I was having this dream, I was walking down the street in a beautiful navy dress. It was a sunny afternoon on a weekday in May. The fresh smell of spring was filling the city with such a vibrant atmosphere.
It was my favorite dress I wore only once, to my best friend’s wedding. It’s one of those dresses you don’t really wear on the street, unless you want people to stare at you. I guess I was in one of those moods.
A strange thing I started noticing was that men in passing started giving me a certain look. It wasn’t much of a stare, but an intense gaze of desire. Since when did men get the boldness to do such things? Didn’t they know it made me so… uncomfortable?
…
Then I woke up.
The sound of the alarm went off at exactly 6.45. Ugh, another day of being my glorious self.
I rolled out of bed. Stretched my legs and jumped into the shower. I quickly brushed my teeth and my hair at the same time, put on a nice black suit and went off to work.
The tube was extremely busy today, with women holding flowers and little presents. Was I missing something?
I hated the tube. The smell, the people watching you with that deep self hatred look into their eyes…and the battle. The all time battle for the priority seat. Will a man come and steal the seat from me while I’m reading the Financial Times? 50/50 chances of them doing so. And you have to give it to them, you know. They work hard at their jobs;they come home, they need to cook a nice meal for their wives. Some even do the laundry. And God Forbid if they have kids. Can you imagine doing all of that and working?
Not me. I was fine with only my job. VP at Invest in yourself LLC. Soon to be promoted to Regional VP which will give me more exposure and trajectory to CEO. I had my own house, my own car. With my job, it was hard to be tied down, so I didn’t really make a fuss on finding a man. I didn’t need kids, and also, you know men…they get so…emotional. They need that constant reassurance. Nobody has time for that.
Finally, my stop arrived and I got out of the tube, elbowing some people who were blocking the exit.
I was listening to some good old Kanye West in my airpods max while I was rushing out. Then, my eyes caught a colorful, obnoxious poster right before the station exit…and it hit me - “Celebrate International Men’s day! Give the men in your life the appreciation they deserve!”
Damn!
I totally forgot it was today. I should’ve bought some flowers for Lawrence. Or Laurie, as I liked to call him. It was the least I could do after I overworked him and underpaid him. He was a good guy and quite hard working. Questionable style, but attractive nonetheless.
I knew everyone in the office had a crush on him, especially Tamara from Invoices. I could always see her little smile when he’d leave her office. Men in today’s society are not safe, not even from the office. I started thinking if the roles were reversed, how would I feel?
I arrived in the office and placed my bag on the brown leather chair. There were probably fifteen files placed on the corner of the glass desk with a note saying simply “Urgent!”. I picked them up, and made my way to Laurie’s desk. The beauty of having employees was to pass them the admin, boring work anytime I could. Came with the title.
“Morning!” I placed the files on the desk, making him startle.
“Morning Ofelia. I guess these are…for me.” He avoided my stare, while I gave a quick condescending laugh.
“Happy International Men's day!” I pat him on the back as a sign of reassurance. I didn’t mean to come across as not a nice person.
I went back to my office and jumped into a couple of useless meetings. From time to time, I was peeking at the office through my glass windows. The chaos of the day was making its way across all departments.
“Lunch time?” Tamara from Invoices asked as she cracked open the door and peeked her head.
I rolled out of my chair and closed my laptop.
The cafeteria was on the 1st floor of the building. They were usually giving us discounted non-so-great meals, but it was accessible.
Stepping out of the elevator, there was a sudden mood boost, with people displaying full of laughter and joy. I soon realized, the epitome of such happiness was free cake. For Men’s day.
“That’s so nice they’re doing that. Men should be more appreciated, you know”, Tamara went on while biting an apple and gesticulating with her hands.
“No but really, they’re doing so much work. I don’t know what I’d do without Hugo, girls. He cooks, he cleans, he takes the boys to school before work”, Jodie from HR jumped into the conversation. “Don’t you think so, Ofelia?”
I diverted my stare back to the blond curls of Jodie. I gave a vague “I mean yeah, sure” response and looked back across the room to Lawrence’s table. He was enjoying his chat with some other associates, laughing and making jokes. I got a small tingling of jealousy in my body, but it passed quickly.
“No, but really Ofelia, don’t you think of..settling down sometime?” Tamara almost whispered while pronouncing “settling down” as if I was a man questioned on when I should have a family.
“I have everything I need, why would I want an emotional plus one in my house?” I smile politely, knowing I’ve offended at least two people at that table. But it was the truth.
“Don’t be so pessimistic now. Men are great!” she winked back at me.