Creative Writing "The New Guy"

I mentioned that I had finished this short story in another thread earlier, and figured I'd share it with everyone! Officially, it's here, but as I know how much everyone hates to link to offsite pages, I'll also paste it here in this thread. Enjoy!


"The New Guy"

It was a typical Tuesday morning for Larry Jacobson. He woke up at eight, grabbed the paper off the porch, and went into the kitchen for breakfast, which basically consisted of coffee and a donut. He then went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and shaved. Finally, he rushed to find his office clothes, grabbed his briefcase, and ran out the door to his car. As usual, he made it to his job at 8:55, just barely making it to his shift.

“Oh, hey Larry, didn’t see you come in.†Larry’s boss, Mr. Schick, happened to walk by his cubicle most every day on the way to his own office. The two of them seemed to get along rather well, especially for a boss/employee relationship. “Remember, I need that financial statement report on my desk by Thursday so I can present it at the board meeting.â€

“Yeah, I know,†replied Larry, “I just need a few more stats and figures, and it should be ready.â€

“That’s great to hear. Oh yes, I just remembered, we just hired someone new in marketing. Name’s Mark Tracy, I believe. I was hoping - that is, if it’s not too much trouble - that you could perhaps show him the ropes today.â€

Larry had to think about his schedule for a bit. “No, that shouldn’t be a problem. In fact, I should probably go welcome him right now. Where’s his desk?â€

“Y’know, now that I think about it, I don’t think he’s in yet. Bad form to be late on your first day, but I suppose it can’t be helped. You’ll probably know when you see him; he should pass by here on his way to his desk.â€

“Can do.†Larry made a mental note to look out for this new guy.

“Well, I’ve got to get back to my office - plenty of work lined up for me today, can’t be slacking off. See you around lunchtime, probably.â€

Larry sort of half-waved goodbye, then turned back to the work at hand. He did not particularly enjoy writing these financial reports, but everyone in his department had to write them up in turns. Knowing this made him feel a little better about it; there was always the chance that his looked good in comparison.

He did not have much time to look for the figures he needed, as he soon spotted a new face stumbling down the main aisle. “Man, I’m late, I’m late on my first day, the boss is gonna kill me, I just know it –†He abruptly tripped on his own untied shoelace, scattering the contents of his briefcase across the floor and knocking him flat on his face. Larry grimaced slightly.

“You must be Mark Tracy,†he said as he started to help reorganize the strewn papers. “My name’s Larry Jacobson; nice to meet you.â€

“Thank you so much for your help,†Mark replied, getting back up on his feet. “Yes, I’m Mark. Mr. Schick said I’d have someone to show me around today; I suppose he meant you. I’m so sorry I’m so late, really I am – â€

“Don’t worry about it,†said Larry reassuringly. “Mr. Schick was a bit worried when you didn’t show up on time, but he won’t be angry with you, especially since this is your first day. And yes, I’m the one who was commissioned to help you find everything today.†After watching Mark struggle with the papers he had grabbed, Larry added “Here, I’ll help you get these to your desk, since I’ll have to head there anyway.â€

“Thanks, sorry I’m so disorganized – â€

“It’s fine, I don’t mind in the least.â€

So they both walked over to Mark’s desk, papers in hand. Larry began his help session by helping Mark organize his things; the man had made an understatement when he said he was disorganized. Larry then showed him the different programs that were to be used, and explained how and when to use each. Mark seemed to know a bit about some of the programs; must be why he was hired, thought Larry.

After showing him around the rest of the building, including where all the bookkeeping references were kept, there wasn’t really enough time for Larry to begin to do anything with his report before his lunch break began. “Hey Mark, since we’re now fellow co-workers, you want to go catch a bite to eat?â€

“Sure; I remember seeing this Chinese place on my way here, how does that sound?â€

“You know, I’ve not had Chinese in a while. Sounds like a plan.â€

The rest of the day progressed as usual, except Larry occasionally checked in on Mark to make sure he wasn’t stressing out too much over his workload. By the time the work day was over, he had found the numbers he had needed for the report, but did not really have the time to incorporate them. Sure, he could have stayed for a bit of overtime, but he reasoned that he still had the next day to work on it before it had to be on Mr. Schick’s desk.

