The Fifteen Minute Novel is a novel written fifteen minutes at a time with each week day’s section starting with the sentence from the previous day. At least it is attempting to be a novel. For now I am just aiming at one continuous story, worked on for fifteen minutes each day. Started Friday January 1st, 2021 (in case you want to search for the beginning. I can’t wait to see where it ends up. It could be good, or it could be a mess. We’ll have to see. For now, here is today’s fifteen minutes.
Day 56: ‘Good to know for emergencies,’ he thought as he pushed the up arrow to call the elevator.
‘Good to know for emergencies,’ he thought as he pushed the up arrow to call the elevator. ‘Perhaps I’ll take the stairs for exercise once I’m settled in.’ He added to himself, thinking that if he was going to add so much extra processed food he might want to add a healthy option to at least the start and end of his work day. ‘If everything works out.’
The elevator dinged and James stepped inside. As he did so, he realized he was nervous. His palms even felt a little sweaty. He tried to chide himself for his reaction, after all he managed a multibillion dollar international business and this was an entry level position in a more local company.
But the nerves remained. In fact they almost doubled when he realized that he didn’t actually know what it was the company did. Carson hadn’t bothered giving him details. As the elevator rose, James wondered if that was deliberate.
The short ride was smooth and the opening doors caused him to lock away his internal thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand. Here he was James Ferris. He was sent over from the temp agency Anderson Staffing to fill an entry level accounting position on a temporary to permanent hire. As he stepped out of the elevator and looked for the door he wanted, he added his personal details to the mix in case he was asked a little bit about himself.
He decided to keep it simple. He was newly divorced, new in town and looking for a fresh start. He doubted the explanations would go further than that, at least not on the first day. He knew some sort of file on him had been sent to Carson. If there were any details, James would just go along with them.
The upper lobby area was nearly identical to the one below. Doors lining walls. He saw the one he wanted and walked over to it. It opened and he stepped into a reception area. The walls were painted a pastel yellow and there were potted plants in the corners. The white tile floors were carpeted in industrial gray. There were comfortable looking chairs designed for waiting. As he looked around one of the doors leading to the inner offices pushed open and a woman stepped through.
“Hello?” He said.
She started and nearly dropped the coffee she was holding.
“I’m so sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to startle you, I just didn’t want you to think I was sneaking up.”
She smiled. “Not a problem.” She tapped the lid on her travel coffee mug. “Still secure.” She moved to the desk and placed the travel mug next to a ceramic mug. It had Good Morning and a yellow sun painted in generic looking block letters on its side. By contrast her travel coffee mug bore the slogan, ‘Back away from the coffee and no one gets hurt.’
“I’m afraid you must be a bit early for your appointment. Who are you meeting with today?”
“I’m James Ferris, I’m from Anderson Staffing.” James told her.
“Oh, the new accountant,” she said. “I’m Jenny. Everyone will be very glad to see you. The boss should be in shortly if you want to take a seat. He’ll want to take you through the intro himself.”
“Great,” James said. He moved to one of the seats and settled himself. Jenny transferred her coffee from the travel mug to the office friendly mug and tucked the travel mug away and out of sight. James watched as she pulled out a small stack of files, and lined them up on the edge of her desk as though waiting. He then saw her move to the phones, type in a code, listen, press three numbers, listen again and hang up.
“I have to take it out of non-working hours mode,” she explained when she saw James was watching.
He nodded. “So the office is now open for business?”
“Well, it means that a person rather than a machine will take their calls,” she replied with a smile. “While everyone should arrive soon it will be about an hour before we are technically open for business.”
Ten til Midnight 