Bad Day at Work

Nicole entered the building of her now played out employment. Saddened by the sight of the mundane life she lived, she sulked all the way to the elevator. Yearning for more stimulation she began spending her nights searching for other employment. Most days she felt invincible. She could greet every colleague she met and she would never get a response. Most of the time she felt like they did it to be vindictive. She wasn’t sure what she did to make anyone angry with her but still felt like they were playing a cruel prank.

She had made several attempts to talk to them about the problems, but they wouldn't even make eye contact. They never responded so she didn’t know if they even heard what she proposed. A few times she had made the complaint to her boss and acquired the same results. At some point she had given up trying to communicate.

She was tired of being ignored. That’s when Nicole started applying for new jobs. She had sent resumes to several companies, but she never received any interviews, which devastated her. With her experience she didn’t understand why nobody would give her a chance. 

Checking her appearance in the freshly shined chrome of the elevator, she stopped fluffing her hair momentarily pausing to stare at her appearance, noticing how she strikingly resembled a movie starlett and wondered if that was how others perceived her. 

Completely disconnected, she moped across the office to her desk. Suddenly aware of her feelings, she wanted to ask her boss the true reason she got the job.

Nicole noticed the reactions of her colleagues as she walked across the office. They had looks of fright plastered on their faces. She stopped in front of one colleague and lowered herself to match his eye level and smiled. Still looking past her she tried to find what he was looking at and didn’t see anything. Curious, she stopped at everyone’s desk and repeated their actions. At the last one, she even drew herself in closer and kissed his mouth. Still not receiving a response she frowned. Even if they didn’t like her, that still should have elicited a response. 

More confused than ever, she took a few steps back. Nicole then turned to see what the entire staff was looking at. Behind her on the wall, the hands on the clock were spinning at warp speed. One hand was spinning one direction and the other the opposite direction. Thinking that the malfunctioning clock was the reason they all looked petrified. Shrugging it off, she proceeded to her desk, where she made several attempts to log in to her workstation. Not sure why the prompt kept alerting her that she didn’t exist. 

“Yes, I do!” she screamed at the computer. 

She tried a few more times, then submitted a malfunction ticket to the technical department. Receiving a quick reply shocked her. She usually had to wait a few hours, but was confused and shocked about the response.

Ha, ha. Very funny guys. Try again.

Nicole’s response wasn’t very favorable.

What’s funny? I don’t understand, she typed. 

You can’t scare me.

What are you talking about? I’m not trying to scare anyone, she responded back.

You guys are hilarious, but I have to do some real work.

Discouraged and frustrated, Nicole marched down to the technician’s office. Uncertain where it was actually located she tried to ask several colleagues how to locate it. Once again, being ignored, it added to her frustration. Angrily walking down the hallway, she began walking into every room to see if it was the proper one. After the first fifteen doors, she took a seat on the hallway floor and sobbed. A few colleagues passed and nobody stopped to ask if she was alright. Through her distress she heard a female come down the hall. She hoped that she would be able to get assistance. She jumped up and waited for the woman, she felt like it was an eternity. Upon seeing the woman, she practically jumped out in front of the woman, but when she did, they passed right through her. Confused by what happened, she turned to follow them. Hopefully, they would lead her where she needed to go. 

They entered an elevator. Nicole followed. Upon entering, the other employees noticed the lights began flickering. Curious why it only happened when she was around, she tried to question the other riders. 

“Why are the lights blinking?”

Everyone ignored her.

“Hello? Anybody?” She looked back and forth between the riders. “Somebody answer me!”

Again nobody responded to her, causing more upset. Abruptly halting, causing Nicole to startle not understanding what was happening.

“The elevator stopped again,” said the female rider.

“Ever since Nicole...you know.”

Nicole jerked at the sound of her name and became more attentive.

“Do you think it’s a coincidence?” said the male rider. 

“I never believed in that stuff before, but I guess anything is possible.”

Nicole grew hysterical and tried opening the elevator, but failed. Screaming for someone to help her, she turned to grab a co-worker by the shoulders and shake them to make them pay attention to her. Reaching out in front of her, she noticed her hands passed through the man’s shoulders as if he were made of air. Nicole yelled at the top of her lungs causing the lights of the elevator to turn off. 

“Do you think Nicole’s in here?” said the female rider. 

“I’m starting to believe.”

“Believe in what?” Nicole yelled at her coworkers.

Waiting for the elevator to start moving again, Nicole sank to the floor, sobbing hysterically. Confused with no way to find answers, she felt distressed. After several moments the lights came back on and amazingly the elevator began working again. After leaving the elevator they discovered someone reset it. 

Nicole went back to her desk upset. On the way she glimpsed a picture of herself in the newspaper on top of a desk of a colleague and stopped to read the newspaper headline. 

The article stated that she had gotten in a car wreck on her way home from work and instantly died. Drunk driver. Shocked by the article, she couldn’t believe what she was reading. There was no way it could have been her. She was right there. 

Nicole sat down at the nearest desk and searched for her obituary for verification.

“It can’t be true,” she sobbed.

As she was doing her research, she saw her sister walk in. 

“I’m here to pick up Nicole’s things,” said the woman.

“Sure. I’ll take you to her desk,” said a female voice. 

“Sorry, it took me so long. It’s just been so hard on us,”said the sister 

“Of course. We understand. So sorry for your loss. She was a wonderful person.”

“Was?” said Nicole.

The colleague looked at the woman with sincerity as Nicole followed them to her desk, realization spread across her face. 

“You okay?” said the woman.

“Yea. I am now.”

Nicole gave her sister one last hug wishing she could actually feel it. The woman smiled at Nicole’s sister as if with understanding. She looked behind her as if she knew Nicole was still there.