I had just got to the point where I was starting to want to go back to the office. A year is a long time to work at home. The advantages are many, but I was starting to feel the pull off the Riverbank towards the Wide World......... Fortuitously, a piece of work came in that I couldn’t do from the laptop. I had no choice but to plan a day in the office. I picked today and was delighted when my wee Roomie told me she was going in today too. Perfectly perfect :)
I work 0730-1630, 4 days a week. Going into the office meant getting up 15 minutes earlier than usual to allow for travel........my office is about a mile away, but the one way system trebles the distance and the roads are all residential or town centre, so 30mph and plenty of roundabouts and traffic lights! I didn’t mind the slightly earlier start, I was looking forward to getting into the office, mixing with colleagues, and hearing all the craic! I also found myself feeling nervous. It had been a long time. I packed up my wee backpack handbag, made my packed lunch, took my wee roomie’s Christmas present under my arm (!), and headed out the door like a kid on their first day of school!
I arrived happy to be there, if a little apprehensive, and I managed to successfully combine a few short chats with colleagues (always a feat for me to keep a conversation short!!) with a days work. It was quiet, with not too many about, but was all going well. Wearing a mask was rubbish, but I know it’s still necessary. I enjoyed being back in my office with my pal, even though she’s now my manager lol!!
All good. I worked hard and finished the report I had hoped I would. I was packing up about 10 minutes after my finish time but that was fine. Wee rucksack packed up, lunchbag in hand, along with a reciprocal Christmas present from wee Roomie :) All set.........
Keys........keys.........KEYS????? Where are my keys???? Seriously, WHERE ARE MY KEYS???? Panic started to build as I realised I had absolutely no recollection of where I’d put them. The search began.......Pockets? No. Backpack? No. Desk? No. Under desk? Nope. Office floor? No. In fridge? No. Lunchbag? No. Christmas present bag? Nope. By this time my heart is starting to pound. Where were they?? In the car? Or dropped walking from car to office? Steps retraced.......car locked, no keys inside. No keys in corridor or in car park. WHERE ARE MY DAMNED KEYS??? I go to other offices to see if anyone has found them or if someone is playing a joke on me......no luck. I expand my search area.......... bins, corridors I hadn’t even walked down today, even down the toilet (could they have fallen out of my pocket?? Would they have flushed away?? Surely I would’ve heard them??)
Full blown panic now. I find myself moving at speed upstairs to the management corridor. I interrupt a meeting between a senior manager and someone I’ve never met and ask if anyone has handed in keys. The answer is no, but the manager tells me he’ll arrange for someone to take me home and he’ll get whoever’s left in the building to start a search..... I’m mortified, and in a total panic. My voice has risen by two octaves and words are spilling out of my mouth in the muddled and frantic manner of a crazy person.
I head back downstairs to continue my search while waiting for the boss to finish his meeting and call in the troops. I reach my office (having rechecked every possible ‘lost key hiding place’ along the way), and had a eureka moment.......wee Roomie!! She must’ve lifted them by mistake! I rang her, spewing out half formed words, and feeling like my heart might burst out of my chest. She tells me she definitely doesn’t have them. I feel my head start to pound. Then she says “Are they in your coat pocket?” I told her “I didn’t have a coat” (I had on a light, knitted hooded top over a t-shirt). As my eyes scanned the office and fixed on something, I heard her say “Your coat was hanging up when I came in”. I realise I’m looking at a coat. My coat. I’d forgotten I’d worn it because it had been raining this morning.
I grab the coat off the wall hook and feel the lump of my keys in the pocket. By now I’m half laughing at how stupid I’d been, and half crying with both embarrassment and relief! I say goodbye to my friend, wee genius that she is, and head back upstairs to tell the boss to call off the search. My voice has possibly gone up another octave and I’m talking so fast behind my mask I’m sure I sounded like I simply wasn’t fit to function in the outside world! I can almost hear him thinking that the wee brain tumour girl has finally lost the plot after working at home for too long. I made good my escape and left work. I sat in my car in the car park for a few minutes, making sure I was ok to drive. Deep breaths, music on, slow drive home.
Wee Roomie rang to check up on me and I laughed with my son about what had happened. He told me he’s left his coat at work loads of times because he’d forgotten he’d worn it, and showed me a funny video to further settle me down. Hubby came home and we caught up on each other’s day before having dinner. Since that we’ve eaten, done the dishes, watched the news and I’ve written this blog entry.
Now I’m for bed. I’m exhausted. Thankfully, despite still being a bit embarrassed, I can see the humour, and know it could’ve happened to anyone. My crazy reaction has left me with a headache, but I know all I need now is a good book, an early night and a good night’s sleep.
I guess I’ve still a bit of work to do to ensure I don’t spiral when things go a bit wrong, but what can I say? I’m still a work in progress. Most importantly, I’m still living with.... xx
