Cold Coffee

There was not sun, only the sterile, white glow of the florescent lights. The silence in the temperature controlled  office was only broken by the dull hum of the air-conditioner. The cursor on the email she was writing blinked rhythmically, predictably. As her mind wondered, her eyes drifted to the side list of emails in the Inbox: a list of scheduled events for the next two months, a request for a reservation at a restaurant for senior staff members, a list of biographies to type up, and two more that had come in within the last 30 seconds. The abrupt gurgle of the water cooler near her brought her back to the task at hand; finishing those biographies.

She made a quick assessment and comparison of her surroundings. All the walls of the office were white, and all the doors leading to the inner, individual offices were painted a hard shade of steel grey. Everything, the furniture, the room, the people, were washed in the monochromatic, sterile, white light which emanated from the florescent bulbs positioned in the ceiling. Through the window, she could see the the strongly rooted tree that had withstood the test of time, and, yet, were still young, waving their vibrant leaves in the gentle, warm breeze. The warm, bright, radiant light from the sun made everything look vibrant, and a glow with life. It was early April, and already Spring, real Spring. As she thought, she looked over at her thick, paper cup of coffee, which she had completely forgotten about between her work and her musings. The instant half and half had separated from the rest of the coffee, resulting in light, cream-colored swirls appearing at the top of the coffee. "No sense in letting it go to waste," she thought as she stirred the coffee with a plastic red stirring stick. As she took the first sip, she realized that it was, in fact too late, the coffee was a cold as ice.

The idea for writing this little piece came to me as I was at my desk forcing myself to finish drinking a cup of coffee that I had let get cold. I actually wrote this while I was at work the other day, but don't worry, my job really isn't as monotonous as described in the story!