Let's Swing

by Piquette Fontaine

  The elevator ride was smooth and there were so many buttons, for the building was a hulking monstrosity, a glass and metal castle that rose imposingly in the heart of the vibrant city. At the top was a penthouse, as shown by a button with the letter ‘P’, on it, and she wondered if she was ever going to be in a position to own a penthouse suite. Sadly, she thought, it was a joy she would never know.

  In her research into the company she had read about the owner, a mysterious figure who nobody seemed to know much about, and this made him all the more interesting. His background was vague but there was no question that he had been successful and he was always high on the rich list that was published every year. It was strange to think that he earned in a day what she would most likely have to work most of her life for.

  The elevator car reached the fifth floor and the doors opened. Again the place was so dark it may as well have been night. Not one bit of sunlight made its way into the building, and she wondered if it was for some productivity reason, like to prevent glare or something. The place was deserted though, with only a few people manning computer terminals, and none of them looked at her. There was no obvious place to go, so Millie was standing around for a few moments wondering what to do. She twisted her head as she looked in both directions, and eventually a slender woman with brown hair walked towards her. As she came closer Millie saw that she and this women were wearing similar outfits, and she wasn’t sure whether this was a good or a bad thing.

  “You must be Millie, sorry to keep you waiting. I’m Claudia, please, come this way.” They shook hands and then Claudia led Millie to a large office with glass walls. They exchanged some small talk on the way, and Millie just tried to keep a handle on her nerves. Her throat was dry and she was worried that her words would come out sounding wobbly.

  “Can I get you anything, some water perhaps?” Claudia offered, and Millie gladly took her up on it. Millie went to sit in the office and was surprised at how cold it seemed. There were barely any personal touches and although the company’s reputation was unparalleled, and she knew she’d be a fool to turn down any opportunity that presented itself, there was something about the place that was unsettling. She made herself comfortable in the leather chair and rested her hands on her lap as she waited for Claudia to return.

  When Claudia did return, Millie sipped the water and was glad to soothe her throat. Claudia sat down opposite Millie and pulled out a few pieces of paper. She made some notes while Millie sat there patiently, and then looked up.

  “So then Millie, you’ve just recently graduated college, yes?”

  “That is correct.”

  “And how is the real world treating you so far?”

  “Oh, well, you know…it’s okay I suppose. It’s not um, it’s not exactly what I expected. I’ve been trying to get a job that suits my education but it seems like barely anyone replies.”

  “Yes,” Claudia said, leaning back in chair, “it’s been a terrible few years, and I certainly understand your frustration. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression of people wanting experience, but never giving anyone the chance to gain experience.”

  “Yes! That’s exactly it. I know I could contribute positively to a company, all I need is to be given a chance.”

  “Indeed, that’s actually one of our main recruitment policies here. Mr. Lioncourt wants to give opportunities to eager people who are willing to work hard and make themselves a valuable member of the team. Experience is good but it is not essential for things can always be taught, what is essential is a good instinct and attitude. Those are the things that Mr. Lioncourt looks for in his employees. Now, obviously being inexperienced does come with a slight risk, and although we have opportunities for people in your position we cannot offer a high salary band at first. If we deem you suitable for the job, and if you would like to work here, we offer a basic package for a set period, and then after that there will be an evaluation where we will determine your future in the company. It is a good job and a good company to work for, it’s certainly changed my life for the better, but it is a demanding one and you will have to be prepared to give everything you have.”

  The words were chilling and Millie thought that it sounded far more dramatic than she had ever anticipated. All she knew is that she was tired of being unemployed and she didn’t want to have to go back to waiting tables, so she nodded. Claudia smiled broadly, but this expression sat strangely on her face, as though it wasn’t made to hold a smile. In fact, as Millie looked more closely, there was something eerie about Claudia’s eyes, as though there was a darkness within them. Millie couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it seemed like Claudia was looking on her with the eyes of a predator. Millie inhaled deeply and tried to put it out of her mind as the interview continued. Claudia asked the standard questions and Millie responded in the best way she thought possible, but given how she was inexperienced at interviews she was always doubting her answers and worried that she would say the wrong thing. Indeed, whenever Claudia nodded gently, Millie felt as though she had to say more, so she ended up rambling, and a sick feeling swelled up in the pit of her stomach, resulting in her dreading any more questions.

  Soon enough her cup of water was completely empty but her throat was still dry, and she managed to muddle her way through the rest of the questions. Claudia outlined the role and it was simple data entry work, although Claudia did mention that there was the possibility of work directly under Mr. Lioncourt as well, for he often liked to take new employees as his assistant in order to show them how the business was run. This prospect thrilled Millie, and it only made her more desperate for the job. At the end Claudia asked if she had any questions, and there was only one question on Millie’s mind.

