located under “Los Angeles.”
As I entered my office, I took in my new surroundings with renewed energy. I had a meeting with Catherine later this morning, but I had thirty minutes to unpack and get situated. Over the weekend, all my boxes were moved from my old office to my new one. My keyboard, docking station, and monitor had already been set up—you had to love MS moving services. They had this down to a science, making you as efficient as you could be as soon as you could be. Anything MS could do to support working long unreasonable hours, they did so with enthusiasm. I docked my PC to make sure everything was working and hooked up properly. Before I could login, I found a smiling guy standing in my door. He looked cheerful and welcoming. He appeared to be about my age, maybe a little younger.
“Hi, are you Julia?” he asked with friendly inquisitiveness and a slight Indian accent.
“Um, yes, that’s me.” I smiled and nodded.
“Well, it’s so nice to meet you.” He walked forward into my office and extended his arm to shake my hand. “I’m Vivek. I work on Catherine’s team as well. We’re all really excited to finally have you here!” he gushed.
“It’s really nice to meet you,” I greeted enthusiastically.
“We’re actually neighbors. My office is right next door.”
Vivek was well-dressed in a short sleeve, retro, white button down tucked into designer jeans that were cinched with a chic, brown leather belt. I approved of his brown patent ankle boots that fit easily under his jeans. He was the classic MS metrosexual. It figured he was in marketing. You just didn’t see guys this well dressed in IT or in the product groups. MS had two types of people, technical and non-technical. The product groups are technical groups that develop and code the software. These are the hardcore nerds and they can care less what they looklike. Marketing, on the other hand, is non-technical. They care (occasionally too much) about personal hygiene, so naturally, this means they’re dressed better. I was going to have to step up my wardrobe. We chit chatted about my old job and why I wanted a change. He told me a little bit about his role and function on the team. He handled developer audience marketing.
“So what does your first day look like?” Vivek asked.
“Well, I have a meeting with Catherine in about ten minutes. I’ve been forwarded a couple of meetings for later today that I’ll go to, but other than that, I guess I’ll just play it by ear.”
“Sounds good. Well, let me know how I can help. Totally don’t hesitate to pop your head into my office and ask me anything, okay?”
“Thanks!” I smiled appreciatively. “I will definitely do that.”
Just as I thought Vivek was about to head back to his office, he stuck his head back in again. “Oh! I almost forgot. Do you have a doppelganger?”
I gave him a blank stare. “Huh?”
“Everyone on the team identifies with a doppelganger. It’s sort of a team joke. Your doppelganger’s picture goes on your door. Building 36 is like a maze and people always get lost. If you haven’t noticed, every hall here has a sign with the name of a city on it. It’s just to help guide people find their way and distinguish one hallway from another. We’re LA, so we thought it would be fun to do a Hollywood movie star theme. We’re the fun, fabulous, famous team of CMG.” He grinned and mocked a little cheer. “We might as well have fun with it.”
“You’re serious?” I asked, arching an eyebrow but open to the silly team game.
He nodded. “Mia looks like Zooey Daschanel, Catherine looks like a younger Grace Kelly, and I’m a little like Michael Phelps.” He grinned and emphasized his profile. “Do you see the chiseled chin resemblance?” He had short spiky hair and a long chin like Phelps did, but that was about it.
I laughed, playing along. “Who do you think I look like?” I asked in earnest. I’d never really thought about a
As I entered my office, I took in my new surroundings with renewed energy. I had a meeting with Catherine later this morning, but I had thirty minutes to unpack and get situated. Over the weekend, all my boxes were moved from my old office to my new one. My keyboard, docking station, and monitor had already been set up—you had to love MS moving services. They had this down to a science, making you as efficient as you could be as soon as you could be. Anything MS could do to support working long unreasonable hours, they did so with enthusiasm. I docked my PC to make sure everything was working and hooked up properly. Before I could login, I found a smiling guy standing in my door. He looked cheerful and welcoming. He appeared to be about my age, maybe a little younger.
“Hi, are you Julia?” he asked with friendly inquisitiveness and a slight Indian accent.
“Um, yes, that’s me.” I smiled and nodded.
“Well, it’s so nice to meet you.” He walked forward into my office and extended his arm to shake my hand. “I’m Vivek. I work on Catherine’s team as well. We’re all really excited to finally have you here!” he gushed.
“It’s really nice to meet you,” I greeted enthusiastically.
“We’re actually neighbors. My office is right next door.”
Vivek was well-dressed in a short sleeve, retro, white button down tucked into designer jeans that were cinched with a chic, brown leather belt. I approved of his brown patent ankle boots that fit easily under his jeans. He was the classic MS metrosexual. It figured he was in marketing. You just didn’t see guys this well dressed in IT or in the product groups. MS had two types of people, technical and non-technical. The product groups are technical groups that develop and code the software. These are the hardcore nerds and they can care less what they looklike. Marketing, on the other hand, is non-technical. They care (occasionally too much) about personal hygiene, so naturally, this means they’re dressed better. I was going to have to step up my wardrobe. We chit chatted about my old job and why I wanted a change. He told me a little bit about his role and function on the team. He handled developer audience marketing.
“So what does your first day look like?” Vivek asked.
“Well, I have a meeting with Catherine in about ten minutes. I’ve been forwarded a couple of meetings for later today that I’ll go to, but other than that, I guess I’ll just play it by ear.”
“Sounds good. Well, let me know how I can help. Totally don’t hesitate to pop your head into my office and ask me anything, okay?”
“Thanks!” I smiled appreciatively. “I will definitely do that.”
Just as I thought Vivek was about to head back to his office, he stuck his head back in again. “Oh! I almost forgot. Do you have a doppelganger?”
I gave him a blank stare. “Huh?”
“Everyone on the team identifies with a doppelganger. It’s sort of a team joke. Your doppelganger’s picture goes on your door. Building 36 is like a maze and people always get lost. If you haven’t noticed, every hall here has a sign with the name of a city on it. It’s just to help guide people find their way and distinguish one hallway from another. We’re LA, so we thought it would be fun to do a Hollywood movie star theme. We’re the fun, fabulous, famous team of CMG.” He grinned and mocked a little cheer. “We might as well have fun with it.”
“You’re serious?” I asked, arching an eyebrow but open to the silly team game.
He nodded. “Mia looks like Zooey Daschanel, Catherine looks like a younger Grace Kelly, and I’m a little like Michael Phelps.” He grinned and emphasized his profile. “Do you see the chiseled chin resemblance?” He had short spiky hair and a long chin like Phelps did, but that was about it.
I laughed, playing along. “Who do you think I look like?” I asked in earnest. I’d never really thought about a
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