Chapter 3: The First Day of Her New Life
IT’S morning already, isn’t it?
It was the second day after Gordon officially hired Olivia at Gordon’s Magic Appliances.
Olivia woke to birdsong in her employee dorm room on the fifth floor of the shop. She sat up in bed and stretched before looking around her. Her small room had a wooden floor, white plastered walls, and an angled ceiling. Some old wooden furniture, such as a wardrobe and a dresser, decorated her new quarters.
She put on her slippers and stood to open the white curtains. A narrow strip of blue sky peeked through between her new lodging and the row of other five-story buildings across the street. Everything about the scene was so city it made her sigh.
I still can’t believe I’m living smack dab in the middle of the capital. She reached high in a stretch before patting her cheeks. Time to get to work! Let’s do this!
Taking the light shawl hung over the chair, she wrapped her shoulders before leaving the room. Outside, in the dimly lit hallway, was a row of similar wooden doors and the complete silence of the early morning. She padded down to the very end of the hallway to bathe in the cheery bathroom with a small window.
Once she returned to her room, she put the magic kettle on to boil and laid out five of the pastries and tarts she’d bought the day before. Drinking her aromatic black tea, Olivia ate the baked goods while looking out the window into the clear morning sky.
Mm! That’s good!
The walnut-filled pastry was flakey and fragrant, while the milky bread was nice and moist. One of the tarts filled with icing was so delicious her eyes widened as she bit into it.
The capital is incredible. They’ve got such amazing bakeries in the city. Though…this doesn’t hold a candle to that old woman’s salted rolls.
She was thinking back to the small bakery near her father’s shop, where the old woman always gave her pick-me-up treats with a big smile, making her eyes crinkle into little lines.
I wonder how she is. She must be worried since I disappeared all of a sudden…
A long sigh escaped her lips as she thought about her far-off hometown and her father’s shop, but she shook her head to ward off the thoughts.
Don’t get yourself down. You decided you’d stop thinking about that.
She’d established the day before to “Stop reminiscing and ruminating on it. Look to the future.”
Thinking about the past and worrying wouldn’t change anything—the past year had driven that lesson home. Since she was here in the capital now, it also seemed pointless to worry herself sick over what had happened in the past in the distant town of Daregas. And so, she would make herself face forward, even if she had to force herself to. She would work so hard at growing as an artificer that one day, she’d look back and think, “I’m glad I went to the capital back then.”
She would give it her all and become the kind of artificer who puts smiles on her customers’ faces, just like her father.
“Face forward, and deal first with what’s right in front of you,” she murmured encouragingly as she went to work on the pastries. Olivia then gulped down the rest of her somewhat cool tea and energetically pushed herself up to get pumped.
First things first, get dressed!
She changed out of her pajamas and took a new white blouse, deep green skirt, and wine-red blazer from the wardrobe; her new ensemble was purchased at a store owned by a friend of Gordon’s at his recommendation. She tied a bow at her neck and, as always, put an earring on her right ear.
She quickly combed her fingers through her hair and then patted her cheeks.
All right, let’s do this!
✦ ✦ ✦
💎💎💎
ABOUT an hour after waking, Olivia was at Gordon’s office on the second floor, her heart racing. She knocked and entered to find Gordon at a desk covered in stacks of paper.
He grinned when he saw her. “How do you find the dorms? You sleep all right?”
“Yes, thank you. I’ve been very comfortable.”
“Good.” The corners of his mouth turned up more, and he looked up at the clock. “Let’s get right to it then. I’ll give you some info before we go around and introduce you to everyone.”
“Sounds good,” replied Olivia with a tense expression. It was finally happening. She took a pen and notepad from her pocket.
Gordon gestured for her to sit in the chair across from him and began, “So, we have thirty-seven employees in total. Sixteen of them work in this shop, of which six are artificers and ten people who do sales.”
“Where do the other employees work?”
“Our branch stores and the Royal Research Institute. Some have set up stores out in the country.”
Olivia was in awe as she took notes. She should have known that the typical magic item shops with only a few employees were incomparable to large shops in the capital.
Though, despite being in the capital, few women seemed to be working with magic items. They had only one other female employee, the one who showed Olivia to Gordon’s office when she first came to the store.
Gordon then explained how she would receive her own workroom on the third or second floor once she became a fully-fledged artificer. Until then, she’d use the group workshop on the second floor. Olivia fervently took notes, stopping occasionally to ask questions.
After some time, Gordon glanced at the clock and stood. “It’s time. We should get moving.”
“All right.” Olivia let out a tense sigh and stood.
The two left the office and went to the third floor.
“First, we’ll visit Harrison,” explained Gordon.
“Harrison?”
“He specializes in heat generation items. He’s a talented artificer who works on our flagship products: stoves and heaters. I want you to work with him first to diversify your skills.”
“All right.” Olivia nodded firmly, her heart pounding faster at the idea of a new job.
I wonder what kind of person Harrison is.
She felt a mixture of tension and unease as she followed Gordon and forced herself to take several deep breaths to calm her nerves.
He stopped at the furthest door on the third floor and announced, “Here we are,” before entering. Inside stood the stern-looking middle-aged man with black-rimmed glasses who had been there for her test. He had on a vest over his shirt and a neatly tied necktie.
“Harrison, I’ve brought Olivia. I’d like you to look after her starting today,” explained Gordon.
“It’s a pleasure to be working with you,” greeted Olivia, glad that he was someone she already knew.
She bowed, and Harrison spoke in a friendly tone, “We met at your test, didn’t we? The pleasure’s mine.”
Olivia nodded, thinking Harrison seemed like an intelligent man.
He and Gordon exchanged a few words, then Harrison looked at Olivia and said, “It seems you’ll be busy for the rest of the morning. Could I have you meet back here after lunch with your things? I’ll explain what you’ll be doing then.”
Olivia nodded, feeling nervous. “Yes. I’ll be here. Thank you.”