  “Why is it so dark in here?” she asked. Claudia smiled and laid her hands on the desk. “I thought you might ask that,” she replied, “Yes, it is a shame on a day such as this. But I’m sure you’ve noticed that there aren’t many people working either,” she said, and Millie nodded. “Well,” Claudia continued, “Mr. Lioncourt wants to give his company a unique feeling, and since we’re a global company we have to be ready at all hours of the day. He likes to keep the main staff on in the evening, because that’s when he’s most active as well. He’s always been a night owl and when he formed the company he did so in his own image. At night this place is very different. The blacked out windows also help people to stay focused because it means they’re not distracted outside. I understand that it’s unusual but that’s the way things are around here.”

  Millie seemed satisfied by the answer although she still found it strange, and although she wasn’t sure how she’d like being so deprived of sunlight she needed the job so badly that she’d put up with everything. Claudia led her to the elevator and had a final few questions before Millie left.

  “Just a couple more things, this job can take up your life and often people don’t realize how much it consumes them, and not just because of the odd hours. Do you have any strong relationships like a boyfriend that might be affected by this?”

  “No, I don’t have anyone like that. I’m willing to work hard at this job I won’t let you or Mr. Lioncourt down, if you think I’d be suitable for the role,” she said. Claudia gave her an approving smile, and while it initially filled her with confidence Millie was doubting herself as soon as the elevator doors closed and she began her descent to the ground floor. The interview seemed to go well but she couldn’t be sure, and all she could do was wait for the call.

  When she left the building she was blasted by sunlight and had to squint until her eyes adjusted. The change in temperature was drastic and her clothes began to stick to her skin. She walked out into the city and looked back at the towering building. It blotted out most of the sky, and was like a huge obsidian tombstone in the middle of the city. Behind it, soft white clouds drifted by against the calm cerulean sky, but it didn’t seem to touch the skyscraper, and it was almost like it was a part of a different world. Millie lifted her hand t
o shield her eyes from the sun as she looked up. Her eyes rose to gaze at the top of the building – the penthouse suit – and she wondered whether Mr. Lioncourt was in there at the moment, looking down on the city like a king. Little did she know that he held her future in the palm of his hands, for to him she was as insignificant as an ant and did not matter at all. She turned and walked back through the city to try and relax in the sun and forget about the interview. She didn’t want to get too excited because she wasn’t sure whether she would get it or not, and she didn’t want to think the worst because it would only make her depressed.

  Two

  That evening when she returned home she reported back to her parents about the interview and how it had gone, and although she sounded positive she thought it was a bad sign that they hadn’t called yet. In all the articles and advice columns she had read it was often the case that when an interviewee impressed the interviewer they were given the job promptly. Millie stared at her phone and willed it to ring, but it never did, and when she slept it was with a heart filled with sorrow because her life was not going to plan. Before closing her eyes for the final time she glanced at her phone once more, and then groaned as she tossed it across the floor, hating the fact that it was impossible to get a job.

  All she wanted was the life she had dreamed of…nothing glamorous, just a place of her own, a steady job, and then maybe she could have some time for romance. Right now her priority was getting a job, because she had always been instilled with a strong work ethic and not having a job clawed at her soul, making her feel as though she had no purpose. There was no way she could enter into a relationship while feeling hollow inside, and she needed a job to feel complete, so it felt like her whole life was on hold until she eventually got a job, and it was getting to the point where she would have to start looking at other areas but that seemed like such a waste because she had studied and trained for a particular role. It felt like she had been lied to her whole life. All the time she had been told that she could do anything she wanted as long as she worked hard and tried her best, but growing up made her realize that there were so many factors, and that at most points it seemed like she was at the whims of fate.

  She wasn’t looking forward to the next day when she fell asleep, and she only wished that she could get a break from the monotony. Her days insisted of a morning run, followed by hours scrolling through job adverts, tweaking her resume, and then sending it off into the ether, where they seemed to disappear without trace. Her parents were being as supportive as possible but she knew that they were getting worried as well and she hated the fact that she couldn’t support herself because she didn’t want to live on their charity forever.

  However, during the night she was awoken by her phone ringing. At first the sound entered her dream and she knew something about it was incongruous, but it didn’t register for a while. Then it bloomed and grew louder, and she awoke with a start. She shook herself out of her slumber and the world swirled around her. Her eyes ached and her head throbbed, and when she checked the time on her digital clock she groaned to see that it was three in the morning. She reached over to pick up her phone only to feel around at empty air, and then the vague memories of her throwing it onto the floor returned. She held her eyes shut to quell the pain as she rolled out of bed and landed on the floor with a thud. She rolled over and stretched out her hands to explore through the mess of clothes on the floor. When the location of the phone was not immediately apparent she was forced to open her eyes, and the soft glow of the screen stung her retinas. She crawled over and re-positioned herself so that she was able to grasp the phone, and brought it to her ear. The voice on the other end of the line was calm, and when it announced that it was calling on behalf of Demeter Inc. Millie was instantly awake. She sat up and leaned against the edge of the bed as she listened to the person on the other end of the phone. She was still half-asleep and when the phone call ended she had to pinch herself to make sure that it wasn’t a dream, for they had offered her a job and she started the following day.

