Chapter 1 - Workplace Woes

MONDAY - 08:56

Robert enters the office space like he does every other day, phone in hand, work app open, ready to clock in.

"And so it begins..." Robert says exacerbated, clocking in, sitting down and booting up his computer

Robert is 26 years old, standing at 5'9, with a slim physique, he has medium dark brown hair (curtained), blue eyes, a slender face with light stubble and thick framed glasses. He's wearing his usual light blue shirt, black trousers, and brown formal shoes he wears to work every other day, a row of replicas in his wardrobe waiting for the rest of the week.

Robert works in Sales and Marketing for the Gladbury candy company, a position he has held for 4 years, which in his mind, is 4 years too long. What was supposed to be a brief stop gap in his pursuit to start his own bakery company, has become a long term position in his career profile. He didn't mind working here for the first few months, even valued some of the experience he developed at the time, but those days are long gone.

Robert spends most of his days staring at the wall, hoping he'll eventually wake up and this endless nightmare will finally cease, but it never does. His only respite is the lunch break, for one particular reason.

MONDAY - 12:01

Robert enters the break room, a sense of dread suddenly looming over him, as though someone unpleasant is aware of his presence. He scans the room, unsure of what his fight or flight is warning him of; the room has at least 14 people, some sitting at tables, some standing by the coffee machine and even one guy spending his entire savings trying to get a soda from the broken vending machine, but none of them are the culprit.

Robert gets on fine with his colleagues, that is to say he doesn't bother them, so they don't bother him, there's no-one he knows we'll enough to have a strong relationship with, positive or negative. There's only one person he doesn't get along with, and from the corner of his eye, like a lion stalking an antelope from the tall grass, Robert spots his culprit, but before he can make his exit, it's too late... the predator has caught its prey.

"Bob! How are you?" Peter exclaims excitedly, wrapping his arm around Robert in an overly friendly manner.

"It's Robert sir..." he says, a mutter of pure defeat.

"That's what I said isn't it?" Peter chortles

Peter is a 58 year old gentlemen, standing at 5'11, with a rotund figure, he has a grey receeding hairline, a thick moustache, brown eyes, and a toothy smile. He's wearing a full on business suit, as an establishment of his place of power; Peter is the current owner of the Gladbury business, passed down to him by his father. Despite life being handed to him on a silver platter, Peter has makes an effort to be present for his employees, always in the building and pitching in as much as possible. It's partially performative, and the people around the office play along to keep their jobs, but Peter has a particular soft spot for Robert after he continuously led their strongest marketing campaigns during his first 2 years.

"Listen, I didn't want to say anything, but I can't ignore it anymore, you've seemed a bit out of it recently. Your performance as of late is a bit lacking and I think you're struggling. If there's anything you need to talk about, you can always come to me."

Robert looks physically repulsed "I'm seeing a shrink if that's what you're asking..."

"No that's not what I... wait really?... oh nevermind that's none of my business, my point is that I think you lack a goal lately, you need to find something to strive for, otherwise you'll be stuck in this rutt forever. Give yourself a reason to come to work everyday, it'll be good for you. It'll be good for all of us"

Peter begins to walk away, and Robert rolls his eyes "Mmmkay."

Peter quickly turns around "Oh yeah, just a reminder everybody, be sure to come into work on Saturday as we will be holding a celebration party for our successful merger with Crestle! I look forward to seeing you all there!"

The staff fake a smile and cheer to Peter before he leaves the break room. "Great... a 6 day work week. Exactly what I needed..." Robert mutters to himself.

Suddenly, Robert's eyes catch a glimpse of the whole reason he came here, at the corner of the room like always, it was Heather having her lunch.


Thumbnail art: Fight Club (1999)