The sun came up, and the radio alarm blared annoyingly. I awoke with mammoth butterflies in my tummy and a cramp in my neck the size of Texas. That's what sleeping on a couple pillows atop a hardwood floor will do to a dainty girl. I stumbled upstairs to the bathroom which was, by the way, in Cindy's bedroom. This meant I had to barge into her personal space just to take a shower. It felt a little awkward and intrusive to me, but I don't think she minded. She was still in bed when I tippy-toed in but she had vanished by the time I stepped out of my fifteen-minute shower. Man. I could have used some chitchat to calm my nerves.

I had a bowl of cereal while I scrambled around in an effort to beautify myself. Caught in a hurricane of mascara and wet hair, I managed to make it out of the bathroom alive, and not too shabby if I may be so bold. I walked down to the living room and realized that I was the only one still home. Kathy had said the previous day that I could catch a ride to work with her so I wouldn't have to drive by myself and probably get lost. But that offer somehow got LOST. She'd left already.

So, after getting lost, I finally screeched my 1993, sticker covered, "oxidation-red" Pontiac Grand Prix into the packed parking lot of my new office building about 15 minutes late. I jumped the elevator to the fourth floor and rolled in around 9:20. Nobody seemed to notice, which was comforting. The prissy managing editor, Chad, appeared out of nowhere and greeted me. "You made it! Well good. Let's get you a computer," he exclaimed. And thus the games began.

You know how the first day on the job is supposed to be cake…just instructions, introductions and Human Resource forms? Well fuggedaboutit. Chad told one of the IT guys, who happened to be passing by, to take me and get me set up on a laptop. Chad asked him "Did her laptop get here yet?" The computer technician let out an elongated "Nooo," as if this were all too typical. Chad sighed and said something else to him that I didn't make out. The IT guy, Mike, took me through some windy hallways, back to his office, but then as soon as we arrived, he told me "It's going to take me awhile to get a laptop fixed up for you so I will just come and get you when it's ready." That said, he turned around and buried his nose in the computer.

Suddenly, things began happening at break-neck speed. The Human Resources guy, Rick, grabbed me just long enough to throw a binder in my direction. As soon as I could scribble my address out onto what I think was a medical benefits form, Chad waved me over to a long rectangular table and asked me to "join the group." I walked over and sat wide-eyed and nervous amongst a group of about ten or twelve reporters.

As I was listening to these people yap about the perils of eczema, the wheels were turning in my own head…I was trying to pick up on conversational subtleties that might help me figure out what it's really like to work at this place. Was it cool? Chaotic? I wondered if there would be mandatory happy hours, or if I'd be expected to play softball. I hate over-enthusiastic sports freaks. They bring back nightmares from high school gym class. I settled on "polite refusal" as my defense in case anybody got pushy.

With that out of the way, I noticed that most of these people were a bit older than me, so I was concerned about how many friendships I'd be able to garner through work. The woman across from me was VERY pregnant. Does she get sick a lot? I mulled over the unpleasant vision of taking on her work in addition to my own. It then occurred to me that when I was introduced to her during my interview, she was one of the top editors. No worries for me having to sub for her. I also didn't see any cute boys from where I was sitting. Ah, who would wanna date a coworker anyway? It was messy enough dating someone on the same hall as me in college if memory serves…

... An awkward silence broke my concentration. "Aimee?" someone said. It was Chad. He, along with everyone else at the table, had their sights set on me, waiting for a response. Was he asking me for stories? I had assumed that he would SKIP me since I'd JUST WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR TEN MINUTES AGO and all, but I guess that's what I get for assuming things. Now understand something, I didn't even know what this round table meeting was about until a couple of people had shared their ideas, and I figured it out on my own.