************

It was a typical Wednesday morning for Larry Jacobson. He woke up at eight, grabbed the paper off the porch, and went into the kitchen for breakfast, which basically consisted of coffee and a donut. He then went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and shaved. Finally, he rushed to find his office clothes, grabbed his briefcase, and ran out the door to his car. Today, however, he made it to his job at 9:03, just barely missing his clock-in time. Traffic was not on his side that day, and it was a surprise to him that he made it to the building that early.

Mr. Schick greeted him as he walked through the door. “You’re a tad late, Larry; something troubling you? It’s not like you to be late for anything.â€

“No, it’s nothing. Traffic this morning was hell, that’s all.â€

“Alright, as long as you aren’t too stressed or anything. Oh, and how’s that report coming? I understand if you haven’t progressed much since yesterday, what with showing Mark the way things work around here and whatnot.â€

“Actually, I found those numbers I needed, so the report should be on your desk later today.â€

“Great to hear. That’s why I hired you - punctuality with a sensible work ethic. Well, I’ve got to get to a few meetings, so I’ll see you around.â€

“See you later.â€

On his way to his desk, Larry decided to stop by and see how Mark was doing; it was only his second day, after all. As he walked over, he got the strangest feeling he had forgotten about something important, but he shrugged it off as an effect of the recent stress. “Hey, Mark. How are things going this morning? Keeping up with the busy schedule, I trust?â€

Mark looked up from the paperwork in front of him and stared at Larry with a look of disgust. “Look buddy, I’ve got a lot of work to do today, so I’d sincerely appreciate it if you’d leave me alone.â€

“Hey man, I was only trying to see if you needed any help; you don’t have to bite off my head for it.â€

“Well, for your information, I’m doing just fine without your help. You’d just be getting in the way. Now please, leave me to do my job, or I’ll call Mr. Schick and tell him you’re interfering.â€

“Well, I’m so sorry for trying to show you a bit of charity!†Larry stormed off to his desk, where his feeling of outrage subsided into a feeling of depression as he worked on putting the finishing touches on the financial report. He placed it on Mr. Schick’s desk right before going to lunch. Still feeling somewhat upset about the events of that morning, he decided to seek out Mark and apologize for his outburst.

“Look, we’ve known each other for, what, a day? Did Mr. Schick tell you to follow me around constantly while I was here, or was it your own decision to stalk me?â€

“I just wanted to apologize for what happened this morning, and thought that perhaps we could talk this over on our lunch break; I’m not trying to stalk you.â€

“Well you’re doing a damn good job for someone who’s not trying. I’m not interested in going to lunch with you today, so just get lost.â€

Larry was appalled at what was just said, but decided to not carry on the argument any further. It was fairly obvious that Mark did not wish to be bothered that day. Still, Larry couldn’t help but feel somewhat concerned - how could someone who was so incredibly shy one day go to being this arrogant the next?

The rest of the work day progressed as usual, much to Larry’s relief. Because he no longer had to work on the report, there was not much he could do, so he basically sat at his desk waiting for someone to give him some sort of job the rest of the afternoon. No one even came near his desk. Five o’clock rolled by, and Larry made his way home. Traffic that afternoon was much worse than it had been in the morning, but Larry somehow could not focus on being upset at it.

(continued in next post)

 

(continued from previous post)

************

It was an atypical Thursday morning for Larry Jacobson. He woke up at 8:30, slothfully made his way down the stairs, and slowly opened the front door to grab the paper off the porch. He went into the kitchen for breakfast, which basically consisted of coffee and a donut, as usual. He then went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and shaved. Finally, he just threw his office clothes on, grabbed his briefcase, and walked out the door to his car. He made it to the office at ten, much later than he had ever come in. As he did not have anything assigned to him at the moment, this was not that much of an inconvenience to the company, but it was still highly unorthodox. The first thing he did after punching in was to go see if Mark was feeling any better.