  With it being so early in the morning the news didn’t register until she awoke, and she had to check her phone to make sure that she had actually received the call. Even though she was tired the happiness and relief she felt offset that, and she bounded down the stairs to tell her parents the good news. Feeling better than usual she spent the day updating her social media to let the world know that she had a job, and smiled as the congratulatory messages came flooding in. When the time for her shift approached the nerves started again, for there was still much work to be done. Getting the job was challenging but now she had to prove that she was worthy of the position.

  Due to the strange operating hours her shift started at six in the evening. The sun was still bright in the sky but as she journeyed into town she saw everyone else in business suits leaving work and going home, while she was just starting. Soft electric lights were turned on in the skyscraper, and Claudia was there to meet her when she got out of the elevator. She congratulated Millie on having impressed her, and said that she hoped Millie would be an integral part of the team for the foreseeable future. After this she took Millie along the corridor and into a large opening where people were fast at work. It still wasn’t as busy as Millie would have expected, but Claudia assured her that there would be more people appearing as the night wore on.

  “Since you’re new you will need time to adjust to the schedule,” she explained, “so we’re starting you off on these hours but eventually you will need to come in later and later. Obviously since there is a skeleton crew in the day we need those to be the more experienced people, so eventually if things work out you may end up working there, but for a while at least you shall be working through the night. It can be difficult at first, I’d suggest that you start trying to adjust straight away. The best way is to change your diet to reset your body clock, and it will offset your tiredness. If you need any help everyone has been through it before so just ask them, and we have scheduled in several nap breaks for you for your first few weeks so if you feel tired then go lie down for a bit. We do not want any mistakes to happen. Other than that I think you’re ready to go, do you have any questions?”

  Millie didn’t, but Claudia said that if she did have anything to just ask the people around her. Millie took her seat at a desk. It was all rather ordinary, which was surprising considering how extraordinary the rest of the place was. Her co-workers were diligently tapping away and calling various people. Some were speaking in different languages, illuminating the global nature of the business. Millie had some simple tasks to do and started going through the folders. Her eyes boggled as she saw the revenue streams of the company. There were so many zeroes that she couldn’t quite comprehend them herself.

  The work was standard and she was glad that it was something she knew how to do because she felt more confident as time went on. She spoke idly to some of her colleagues and they all said that it was a good company to work for, and that the pay more than made up for the inconvenience of having to work odd hours and to be cloaked in darkness. Some of them had even met Mr. Lioncourt and when they spoke about him it was in hushed tones of awe, which only made Millie more curious as to what he was actually like. They all seemed nice and friendly, and she was starting to think that this job could be the best thing that happened to her.

  The first few hours were easy, but when it got to around ten in the evening she started to get tired, for this was the usual time when she started to settle down for bed. She had never been much of a night owl and was always asleep before midnight, and then woke at around six or seven in the morning to start her exercise regime. When she felt her eyelids falling she took a step back, and although at first the idea of napping at work was antithetical to her, she soon realized that it was necessary. She sighed as she pushed her chair out from her desk and walked to the napping room.

  She never thought she’d ever work in a place that had a napping room, but she shrugged it off as just another sign that
her life was going from dull to crazy at a rapid speed. The room was basically a big dorm room with bunk beds standing at the edges of the walls. Soft music played and ambient purple light gave the room a sleepy feel. Millie yawned and chose a bed near the end of the room for she wasn’t sure how many other people would turn up. There were nap breaks available for everyone but she got more because she was new. She curled up in the soft sheets and the alarm set a recommended time so that she would awake refreshed, rather than feeling worse if she interrupted a REM cycle.

  Her first few weeks of work repeated this pattern, although slowly but surely she got used to the different times of day and grew to need fewer nap breaks. It still seemed strange sometimes to eat a hearty meal that late at night, but she soon adjusted and she just had to live on a different schedule than the rest of the world. Her parents hated it and thought that it was doing her harm, so she couldn’t wait to save a bit of money and move out, for having her own place would make her erratic schedule much easier to manage. She formed friendships with her colleagues and they often ate together, and she did the work to the best of her ability, even though she felt that she was ready for a bigger challenge. Only occasionally did she see Claudia, for she seemed to deal with other matters, but it was a pleasant place in which to work, it was just odd to come to work when everyone was going home and then going home when everyone was coming to work, especially since the sun was still bathing the world in its golden glory.

  But after a few weeks Millie was feeling pleased with herself when she was summoned to Claudia’s office. A feeling of dread swam through her and she gulped as she went to the office, fearing the worst. She thought back through her mind and tried to think of any mistakes she may have made, and worried herself silly. Claudia was sitting at her desk as usual when Millie entered.