Experience Me

“Ugh!”

I groan as I press the ‘stop’ on my alarm and roll out of the bed. Monday mornings are always the worst, despite the fact that I love my job. I drag my naked frame towards the bathroom and turn on the shower so it can warm up while I brush my teeth. Standing under the steaming water, I hum to myself.

“I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine.”

Glancing at the clock on my dresser as I exit the bathroom, I see that I managed to keep my time under twenty minutes. I had a bad habit of just getting lost under that hot spray of water in the morning. There was just nothing like it.

“Hmm, what do I feel like wearing today?” Standing in the closet, I shuffle through the racks of clothes until I find a navy blue dress that stops just above my knee.

I do a little shimmy. “Yes, it’s giving naughty teacher vibes.”

Chuckling to myself, I dry off, moisturize, and dawn on the garments. After pairing it with a pair of beige pumps and a thin waist belt, I wrestle with my mop of locks in the mirror until they’re flat. With a little mascara and lip gloss, I’m ready to set off for work.

Per usual, I made a Starbucks run before pulling into the office with two minutes to spare. I chastised myself a bit as I walked through the doors of Imperf Technologies. I’ve been telling myself to either wake up earlier or skip Starbucks so that I could be at the office at a decent time, but I’ve yet to implement either solution.

“Morning Gary,” I greet the security officer in the lobby as I saunter to the elevator.

“Morning Ms. Miller,” he greets.

“Gary, please it’s Ariah. “Ms. Miller” is my mother.” I smile as I press the button for the third floor.

“Yes, Ariah. My apologies,” he amends with a gentle smile and a dip of his head.

“You’re cutting it a little close aren’t you, Ari?” My department leader notices as I make my way to my desk, pulling out my laptop.

I smile apologetically. “I’m sorry, Thomas. It won’t happen again.” Even though I’ve said that every other time that it has happened.

“Good, and next time try to be a little more professional with your hair.” He tosses me a wink and proceeds to walk around the floor, placing notices about a meeting we’re having today.

What the fuck was that suppose to mean? ”More professional.”

“Oh, you mean long, straight, and blonde,” I mumbled to myself. When I wear my hair pinned up, it’s not a problem, but God forbid I let it hang down.

“Do you know what this meeting is about today?” I ask Tess, far more irritably than I was going for. She shrugs her slim shoulders and shifts uncomfortably as she twirls a piece of her silky blonde hair. “He said something about some new investors, I think”. I rolled my eyes at the thought of new investors.

I’ve worked at Imperf Technologies for nearly four years now. I was hired right after I graduated from college, so I had to move from North Carolina here to Georgia. I didn’t mind though, there wasn’t much there for me anyway. Working for a tech company was never necessarily my goal but I’ve grown to love it, despite the glaring faults in Thomas’ manners. They brought me in as a graphic designer, but because of my Master’s in Information Technology, they allow me to bop around in software development.

Imperf was the new, up-and-coming tech company that every investor worth their portfolio wanted a piece of. Our products were top shelf and our software received the highest ratings in not only speed but user-friendliness. Not to mention the aesthetics that our users love. Imperf Technologies evokes luxury and our customers reflect as much.

I open my laptop and begin clicking through emails, writing down client appointments in my calendar while I sip my coffee. Even though we’re a technology company and most of the designs are for the company, the design department is allowed to book clients for whatever suits their needs. It’s part of a new program to bring in more customers by offering multiple services.

By the time I finished making phone calls to confirm with my clients, it was 1:45 and the meeting is supposed to start at two. Closing my laptop and sliding it off the desk, I stand up with my coffee and make my way out to the elevator. Just before the door closes, I hear a quirky Johnathan shout for me to hold the elevator. I stick my foot between the two closing doors, seeing as though my hands were full, to cease the closing and let Johnathan enter.

“Thank you girl,” he exclaims breathlessly. Almost immediately, he perks up. “Ooh, Ari, girl, you look fierce!”

I smile at his compliment. “Thanks, hun and you’re looking quite cute yourself.”

He smiles and twirls himself around and poses.“You think so?!” He squeals.

I laugh and step out of the elevator as it opens on the top floor. We make our way to the conference room as I sip my coffee. “So where were you this morning?” I query as he opens the door for me.

“Mrs. Singer wanted to do some early morning drafting for her Church’s new website. You know how old people are, up bright and early,” he states tiredly with an exaggerated eye roll.

“And long-winded as hell.” We snicker, making our way to sit beside each other at the large, oval, mahogany table in the conference room.

People began piling into the large room. All from different departments in the building: Design, Developing, Engineering, and Media. I open my laptop and began drafting a template for taking notes while the company owner -Mr. Baker- and some other executives began filing in and moving toward the front of the room.

"Here we go."