Chapter 1

Tatianna sighed, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel as she stared down the morning’s traffic. This was the absolute worst she’s ever dealt with, and as she stretched her neck forward she saw a sea of red brake lights for miles. Great. She thought, the bleariness of sleep still dissipating from her mind. Is it going to be like this every morning? While the young professional was no stranger to the morning rush, a coveted promotion at work had landed her a new title and a relocation to the company headquarters downtown, hence the standstill traffic. This meant waking up an hour earlier just to arrive at work at the exact same time. She sighed again, then yawned.

Tatianna hadn’t slept well the night before, more out of excitement than nerves, and she was worried the bags under her eyes and constant yawning would give her away. She’d been working for Teleremidus Inc. for nearly three years and basically ate, breathed, and slept work. Advancing her career was all she’d really cared about, and she’d lost friends, given up her hobbies, and dedicated all her free time to climbing the corporate ladder. All that work, all that stress, and all those nights spent sleeping on her office floor had finally paid off, and her reward was more than her new six figure salary and VP title. She was going to get to be the type of high powered executive she’d always imagined. She had her own office in the newly renovated company headquarters with all the perks she could dream of. She had her own assistant for God’s sake, an honest to god assistant, just for her. All the late nights studying for exams in university and the years of working in her dilapidated former office would be worth it, well worth it.

The first time she toured the headquarters during her interviews she’d been shocked. All the amenities anyone could ask for, spas, saunas, gyms, pools, even a bowling alley. And the food. The mouth watering smells floating from the hallway the tour group was approaching indicated they were about to enter a cafeteria, but when the ceiling height double doors swung open Tatianna didn’t believe what she saw. Row after row after row of steaming buffet tables laden with more food than she’d ever seen in her life created tidy aisles throughout the center of the enormous, circular room. A ring of tables and booths encircled the buffet tables, and on the outer circle, built directly into the walls like a mall food court, was at least a dozen restaurants Tatianna had never heard of with names like ‘Cook for it!’ and ‘Too Tasty’. The tour guide had proudly informed them that world class gourmet chefs staffed each restaurant in the building, and employees could order whatever they wanted whenever they wanted.

“Just another perk!” the tour guide had chimed. And the edible perks didn’t end there. Tatianna’s office was stocked with a midsized mini fridge crammed full of sodas, juices, assorted chocolates, and honey roasted nuts, every floor was dotted with complimentary ID badge operated vending machines, and the building’s lobby had the cutest little coffee shop with pastries and sandwiches.

She was finally getting the treatment she deserved. Tatianna shivered at the thought of one more tepid swallow of the instant coffee she had been forced to drink at the old office. Teleremidus Inc. had plenty of regional offices, and from what she heard each one was worse than the last. Her last office was located in the heart of the warehouse district known for low cost real estate and the nearest convenience store was over 10 miles away, so she could forget about a close restaurant or coffee place. The building had been freezing cold in the winter, boiling hot in the summer, and the only ‘perk’ ever provided was the occasional company T-shirt. Even if that location had provided free food she wouldn’t have eaten it, the area had a huge rat problem and any food employees stored would disappear overnight.

Tatianna had spent every waking hour in that office, working late into the night and surviving off sink made instant coffee and Luna energy bars, worrying her friends and family to death about how pale and thin she was getting, just for this moment. She was going from a workplace where she couldn’t eat for fear of rats to one where she can get a 5 course meal for free. Apparently the company’s executives preferred to spend their real estate budget on their own offices.

Tatianna's heart quickened through the drive as she approached her exit, and all the anxieties she’d been too busy to experience came bubbling to the surface. What if she couldn’t keep up with her new workload? What if she didn’t fit in with the professional crowd? She shifted in her seat, shimmying her shoulders to try and situate her top better. She knows she can’t lie, her mothers recent complaints of her recent emaciation weren’t exaggerated. She was wearing the very same white button up shirt that she’d worn for her first interview with Teleremidus Inc. over three years ago, but now she’s positively swimming in it. Her single minded focus on work in a rat infested office that didn’t even have a microwave meant food was the last thing on her mind, and in the last few years she’d gotten thinner and thinner.

Tatianna frowned lightly as she flicked her blinker to exit, thinking of the last conversation she’d had with her mother about her weight. Her mom was so worried about her, concern that Tatianna knew was completely unfounded. It’s not as if she doesn’t want to eat, she just didn’t have time. She’d had a goal, she had a promotion to achieve. She was finally going to be able to take better care of herself like she’d promised. Her mother hadn’t let her leave that conversation without at least promising to start eating breakfast, but with a new hour-long commute and meetings starting as early as 8am, she much preferred the taste of a few extra minutes of sleep.

Tatianna finished the last few minutes of her commute with her stomach in knots. She was so nervous she almost felt silly, recognizing how absurd it was for a grown woman to feel the giddy nerves of a first day at a new school. She pulled into a close spot in the nearly empty parking lot, unsurprised she was among the first people there. She had purposely arrived much earlier that morning, partially to leave a buffer just in case she’d gotten lost, but mostly to stand out as one of the very first executives to arrive. Just because she’d gotten the promotion she dreamed of didn’t mean her corporate ambitions were quelled, and she had a plan to be on the senior VP track in just under 5 quarters. This meant being impressive, it meant long hours, and most of all it meant being in the office. Teleremidus Inc. viewed presence as commitment, and the number of hours an employee logs checked into their office building is taken into account when the topics of promotions arise. In fact, her most recent promotion had been awarded in part because of her many nights spent on the scratchy, lint piled carpet of the regional office (nights that she perhaps could’ve gone home, but still). She was willing to do whatever it took to get to senior VP, and at least at headquarters the carpets are plush.

