Note: None of these characters are mine except one.


After everyone gathered around the table, I stepped out of Dave's office.
"Listen up, everyone." Dave started, "Mr. James has enlisted the help of Ms. Lane here to help us with our ratings."
I smiled at everyone, "Hello."
"On behalf of myself and the others," a middle aged man stood up, "I would like to say how honored we are to have someone, as yourself, working in a fine establishment as ours."
I held out my hand, "Bill McNeil, the voice of WNYX?"
"Why yes," he continued as he shook my hand, "how did you know?"
"I was informed of everyone before I came." I said, "Plus Mr. James told me that a middle-aged man with a deep voice would start to flatter me."
"That's Bill all right." someone said, "Hi, my name is Catherine Duke."
Everyone introduced themselves to me.
I sat down, I started to feel a little more comfortable because everyone seemed so friendly. "I just wanted to say that I am still a little timid because I have never been in this kind of environment before."
"Well," Dave said, "I think that you will fit fine right here in our station."

After the meeting, Dave handed me some figures that Mr. James wanted us to look over. We sat at the conference table for a good hour.
"I'm real sorry for throwing this at you all at once."
"It's okay," I said, "I know what I'm doing now."
He smiled at me. "Did Mr. James say how long you were going to be staying with us?"
"Actually, no one has given me the information on that yet. Lucinda never even told me."
I sat looking over the ratings charts for a couple more hours, by that time I started to get hungry and Catherine approached me about having lunch with her. I accepted and we went to a Spanish restaraunt across the street from the building.
"So I bet this is a strange day for you." She said after we had ordered.
"Oh, very." I replied. "I'm just really happy that you are as friendly as you all are."
"I think that we all can bring the best and worse out of each other."
"I understand, I am the same way with the people I work with in Oakdale." I said.
"Are you originally from Illinois?" She asked me.
I took a drink and sat the glass down. "No, and no one has ever asked me that question before." I glanced around,
"I am actually from Indiana. Born and raised there."
"Mid-western girl at heart, I like that." She smiled.
"All you would see driving down the road are cows and corn." I laughed.
"You know Dave is from Wisconsin."
"Driving down the road there you would see just cows."
Catherine laughed, and then seemed to be talking under her breath as she laid a napkin in her lap. "Oh, the poor guy."
"What was that?" I asked.
"I guess that you haven't been filled in about all the details of the office."
"I guess I haven't." I said.
"Well, Dave has worked at the station for about four years now, and as soon as he got here he got busy with Lisa."
"You mean the girl with the long dark hair?"
"Yes, you will know who she is as soon as she starts talking about math or intellectual analogies."
"So her and Dave had an 'office romance'?"
"Yep, and they kept it a secret for a year."
Catherine continued telling me about Dave and Lisa and their on again, off again romance. But they had broken up for good a few weeks prior to my arrival at the station. She also informed me of Bill's pompous, arrogant behavior, Mr. James' eccentric behavior, Matthew's weirdness, Beth's coolness, and Joe's chauvinism and how he likes to play Mr. Fix-It.
Once we returned to the station I hung my jacket on the rack and went into the break room to grab a soda out of the refridgerator. At the table in there sat Matthew and Joe eating their lunch.

Part 4