I'd had the crappiest night's sleep ever!😴 For a start, I'd rarely gone to bed before midnight throughout lockdown, so I just didn't feel tired at 10.30 when I switched off the light. Given that I had been getting up later and later each morning, I was also terrified that I wouldn't be able to wake up for a 6.30 alarm. Add a whole host of anxieties connected with life getting back to normal into the mix, and you have the recipe for insomnia.
The cat looked at me like I had completely lost the plot, when I staggered downstairs like an extra from Dawn of the Dead, not used to seeing me at such an ungodly hour. I couldn't find half of the make-up products that I needed in order to look even remotely professional, having not used such items for months. I could not get my hair to look like anything other than a straggly mess, so I scraped it into a bun, which revealed plenty of grey regrowth.
Sitting in my car, looking up at the office window, felt surreal. I had done this, five days a week, for many years, yet in the space of a couple of months, I'd slipped into a whole new way of life. According to Victoria's email, today was just going to be a 'quick' meeting, so to preserve my sanity, it would be best to just focus on that for now. John and I would deal with the other problems related to going back to full-time work as they arose. I slipped on the mask that I had promised John that I'd wear. He had given me the stats on how much more likely I was to become infected in a closed-in, air-conditioned environment last night (undoubtedly another contributor to my dark circles).
The main doors to our building opened automatically and I was immediately faced with an industrial-sized dispenser of hand-sanitiser. There was only one other person in what had once been a bustling reception area. She was wiping down the desk, wearing a white plastic apron, gloves and face-mask. It was only when she called out my name, her voice muffled through her face-covering, that I realised that it was Sharon, who cleaned our office. "What the hell are you doing here? You're not coming back to work are you?" she asked. Her normally-burgundy hair, like mine, was peppered through with silver.
"Looks like it. Am I the first one in?"
"Haven't seen any of your lot. Is that annoying girl from your office coming in too?"
"Olivia? Fraid so," I laughed.
"Shame. I'd got used to the peace around here," she told me.
We chatted for a few moments, then I went up to the next floor, my footsteps echoing through the eerie silence. Fluorescent lights flickered on as I moved. It put me in mind of that scene with the CCTV in 'The Grudge'.
My desk was how I'd left it - diary open, the pen that the kids had bought me for Christmas, resting upon it. I lifted the framed photograph of the family that I kept here and smiled, enjoying looking at it for the first time in a while.
"Daisy!" Olivia was coming towards me with arms outstretched.
This is exactly what I was worried about!
"Olivia!" I snapped, side-stepping her.
"For goodness sake, Daisy," she said. "Can't I even hug you now?"
"Social distancing is really important in an environment like this," I said.
"God! Is that even still a thing?"
Omfg! Here we go!
"Yes, Olivia," I said, sitting down to log onto my computer. "So stay back. Guessing that Victoria's coming in for nine? It's not far off that now."
"Think she's doing a video call," said Olivia.
"So why the hell did she make us come back in when we could have all done this online?"
"I think that she just wanted to ease us back into things. Isn't it exciting to be back?"
But I would have to save my sarcastic response for another time, as there was an almighty noise in the doorway. Screaming, yelping, the full works. Antonio! "Daaaarlings!" Arms wide and heading in our direction.
Dear God!
I was in an impossible situation here. This was probably how I was going to die. If they didn't infect me because of their general recklessness and sheer fuckwittery, there was a good chance that I'd fling myself out of the window.
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