Snow day at work

White. That's all she can see. Well, and maybe a little bit of light trying to get through. There's snow in her shoes and her feet are beginning to freeze. The car is at least started and the warm air hits her face and wet feet, but she realizes fast that she's not going anywhere. The clock on the dash says 3:14, which means she's been rocking the car back and forth for at least 10 minutes, and she's auto genius, but this seems like a no-brainer.

Hands at 2 and 10, Callie leans forward and smacks her head on the steering wheel a little harder than she meant to. “Ow”, she quietly sighs. It was supposed to be a slightly funny, reminding herself what a dork she is.

At noon her boss made an announcement that they were free to head home for the day since the forecast was calling for heavy snow and wind, but she's lived in Chicago for 3 years now. She's used to driving in snow and slippery roads. Besides, didn't he just discuss with her yesterday the submissions she is getting behind on, and he'd like to see a significant dent in it by Monday? Well the work wasn't going to do itself and so she decided to stay and make it a full day. She'd get a considerable amount done if everyone was gone. Callie needed Saturdays to recharge. She wasn't about to take it home and look at it sitting in her bag all weekend collecting dust and then feeling guilty.

Exiting the car, she gave herself a quiet pat on the back for not attempting to clear the snow off the car before trying to start it. She would have been even more wet with nothing to show for it. Callie opens the trunk to get out her boots, not sure how she's going to use them, and as she peers inside she realizes she forgot to pack them today when she was running late. Ok, so maybe she's not as “Chicago prepared” as she'd like to believe. There's jumper cables and a folding captain's chair. She's feeling that urge to once again smack her head, rather on the trunk this time, as she's closing it.

As she watched people leaving for the day around noon, her jealousy got the best of her. She wanted desperately to leave along with them and have an extra afternoon off, but she knew this job was something she could not afford to lose. It wasn't the first time she had been behind on her work and been called out on it. And how hard would it be to find someone else to shuffle papers, get coffee and answer phones? This was a good job, well, it paid the bills, and so many people she knew were looking for work.

Last week, when Callie and Sheila went out for drinks after work, they had discussed this exact thing. Sheila was a single mom who could never depend on her child support. What she brought in was her only income, but wow, she was resourceful. Callie had always admired her positive attitude and work ethic. Sheila was exceptionally creative, and in her free time (ha ha, she would tell you) she made new jewelry from recycled, out-of-style jewelry she picked up at garage sales and flea markets. She and Callie would spend their summer Sundays browsing for great finds and sharing the stroller pushing. Aaliyah was 3 now and loved all things that sparkle. It brought Callie joy to see Aaliyah and her mom sharing a passion for beautiful things. Anything Sheila considered while shopping, she would show to her daughter, as her opinion mattered as well. And as Sheila's business grew on Etsy, it became obvious that her daughter also had good taste.

Callie is thinking about maybe getting a cab or an Uber, when she looks out over her car and sees no other vehicles driving in the street. The snow is falling heavily now and she can see where the plow went through once already ,and it is filling up again. She didn't think it was that bad until she tried to open her back door to grab her gloves, hat and scarf and realized the snow had drifted so much she could not even open the door. It had piled so high already it prevented her from being able to get it open all but a few inches, and that was even tugging hard on it. Blizzard indeed. The flakes were so dense, it was difficult to see only a block down the street. Well, she could at least grab her warm gear through that crack, but the seat was empty except for her grocery bags and snow brush. This was getting worse by the minute, and she began to wonder if she was really not going home tonight.

In the entrance hall of her work building, she stomps her snow-covered feet on the mat and shakes out her hair, and then does a double take. The mirror that covers one entire wall reveals to her a wet, bedraggled brunette, curls hanging and sopping, hairspray stiff and soggy, and now as the warm air hits the snow in her hair, it drips into her mouth. She's going to need some repair. Callie peels off her coat and hangs it on the shovel leaning on the heater by the entrance. There’s also a bucket of salt and next to it a heavy winter coat. This could come in handy later. After checking the pockets, sure enough she finds gloves and hat. Maybe after she dries off her hair and figures out her next move, her own coat will be dry again.

