The training material I was going through was a cake-walk.  Every piece of software I had done before.  True, they were already running the super-recent Windows 10 Operating System, but everything else I knew very well.  The list went so quickly as my eyes skimmed it that I practically didn’t need to even go through the material.  “VMWare, PuTTY, Office 2013, Citrix.  This is everything I have a lot of experience with.  This might not be a bad job, after all!”  My words were very confident though I made sure I didn’t say anything too loud.  I didn’t want anyone hearing that over confidence, especially in my first 20 minutes on the job. 

Since so little time had passed, I just skimmed over the training material over and over and over.  It felt wrong to just skim it in 20 minutes and say that I was done so I just wasted time skimming it over again.  Knowing how that receptionist acted, I’m sure I’d get a mouthful of attitude the moment I tried to say I was done after 20 minutes.  It would take a normal person an hour or more just to read through this, not knowing the software.  I took nearly an hour of reading and reading again and again and again before I finally went to my phone to dial her up and tell her I was finished. 

“Okay, what was that number again?” I asked myself.  She had told me what extension to reach her at but I forgot to write it down.  I have a good memory, right?  Apparently not because it eluded me.  I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to think.  Trying to replay that memory in my head as I thought.  It would be the worst first day if I forgot something so simple.  For all I knew, she’d come in here and smack me across the face for forgetting something so simple.

“1165?  Yeah, that was it, right?”  It sounded right.  Why not?  I picked up the headset and set my microphone in place.  It was already wired to the phone so as soon as I put it on, I heard a dial tone almost immediately.  I took a deep breath and punched in the numbers.  1.  1.  6.  5.  Dial.  The phone began to ring.  Once.  Twice.  Five times.  Six.  It seemed like an awfully long time for someone who works as a receptionist.  I wouldn’t think a single moment or two would go by without her answering. 

“Lab.  This is Dr. Hiroshi.  What is it?”  My heart just stopped.  The voice that came through was definitely female, but it was completely not the person I was trying to call.  This person’s voice sounded sweet, affectionate, happy.  I stuttered, realizing I had completely dialed the wrong number.  What was I going to do now?  She told me not to talk with anyone, but can I just hang up on this lab worker?  I was so much of a mess that I just started talking.  “Umm…I…I’m sorry.  I think I dialed the wron-“

I didn’t even get a chance to finish my fumbled statement before she interrupted like she’d been struck with some high rise out of something.  “Ooh!  Hello!  Are you the guy they just hired down in the IT section?  I saw you in the hallway!”  My face just went blank.  I was more shocked at this conversation than I was with the receptionist.  “Um…hi.  Yes, I am.  But“, My entire mind was cut off once again by this woman on the other end of the phone.  “Oh, good!  We don’t get new employees often.  Let’s meet on your break.  12:15 right?  I can show you around the building, okay?  See you then!”

The phone clicked off and I was just dumbfounded.  I just sat there for a couple minutes, not knowing what to do or say.  Eventually I was interrupted by a door latching open.  “Not done yet?!”.  I came out of my daze and looked to the doorway to see a familiar, blond face with her hands on her hips.  It took a moment but eventually I responding, letting her know I was about to call her, trying hard to keep from saying that I’d accidentally spoken with someone in the lab.  She then proceeded to bluntly tell me my duties and throw me on the phones within minutes, nearly slamming the door on her way out. 

I took a breather and took a look at the schedule she gave me.  “Okay my first break is--!”  Just as the Doctor had said.  First break: 12:15 am.  ‘Does she make the schedules or something?’ I thought to myself.  I pushed it out of my head.  Thinking about everything from disobeying the receptionist to this break coincidence would just make it more stressful.  I set the phone on and began taking support calls…