The Office
6:00 am I awoke to an annoying sound of Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by the Crash Test Dummies on the radio extra loud since I feared I wouldn’t wake up to the music at a normal level from the exhaustion I felt the night before. “How could this song be at the top of the Charts?” I asked myself thinking that this was another case of catching annoyance was the only way a song can make it these days. I jumped out of bed to reach the alarm and shut it off and lifted the blinds on the windows. After lifting the shades that were hung under the blinds I realized that in the Summer the amount of light probably would make it hard to sleep. Excited to see the wonderful view I was promised by Mr. Tapia I felt a quick dissapointment as the snow filled sky and it was about the same level of darkness as there was when I first walked into the apartment last night. I did however manage to turn on some more lights and get a better look at the studio apartment I was not calling home. I thought it was amazing that I was not only getting the opportunity to work up here in Alaska but I was lucky enough to find a job that would pay the rent for me. Although this is not the best apartment it had the perfect decorations and size for a single guy at the top of his teens. The loveseat was a darker blue that has been used in the past but was well cleaned and dark enough that no one would notice any spills that may occur. The kitchen had what looked like enough dishes for 4 people and the major appliances that I would need to keep myself heathy and happy. Of course the lack of a Dishwasher allowed my lazy side groan a little I figured the chance of me having a party and needing to do dishes more than once in a day was slim. The carpet was a tan color that you could tell the Landlord choose so he wouldn’t have to worry about anything other than cleaning it when I left, all the walls were the same cream color that would make it easy to repaint when I left. All the basics were there which was good because there wouldn’t be room for much more.
Mr. Tapia said that he would be there around 7:00am and we were going to work out so I looked over at the weight bench in the corner and told myself I would use it tonight since I didn’t know what the work out would be. I walked over to the kitchen and made myself a quick high carb breakfast to help me gain the energy that I may need for this workout and was ready to go by 6:30. I wasn’t sure if I would need anything so I threw a extra set of clothes in my back pack and headed down the stairs. About 15 minutes later the truck that picked me up pulled up so I walked out the door to notice there were two people in the truck. Mr. Tapia and someone that I recognized as a guy i went to High School with. Brian was the person that I sent my information to when he called me about six months ago talking about this great job he had but I was told by Mr. Tapia that he no longer was working with them and he wanted me to fill Brian’s spot on the team. Team was the word Mr. Tapia repeated many times during the interview and was the main reason I knew that I would get along with him. He never talked to me like I was an employee he always talked like he was the team captain. Brian confirmed this feeling when he explained that Mr. Tapia treated them all as friends not employee’s during the last time I called to thank him for giving Mr. Tapia my information and his recomendation for me to succeed in his position.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Brian as I climbed into the truck.
“Well the new job doesn’t have workout times like Mr. Tapia sets up and Mr. Tapia said he doesn’t mind if I continue to work out with you all.” He stated with a graditude in his voice. “Plus I would love to show you up at the gym today. I have been waiting for this day for a long time since you always kicked my ass in school.”
“Well I have gotten a little soft since school so it wouldn’t surprise me.” I said with a little grin, “But your still a tiny little elf aren’t you?”
“Screw you, your boss doesn’t like it when team members make fun of each other, goon,” Brian responded like we saw each other just yesterday. Although it has been over a year since we have hung out I was amazed at how much it seamed like we were still the best friends that worked out together, partied together and graduated together. There was not time lapse in the friendship that either of us could feel.
“Remember you quit your job on my team so he can feel free to make fun of you all he wants,” Mr. Tapia stated then quickly added, “I think I like that, Tiny Little Elf. Yeah, I think that one will stick.”
We drove on talking about Brians new position doing deliveries for a company that requires all their drivers to remained armed while in posession of the packages they are transporting. It sounded like Brian was working for the Alaskan Mafia. I was making a comment about a bunch of Eskimo’s in there seal skin coats walking around talking with their Long Island Accent when Mr. Tapia pulled up in front of a small windowless warehouse. With all the snow around it and the dirt that sprayed up on the exterior walls from the cars and plows that drove by it look to be almost abandoned except for the one light above the metal door that we were heading to. When we walked into the door I was in shock at the activity inside the place.
