Part Two: The Staff

Ten minutes passed 9.00 am, few girls walked into the office; along with them were giggles and phrases sounded like gossiping. They were surprised to see Doug’s presence and headed to Charles’s direction. Again Doug heard soft humming chats from them. It seemed nobody was aware of a new colleague was joining the company.

Most of the staff came in staggered from 9.10 to 9.30 am. At 9.45 am, the boss walked into the office with grin look. As he walked in he wished everyone with compliments like: you look good, you are beautiful, hello darling, how are you today my dear? What a man and what a Romeo act the boss had showed, Doug thought. A few minutes later, the boss dashed into the meeting room, there was an immediate apology came from his face when he extended his palm to shake hand with Doug.“  I am sorry, I didn’t know you came so early! Please come, I would like to introduce you to the staff,” the boss pulled Doug out of the room and led him to the partitions.

One by one, the staffs were introduced to Doug by the boss. The first in the line was Charles, the first man he met.  The technical support manager Nick was a short man with small body frame. Nick had a pair of protruding eyes which could drill through anyone he stared on. A faint smile followed by a light and shallow handshake. “This is a sly person. I must spend some time to understand him,” Doug thought.

Danny stood beside Nick. A tall and dark complexion middle age, Danny looked after project management resource planning and delivery. He helped to hire software professionals to fill the project requirements. After Danny a slim, fair and pretty young woman extended her hand to welcome Doug. “Hello Doug, welcome on board. I am Fiona, I am the marketing manager,” she said it with a charming look. Doug noticed she had large eyes and dimples. He also found the boss focused on the expression of Fiona. It looked to Doug there was something linking that kind of look from the boss, but Doug just could not figure out what it was.

The boss brought Doug to an adjacent room to his office. That would be the nest for Doug for all the stories he was going to encounter from the moment on. 

It was near 11.00 am when the introduction ended. The boss made an announcement that everyone would go for a brunch in fifteen minutes at a nearby café. This was a welcome gesture for Doug. Before Doug could respond he heard soft mimic voices spreading from the portioned area. Then someone shouted affirmation over the raised screen. There was a strange atmosphere floating in the office space.  Doug wondered but he could not bother to think deeper.

They did not speak aloud or talked a lot, Doug observed. Vividly the boss was the one who threw speeches from politics, social issues to movies throughout the one-hour brunch. He would not care the stares from guests surrounding the two tables they occupied. The boss, at one stage, even joked with a waitress on the fragrance she used. “You smell good, it makes me horny,” laughed the boss. Despite the uneasy atmosphere, everyone finished the meals as if enjoying a last feast. Doug felt something strange but he could not figure out what it was. He walked back with the staffs after that.