It's just like an ordinary ending to his day. Wrapped up his work an hour before midnight to catch the last bus home, he settled at his usual spot at the second row from the rear before resting his sling bag by his side and stare blankly to the front.
Year-ends are the busiest time for the company, with clients and superiors alike asking for more product specifications and details for their New Year’s Eve report. Allen often worked till the security guard told him that unless he is sleeping in, he’d get locked in if he doesn’t leave.
Taking off his spectacles, he rubbed his eyes intently while wishing things can be better. Not that it is very bad now, he has a stable and well paying job, a neat and cozy house, adequate savings in the bank, but don’t we all wish that better is good? Change is good and a change for the better is deemed fit by everyone. An even better job with an even bigger house and backed up by even more money in the pockets, what’s not to love about these?
He balanced the black frames on his left thumb and pinkie, squinting at the blur reflections off the concaves and suddenly felt hungry.
He quickly donned his apparatus and unzipped his bag. Rummaging around for a moment before he produced an old sandwich in a clear plastic wrapping, he zipped up his bag and took a sniff at the plain buttered sandwich through the wrapper.
Without a thought, he peeled it free and took three munches to empty the plastic bag of it’s contents, all the while not having any sense of gratification nor satisfaction. He forgot to take his tea break at the earlier part of the day, bogged down by his team lead to produce a report on the findings of the product research that he was assigned to do. Allen doesn’t really hate the team lead, everyone has obligations to fulfill and he shouldn’t make life difficult for others especially if it hardly benefits him.
Emptying his thought, Allen opened his bag and placed the empty wrapper beside the upright silver umbrella tucked in the corner. Finding his bottle, he opened it to take a big swing of water and gargle for a second before letting it slip down his throat.
Truman is a strict but fair leader, kind to his subordinates while motivating them to push for their personal best. He is widely respected by his peers but his weakness is that he never say no to his superiors. This weakness usually transpires to problems for his team, who often find themselves working with impossible deadlines and under ridiculous conditions.
Allen took another mouthful of the mineral water and gargled again for a second before swallowing it.
He was a model employee, always found with his head down at his desk, buried among stacks of reports and memos and he never complained about the overtime and lower-than-market pay. Truman was a hardworking employee that got rewarded for his efforts when he was promoted a level up to be the current team lead after seven years. It was long overdue, or so everyone says, but Truman dismissed his colleagues’ views and told them that every man will have his day, it’s only a matter of when.
Allen paused for a moment and looked at the label on the mineral water bottle, and swiftly took another mouthful before screwing the cap and replaced it in the bag.
He guessed that maybe it will get better.
