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ar is ready. You may have the driver take you somewhere other than your home. We don’t encourage pickups anywhere other than at your home. That will take prior arrangements. Do you have any questions?”
“None that I can think of now.”
“Good. I will wait for you outside. Please get changed.”
When she was gone, I opened the wardrobe and pulled out a drawer to find underwear and tights, all neatly folded. I took out what I needed and changed, hanging up my own clothes and putting my underwear in an empty drawer before I put on a suit jacket. There were several pairs of shoes in varying heel heights on the floor of the wardrobe. I picked a medium-high pair of heels and put them on, then turned to assess myself in the mirrored bathroom door.
I looked far more adult and sophisticated than I usually felt. It was a wonder what perfectly tailored clothes could do for a person. I touched up my hair, wondering what their policy on hairpins, ponytail holders, and the like was. Or jewelry. Was jewelry allowed?
I freshened my lipstick and put my purse in the wardrobe drawer before opening the exit door to join my guide. I thought I felt a slight tingle as I passed through the doorway, but I wasn’t sure if it was magic or just nerves. I knew it had to have been magic when a bell clanged loudly. “What is it?” I asked.
The guide frowned at me. “You’ve brought something in from the outside. Didn’t you remove everything?”
I surveyed myself, then realized I’d left my watch on. I held up my wrist to show her. “Sorry, I forgot.”
“We have provided you with a watch, as well.”
I returned to the room, removed my watch and put it in my purse, then put on the watch they provided. They really were serious about not bringing anything in, and I suspected they’d be the same way about bringing anything out. The alarm bell didn’t ring when I left this time.
Now I had a chance to notice my surroundings. It was like being in the atrium of a large hotel. The ceiling above me was so high that I wasn’t entirely sure if it was a ceiling or just the sky. Rows and rows of galleries surrounded the open space, and as I moved closer to the railing, I saw that there were many more levels below us. This side seemed to all be doors into changing rooms. On the other sides, the doors had windows in them, and it looked like they led to office suites.
“You’ll be over here,” the guide said, and I followed her around the corner and about midway down the next side, where she opened a door into a reception area. “You’ll have some paperwork to do.”
She left me in a small conference room, seated alone at a round table that had six chairs around it. A few minutes later, a woman who was either a well-preserved forty-five or a mature for her age thirty-five entered. She wore the uniform black suit, and her chestnut hair was slicked into a French twist. “Hello, Katie,” she said as she took a seat across from me and set a file folder on the table. “I’m Evelyn, and I’m the office manager of this department. I have a little paperwork for you. You’ve already done most of it.” She opened the file folder and flipped through the pages. “Yes, you just need to read and sign the employee policy and the nondisclosure agreement.”
She shoved the pages and a pen at me. This seemed awfully mundane for joining a magical secret society. I’d expected a sacred oath, at the very least. This was just ordinary paperwork. My heart thudded in my chest as I read the nondisclosure agreement, since I knew I’d be violating it. Did it count as a lie if it was for the greater good? At least I knew the document couldn’t be enchanted to force me to abide by it, since the enchantment wouldn’t work on me. Crossing the fingers of my left hand under the table, I signed my name, then pushed the pages back to Evelyn.
“Excellent,” she said with a smile. “Now, let’s get you to your office.”
She took me to what looked like a sunny little room. I thought for a moment that I might get my bearings on where the building was located within the city, but the view turned out to be of mountains. The window was fake, and I couldn’t tell if it was on an interior wall or an exterior wall. “If you want a different view, let me know,” Evelyn said. “You’ve got your computer there, and you’ll be issued passwords and your key card at orientation. Now, can I get you anything? Coffee? Doughnut?”
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
“Then I’ll leave you to get settled. Orientation will start in an hour.”
I wasn’t sure what settling there was to do, since I wasn’t allowed to bring anything into the building. There would be no potted plants or photos of my cat. Not that I had a cat. The only personalization was getting to choose the view outside my window, but then again, that was more than most people got, and the mountain sure beat the air shaft between buildings or the HVAC units on the roof of the lower building next door.
I still didn’t know what, exactly, I’d be doing. All the orientation I’d received so far had covered the basics of getting to work. The orientation session was held in a room that looked like a small university lecture hall. About two dozen other people in black suits stared wide-eyed as an instructor rehashed the policies. It turned out that personal jewelry was, indeed, prohibited and could be locked in a safe in the changing room. I supposed it would have been too easy to slip a recording device in that way. Hair accessories could be ordered. After an exhaustive lecture on security and privacy, we lined up to be issued computer log-on information and company cell phones. This was the only item that could be carried in and out of the building. It was a tiny flip phone that fit easily into my pocket for carrying around the office. There were no desk phones, so the cell phones also served for intra-office communication. We were forbidden to give the number to anyone outside the company unless it was authorized for company business. I suspected it had GPS and possibly even surveillance capability and made a mental note to keep it zipped up in my purse when I was at home.
Even after the orientation session, I still wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with myself once I got back to my office. I logged on to my computer and found my internal e-mail, which was empty other than a “welcome” message. They’d told us in orientation that Internet access would only be allowed for business purposes.
I yelped and jumped out of my seat when the phone in my pocket rang. I fished it out and flipped it open. “Hi, this is Katie,” I said, trying to sound smooth.
“Hi, Katie, this is Roger,” came the deep voice in my ear. “Welcome aboard. I’d like to see you in my office.”
“Sure. But you’ll have to tell me where that is. I’m still finding my way around.”
“Of course. I’d give you a map, but it wouldn’t do you much good. This place can’t really be mapped, but you’re very close to me.” If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a seductive purr to his voice that gave his words a double meaning. I wondered what the fallout would be for rejecting the advances of a boss in the magical mafia. “Go to your office door.”
I followed his directions. “Okay, I’m there.”
“Turn right and walk down the hallway.”
I barely stopped myself from saying, “Roger that,” since his name being Roger would make that weird. I settled for, “Okay, turning right and walking.”
“Keep walking.” I did, walking and walking for what seemed like forever. Just how long was that hall, anyway? Then I heard an abrupt “Stop!” both in my ear and from nearby. I stopped and turned to look through the doorway of a corner office with a lovely view of London at night. Was it another fake window, or did this building contain portals to other locations? Roger sat grinning behind a desk inside the office.
I closed my phone, disconnecting the call, and entered. “Please, have a seat,” Roger said, gesturing across his desk to a leather armchair. I felt like the chair swallowed me whole as I sat. The room had a peaceful sense to it, probably enhanced by the giant terrarium that nearly filled the wall behind the desk. All that greenery was soothing. Roger regarded me with a friendly smile and asked, “How’s the first day going?”
