It's My Mistake ~ PUBLISHED

Chapter 5

"I'm surprised to see you," the woman said, pushing glasses up her nose as she surveyed me.

"Oh, I, err, start today?" I said, pushing the strap of my bag up my shoulder a bit more.

"Ah, you didn't get the message?" she asked.

"What message?"

"Well, I asked my assistant administrator to ring you and ask if you'd mind starting mid-week instead. It's just we're a little busy getting your contract sorted." She turned around and went into the small office, suddenly busying herself in a pile of paperwork on one of the desks. She pulled out a file from the stack of paperwork and I was sure the pile was going to fall over.

I thought the file was for me at first, until she opened it up, jotted something down with a nearby pen and then put the file back on top of the dangerously wobbly stack.

The room itself, although clearly small, looked extremely disorganised. I wasn't sure if it was disorganised, or if it was because the room was so small it made it look untidy. Right next to the door I was standing in, there was a small desk with a large computer monitor, a huge pile of paperwork that the woman had just busied herself in, a well-used off-white mug with a unicorn on the front of it discarded on the desk with dregs of tea still in the bottom, and a small uncomfortable-looking chair tucked tightly underneath. Along one side of the room was the small window that looked into the small room I was previously trapped in. At the far end, there was one more slightly bigger desk with even more paperwork stacked up on and a small row of rather tall metal filing cabinets alongside. The wall to my right, however, was just a completely bare white wall that felt like it was looming over me. I suddenly felt really uncomfortable.

"Oh," I said and frowned. "I didn't get the—"

"That's okay." She waved a hand dismissively and interrupted me like it wasn't too much of a deal. "I can always just give you some paperwork to read through? You're welcome to stay and read through it or you can take it back with you to read. It's up to you."

"Oh, I don't want to get in the way—"

"Seeing as it's our mistake for not telling you about the change," she continued, interrupting me again, "we'll still pay you the full week, so don't worry about that. But you're welcome to go and read them. You could just sit in a café or something. I'll give you my number if you have any questions."

"Sure," I said, feeling a little better knowing that my finances won't be too messed up this week. Although I felt a little taken aback that she was happy with leaving me with the paperwork and still paying me.

Maybe this job isn't so bad after all?

"Come on in, I'll get the paperwork for you."

"Okay." I stepped wordlessly into the small office, feeling a little claustrophobic in it. Because the room was so small and there were two computers, the room felt unnaturally stuffy. I was suddenly glad that I was a support worker and not an administrator. I couldn't work in a small office like that all day.

"So, did you find the building alright?" the woman asked, walking to the row of filing cabinets.

"Oh, yeah, it was easy," I said, looking away from the computer that was next to me and up at the woman again. I couldn't help but notice that the systems looked extremely out of date. Not to mention there were an awful lot of sensitive files out on show and not filed away properly and securely.

"Oh really? Most people have issues!"

"I'm used to it," I said, sitting down in a chair next to me while the woman opened up a draw on one of the tall filing cabinets. "I've moved jobs a lot, so I'm used to the awkward first days. I wasn't sure where the building was, so I went on the internet and—" I paused abruptly, realising what I just said. "Wait, I don't mean I go from job to job, like, getting fired. I just mean—"