Chapter 5 Office & Celebration

The next morning....

After going through her usual morning routine, Evelyn gets ready for work. Wearing a beige coloured spring pantsuit and black plain cotton round neck Tee underneath the jacket, Evelyn styles her hair into a simple braid and after making sure to lock the door of her apartment with the keys two times, she marches towards the nearest public transport. Entering the public metro, Evelyn plugs her earbuds into the phone jack and shoves her wallet inside her office bag.

At around quarter to nine, she reaches the I Country branch office of HX Techno Consultancy Group (HX-TCG). HX-TCG is a big group that comes under the service domain and provides technology consultancy all around the world. The official operating headquarter of HX-TCG is situated in C Country, whereas, its roots are firmly established across the globe.

Evelyn has been working for the I Country branch office of HX-TCG for about more than two years now and serves under the backend process of the IT department as a senior executive. Working with one of the best in the world always comes with certain perks but at the same time, it also requires a huge commitment from one's side.

In a short timeframe, Evelyn has gotten a firm hold in handling the technical queries and which is why she is often regarded as one of the most competent juniors in the backend process team. She is a graduate in computer science; thus, it is quite logical for her to work for an Information Technology company.

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The day at work began like any other typical busy day for Evelyn, however, there is no denying that today, she has certainly become one of the recent hot topics of discussion inside the company.

A palpable excitement can be seen among the employees of the IT department upon getting to know about the selection of Evelyn in the training program. Many of her colleagues came to Evelyn and congratulated her on this big opportunity. HX-TCG, surely is different from other companies, as all the people working under this group are exceptionally talented and at the same time, they are also highly supportive of one another. There is no place for the feeling of jealous envy, among these colleagues.

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For Evelyn, getting a job with an average college degree from a lowkey Tech-university of Z Country has never been easy, and in every single interview that she has given so far, Evelyn was often required to prove her worth by showcasing her technical skills while the guys from the well-reputed universities were often got placed in big organizations through their supreme placement cell.

Meanwhile, building a career in IT in itself was a big challenge for Evelyn. Not to mention, the family of Evelyn, especially her grandparents and her father, never really liked the idea of her working in an IT organization. The job in IT firms often demands from its employees to work in rotational shifts and sometimes, even all day and night. However, despite everything, she chose to work in the Information technology company and also rented an apartment for herself close to her office.

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Before the lunch break, Evelyn visits the Human Resource department for undergoing further formalities related to the training. After all the paperwork, she was requested to sign a contract which states a four-year bond with the HX-TCG. Her working visa has already been applied from the side of the company and hopefully, she will get the same soon.

Time passed by in the blink of an eye and soon, the beautiful evening arrived, where her colleagues from the IT department threw a small party for celebrating the achievement of Evelyn and for wishing her good luck for her future.

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Once again, she was congratulated by all her colleagues as well as her department head. And even though, Evelyn is a socially alienated person, she formally valued every single one of them and thanked each one of them with equal earnestness.

In between this, one of her colleagues says enthusiastically, "C'mon Evelyn, give us a farewell speech..."

Among her colleagues and superiors, apart from being an incredible technical query handler, Evelyn is also known for her aloofness and indifferent attitude. She mostly talks about stuff that is related to work, and only answers when asked, while sometimes, she does not even hesitate to give her opinion on matters when needed.

Other than that, she is not very good at socializing with people because of her reserved and indifferent nature. Knowing Evelyn for this long, her colleagues are used to this nature of her and they do not even mind her indifference. Because, in their eyes, even though, Evelyn does not talk much, she is considerate and cooperative. There have been multiple occasions, when she has come forward to assist and support and thus, for them, she is a wonderful colleague.

..

If it has been any other day, Evelyn would have certainly dodged their expected gaze just like she always does. But tonight is not the night to dodge the bullet. Soon, she will be leaving this branch where she has worked for almost two and a half years. She genuinely felt the need to thank her incredibly fabulous colleagues and her seniors. And, even though Evelyn is not a very emotional person, she is certainly a person with great principles and ethics. Therefore, tonight is the night to say a few words of appreciation and thank each and every person from whom Evelyn learned so much.

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Evelyn begins by saying, "Thank you, everyone... I am grateful that I got this opportunity... I am extremely thankful to my seniors who advised and guided me throughout my working here."

Absorbing everyone's gaze on her, Evelyn further continues to say, "I would especially like to thank our department head, Mr John, for guiding and trusting me all these years and finding me capable of this opportunity... Also, a warm and special thanks to all my colleagues, who have always been incredibly supportive and enthusiastic for their fellow colleagues... I'll miss you all... And I know, I am not very talky, but I sincerely thank each one of you for tolerating me and accepting me for me in all these years... I take all your blessing and I wish you all best of luck for your future endeavours..."

"And I will make this opportunity count", Evelyn says the last part in a low voice.

Everyone who was present there to hear Evelyn gave her a big round of applause and in a sing-song voice cheered, "Good luck! Amen! Best of luck!"

...

After her small farewell speech, Evelyn excuses herself and finds a quiet corner to sit in. She never really likes to be the centre of the attraction and that's why, every single time, she tries to avoid it at all costs. It is like, when people give her too much attention and importance, she always gets a little overwhelmed to her own liking. Nervousness! Anxiety! These two emotions always chase after Evelyn whenever she's been put at the centre of something. And thus, by acting less intellectual and lowly shrewd, Evelyn often tries to avoid too much attention from people.

She hates it when people notice the things she does and then praises her for that. She has never been very good at handling praises well. Sometimes, even Evelyn finds it bizarre, as to why she is like this? But, deep down, she absolutely knows the answer to this why.

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Fun fact, although the party has been arranged for Evelyn, if one will look at the gathering closely, then, out of all the people present at the party, the one who looks least interested among them is Evelyn herself. Because at this moment, all she wants to do is to go home and sleep her eyes out. Another fun fact about Evelyn is that as much as she is an early bird, she likes to go early to bed. So, clearly, Evelyn is not in the mood to celebrate right now, but still, she needs to be here, because the party is about her and also, how can she not appreciate and respect her colleagues who have been more enthusiastic than her.