The Mute [Elliot Alderson]

03 | f i r s t d a y

A/N: This may get annoying but it's just a friendly reminder. Bold is for when Bes is using her phone to speak for her and italics is for when she directly addresses the reader/has internal monologue. Also, check out the A/N at the end if you'd like :-) Thanks and enjoy!

Hello, friend. Can you keep a secret? I hope you said yes. Today is when I am going to begin the count down for when I am supposed to finish my degree. T-minus ten months, thirteen days, nine hours and forty two seconds. Are you as excited as I am?

I immediately shoot up out of my bed. I need a new fucking alarm clock.

Today is the day I begin my job at Allsafe. Well, it's technically an introduction into what I'll be doing when I actually begin the job. I'm hoping to God that it isn't extremely awkward that I got the job because of Joe when some people have worked hard to get their jobs there. I can confidently say I know almost nothing about cyber security and the extent of my computer knowledge is some simple coding and how to navigate social media.

Maybe I can just get people coffee.

After showering, I throw on a pair of black dress pants, a long sleeve baby blue button up shirt and a decent pair of flats that don't look like I crossed the desert in them.

Talk about bad first impressions, amiright?

Although I never do much with my hair on a daily basis, apparently this place is sort of strict on the dress code so I just put it into a simple bun.

A persistent knock on the door breaks me out of my trance. Must be Penelope. I pull my phone out of my back pocket and walk to the door to let her in.

"Oh, baby!" Penelope awes over me.

I have exactly fifteen minutes and thirty two seconds until I have to be in the Allsafe building for my introduction. Please get out of my face.

"You look so professional! I'm so proud of you. Are you excited?"

"As excited as I can be." I type with a smile. This earns a look of approval from my mother, which puts me at ease.

Even if I have to lie.

"Okay, Bessie. Let's get this show on the road. I love what you've done with the place though..." This is when I tune her out, smile, nod and check my phone.

7:50. She's been standing here for five minutes.

I begin to push my mother out of the door while she continues to ramble about my shitty apartment some more.

Maybe I'll start taking the train to work. Or walk. Anything but this.

Although the Allsafe building is large, it's not nearly as large as E Corp. As I stare up at the towering structure, I feel slightly intimidated. A gentle hand is rested on my back, and although my mother can be overbearing sometimes, this puts me at ease.

"You'll do great, honey." I nod as she reassures me.

Here goes nothing.

After meeting Gideon, dealing with introduction after introduction and also hearing about how he's willing to work with my 'condition,' I pretty much want to eat lead.

As I sit at my new desk, I become more and more unsure about what I'm doing here. I mean, obviously, cyber security. But I'm just sitting at this desk. Nothing exciting is happening.

Maybe this place isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life. All these people look like they're miserable.