Monday sat nervously, the high backed chair was mightily uncomfortable. Looked great in a magazine spread, not so for form and function. Monday had prepared well enough but this meeting had the air of foregone conclusion about it.
The office was stifling. From a narrow window, high up on the wall, she could see the brilliant flash of blue sky. Terrible music piped through the PA in the waiting room for the Bureau of Weekday Selection. Monday had taken her ticket from the dispenser and sat in a free chair among other ‘days’. Holiday days, Sick days, Days off, Duvet days, Dentist days, Can’t be arsed days....They were one and the same, weren’t they?
No, they were not. Order and importance were placed upon them, like some mean-spirited picking for school sports teams. But in this case, no one wanted to be picked first. Being the first day of the week sucked! EVERYONE knew that. Wednesday had already won the choicest pick and got mid-week. Safe! Easy, good old Wednesday, sports evenings, cinema, long lunches and distance from last week’s regrets but close enough to hit the weekend’s case for making a whole list of the same brand new ones.
It wasn’t as if this presentation would change anything. Monday could make a case for improving her popularity ratings; how they could make Monday a more likable day of the week. But it would be an uphill struggle.
Besides, she already knew that the commissioner and Friday were thick as thieves. They played golf together. It was a given. There would be no leeway.
Monday thumbed the envelope she had in her hand. She thought about some of the words within, how they could change the game. She picked at the edges before tearing it to pieces and scattering it in the bin. What was the point?
This year was going to be even worse, this year her BIG Monday shift came AFTER a weekend of celebrations. AND a heatwave was due. A pissing heatwave? Come on! Really? That’s all she needed. This year was going to be hot. Really hot. Absurdly hot. No one was going to want to know Monday this year.
The buzzer sounded and the light above the door switched on. Monday edged toward the door. It grew larger as she approached it. Seemed to dwarf her as she reached for the handle. She knocked twice, the second knock slightly more confident than the first.
- ‘Come in’ boomed the commissioners’ voice.
And in she stepped, knowing the outcome but hopeful all the same.
What a shitty start to the week.
