Minefield of Mirrors

-1-

With firm steps, Iris walked through the office, on her way to her own desk that was standing close to a window somewhere at the end of the big working space. One of her hands was holding the leather strings of her bag, making sure it wouldn't slip off her shoulder because of the weight. She's not like most women who put even the most inefficient things in their bags, just in case you need them sometimes. No, her bag just consists of the few supplies she needs to get through a regular day at the office. 

A smile was covering her lips as she walked by a few colleagues who already started their working day earlier than her, probably intending to go home earlier as well. Although it was still early in the morning, she couldn't help but feel a bit of a latecomer. Even when she had impressed many people with her consultancy and accountancy skills, she always felt a little bit behind. Especially when she walked into the office where some had already started their working day. It threw her back to the days she had started her internship here and got intimidated by the working environment.

Nevertheless, she greeted the few colleagues and put her bag on top of her desk once she had reached her own working space. It took a lot of effort to finally be on the spot in the hierarchy she was in. Without a doubt, she already overdid herself by having her own visiting card and her own desk within a year of experience at this office. While she was in the last year of her economics study, the company reached out to her with an offer no one would ever decline. After showing her boss what she was capable of and how easily she adjusted to certain situations, he gave her a promotion within only three months of working there.

After sitting down at her desk chair, she opened her brown leather shoulder bag and took out her office laptop so she was able to start the day. Just when she had turned on the silver device and had put her bag down on the floor, Judy walked up to her and sat down at the corner of her desk.

'Sooooo?' She asked while her eyebrows went up and down.

Judy started a year earlier than Iris at the office and was the one person she immediately felt a connection with. Already from the moment Iris saw this girl, she knew they would become friends. And she was definitely right.

Iris smiled. 'So, what?'

Obviously, she knew what her friend was hinting at, but she liked to play the innocent person in this storyline. So, she simply logged in to her laptop and opened her email to see how many people she had to reply to before she was able to start the day properly.

'The date! How did it go yesterday?'

Without even looking at Judy, Iris already knew the way she was looking at this moment. Her eyes open and big, filled with the hope she finally succeeded in setting Iris up with some guy she knew.

'It was fine.' Iris said while leaning back in her chair, turning a bit sideways to have a better view of her close friend.

Judy raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. 'Just fine? Nothing more?'

The blond curls Iris had created this morning, waved back and forth as she was shaking her head. The date had been horrifying yesterday evening, but she didn't want to tell her friend about what was really going through her head.

'Ah damn it, I really thought Kevin would've been a good guy for you. He's such a sweet guy.'

Well, Iris had to admit he was indeed a sweet guy. However, the shyness the guy carried along with him, was something that didn't attract her. She didn't mind at all about guys being shy, especially since she is always shy at first as well, but in the end, you have to open up to each other, right? That guy just kept refusing to look her in the eyes or to tell her stories. She felt like she was the one who kept the conversation kind of going.

Iris crossed her legs and decided to not complain too much about Kevin at her friend, 'He was indeed a sweet guy, but I didn't feel something, Judy. I'm sorry.'

The girl with the red hair that was still sitting on the corner of the desk, made a gesture with her hand. 'Don't worry, it's okay. I just wish for you to find someone to make you less lonely.'

'Hey, I'm not lonely!'

The laptop next to her made a sound, and another email entered her inbox. Iris narrowed her eyes to read the name of the sender and realised this was an email she had been waiting patiently for. After submitting her advice on how to approach the problem within their organisation, she hadn't heard from the company again. Impatiently she rolled her desk chair closer to her laptop and opened the email.

Her eyes raced across the lines that were written and her smile kept getting bigger and bigger, as she kept on reading. There it was. They liked her proposal and had already taken the first steps to implement it in their company. In the few last lines of the email, they even asked if she could visit the working space in a month to see if this was what she had in mind, or if even more improvements would be necessary to make the working space as efficiently as possible.

'What are you smiling about?' Judy asked. She slid off the desk and stood next to her friend to see what caught her attention that big.

'It's Vivid. They loved my proposal!'

'No fucking way! You did it!'

They hugged each other tightly and started squealing like they always did when one of them had achieved something big. A few of their colleagues looked back with raised eyebrows, curious about what was going on, but Judy and Iris kept on celebrating together.

Suddenly a cough sounded behind them, and quickly they let each other go and turned around. Iris' heart was pounding in her chest from happiness. She succeeded! She worked so hard to find the right solution for the company, which made the reward feel even better.

'Mister Poken would like to speak to you, Iris'

With widened eyes, Iris stared at the personal assistant of mister Poken, her boss. 'He wants to speak to me?'

'Yes, he wanted to see you as soon as possible.'

Briefly, Iris looked at her dear friend next to her, hoping she would know why her boss was asking to speak to her. But when Iris saw that her friend was just as surprised as she was, she looked back at the personal assistant.

'Yes, I'll go see him immediately. Thank you.'

The assistant simply nodded and disappeared within no time again. The two friends were still standing next to each other and Judy leaned her head a bit more towards Iris, while she kept her gaze at the spot the assistant was just standing.

'Why would mister Poken like to see you?'

The blonde moved closer as well, also as starstruck as Judy. 'I have no idea...'