I had been walking around the town for half an hour and I was about to give up meeting someone when I finally met a person on the street. She was an elderly lady, who almost didn't hear me when I called her.

"Excuse me, may I ask you for some information? I've just arrived here in Inverness and I don't know where to look for what I need," I asked politely.

"Of course, tell me, young man," she answered.

"Do you happen to know where I can find ads for apartment rental offers?"

The lady paused for a moment to think about it; "There should be a bulletin board just outside the town hall."

"Perfect, thank you very much," I replied with a smile.

"You’re welcome, have a nice day," she replied before walking away.

I searched the internet for directions to the town hall; it wasn't even that far away. As soon as I arrived, I immediately found the bulletin board that the lady had told me about, and I began to analyze the hanging papers. It may be hard to believe but, among all the flyers hanging on the bulletin board, the one that caught my attention was the fluorescent pink one, covered with flowers and stars, as well as the only one on which it was specified that the request for availability was reserved only for a girl. I immediately thought that showing up would be absolutely inappropriate, but checking the other offers I noticed that they were either for sofa beds, or they were too expensive. It was the only option I could afford. I took the tract off and decided that the next morning I would go to the address on it. If the girl refused, I would accept her decision and leave.

 ***

I got up early in the morning, took the flyer from the bedside table on which I had placed it, and left the hotel to go to the girl's house. I was very nervous to introduce myself, but I had no other options. Or rather, I had them, but compared to those the gray hotel that had been assigned to me by the company for the trip didn't seem so bad.

I spent about half an hour haggling with her, but I convinced her to let me stay with her. I breathed a sigh of relief. The girl in question was named Noelle, and after our first meeting I decided that I had made a good choice. She was a very pretty girl, she had beautiful red hair and a contagious smile. Her eyes were bright green with gold and gray reflections, I had never seen such peculiar eyes before. Not that I've looked at them for long, I've just always been a good observer. I know I shouldn't have relied on outward appearance alone, but she really seemed like a simple and nice person, someone who was easy to get along with. Besides, seeing the house for the first time blew me away. From the outside it looked like a simple country house but, from what I had glimpsed from the entrance, inside the modern style mixed with the traditional, creating a welcoming and relaxing environment, but also bright and spacious. The furniture was minimalist in style, but the Christmas decorations and personal details added by Noelle filled it with details. It was really a beautiful house. Precisely because of that the rent was higher than I thought, but the girl had really done me a huge favor by agreeing to let me stay there; So, I certainly wasn't going to make a fuss about the cost of rent. We had arranged for my arrival the following day, so I went straight back to the hotel to gather my things.

 ***

A few days later

The first few days hadn't gone badly, and I didn't feel like Noelle felt uncomfortable with me; I still wanted to talk to her to be sure, but so far no problem had arisen. She wasn't bad as a roommate, on the contrary. She knew how to cook, she gave me my space (apart from a few unplanned collisions) and in general there was never a shortage of happy moments with her. Initially, I wasn't excited about having to spend Christmas away from home, but maybe I had just been given a great opportunity. There was only one small problem. I shouldn't have been there. The boss had been adamant that we employees should stay at our assigned hotel, while I had taken my belongings and moved. I knew I was risking really serious consequences, such as dismissal, but I didn't like being alone in a gray and dull hotel like the one chosen by the company. I felt locked in a space that deprived me of all energy, it felt almost the same as the office where I worked all day. I wouldn't have lasted long there. Also, I was never bored with Noelle. I had never met a girl like that. After getting to know her a little better, I realized that she was as nice and kind as I had initially guessed, but she also knew how to be firm on her ideas, and she didn't let anyone put her foot on her head. I also had a certain idea that, somehow, my smile did something for her.

Luckily the boss didn't know about my transfer yet. I would be able to keep it a secret for three weeks, I just had to make excuses to my colleagues as to why I was never at the hotel. If I would have been caught, I was ready to accept the consequences of my actions. To be honest, however, I was taking the risk because I had been thinking about changing jobs for a while; I didn't feel good in that environment, and not even with the ethics of the company. For example, I couldn’t understand the point of this trip. The boss had managed to find a building to house our offices temporarily, but every day was the same, like in Glasgow. I really couldn't understand the reason for this change of location. The work was the same, we didn't have any contacts with local partners, and we weren't even doing marketing research related to the territory. It was as if he had made us move to take a "vacation" while we worked, but perhaps it would have been better to make us take real vacations.

 ***

It was the beginning of another of my usual days. I woke up, ate something, said goodbye to Noelle, and arrived at the office ready to throw myself on endless piles of paperwork. Ready, above all, to keep my secret. I was about to start work when my boss, Malcolm James, stopped me in the hallway.

"Hey William! Sorry we blocked you here yesterday with nothing to do, I had a last minute general meeting just for executives, but I needed to see you after that."

"Oh, it doesn't matter. I had time to hear from my family."

"Understood. Look, tonight we thought we'd all go out together to celebrate the company's new business, can I count you in the audience?" then I understood. The trip was useful, but only for the upper floors. We employees were just pawns to make everything work, but we didn't have any real recognition. The situation was really bad. I took a moment before answering. Avoiding co-workers might have meant getting caught, but it honestly felt rude to fill Noelle's house with my stuff and never be there, and I couldn't risk her name coming up in a conversation with them.

"I've been very tired lately, I'm afraid I won't be there," I lied.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Then I'll see you around. Hello!"

With that, I saw him disappear into the hallway. I took the stairs and reached my office on the fifth floor. My passage between the floors was silent, everyone was bent over their computers, and no one greeted me. I wasn't even sure I knew all the colleagues on those floors. Fortunately, however, I had made friends with some of the guys who worked in the same department as me, they were really nice and had welcomed me immediately among them. Beck, Ross, Nolan and Robert were all around my age but had a lot more experience than me; the first few days, when I still didn't know how to do my job, they really helped me. In addition to them, there was also Charlie, one of my old childhood friends with whom I had reconnected right in the office. I was positively surprised to find out that we were going to work together the first time we met. The others were too serious or too work-worn to notice me. I really hoped I wouldn't become like them.

"Will! How was last night at the hotel for you?" asked Robert. If only they knew what evenings I was having...

"Everything as usual. I watched a movie while eating pizza on the bed," I lied.

"Better than me, I went to sleep without taking a shower because there was no hot water in my room," complained Charlie.

"I didn't have an internet connection to video call my girlfriend," Ross replied.

I remained silent listening to them, while a sense of injustice and helplessness invaded me.

"We should do something," I said seriously.

"Are you going to complain to Malcolm?" asked Beck.

"Why not? I don't think we're the only ones who feel bad here. I mean, did you see the faces of our colleagues?"

"Will, what exactly would you like to do?" asked Robert.

"I don't know, ask for more free time, or just a hotel with something to have fun, like a gym or spa."

"That would really be ideal..." Nolan commented.

"I think we deserve more than grey rooms with no hot water or internet connection. I'll go talk to James right away." Fortunately, staying with Noelle saved me from all these problems, but I didn't think it was right that my colleagues, as well as friends, should have to go on in these conditions.

"Will, wait, don't make hasty decisions. We're only going to be here three more weeks, we're going to survive. Don't risk your job just for a little bit of social justice, I'm sure there will be others complaining," Ross said.

"I really hope so, because the situation here is becoming untenable," said Charlie.

"Let's do it this way. We give ourselves a week. If things don't change, we'll see if we can make ourselves heard," Nolan decided, and we all agreed. Once the decision was made, I said goodbye to the guys and went to my office to start working. The day was expected to be monotonous but, fortunately, in the evening I would have seen Noelle for a change of scenery.