I'd never been to Meeting Room 8a, neither had anyone else in the office but if HR say 'jump' you jump and if they ask for blood you'd better already be at your wrists with a broken pen. So when I saw the email saying I was expected there at 0900 the next day I was terrified.
I spent the entire day trying to work and keep my mind from wondering what I could have done wrong, what mistakes I'd ever made and how bad my punishment might be. Still, some small part of me hoped it was for a promotion or to discuss moving to another department.
Fifteen minutes before the dreaded time arrived I found myself waiting outside a grubby door down one of the maintenance hallways just above the basement floor. The employee map led me there and sure enough a small sign had been roughly nailed to the door reading "Meeting Room 8a" followed by a schedule of bookings.
Lucky for me, I was second.The one before me was listed as a performance review while my time slot was just my name. Apparently the meeting would last for three hours and I hoped there would be a mid-point break or at least free coffee.
When 0900 rolled around after what felt like years, the door slowly opened to reveal an empty room with a small table and three chairs. There were windows along the far end that overlooked the alley between our office block and the bingo hall/casino next door.
As usual there was a drunk guy peeing up the side of our building, right by the window too. He caught my disgusted gaze and started yelling at me to run before the door closed. Turning back I saw it had already shut and I told him as much. He just shook his head and yelled that he was sorry before walking away.
The second his eyes left the room, I felt the floor shudder as a woman's voice cried "GOING DOWN" from somewhere near the ceiling. The street outside rose up, or rather Meeting Room 8a was slowly sinking and I was locked inside, waiting to see where my three hours would take me.
I spent the entire day trying to work and keep my mind from wondering what I could have done wrong, what mistakes I'd ever made and how bad my punishment might be. Still, some small part of me hoped it was for a promotion or to discuss moving to another department.
Fifteen minutes before the dreaded time arrived I found myself waiting outside a grubby door down one of the maintenance hallways just above the basement floor. The employee map led me there and sure enough a small sign had been roughly nailed to the door reading "Meeting Room 8a" followed by a schedule of bookings.
Lucky for me, I was second.The one before me was listed as a performance review while my time slot was just my name. Apparently the meeting would last for three hours and I hoped there would be a mid-point break or at least free coffee.
When 0900 rolled around after what felt like years, the door slowly opened to reveal an empty room with a small table and three chairs. There were windows along the far end that overlooked the alley between our office block and the bingo hall/casino next door.
As usual there was a drunk guy peeing up the side of our building, right by the window too. He caught my disgusted gaze and started yelling at me to run before the door closed. Turning back I saw it had already shut and I told him as much. He just shook his head and yelled that he was sorry before walking away.
The second his eyes left the room, I felt the floor shudder as a woman's voice cried "GOING DOWN" from somewhere near the ceiling. The street outside rose up, or rather Meeting Room 8a was slowly sinking and I was locked inside, waiting to see where my three hours would take me.
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