It was Monday again and Dorian was up bright and early. He didn't need to be since he was working from home for over 3 years now. A very deadly pandemic that had wiped out over half of the world's population had made working together with people impossible.
Not only that, it was now compulsory for people to work from home and a return to the office was still looking very unlikely. That didn't bother Dorian though, he was taking his vitamin C tablets and had been vaccinated against the most serious variants and was anyhow low risk.
When the pandemic first hit, Dorian was missing his old life. It was much more sociable and he often played football twice a week too. But now he was used to having contact through virtual calls and appreciated having peace and quiet and time to himself.
Dorian made his way to the bathroom. He stopped and thought for a moment. Should he brush his teeth today? He looked in the mirror, they didn't look that yellow, he could probably get away with skipping it as he felt tired. Dorian rubbed some gel on his hair quickly and then started to walk downstairs before stopping suddenly. A thought came to him if he should get changed now.
"Hmmm" he said aloud.
He went back to the bedroom and found a shirt that looked ok without being ironed. He threw it on over his vest and then continued downstairs towards the kitchen.
Before turning to the kitchen, he switched on his computer that was positioned in the dining room opposite the kitchen. It powered up quickly and he opened his emails. He checked his calendar. There was a meeting in an hour with his manager and a client. Luckily he had time to eat breakfast and relax a bit before it started.
Dorian's mind returned to his breakfast and he went to the kitchen. Once there he poured some cereal and milk into a bowl. He grabbed a spoon and took the bowl with him back to his make-shift desk in the living room.
Dorian began munching away. He switched on his favourite YoutTuber and began to watch the lastest episode. The YouTuber was a musician who found a niche market by singing songs on his balcony in a modern classical style and his channel really took off during the pandemic.
Dorian was soon finished with his breakfast and started to work. Work consisted of reading emails, checking a few pieces of data and often doing random pointless tasks requested of him by his manager. Dorian's manager was a chronic micro-manager and annoyed the hell out of Dorian.
His manager was called Dave and would often call and disturb Dorian at the most inconvenient of times, like first thing on a Monday morning or late on a Friday afternoon.
This really frustrated Dorian as he felt he was getting no peace from Dave.
Today Dorian had a meeting to finalise some points on a big contract with an important client. Dave was joining the call too.
As expected, shortly before the call Dave was pinging Dorian. Can I call you quickly? Dorian tried to calm his anger. What on earth does Dave want now? We've already had meetings and gone through every minute detail about this meeting already.
"Yes" Dorian wrote.
The computer started flashing with a picture of Dave. Dorian answered the video call and put on his best fake happy voice. "Good morning Dave" he said.
Hi Dorian, thanks for taking my call. "I just wanted to go through the figures once again before we speak to the client" said Dave.
"Has there been some changes?" answered Dorian.
"No, not really, but we need to make sure the cost calculation is right" said Dave.
"Oh, ok" said Dorian.
They then proceeded to look over the figures and Dorian continued to bite his tongue. "Why did they need to look this over together?! The figures are fine for me" he thought.
This was another aspect of Dave's micro-managing that Doreen didn't like. Dave could only ever discuss work topics. Even if you went for lunch in the canteen or to the pub after work, he would start talking about work. Other guys in the team would quickly look to escape from Dave's company as soon as he started talking.
The time soon passed and the call started with the client. After the formal introductions, Dorian started his presentation. Dorian had presented these things hundreds of times, so there was no thinking involved for him here. He was on autopilot delivering it.
Suddenly his phone was flashing and message tones were playing and he got distracted. He stood up to get the phone and saw it was Dave. "What does this guy want now?" he thought. Dave would often message or ring during client conference calls.
At that moment, Dorian realised he had only got dressed the top half today and was standing in front of the camera when he should only be sat down. Sitting back down, Dorian could literally see the shock and silence on the client's face. Dave was for once lost for words. Dorian didn't know what to say or do next.
Around 30 seconds or so passed but what felt like an eternity. Dorian couldn't think what to say. It didn't feel possible to continue the call. Dave jumped in and suggested rescheduling as Dorian would need to get dressed and he would need to have a serious word with him. There probably wasn't going to be another call, but the client agreed anyway but was still clearly in shock.
The end
Thanks for reading.