Perfect Strangers by Liv Morris

The Working Girl
     
    My eyes are looking down as I type away furiously on my
keyboard. Just a few more numbers to enter and I’m finally going to shut this
computer down.
    Ping, ping. Click, click.
    After pressing “send” and emailing my yearend report, I’m
finished… Finally! Twirling around in my office chair, the walls of my little
cubicle blur before my eyes.
    When the spinning stops, my chair faces the partitioned
offices of my neighbors. But something’s missing as I scan around me. There
doesn’t appear to be a single head peeking over the top of the other cubicles. It
looks like I’m the last holdout tonight. Which makes sense; it’s New Year’s Eve,
after all. Only crazy workaholics stay this late on a night made for the fun
type of alcoholic endeavors.
    A door slams loudly in the distance. I jump out of my chair
turning quickly toward the noise once my feet land on the ground. Wobbling on
the heels of my boots for balance, my heart pounds away, startled. Someone in
the shadowy hallway moves in my direction. Thankfully, I recognize it’s my
stumpy, firecracker of a boss. He’s notorious for being quite the tyrant, but I’ve
found he’s really a softhearted man, at least where I’m concerned. He walks
toward me with a scowl on his face. His countenance is nothing new and a
welcome sight as I realize I’m not alone in this deserted building after all.
    "Katrina Williams, what the hell are you still doing
here?" Mr. Stephens never yells but I know from his gruff tone and the use
of my full name that he means business. "Everyone was supposed to leave a
couple of hours ago. Gather up your coat and hightail it out of here."
    "Okay, I’m leaving now,” I respond back to him. “I
needed to finish the yearend reports for Bentley. I'm gone all next week,
remember? And he wants the numbers by January 4 th or else." I
cringe at the thought.
    "Kat, it's New Year’s Eve for Christ's sake. And
haven’t you heard the news?”
    I shake my head. I’ve been too busy with my report to even
care about what’s going on beyond my three partitioned walls.
    “What’s up, Mr. Stephens?” I ask genuinely concerned when I
see the worried look on his face.
    “For starters, Chicago is under a winter storm warning.”
    “You’re kidding me? I thought we were supposed to get just
an inch or two.” I look out the glass walls of the building, but only see the
evening’s darkness reflected back at me.
    “We’re way past a couple of inches already. The last report
I heard said the wind is really starting to pick up too.” Okay. He’s worrying
me a bit now. “So scoot and get started on that overdue vacation of yours.”
    “Alright sir, I’m out of here.” I stand at attention after
pulling on my coat and give a little half-hearted salute. “Happy New Year, Mr.
Stephens.”
    “Same to you, Kat. And please drive safely."
    I nod and grab my purse out of my desk drawer but decide to
leave the laptop here. Out of sight means out of mind. At least that’s my plan
for the next few days.
    I shout one last goodbye over my shoulder as I wind through
the labyrinth of office desks toward the elevator. I hear some cursing coming
from somewhere behind me. I laugh at Mr. Stephen’s silly mutterings. How his
sweet wife puts up with him and his sour moods is beyond me.
    Standing in front of the elevator, my foot taps impatiently.
What’s taking so long? I push the down button a few more times for good
measure. Finally, the doors slide open and I practically jump in. As the cage
starts to descend, I do a little happy dance. My vacation has officially begun.
Yay, me!
    I’m free for a whole seven days and plan on being a lazy
sloth. Days filled with wearing yoga pants and watching old Audrey Hepburn
movies are awaiting me. Oh, and ice cream. Lots and lots of chocolate ice
cream.
    Unfortunately, the lazy times won’t start until tomorrow
because tonight I’m meeting my parents for a late dinner. It might be a bit of
a