Have you ever met someone and wondered what world they come from? Someone who sees the world so differently than you? Maybe they lived on a different planet than you? Maybe they traveled from a different time period? And then, as a cruel twist of fate, the world flings you two strangers together. People are different. That's what makes the world so beautiful. But how can two people who are so different end up having to share one space? Our office space!
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Tuesday afternoon at Blahco. Two people, a man and a woman, share an office space. On one side of the office is Marian. Her desk is a complete mess. She has paper in piles all over her desk. There are three different coffee cups, from different days. Behind her desk are pictures of her and her friends on the wall and she also has a few of her favorite anime character figurines around her computer monitor. On the other side is Robin. His desk is perfectly clean. He has no papers on it, no old coffee, a physical calendar that he actually uses, headphones, and absolutely nothing personal.
Robin and Marian are also opposites when it comes to their appearance as well. Robin comes to work everyday in the same clothes. Or what appears to be the same clothes because he found what he liked and bought enough pairs for each day of the week. He is tall with dark black hair. He runs and is careful about what he eats, so he is slightly skinny. His dark brown eyes also never give away much about what is going on in his head. Robin's one trademark is his headphones that he always wears. They are big, over the ear headphones rather than ear buds. He likes them for their noise cancelling effects but also because this way he can listen to music while he is working.
Marian stands up and is 5 feet 5 inches on a good day. She has light brown hair that is constantly changing. It even changes color to suit Marian's many moods. She dresses like a free spirit. She isn't good at keeping up on what is fashionable, but she likes clothes that look different. She has light brown eyes that will make eye contact and smile at everyone. Marian hasn't meet anyone that she couldn't get along with, even if it's just for a little while. Marian's face is round and cute, her cheeks have always been extra squishy. She has never taken health and fitness seriously and would rather spend her time going out to new places.
The two share an office at Blahco. A leading company for contract engineers. Marian picked this job four years ago because she liked the idea of her engineering work changing to meet the new costumers you get as a contract engineer. She got hired by Kris and Jayce. Marian and Kris had been the only two females in their department for years until the recent hiring of Aurora. Marian and Kris are what you expect female engineers to look like. But when Aurora got hired she walked in and looked like she had just come off a runway. Her bright blonde hair pulled back and her 5 feet 11 inches height made her stand out from the rest of their coworkers. Robin has been at Blahco for a year. This is not the type of engineering that he saw himself doing, but after he left his last job suddenly, he took what he could get to pay rent.
Robin begins to look out the office window into the hallway. Aurora, the newest hire at Blahco is walking to her office next door. Marian watches Robin as his eyes track Aurora's path down the hall. Aurora is an office goddess. She is tall, blonde, and very stylish. Marian has no idea how she is an engineer. Marian wonders to herself if Aurora has a boyfriend. She can't think of any other reason for Robin to be so afraid to talk to her when he is clearly interested.
Before she can ask Robin, their office door opens. In walks Kris, the supervisor for the department that Marian and Robin work in. Kris is skinny, fair, and has dark black hair that is cut very short. She is wearing a man's slacks and light blue button-up shirt. Kris walks over to Marian's desk and asks Marian a question. "Marian, do you think you will have time to start this before the weekend?" With this Kris puts down a folder of papers. Its the new notebook for Marian to start.
Marian looks at Kris and smiles, "of course! I don't have much going on the next few nights so I can stay late if I need." Kris smiles at Marian, "Perfect. And what about you Robin?" Robin has been wearing his headphones the whole day. It's not until Kris starts to wave her hands in front of him that he finally looks and realizes Kris is in the room. He quickly takes off his headphones and puts them down next to his keyboard.
Robin: "Did you say something?"
Kris looks slightly annoyed. But she continues because this is typical Robin. "Jayce wants to know if you will have the report reviews finished by today?" Robin looks at his calendar and then starts nodding . "Yes, that is the deadline I agreed to." Kris responds, "alright, and go through me if you have any questions." She knows that he never has questions. He is always right on time with deadlines and never one to ask for help. On the other hand, his office mate is a bit more needy. Robin looks at Kris and without smiling says, "sure."
