bag on the desk, I realised that there was little time left before the meeting was scheduled to start. A silent alarm vibrates three times to warn me of any up and coming events without alerting anyone.
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