Thirty Nine Minutes (COMPLETE)

Chapter One: A New Job

The doors opened like magic. Helen knew they were automatic, that it was a simple pressure system that activated when she stood by them, but a very small, very excited part of her liked to believe her very presence made the doors acquiesce to her will.

The building that the maybe magical doors hid was unfortunately, a very formal, very ordinary looking place that was a little too generous with the lashings of magnolia paint on just about every surface. Definitely rather elegant in places though, with large stone pillars stretched between the frescoes that decorated the ceiling and the polished marble floor. A tiny woman sat amidst an exceedingly huge wooden desk, rifling through papers and tapping on her keyboard. Glasses were balanced precariously on the end of a nose that looked too small to be accommodating them and it made her age very difficult to determine. There was a curious juxtaposition about her timeless appearance and the surrounding area stuffed with modern technology. She looked up and offered a thin-lipped smile to Helen.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh, I'm Helen Newman?" She asked it like a question, and almost bit her tongue in embarrassment. Here she was on the first day of her new job and she was talking like a child who wandered into her parents' business meeting room. She twisted her fingers before her and grinned.

At least the receptionist didn't seem to notice, or was polite enough to not react to it. She clacked away on her keyboard and nodded. "Yup, here you are. Sub fifth floor, third door on the right."

"Sub fifth floor?"

"Here's your visitor's pass." Better yet, the receptionist apparently wasn't much for conversation. Helen couldn't really do anything other than put the pass around her neck and sheepishly turn to the elevators. People poured into suits and shiny shoes clopped past her, and even in her best, most official looking outfit, Helen was getting hit hard by a pressing of inadequacy on her shoulders and barely ironed pants. All around her was slicked hair, black suits and the scent of even blacker coffee. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but tomorrow, Helen would be sure to properly curl her hair. She approached the elevator.

Her first hurdle: there was no such thing as anything that resembled the sub floors. She must have misheard, or worse, the receptionist was winding her up. Surely not, her brain assured her, but Helen remained sceptical. She stood there for a few more seconds, hoping a freak spark of inspiration would hit her and she'd figure out the puzzle.

"Sub floors, right?"

Helen spun round, and met a grinning, young face. Very sharp, coiffed hair and a suit to match. Sparkling hazel eyes met her own. "I clocked your pass," the young man said. Helen was a little taken aback: he was attractive. She'd always had a penchant for a man in a good suit, and this man before her was certainly ticking a lot of boxes. "It's okay: I got stuck the first time too. I'll show you."

Helen nodded gratefully and stretched out her hand. "I'm Helen."

He took it, such warm harms and a gentle grip. "I'm Neil. Neil Cole. You're starting with us today, aren't you? I remember David saying about the new intern."

David was a name she recognized from her interview. Or rather, Mr. Kotohiki. It had been somewhere entirely different from the building she found herself in now, which is why she felt like a filly at her first horse fair.

"Here, it's actually kinda arbitrary, but you have to hold the button you want, and also press this button here to indicate that you want a sub level." Neil pointed to the small, innocuous button to the left of the very used looking other buttons with their numbers well worn from countless years of thumb pushing. With his index and pinky in a hand move that almost made Helen flush, Neil pressed both buttons simultaneously and the doors in acknowledgement, shut.