“Good Morning Mr. Tapia,” a large man with no neck said as he walked up to us. “Is this Boaz? We have his membership ready we just need to get him a picture to place on the ID.”
“Thank you, Ronnie. Can you take him to do that and show him around for me? Brian is going to try once again to take the title from me.” Mr Tapia stated with a bored attitude. He then turned to me, “The battle will probably be over by the time you are done with the picture and tour but don’t worry, Brian does this once a month atleast and the longest he has lasted is 3 minutes so you can watch me kick his ass next time. Today is our free day, look around and workout however you want today, I will come find you around 8:30 and take you to the office so we can have our team meeting.”
“Sounds great,” I said as I looked around to take in all the wonders of the gym with confusion on what I could start with.
“So how do you like Alaska so far,” asked Ronnie with an attitude that he had to ask this of every new person that came in here for the first time.
“All I have seen is snow,” I answered.
“Well the winters may suck but the summer makes up for it. I moved up here about 8 years ago from Texas and have only been back for my brothers wedding. I will never leave this place.” Ronnie was now leading me down a hallway that was probably 20 degrees warmer than the bigger room we first walked into. When we reached another room there was a circular desk in the middle with windows along the walls. I noticed that one side of the hall looked like there were Raquet ball courts and the other side was an long narrow swimming pool that two people were doing laps in. In front of the hallway they just came out of was a window that looked into basketball court and tennis court. “Here we are Boaz, Mellisa will take you photo and get your ID card ready,” Ronnie said as he pointed to the beautiful brunette sitting in the middle of the circular desk.
“Just remember Ronnie I start my workout in 15 minutes so you need to come back and take Boaz for the tour.” Mellisa said as she pointed to a chair on the other side of hers.
About 10 minutes later I was holding onto the warm card with my picture on it and listening to Mellisa talk about the rules of the place, “Never ever work out alone, there is someone here 24 hours a day so if you need a spotter then come down here and someone will help you out. Did Mr. Tapia give you the key to the front entrance?”
“Key?” I asked confused, I remember his telling me what each of the three keys were for but he didn’t say one of them was for the gym.
“He gave you a key for the office right? Thats what he calls this place, it may be a gym to the rest of this but since he is the owner he like to say it is the office. I think it is just so he is used to telling his wife that he is going to the ‘office’ when he wants to do a late night workout.”
“Yeah, he gave me an office key.” I said with a crackle in my voice. I have never been the type of guy that could look confident when it came to women. As soon as I labled her with cute I would get shy and wouldn’t talk more than I had to.
“Okay then you are all set, and here comes Ronnie for your tour. It was nice to meet you and I look forward to working with you.” This threw me for another loop, I wasn’t brought to Alaska to work in a gym, I was brought up here for a security job. Why did she say she would be working with me?
“You got everything?” asked Ronnie, and before I could answer him he continued, “Brian almost lsted for a full 4 minutes, I am not sure if he is getting better or just getting used to the way Mr. Tapia fights.”
“They were actually fighting?” I was already thinking that I was the luckiest guy in the world for the opportunity I was just granted but the ability to fight my boss was one of the dreams I have had since the fat prick at Red Lobster yelled at me for having a streak on the bathroom mirror. I was already imagining getting pissed off at Mr. Tapia about something and replying, “I want to take you in the ring right now!”
“Yeah, Mr. Tapia may be an old son of a bitch but he can take any one of us. There is a rumor that the last guy that beat him was given a couple of hundred thousand dollars to start up another Security company in Juno. However, I don’t believe it. Ready for your tour?”
“Yeah”
“And this is the locker room, Go ahead and grab a locker and go work out Mr. Tapia will find you when it is time to have the meeting, we will also make an announcement over the load speaker. Enjoy your workout!”