Kris gets ready to leave the office when she stops herself. Marian probably needs to be reminded that she has another project that was due yesterday that she didn't finish. If Robin was always on time, you could count on Marian to never be on time. She usually turned things in a day or two later. With a story to make up for it. Kris stops herself before she leaves and turns back to Marian. "And Marian, remember to try and finish the last project before starting this new one. I don't want you getting the jobs mixed up."
Marian smiles at Kris. She knows exactly why she is saying this. It is the nice, work appropriate way to remind her that she hasn't finished her last notebook. "You got it boss." For some reason Kris starts to feel embarrassed about this comment. Marian can see the red rising in her cheeks and she gives Kris a thumbs up to help her feel less awkward. It didn't work and instead Kris walks out the door.
At this point, Marian is excited to take a bit of break. Unfortunately, Kris, her work BFF seems to be busy. Since she is looking for any distraction she tries to engage her very private office mate, Robin. "Hey Robin, how long have you worked here now?"
Robin typically has his headphones on and doesn't engage in small talk unless it is his one friend, Graham. But Robin was raised by a single mom who expects her son to be polite. So he decides to answer Marian's question, "I will have been here for a entire year next Friday." Marian realizes that she has caught Robin in a good mood so she continues a little bit further. "We have been office mates for almost a year? That's wild. I can't believe how quickly that went by."
Robin, having met his mother's expectations for polite conversation feels like this is as far as this conversation should go. He needs to get back to work. "Yes, it has gone by quickly." And with this, he begins to put his headphones back on. Marian stops him, "before you get those headphones back on. How about we make plans to celebrate you being with Blahco for a year? Do you want to go out for food on Friday? It's my treat." With this Marian does her best to give Robin the biggest, sweetest eyes she can make. But Robin is unaffected by her overly sweet tone. He begins to look at his calendar. The calendar is empty for next Friday. Marian walks over and also looks at his calendar. Robin confirms it, "Yes, I don't have any other plans." Marian smirks at this because the only things Robin has on his calendar are deadlines.
Marian is excited that she found something that Robin agreed to do with her. He typically stays home any time she asks him to join her and her friends. She gets that he is an engineer, but even for engineers, Robin is very alone. "I will get some other coworkers together and we can all go out. Anyone you want to invite?" Robin speaks without much thought, "we could invite Graham from accounting." Graham from accounting is Robin's one friend at Blahco. Marian couldn't figure out how the two even became friends. Graham is the exact opposite of Robin. He is boisterous, addicted to working out, and dates anything with a pulse. Graham is always going out. Graham is not Marian's favorite coworker. He could be...a lot. She didn't want to be stuck with just the two of them.
Marian, "anyone else?" She pauses, but Robin doesn't speak. So she decides to do Robin a solid, "what about Aurora?""I don't even know her." And before Marian can say anything else, he puts his headphones back on. Marian can't say anything else. Marian turns back to her own computer and is abouto start working again when her phone gets a text message. She looks at it a smiles. Next thing she knows she is off looking for the perfect meme in response to this message.
A few hours later, a man comes into the office doorway. It's Theo. Marian's physical trainer boyfriend. He comes almost every day to pick Marian up. He is always in work out clothes and never tries to talk to anyone but Marian. Robin looks at the clock. There are still five minutes until they are scheduled to leave. Marian catches sight of Theo, "Oh hey Theo, let me just grab my coat and backpack and I am ready to go." Theo walks up to Marian and takes her backpack from under her desk. Marian gets her coat off the back of her chair but doesn't put it on. It would take too long. The two of them quickly leave the office together.
Robin shakes his head. Marian always leaves before her scheduled time off. And didn't Marian say she would stay late to finish that notebook she was working on. Figures. Robin looks at the clock. It's now officially the end of the day but he still needs a few more minutes to finish up what he is working on. No one is ever waiting for Robin to get off work so he can stay late and finish up whenever he wants. He is the perfect employee.
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