No one told me

No one told me

It was that dreaded date, April fools. Lucy was not one for pranks or tricks. She enjoyed the simple things in life, and avoided at all costs any risk of being embarrassed. It was just her bad luck that her nemesis and work colleague Bob, is now paired up with her, for a joint task force. Today should be like any other day, typing away at her private cubical in the office, but it was a team building scheme thought up by an overly excited employer. To gain more experience inside different departments of the company, staff were all at random selected, and set to work with another member. The hospitality and catering company was one that took in many clients, with a wide range of ideas for their important celebrations. Lucy never left her desk, if only to grab a coffee and snack, or to the bathroom and the odd meeting. But this new role today would involve her greeting guests inside a very popular company owned hotel, organising decorations for a party and helping and assisting Bob, the planner of such events. First, Lucy arrived, avoided the coffee machine, as she recalled last year it being set up to pour out only cold water. Then she made her way to her desk with a shop bought drink, and checked the swivel chair for any faults. Two years ago, Bob made his first appearance by removing an important bolt in half the seats. There were a lot of bruised back sides after that day, and it wasn’t even April Fools, no it was his uncle’s week away from the office. Bob’s uncle is a co owner and so quick to forgive his immature nephew. A week of hell, all called it. Pranks and just constant annoyance from a seriously irritable man. If you dared to prank him, then your job was in his hands. On the desk was a memo, hand written by the said enemy, to leave what she was doing and make her way to the hotel. Lucy did not rush around, but found it strange that her friendly co-workers, were all calm today. Should they not be on high alert? 

Making her way out of the taxi cab, the driver started to talk about some TV show and the result of a DNA test, apparently it was a shocking event. Lucy didn’t care for TV and only had one to watch the news if she was in the mood. Her head was always inside some novel or a box set of DVDs. The hotel was a beauty, and the event for today was a surprise birthday celebration for a former sports personality. It had to be themed around his sport, foot-ball. Lucy, taking the back stage entrance to the grand occasion hall, witnessed a huge net, filled with soft foot-balls. An accident waiting to happen. Bob who loved to make her jump, suddenly appeared behind her with a big hello. “Good morning partner, ready to go to work?”. Lucy almost jumped out of her skin, she was on tender hooks awaiting his big prank. There was no doubt in her mind, that she was going to be his intended target. Everything was so rushed, the planning of such an event, actually allowed Lucy to learn some respect for Bob. He had completed most of the work already and she only had a check list to go through, to make sure everything ran smoothly. Inside the large and extravagant kitchen, Lucy began to check through the catering. She saw two chefs screaming, nothing unusual here, but they were complaining that someone had mixed the salt for the sugar. No doubt a prank. Then she over heard under the large mahogany stair case, young waiters planning to set up some poor victim with a blind date. All these and more, made her worry for what was to come before noon. Bob sent a front desk call out, a message, needing Lucy right away. ‘Was this it, am I going to get it now?’, she thought. He was inside the function room, as all the tables lay set up, and food began to enter for the cold platter available to the first arriving guests before the main event. Lucy hesitated to approach, seeing that he was holding a fresh tube of butter cream in his hands. He turned, and she reacted as anyone would, when they expect cream to be splattered all over their face. But no, nothing occurred. Plenty of time yet. Bob asked, “would you mind helping me to finish with the icing and some of the cakes need a tidy up with cream and toppings?”. Lucy was only all too pleased, as this was more enjoyable than sitting at a desk staring into a screen, waiting for the clock to spin towards her freedom.  Bob proved to be more of a gentleman and less of a spoilt idiot. Her views of him, changed with every new encounter. Lucy just had to ask, why he was always such a moron when he visits her office. He laughed at her honesty and replied, “ my uncle sees me as a hopeless case when it involves computers and websites, or blogs. I enjoy doing this, this is the real me. Appearances are everything and if he knew that I thrived in this department, then I would be sent to another. This is his way, you learn and you move on, you don’t remain and grow stale. So I act the fool, play pranks and generally make it impossible for anyone to want to work with me, as they would eventually report on my work and I would be moved on and up”. Lucy smiled at this and it was enough to settle her stomach, which all morning had been fluttering like a butterfly. The time passed very quickly and before she knew it, the clock struck noon. It can’t possibly be over, just like that with nothing occurring. The birthday party was an instant success and Bob kept to the shadows, to allow other co-workers to claim the victory. The phone which always lay deep within her bag, began to buzz. Lucy hated this device and only used it for basic needs. But she did her usual blurry eyed task, of not reading the screen, and simply slapping it to switch off the loud annoying sounds. This time, wide awake, picking up her phone, there was a message from Bob, asking if she would like to go out with him tonight for dinner. And there it was, in black and white, the date. April 2^nd. Such a warm smile caressed her cheeks. It wasn’t a bad day after all.