The bus was arriving at her stop and she pressed the bell. The bus stopped by the road side and she got down. As she stepped on the curb, she looked up to the sky. Sunny blue sky with cottony puffy clouds. A good sign, she thought to herself.
She took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the white building across the street, a majestically looking white building with a rather odd architectural shape that she couldn’t truly describe. It was as though the building was an artistic experiment that didn’t quite work. She couldn’t help but stare at the building while thinking.
A year and a half ago, she lost her job. Her team was disbanded; funding was removed and each team member was let go except her. She didn’t understand why she was the last one standing but she was and it was very demoralizing for her to see everyone leave. She had farewell lunches and dinners for everyone but when it was her turn, there was no one left to have a farewell lunch or dinner with.
The management didn’t know what to do with her but at the same time, they couldn’t let her go without a reason. It was frustrating to feel unwanted in the company but she couldn’t find another job to go to.
Then it came the day when human resources sent her an email for a meeting. It was a meeting to notify that the company no longer needed her. They went through the formalities of going through some legal document. It wasn’t her fault but it was a restructuring exercise it said. She didn’t really care about the contents. She had heard about the legal document for far too many times that she had become numb.
Inside, she was happy that she was finally released but there was fear too of the unknown future. There wasn’t much she could do at that point except to accept it and move on.
Her last day was a month after. At least she still had one last month of pay. When it was time to return her keys and laptop, she handed them over and left the company. No looking back, no regrets. Freedom was more like it but for how long could she sustain without a job?
She tried looking around for a new job but it was hard. She applied online in various job seeking platforms but to no luck. She guessed that employers prefer fresh graduates but she wasn’t sure. She sent her resume out to headhunters, recruitment agencies and to everyone she knew.
Finally, three months ago, she was given the opportunity for an interview. She sent her resume to someone she knew in the company and the rest was history. She didn’t have much of a skill but she thought she had a little something that could sell and sold she did. They seemed to like her for some reason and after three rounds of interview with three different levels of managers, they finally decided to hire her. She was grateful.
It was her first day of work. She got up early to prepare for her journey, a new career chapter in her life. Oats, fruits and coffee for breakfast and after a good shower, she was ready.
She put on her most comfortable pair of work shoes, her ankle high platform boots. Nothing too fancy, nothing that would hurt her feet too much and it was still modestly stylish, nicely paired with her work pants and a light blue shirt. It was quite a journey to the workplace and she wanted to make sure she wore comfortably.
The journey took about an hour by bus from her place to the city. She didn’t want to drive because the traffic would be bad. It would be a waste of energy, time and money. Looking out the window, she was glad she didn’t drive. She enjoyed the scenic view sitting as a passenger, which she would have missed if she had driven her car.
Once she reached the lobby of the white building, she took another deep breath and walked in. Her new job was waiting for her and she was ready.
Writing prompts from: https://writingexercises.co.uk/take-three-nouns.php
Time taken: 45 minutes with mobile timer.
