The sleepy department

I called Bebbie “The tough department.”  By the time we met her, my mind was already overflowing with information. I remembered that around this time there was an outdoor recess at my school where everyone could get refreshed on our spacious playground. Well, there was no recess at AFM and I had to accept that. But I wasn't at all unhappy. I was pretty excited about my new and first job. All I wished for in addition to the marvelous job offer was just a tiny bit of rest.

“You have to be strong! Cheer up and try not to think about the fatigue. After all, exchanging greetings and shaking hands never killed anyone!” I commanded myself. Sure, it never killed anyone. This is what I thought until I met another employee, Claire Starkoff, international marketing coordinator, who spoke in a slow, droning voice without making a single pause between sentences and subjects: “It is a pleasure meeting you, Miss Klim, what a nice day for our company to welcome you here I’m glad actually the weather has been quite stable over the past few days as I can’t stand neither cold nor heat because I have to pay frequent visits to Starbucks to get energized and as you know excessive caffeine is bad for you however some studies have shown that it is good but sometimes even studies cannot be trusted especially on such unpredictable subject matter like the global market that our department monitors by the way Linda my computer monitor needs to be replaced….”

            As Claire rambled on, I felt as if I was sinking into a large bowl of corn syrup and was unable to crawl out of the heavy sticky substance. I put my hand into a skirt pocket and secretly pinched myself by the leg. This did help me shake off the eminent slumber, but I was afraid I could not stay awake for long. Fortunately, Linda came to the rescue.

“Thank you, Claire. This is very interesting. Miss Klim will be scheduling individual meetings with each employee to discuss their further work projects.”

            “. . . like those vacation cabanas in Cancun,” Claire finished her long train of thought, but no one was particularly interested in how she got on this topic.

Claire became “The sleepy department.”

“Let me take you to your office now, Miss Klim. No one will disturb you there for the rest of the day. I am sure you have many things to sort out,” Linda said as if reading my thoughts again. (“Hurray!” I shouted in my head.)

            “That would be very nice. I really would like . . . ,” I did not finish the sentence as I heard the sound of fast little steps “tock-tock-tock-tock-tock-tock-tock-tock” and saw a short nimble boy rush in our direction….