“Hey, we apparently started off on the wrong foot yesterday, and I just came over to apologize and see if everything was alright.â€

“Oh, yeah, I’m so sorry for the way I acted yesterday, I feel just awful.â€

Larry was not really expecting an apology from him, but it was certainly welcome. “Don’t worry yourself too much over it; I understand it was only your second day, and what with all the stress of a new job – â€

“No, it was entirely my own fault; I should never have treated you so poorly. Oh god, the pain I feel when I think of how I acted towards you, it feels as though a countless array of blades was piercing my flesh at every point – â€

Larry slowly backed away from Mark’s desk. His overall persona seemed to have completely changed again. This was a serious issue - one that Mr. Schick should probably know about. He ran back to his own desk and called his boss’ voicemail.

“Hello, Mr. Schick? This is Larry Jacobson. I’m just calling because I’m slightly concerned for the new employee, Mark Tracy. His mental health seems a bit, well, questionable. I think he may have bipolar or something; I don’t really know, but it certainly seems that way. If you could look into it, I’d appreciate it.â€

Larry did not have to wait long before his lunch break, seeing as he arrived so late anyway, so he was not entirely surprised that no one had given him anything to do that morning. The sight that met his eyes when he returned, however, was quite surprising.

Mr. Schick was standing by Larry’s desk, along with three men in white lab jackets.

“What’s going on, Mr. Schick? Did they take Mark – †He was cut off by seeing Mark himself, just over one of the men’s shoulders, standing up from his own desk.

“No Larry, Mark’s not the one who needs the help.â€

“What do you mean? Two days ago, he was completely nervous, while yesterday he became a complete ***, and today he was utterly depressed! How does this not warrant help?â€

“Because he was never anything but nervous about his job, a feeling that grew once you started acting funny.â€

“Me? I haven’t acted unusual once in the five years I’ve worked here!â€

One of the other men stepped forward. “Sir, from what your boss has said, and that man over there – †he pointed to Mark “ – confirmed, you appear to be displaying symptoms of bipolar disorder.â€

“What? But how? This is crazy!â€

“That’s what I thought, too, when Mark contacted me yesterday,†said Mr. Schick. “But, after having several other employees call and question your behavior, and after having read this report you wrote, I realized it had to be the truth. You know, everyone was too afraid of the way you were acting yesterday to even approach your desk. Surely you didn’t think that there was no work for you to do.â€

“But why now? Why haven’t I acted this way before?â€

“Well, to be completely honest with you: when you were hired, you remember how you had to take several examinations, one of which being a psychological exam?†Larry nodded. “Well, at the time, the psychologist said that you ran a slight risk of developing the disorder, especially if there was any rather large addition of stress in your life. I shrugged it off then, because I was incredibly short on staff, and you were one of the most qualified people out of the applicants. This past Tuesday, however, when Mark was here for the first time, was when you apparently ‘snapped,’ as it were.â€

“A new person introduced to your daily schedule is a huge amount of additional stress,†interjected one of the other men in white, “and from what your boss told us, it was probably just enough to trigger the disorder.â€

“But that still doesn’t explain how Mark can get off scot-free the way he was acting the past three days. Surely that’s got something to do with it?â€

“Actually, probably not,†said the third doctor. “There are many cases in which the patient believes he’s the normal one and someone else is bipolar. It’s not entirely uncommon. Basically, you, thinking you’re acting normal, exaggerate what the other person’s reaction is. Seeing as their reaction is probably fairly unorthodox anyway, it tends to be blown out of proportion, to the point of seeming as though they’re the ones with the disorder.â€

“But... this cannot be! Surely there’s a misunderstanding!†Larry started throwing punches at the air, to which the doctors reacted by grabbing him by the arms and thrusting him to the ground, thus restraining him.

“We’re sorry this has caused you and your company trouble, Mr. Schick,†said one of the men as the other two began to carry Larry out of the building. “Things like this are all too common these days.â€

All the way out, Larry was dragged, kicking and screaming, ever unsure of his own mental disorder.

 

The first bit there kind of seemed like I was reading a case out of my business manual.
A more or less interesting piece, but a bit slow.
Still, it was an entertaining read.

 

Update relating to this story: I had entered this particular piece into a creative writing contest here at my school, and I just recieved word that it won third place for fiction entries. I was rather excited about this, and felt it needed to be shared.

 

Well, I guess congratulations are in order. Keep up the good work!