After taking a moment to steel herself, Tatianna grabbed her slim briefcase and opened the door. She stood up, smoothed down her skirt, adjusted her nearly billowing shirt so it sat more squarely on her shoulders, and began to make her way to the door, her short heels clacking rhythmically beneath her. She looked down at her watch. It was only 7:37, her abundance of caution had made her even earlier than she’d intended.

She scans her badge and pulls open the front door, only to immediately have her badge rescanned by an intimidatingly tall security guard who gives her a warm smile. She gave him a tight one in return, the nerves rising back up in her throat.

“Last name Cosinger?” he asked. She nodded quickly and he grinned in return, almost as if he knew how silly she felt for being so nervous. “I see you’re new,” he continued, still grinning. “How?” Tatianna blurted too quickly. “Is it on my badge, my badge says that?” “No, no nothing like that, nothing to worry about. No, it’s just cause you’re here, nobody that actually has an office here gets in anywhere before 10.” Tatiannas eyes widened. 10am? By 10am she’s usually completed hours of work, by 10am….”Go ahead and put your briefcase and jacket here and walk through there,” the guard said, interrupting her thoughts as he gestured her through the sleek metal detectors. “Empty your pockets,” he reminded. Tatianna did what she was told then turned back toward the guard to grab her things.

“People really don’t come till 10?” she asked him incredulously. “At the earliest,” he replied with a shrug. “Good luck on your first day.” She flashed him a quick, distracted smile and hurried on, trying to process what she’d just learned. How could it be possible that executives at Teleremidus arrive that late? How can they get work done, how do their morning meetings not bleed into their afternoon ones? For as long as she’d been working for Teleremidus she’d received a daily agenda absolutely packed with tasks, and the more responsibility she got the more tasks she was expected to accomplish. While working at the operations manager level she often worked 13 hour days, and since being a VP was a step up she assumed that meant longer days with more complex problems. How were the other executives getting that done with a 10am start time?

In her distraction she doesn’t notice that she’s nearly to the elevators and, stifling another yawn, decides to take a detour to the lobby’s coffee shop for a pick me up. Caffeine was her only vice, but what Tatianna lacked in diversity she made up for in quantity, usually drinking 6+ cups a day. Tatianna always drank her coffee black, her old office had no fridge and keeping sugar around would’ve attracted bugs. This is what she worked for, these are the perks, and she’s gonna take full advantage.

“Hi there,” said the barista exuberantly as Tatianna approached, flashing a beaming smile so wide all her teeth were visible. “You’re new!” she said brightly when Tatianna reached the counter.

“Oh,” said Tatianna, taken aback. “No. Well I mean yea. I am new, but I’m not early,” she said hurriedly. “I mean I am early but it’s not cause I’m new.” The barista tilted her head in confusion. “But I am new,” Tatianna continued, her face reddening. The barista continued to stare, still smiling. “I’m just saying I’ll always be here at this time, is all. I’m not here now just cause I’m new, I’ll be here every morning. I just like coffee and my old building…” she trailed off, realizing she was rambling.

“Ok!” replied the barista, unfazed by Tatianna’s awkwardness. “What can I get you?”

Tatianna froze, realizing she should’ve gone over the menu before walking up to the counter to place her order. She had no idea what to get, no idea how people even go about ordering fancy coffee, and she began to panic as time filled with silence.

“What’s your favorite?” she blurted out with just a bit too much urgency. She winced internally.

“Ummm,” hummed the barista, seemingly oblivious to Tatianna’s social blunders. “Ummm,” she repeated, drawing out the sound. “Honestly everything is sooo good.” She squinted as if deep in thought, then finally declared, “Okay my favorite favorite favorite is the Creamy Caramel Cloud latte. Like if I could literally only have one drink it would have to be that it’s like literally everything.”

Tatianna relaxed a bit as the girl spoke, giggling internally about how much the young barista sounded like her younger cousin, a freshman in college. The younger people and their obsession with the word 'like' had always tickled her for some reason, and she teased her cousin whenever she got the chance.

“That sounds good, I’ll do that," said Tatianna.

“Great,” the girl chirped. “I’ll have it ready soon!”

Unused to not paying, Tatianna drifted awkwardly away from the counter as the girl began to prepare her drink. She decided to take the time to actually see what she’d ordered, looking up to read the large print menu hanging above the counter. Her eyes scanned the bubble letter text for the creamy caramel cloud latte then flicked to the right, reading the description. ‘Sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, 2 shots of espresso, and burnt brown butter salted caramel syrup combine to create this heavenly caffeinated concoction’ it informed her.

She shrugged. She had no idea how that would taste (the best coffee she’d gotten in the last three years had been from a 7/11) but at least it seemed expensive. She was here to get what she deserved, she needs her money's worth.