Those Who Surround Us Change Us

Chapter 2

   The first week at her job went surprisingly well, she was enjoying the hands-on work and finding each hour spent fulfilling. Her coworkers were pleasant and some had even expressed an interest in making plans outside of work. Very few people had commented on her name, which she was grateful for. All she wanted was to be noticed for her work.

She found it a little easier to get up in the morning. She still had days which she was overwhelmed by a feeling of hopelessness, but she had gotten good at hiding it. Her boss was nice enough that even if he noticed, he didn't comment on it.

It had now been a month since she'd started. She had started to see a bit of fulfillment in her life. She'd made more money in this one month, which was equal to two months pay at her last job. She was beyond grateful for the raise, even if it was the advertised pay for the job. She showed her gratitude through her hard work, she willingly stayed long hours and helped others with their work, if they needed it. She was the model employee.

However, that didn't make her well liked by everyone. She had heard people talking, calling her a 'kiss ass' and other names she'd care not to repeat. When she realized this, something inside her cracked. All she wanted was to find a place to belong, but she knew that she shouldn't have allowed herself to get her hopes up. So, with a heavy heart, she went back to the way she was. She was quiet, kept to herself, did her work and left. She never did overtime, what was the point. Her boss had taken notice, but didn't bother to say anything, at least she was doing the work. Something he couldn't say about most of his employees.

Another month passed and she had completely reverted into her old self. She was once again a ghost, as she had deemed herself many years ago. The people she once had such vivid conversations with no longer tried to speak with her. She knew that they'd leave soon enough. She was once again consumed by her self-pity. Woe is me, no one will ever love me. No one will ever understand me. She was like a teenager and she hated it. She didn't want to be like this, wrapped up in her problems, pitying herself. She wanted to change, but change was so hard.

When she returned to work the next week, she was met with her boss. He smiled at her, happy she had attended work so regularly and on time for the last two months. However, that wasn't the reason that he was stood waiting for her.

"Myerscough!" he called out to her as she entered the door. He stood a few feet away, waving her towards him. She almost hesitantly walked his way, hoping she wasn't getting fired again. By the smile on his face, she was relatively sure that she wasn't being fired. He could be masking his true intentions though. All types of scenario's played out in her head.

'Please don't let me be fired. Please don't let me be fired,' was a constant ring in her ear. He leads her into his office, closing the door behind them.

"Myerscough," he spoke again, taking a seat behind his desk, "I have a favor to ask."

She simply nodded, wondering what he could possibly ask of her.

"I have a new employee coming today. I need you to show her the ropes, help her out," he spoke, resting his folded hands under his bearded chin.

"Sir," she spoke, panicking, "are you sure that's a good idea? I haven't been working that long here myself. Shouldn't someone more qualified help her?"

He simply smiled, "Myer, since you've come here, you've attended every work day. You've worked until all I've asked of you has been completed. You haven't complained or cussed me out about the work load. You are the best I've got at the moment. So, no, there's no one more qualified than you. Sure, people may have worked here longer, but years doesn't add up to a good work ethic, hard work does that."

She started at him in shock, "A-Are you sure?" She swallowed the lump that had lodged itself in her throat. He nodded, laughing at her undeniably surprised expression.

"She should be here any minute," he spoke, giddily. Getting up from his chair to fling open the door, scaring his secretary half to death for the twelfth time this week. She holds a hand over her heart, whispering a few prayers that the Lord wouldn't allow this crazy bastard to kill her with his idiocy. She tried not to laugh at the scene, it was comical to say the least.

A half an hour passed of her boss checking with his secretary to see if the new employee had arrived. The reply stayed the same, no. For about the hundredth time, he flings open the door to ask his secretary if she's here. This time, however, he succeeds in not only scaring his secretary, who you'd think would've gotten used to it by now, but his newest employee.

A loud squeal leaves her mouth as she trips over her own feet, toppling to the ground. She clumsily, somehow, makes it to her feet again, clutching her brown messenger back to her chest.

"Oh!" her boss shouts, pointing at the poor soul he's almost scared to death, "You must be the newbie!"

She nods, confusing and slightly scared. She didn't think her boss would be so energetic, crazy, all around strange.

He smiles, "Welcome!"

She continues to stare, confused by him. Was he even human? How could he be so loud?

"This is Myerscough," he announced, motioning her out of his office. She stood up, walking over to see the new employee she'd be babysitting. "She'll be showing you around and helping you out for the next week. Don't hesitate to ask her anything. I've got a meeting, so have fun!" With that he was out the door, waving to them. She sighed, why was he so strange?

Turning to the new girl, she spoke softly, "As you probably already know, I'm Myerscough, but you can just call me Iowa."

This petite girl in front of her laughed, "Iowa?"

Myerscough chuckled, "Yeah, my parents really liked the states so all my siblings and I were named after their favorites."

The girl smiled, "It's nice to meet you, Iowa. I'm Fayre Bennett."

Fayre Bennett was named well, her petite figure matched with her bright green eyes and light brown hair radiated otherworldly. Iowa was intrigued, never had she met someone who seemed so fragile.

"I'll show you around and then we can get to work, okay?" she questioned the shorter girl. The next hour was spent with Iowa showing Fayre around and answering any questions she had.

"You ready to start working now?" Iowa asked, starting towards her work station. Fayre nodded with a smile, following her.

When they made it to Iowa's work area, they were met with blatant stares. Fayre shifted uncomfortably, looking at all the other employees nervously.

"Who's this?" questioned Amelia Berkheimer, one of the many nosey people stationed in the same area as Iowa.

Iowa turned to Fayre before turning back to the others, "This is Bennett, she started today."

The others looked between one another before pushing past Iowa to crowd the currently shaking Fayre. They threw questions at her, not really expecting an answer, but overwhelming her. Fayre looked like she was going to bolt or break down in tears at any minute. Iowa took this as her time to break this up.

"Come on, Bennett," Iowa stated, pulling her from the crowd, "time to get to work. You can talk to them later."

Fayre breathed a sigh of relief, happy to be free of the others claws and constant questions. She smiled at Iowa, whispering a quiet "thank you". Iowa simply nodded in response, she tried to smile back, but it turned into more of a grimace. Fayre giggled lightly, finding her new coworker's awkwardness amusing.

The day went by rather quickly after that,ending with a blossoming friendship between Iowa and Fayre. One that both hadbeen wishing for, for a long time