The Pain is my Light

The first day

Mia prances down the hallway, batting at my leg to get my attention.
"Ah, hello Mia! You cute kitty..." I lean down, stroking Mia's fluffy black fur. She's still pretty small, my mom got her almost two years ago when she was just a kitten. She meows at me, caressing her cheek to my hand. "You're so snugly today!" I say, smiling. Maybe she's wishing me good luck on my first day!
"Belle? Are you heading out now?"
"Yep!" I shout back up to my mom. She walks down the stairs, and gives me a hug. "Where are the others?" I ask.
"Oh, they're all still sleeping, aside from Anne, she's on her computer emailing one of her teachers."
"I see! Well, see ya, I guess." She gives me a silly grin.
"You all ready?" I nod, leaning down to give Mia one last pat before I head out. "Tell me about it when you get back!"
"Will do!" I wave, as a walk to the Mustang out front. We're lucky to have two working cars, actually. The one My parents are letting me use for getting to and from work is my grandpa's old, 4th Generation Ford Mustang that he got back in 2001. So, it's practically 20 years old at this point, but it still works!
I pull out of the driveway, and make my way to the Office. It's connected to a Law Library, and there's a fancy looking Court down the road from where I work. I got a job as a Paralegal assistant, since it required no degree or schooling aside from being a highschool graduate. I'll be working full time, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. I have the same schedule as one of the actual Paralegals, because as an assistant, I need someone to assist!
They say his job is to attend executions of wills, real estate closings, depositions, court or administrative hearings and trials with the attorney.... Yada yada. There's a lot of research that goes into it, and lots of writing. That's what I'll be helping with, as well as attending the occasional hearing and whatnot.

I arrive at the Office, and I park in a temporary assigned parking spot. It's only temporary at the moment because my first week is my "training" week, but I think it's more to help newcomers adjust. And maybe so they can get to know me better to see if they really want to hire me or not...
I better not mess this up.
I walk through the first set of doors, looking down to check my clothes one last time, I enter. The inside looks like a perfect hybrid of those classic office buildings and a beautiful library. When I came here to apply, nobody was really around, but today there's lots of people, busy at work.
I walk down an isle of books and documents, scanning over the organized sections full of texts for scholars, lawyers, ECT.
"Oh, hi!" I hear a voice say from behind me. I turn around to see a woman standing behind me, with a warm smile on her face. She seems to be about in her 40s. "Are you the new one? I heard from Samson up front that they finally hired a new assistant!
"Yep, that's me! I was taking the scenic route to my desk, there's so much... Information here." She nods in agreement.
"There sure is, but they aren't used as much anymore because, you know, the internet. It's still required that we use these to double check or base our research off of." She says.
"Ah, are you a Paralegal?" She nods again,
"Yeah, I've been working here for 5 years! Not as long as the guy you'll be working for, he's been here... Well, maybe 10 years?"
"Man, here's to hoping I don't look like a fool to one of the professionals." I say, in a joking manner. She giggles, and readjusts her books.
"I've gotta get back to work, Ashley- my assistant- is waiting for me to bring these two things back.
"Of course, see you later!" She waves as we walk our separate ways, and I arrive at a quaint space that almost feels separated from the rest of the building, with my desk waiting for me. I set down my bag, sitting in the chair at the desk, powering on the computer in front of me. Just outside of this "separated" space (which probably used to just be a section for documents) to the wall behind me, there's a door that leads to private offices. Most of them are just rooms for the workers here to seclude themselves whenever they need to, but a few towards the end belong to some of the workers that have been here longer than the others, and wanted their own space. The guy I'm working for has one of those rooms. After browsing some of the sites and applications I'll be using, I hear Samson call me to the front desk over intercoms... Huh! I didn't know that was a thing here. I make my way to the front, adjusting my skirt.
"What's up?" I say as I walk up to the desk.
"Luke called you to his office, do you know where it is?"
Oh? "Uuh, I know the area but not exactly witch office is his."
He nods, "Number 8, last on on the right?"
"Alright, thank you!" I walk over to the door towards the back, and it opens to a pristine looking hallway, doors lining each side, each one its own little room. I walk down it, the glass windows on each room made with some kind of vision distorting texture. Room 8, last one on the right. I knock a few times on the door, and I hear a voice.
"Come in." I open to door, subconsciously trying to be quiet, just because of how quiet it is back here.
"Hey, you called for me?" I ask.
He looks up from his notepad, "Ah, yes! Your Belle, right?" I nod, "Perfect, well, we'll be working on a lot of projects together, I was mostly just wondering if we could talk for a while before we have to dive into work."
"Oh, of course!" I say, cheerily.
He smiles, "Here, take a seat." He slides over to his right, pulling out a chair to his left. I walk forward, and glance around the room. He has a few personal books on a bookshelf on the wall to the left, with some cute decorations. There's a small, crocheted ball with eyes and two feet, like a cute little blob. I smile when I see it, it's kinda cute. Theres a couple paintings hanging, and his desk has a lamp, a couple small cacti, and the rest are papers he's working on. I sit in the chair to his left, and he slides me an unused notepad. "You might want to take notes if we go over some of this junk" he says, while motioning to his screen, witch has a few different windows open with lots of writing and whatnot open on it.
I giggle nervously, "Right."
"So. Do you have any experience in a workplace like this?" I shake my head no,
"Actually, this is my first job. I graduated high school a while back."
He nods, raising his eyebrows, "I see, this is only my second job, I worked in retail for a few years... Your lucky to start here!" We both laugh.
"Yeah, I know... I've heard plenty of horror stories of people who had to work retail. Even having to be a cashier is... Eesh." He nods.
We talk for a little while, some about jobs, some about family, and some about our hobbies. He has a dog named Arlo, a fluffy Bernese Mountain Dog and Australian Shepherd Mix. He actually found him with three other puppies curled up and sleeping in an ally! He rescued all of them, and they all have lovely families. He said he kept Arlo because he was just so cute, he would always snuggle up with him and was so sweet, that he just had to keep him. Now if that isn't wholesome... I don't know what is!
"Yeah, also, how old are you, Belle?"
"Oh, I'm 19!" He tilts his head.
"Really? So you graduated only a year or so ago! Well, I'm 28, my birthday is coming up though."
I smile, I could get him a gift, awesome! "Oh, what day?"
"It's the 20th of this month!" He says.
"Oh, our birthdays are only 30 days apart! Mines the 20th of September."
I grin. This is all working out amazingly. Everyone here is so nice, I really wasn't expecting this. His eyes widen, "Wow, that's a coincidence!" We chat for a while longer, and loose track of time. About half the day went by, and then we started going over work stuff. He showed me how to use and navigate some applications, examples of the types of work I'll be helping with, and whatnot.
"Wait wait, If I'm your assistant.. Do I have to get you coffee and stuff?!" I say sarcastically. He chuckles.
"Hey, if you want to! Coffees great."
We spend the day talking, and eventually realize it's a bit past our time to clock out. We head out together, and say our goodbyes.

"I'm home!" I say as I walk in the door. I slip my shoes off, and set my bag down. My mom's downstairs cooking.
"Well, how'd it go?!" She calls to me.
"It was great! Everyone was so nice, and the building is really pretty. Hey, they also have free snacks. Free. Snacks. Isn't that awesome?" She laughs, stirring a pan of sauteing veggies.
"Yes, that's pretty awesome. I'm really glad that this is working out for you, Belle." I shrug, plucking out a chopped square of pepper from the pan and eating it.
"Yeah, me too."