New chapter

Sia touched her hair for 20th time since setting foot in the office. She couldn't decide if she should be happy or angry. She had decided to get a haircut and on last weekend, after delaying it multiple times, she had finally gone ahead with it. She had asked the girl from saloon to keep the original cut and only cut the excess. She didn't like short hair. But instead the stupid women decided to turn her hair into a fashion disaster. Her hair now fell just below her shoulder in an awkward bob and she looked like a school kid. She hated it. But she was too soft to argue with the girl and after a few words had decided to leave the saloon.

Now in the office, she tried to check from the corner of her eyes, if anyone was laughing at her. She missed Joe. He sat next to her seat. He sure will have a handful to say when he'll see her. Luckily he had decided to extend his weekend and she'll have to wait till tomorrow to get his expert comments on the disaster that was her hair.

Sia checked the mail. Her boss had asked for the weekly report by 12 pm. Again? She let out a frustrated sigh. It was Amy's job to send the report on Friday. But since she decided to start her party streak early, Sia was stuck with cleaning up her mess. She glanced at the clock. it was 11 am and Amy wasn't here yet. Sia picked up her pen and wrote 'Finish Amy's report' on top of her To Do list. All other tasks piled up beneath it.

Sia didn't hate her job but she didn't love it either. When she started, it was just a way to support her, so she wouldn't have to ask her parents for money. It was a pillar of support until something better came along. She had applied for a couple of better positions and also thought about taking up some hobby. But once she started the job, she didn’t have time for anything. Now two and a half years later, she was still filing her colleague's reports, without any appreciation for almost the same meagerly pay.

She completed the report by 11:45 and went in search of coffee. As she sat by the office window, with the steaming beverage in hand, she thought about the day after she had received her first raise(If one could call it a raise). Amy had decided to get her hair colored as a reward for herself after the increment. She had looked like a Flamingo with those pink curls on her head. Everybody from the copy guy to their boss has stopped by her desk and talked about her 'pretty hair'. Sia again touched her hair consciously. The copy guy just went by her and didn't say anything. Suddenly she had a realization. No one on her way, from her apartment to her office, had asked her anything about the horrible nest on her head. She wasn’t a complete outcast at her workplace. People did talk to her usually. But today she analyzed the amount and type of conversation she used to have with these people. It was always about some damn pending report.

Her phone blinked and she pulled herself out of her thoughts. It was a message from her boss. ‘Come to my office ASAP’. She gulped her coffee in a sip and walked back. Inside her boss’s office sat a lady and Amy. ‘So she decided to show up finally’, Amy thought as she took her seat. Over the next 10 minutes, her boss went on to explain a situation that didn’t look very pleasing to Sia. From what he told she understood that the new lady was from HR. There was a new position opening and they needed someone hardworking and reliable for that so naturally they were promoting Amy to that position. Since they were short on funds, Sia will be taking care of Amy’s work until they can sort out the situation. Meanwhile Amy will be getting a fancy office and an early raise as part of her promotion. Sia looked back at 3 of them. They were expecting her to nod along and take the additional work with a smile. And an hour ago, she might have done the exact same thing, with a fake smile of course. Now as she put things in perspective, she thought about the raise that was still 6 months away, she thought about her rent, the new makeup kit that she was stalking online for her mom, the preparation books that she had buried deep in the closet in last 2 years and her new role as the department slave. She touched her hair one more time, all the while thinking about the scene unfolding in front of her. ‘Since I’ll be taking up additional work, I can expect my raise early this year then.’ She put the statement in front of her boss. And in the next 15 minutes he and HR went on to explain her that how the department was low on budget and she might have to wait more than 6 months for that raise. Now Sia wasn’t employee of the year, but she was better than Amy and she knew that. She just never accepted that out loud. These 2 years, she passed her time thinking that this was just temporary. She shouldn’t feel bad because she will be moving on to something better.  This moment right now was a fruit of all that.

But now she didn’t want to think, or else she will regret it a year later. She smiled a natural smile towards Amy, congratulated her and asked her boss to excuse her. Sia went to her seat. She opened her mailbox and sent a mail to her boss for half day leave. She then sent another mail to HR and her boss stating that she is giving her two weeks' notice starting today. And then she picked up her bag and left the office.

On her way out, she smiled at the guard as he opened her gate and got a genuine smile in return. She checked her reflection in a building outside. She touched the ends of her hair. It wasn’t looking that bad after all.  Maybe a bad bob will be a start of a new chapter.