‘I hate it!’ I heard a screech from outside my office door. With a sigh, I slowly closed my laptop, mentally blocking out the next hour from my schedule.
The door burst open, and a small woman in a gigantic fur coat stormed in.
‘Harold, darling,’ she greeted me. ‘We need to talk!’
‘Hello, Doris,’ I sighed again, quickly sweeping some breakable items off my desk and into a drawer where they’d be safe. ‘How was your drive in?’
‘Oh, darling,’ she rolled her eyes. ‘Like I’d be caught in this peak hour traffic? I took the chopper.’
‘It’s one o’clock,’ I frowned. ‘And we don’t have a helipad.’
‘No, but the hospital down the street are happy to let you land on theirs,’ she said with a sly grin. ‘Once you tell them it’s a medical emergency, of course.’
‘What can I do for you, Doris?’ I said, massaging my temples and practicing my breathing exercises.
‘This office,’ she barked. ‘It has to change.’
‘To change?’
‘Yes, it simply cannot stay the way it is.’
‘Are you talking… layoffs?’
‘What?’ she looked shocked. ‘Layoffs? No, nothing like that. Although, now you mention it—’
‘What’s bothering you about the office?’ I quickly cut her off, before she had time to finish having the thought.
‘Ah, yes,’ she shook her head clear. ‘I’m sending you the name of an office space design expert, near Melbourne.’
‘What’s wrong with our office design?’
She let out a short, shrill laugh and clicked her fingers. A burly man in a suit opened my door and handed me a piece of paper with a name and number.
‘You’ll be in good hands,’ she assured me. ‘Just do everything they say.’
‘Isn’t this a fashion company?’ I frowned.
‘Yes, they designed my gala dress, darling.’
‘So shouldn’t we hire the best commercial office design company around Melbourne?’
‘I just did,’ Doris frowned. ‘Did you forget your coffee this morning, Harold?’
I sighed again, as she stood, bundling her coat behind her.