Between the paper towels and the hand dryer in the bathroom, she manages to feel a bit dryer and warmer, but her feet are soaked through her socks, and that isn't going to work. When her feet are cold, her whole body is cold. Her desk might hold some spare items so she heads up to the 5th floor again. It's been a long time since she's dug deep in the drawers and has no idea what she will find, but she's hoping for some fresh socks. Maybe this is a chance to actually clean out the drawers she thinks, and so Callie begins to put everything on her desk top as she searches for helpful items.

This should have been just a cleaning mission, along with a sock search, but Callie never thought it would turn into reminiscing. As her hand grabs what she knows is a card, her memory flows. Her mom was so proud of her when she got this job in Chicago. Big city girl she calls her now. Callie was proud of herself too, when all her friends were struggling to find full-time work and benefits, and she landed this good job. Hey, it wasn't the writing job she was hoping for, but she's learned you don't get everything you want right out of college. And just then she bowed her head and said a prayer of thanks for this blessing. It had been a while since she prayed and it felt good.

"No socks, I guess", Callie says to herself as she begins to put everything back in her desk. Wet shoes and socks off, this felt weird sitting with bare feet in her cubicle, but then again, this was not like any day she could remember. Stuck at work in a snow storm. Alone with nothing to do. It seems a bit bizarre and intrusive, but she's got to put something on her feet and all she can think of to do is search other people's cubicles.

Sheila is a good friend so she knows she won't mind, and that's the first place she goes. She starts digging tentatively, but then realizes no one is watching. She finds lots of beads in small containers and the usual desk stuff but no socks. Callie smiles at the bedazzled frame that doesn't hold a candle to the sparkling smile on the faces of Sheila and Aaliyah on the desk. There's a greeting card next to it, a Happy 30th birthday, and Callie knows it well because she's the one who gave it to her only a month ago. As she reads the words again and stares at the picture, a thought occurs her. The person on the front of the card is white, and Sheila is not. Had she ever thought about this before? Are there greeting cards with people of other races? She'd make a point of looking next time she was at the store.

As Callie continues to search for socks, she realizes she is becoming less wary of looking through others personal items. It's actually very interesting, and she guesses that warm feet are excuse enough to intrude a little.

A polished pink rock in Shawn's desk feels good as she rubs it between her fingers. Does it mean something to Shawn?

An old CD of piano love songs is in Elli's desk. She grabs a post it and writes Elli and sticks it to the CD. She'll borrow it for a little while tonight and return it later.

Of course, most desks have photos propped up that she's seen many times before, but the inside of someone's personal life is exceedingly more interesting. She finds a broken chain of a necklace with three charms hanging from it. Each of the three charms says faith, hope and love. Maybe she could fix that later and leave it as a surprise for Amy, but then she'd know Callie had gone through her desk. She replaces it in the drawer where she thinks she saw it. She's never known Amy well and it makes her wonder about Amy's faith, or maybe she's just overthinking it and Amy liked the necklace itself.

Callie sits down to Jon's desk and her bare, cold foot kicks something underneath. Jon has boots! And they are huge, but sheep wool lined and looking very warm at this moment. She slides her feet inside and feels instant comfort. Desk search over.

Callie goes back to her own desk with a plan of spending some time checking out Facebook posts, looking at Pinterest for some new ideas, and checking the weather, and when this crazy blizzard might quit. If she's going to be here all night, she may as well relax and enjoy the quiet. Her life at times seems like an exercise in doing more than she can fit in her day. Her phone is dead and no charger, so she decides to search the web on her computer.

There are a lot of stories about the storm, and ABC7 is saying the city has basically shut down. More indications she's not going anywhere. So it's a snow day at work. Ironic, she thinks, but she also thinks, I'm not going to do work.

Callie makes a mental list of things she can do to pass the time at her office compared to home. Find a book to read. Will she have to search people's desks again? She's feeling brave and decides to go check out her boss' office for a book, and then remembers no one else is here. A smirk appears and she decides it might be more fun to treasure hunt. The desk first.

Callie finds all the basic desk supplies and manila folders with work files. She pages through a few, but these are all work related and above her pay grade. There's a duffel bag behind the desk and she's curious but this seems more intimate. As she stares at it for a minute waiting for the courage to open it, a buzz sounds shocks her. It's been so quiet with no other employees, no computer sounds, no phones ringing. It's really the first sound she's heard since she was talking to herself.

