After the lovely night I had, I was ready for my second day of work.  The way Rebecca brushed back my hair, cuddled me, and more made me feel like I was a child in the tender care of their mother.  It brought back a sense of maternal protection that I’ve not felt in as long as I could remember.  Rebecca had cuddled me on countless nights, but this felt so much different.  It was like I was a baby in my mother’s arms and being led to bed by her soft hums and lullabies.  The experience got me that much more inspired to go into the next day, that scary receptionist be damned. 

As I walked into the office, I saw her and realized I didn’t even know her name.  It didn’t dawn on me until I saw her and realized that neither of us had exchanged names at all from the moment she “interviewed” me.  That’s not normal, was it?  Should I ask her what her name is?  As I walked up towards the desk, she whipped her head and I could feel daggers hitting me from her general direction.  From the tension and stress that I always got from her, I decided it wasn’t that important to know her name.  After all, she would tell me at some point. 

The situation would go strange, despite my encouraging feelings, though.  She looked at me, but whipped her head right back up after a moment.  She got up and walked over to me.  She looked me up and down, and I looked at myself.  It was that look someone gives you when you forgot to do something important, like buttoning up your shirt, or putting something on backwards.  It was different, even for her.  After a few minutes, though, she reached forward and straightened my tie, putting it extra tight on me.  I swallowed, feeling like my throat was swelling shut.  Then, she went back to her desk and pointed to the door, silently saying “Get to work”. 

I gave her a few looks before going back to the office.  A bit of strange treatment.  Not only did she not say anything, but she’d never touched me before, let alone with an action like she did that hurt my neck a bit.  I loosened the tie when I got to the office and could already see a red line around my neck.  Stressful job, indeed.  I settled down into my chair and flipped on my headset.  A weird day, already, and not having even taken a single phone call. 

Time went by, almost too quickly.  Calls weren’t coming in, but contact from others wasn’t either.  My first break went by, and then my lunch break.  No surprise visits from Miss Receptionist or the good doctor.  So, I decided to venture out on my own on that break to be able to at least try to find someone.  As much as being alone in the office without having someone look over my shoulder was comforting, it was also a bit lonely.  Deep down, I missed that nice conversation from the day before.

As such, the lab was my first stop.  The door was open but the room was empty.  I walked back to the office area where I’d been offered tea, but that door was shut.  I could see inside that my friend was behind, sitting at the table.  I knocked on the door and nothing happened.  No answer.  I did see her turn her head towards the door when I knocked, but there was no recognition.  I stayed there for about five minutes before I abandoned it.  Unfortunately, I had even less luck at the front desk.  I went up there and the receptionist was nowhere to be found.  Then again, part of me was asking myself why in the world I would go to that blunt and snappy woman for company on my break. 

All of this didn’t stop there, either.  I came back to the office and tried to call the doctor to see if she was there.  It rang multiple times, but there was no answer.  I sighed as my lunch was almost up, but I looked to my desk and realized there was a cup there.  A cup I hadn’t brought with me.  Upon further inspection, it had tea in it, much like the tea I had the day before.  With it, a note:

“Hello There,

Glad to see you’re still around the job.  I missed you on break today.  Since you were out and about, I wanted to drop this off for you.  It’s another blend of my specialty tea.  I have a lot of it, so feel free to drink as much as you want.

Stop by on your later breaks if you’re not busy, okay?  It’s always nice to have company on these long nights.

Signed,
Dr. Hiroshi"

I looked over the note over and over again, not really getting the situation around my head.  I was sure I’d gone to her lab and she just flat-out ignored me, yet she came by to give me some prepared tea?  I scratched my head over and over, not understanding a thing.  Still, it was a nice gesture.  So, as I clocked back in, I began to drink the tea that she’d given me, wondering why this was such a weird day…