Leaving Early?

Date: 1/24/2023

Started a new office job, at a desk in an open room. Friday afternoon. I am moving a wheely chair around in big wide sweeps, in and out of spaces between the lines of mostly empty desks, careful not to hit the furniture. Some form of sanctioned exercise. I notice Hazel is sitting at the corner station giving herself a needle. She is very old, last day before vacation. Someone asks her about a trip. Perhaps I am bothering her. I pass behind her chair one more time on the way back to my desk where I grab the financial receipts lying on top of the filing drawer. I will take them to the back room. "Look at you working hard!" says a professional woman, not my boss. I am hanging my laptop from a coat rack in the corner by the wall of windows, and pulling my chair up to it. "Just want some space to spread this stuff out," I explain. I wonder if they let people leave early on Fridays. She leaves for the weekend, has a 60's style traveling jacket and hat. She says nothing about leaving early. Damn.