In an instant it's obvious what the buzz is, the power flashes on and off a few times and then it goes out altogether. Callie sighs thinking this is just getting crazier, but she turns her head to the light, a faint glow from the floor to ceiling plate glass windows in her boss' office. She catches her breath as she raises from the desk chair to see the beauty of the winter storm. The street lights are out too, but a city always has some light. The flakes are so enormous and cover every single inch, and it seems as the rest of the world has disappeared. This is different. Different from standing outside her car and cursing the storm. Her breath slows and she puts her hands up against the glass and lingers there, enjoying the beauty and the silence of the moment. A tiny bit of light shines from somewhere she can’t place, and the ice crystals on the sidewalk look like diamonds in the snow.

“What the hell”, she says, and turns to open the duffel bag. Just as she thought, there are workout clothes inside, and socks! She doesn't hesitate, but begins to put on the legging and sports top, socks and again, Jon's boots. She's out the door and down the stairs in a flash and finds the big winter coat with the gloves and hat. Callie can't believe how giddy she is that she's about to play in the snow. She lays right on the sidewalk and makes a snow angel and then rolls balls for a snowman. He's bare white, but she doesn't care. Her smile is all she needs right now and she hopes someone else finds joy when they see it. A snowman on the sidewalk in downtown Chicago.

Wet again, but warm on adrenaline, Callie goes back inside and strips out of the coat and silently thanks the doorman for leaving it here. Up the stairs and hunger pangs tell her it's well past dinner. Great, now she has to snoop again to find food. A granola bar from her desk, a nicked soda and sandwich from the fridge will do.

As Callie goes back to her boss' office to return the borrowed clothes she's realizing they are wet, and so she hangs them on the back of the chair to dry. She notices a file cabinet that states, "employee files" on it, and thinks, oh this is too good to be true. Her conscience gets the best of her and she sits back in the chair. Is she crossing a line? She's better than this, but no one would ever know. Callie tugs the drawer open to find all her colleagues’ names on folders of varying depths. Of course she chooses her own first to make herself innocent.

Jon, he’s an interesting guy. Not so sure she knows much about his personal life so this could give her some clues. His income is higher than hers she sees, but he’s been here a little longer. Last review not bad. Nothing exciting here.

Jo Ellen has the same old information in her file too, but she notices a tabbed page with red. This is a reprimand, and if she had to guess it’s because Jo Ellen is late to work a lot. Ahh, they should give her a little break. She’s been sick off and on this year and she’s trying to manage 3 children.

Tony has the most intriguing file. Apparently he’s been asking for raises often because he has letters in his file he wrote to his boss himself, explaining why he deserves more money and a promotion. Each page has a post it attached with a note. “Not ready yet.” “A lot of confidence, not a lot of work ethic.” “Great ideas, but no follow through.” And the best one, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” She reads the letter to find out why her boss thinks Tony is kidding. Tony wants to go on sabbatical, fully paid by the company, to learn more about book binding. Ok, maybe he is kidding!

The wind is howling and it’s even more evident in the windy city when you are up on the 5^th floor. She actually feels very cozy here by herself, although the heat is out now and there is very little light save the exit signs and a few back up lights on the floor. She is wasting her time looking through files. This time is a gift, she realizes, a blessing. She has the whole night ahead of her.

Her dreams of being a creative writer are not dashed or forgotten, just buried a little while she finds her way. This opportunity of quiet, and beauty in the storm are inspiring. Rushing to her desk she finds paper and pencil and begins to dream again. A sketch of the outdoors, sparkle of light. She’s sitting on the floor near one of the lights. Balled up sweater behind her, wooly boots, and a mind full of ideas.

The birthday card. She draws a darker-skinned woman walking in the snow, holding hands with a small child. The flakes fall around them in twinkling diamonds. She writes the words for her first greeting card.

Callie doesn’t know when she fell asleep, but she wakes slumped on the carpeted floor of the office with papers scattered around her. He boss’ voice is in her head and then she realizes it is also in the room. “What happened here?” he asks. As she shakes the fuzzy wool from her brain and collects her things on the floor, she’s aware that she feels like a newer person with a fresh perspective. She recalls all the creativity that flowed last night, but she’s not going to share it. Not yet.

Her boss asks her why she is wearing the big boots and his work out shirt? Well, maybe she’ll have to share something about last night.