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We thought it would take a day for people to start coming back.
We were wrong.
The first to arrive was the lobby receptionist, a little after ten. We were fiddling around with the phones when she walked through the glass doors, bathed in sunlight. She walked up to the desk and smiled, but her eyes transmitted a mix of fear and anger. I could imagine what she was thinking: Why are you there? and Get off my desk!
Jordan said, Hi!
Hi, she said, I'm Jan. That's my desk. Who are you?
Good question, I thought.
Her face, covered with a thick layer of makeup, said nothing of her age. I guessed she was twenty five. Then I realized I had never *really* looked at her before. Then I realized how many people I saw everyday but not really looked at.
I was about to mumble something in response to Jan's question when Jordan said, I thought you had the day off!
Change the subject, I thought. Good.
Day off? Jan said. I was fired!
Oh, Jordan said.
Jan went on, But then I got a message saying that there had been a mistake...
Jordan and I look at each other and I can tell she's thinking what I'm thinking: That was fast.
Heh, same thing here, I said.
Really? Jan said.
Yeah.
Anyway, we were coming in and we saw the phone lights flashing... Jordan started.
Jan cut her off. I've got it, no problem.
She walked behind the desk, next to us, leaving her purse on it. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. We moved away, around the desk, to the other side.
And that's were we are now, looking at her in silence as she goes through what must be her daily routine of arranging everything on the desk so that it's exactly placed in a certain position. Since no one has been here to clean since yesterday, everything is still as she left it, so she just picks things up, looks at them, and then puts them back in the same place.
When she is done she takes a deep breath and puts on the headset.
I am about to ask her why, if she was fired, she was so eager to come back to her job, but before I can do that she pushes a button on one of the phones and says, Good morning, how may I direct your call?
No problems moving on, I see. I am thinking of something good to say when another person walks through the door.
Then another.
And another.
Then Eddie.
I look at Jordan and say, Run Away, Run Away! Monthy Python style. But it's too late. Eddie has already seen us, and he's coming our way.
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8:05:09 PM 
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