Morning all. The cold is wreaking havoc with the internet here. We get access in short bursts so until that settles down I am going to keep things short and sweet. Mostly so I can post without being bounced. So timers set and off we go.
Interesting set up, Needs thought but I like it.
Wednesday, January 28th: Her heels clicked on the tiles.
Her heels clicked on the tiles. She tried to keep her pace even, liking the staccato rhythm and knowing that if she faltered her steps would announce her uncertainty.
‘Which would defeat the purpose of the outfit,’ she reminded herself.
Today she dressed carefully. She put on each piece of clothing as though she was donning pieces of armor. She had on new underwear. They were washed to remove the new newness of them and to impart to them the scent of her laundry products. She wanted them to show no signs of wear, even if she wasn’t planning on anyone seeing them, but she didn’t want them to feel new, she wanted the garments to feel like her own. After the underwear she chose every element of the outfit carefully. She wanted to look serious, professional.
She needed them to see her as an adult and not just the child she knew most of them still thought of her as. At her last meeting with them one of the board advised her to go off and have some fun while they took care of the serious business.
‘He actually said a young thing like you would find it too dreary,’ she recalled. She tried not to frown. That too would ruin the effort she took getting dressed. She wanted to look serious, but not angry. It was why she opted for gray and green for today rather than black.
She also thought the black outfit she picked out first made her look like she was trying too hard. It made her feel like she was playing dress up. Whether it was true or all in her mind, she didn’t need that thought circling when she was trying to be seen as an adult.
‘I’m thirty two,’ she reminded herself. ‘I am an adult.’
She tried to tell herself that most of the board met her when she was about six. They had her mental age fixed in their minds and didn’t see the need to change. They were the sort of men who found a groove and made themselves at home in it. They were not the sort who feared getting stuck in a rut, they reveled in it.
To get them to change might require dynamite.
‘Or maybe a software upgrade,’ she thought as she stopped in front of the elevator banks. She pressed the button, having no need to check the office listings. She knew exactly where her meeting was located. She waited and when the elevator arrived she got in and again pressed the appropriate buttons. Her hand gripped the handle of her case tightly and she realized she was holding it like a security blanket.
Inside the case was her plan. It was not an expensive plan. It was not a risky plan. Each item in the plan was well thought out. She wasn’t here to take risks or go out on a limb. That wasn’t the point. The point was to make them see her as an adult. She thought through every piece, double checking everything twice. She was going to present it to them and inform them it was something she was moving forward with and they would need to adjust accordingly.
She hoped this would be the verbal equivalent of dynamite.
Ten til Midnight 