“Hi, are you Julia?” he asked with friendly inquisitiveness and a slight Indian accent.
“Um, yes, that’s me.” I smiled and nodded.
“Well, it’s so nice to meet you.” He walked forward into my office and extended his arm to shake my hand. “I’m Vivek. I work on Catherine’s team as well. We’re all really excited to finally have you here!” he gushed.
“It’s really nice to meet you,” I greeted enthusiastically.
“We’re actually neighbors. My office is right next door.”
Vivek was well-dressed in a short sleeve, retro, white button down tucked into designer jeans that were cinched with a chic, brown leather belt. I approved of his brown patent ankle boots that fit easily under his jeans. He was the classic MS metrosexual. It figured he was in marketing. You just didn’t see guys this well dressed in IT or in the product groups. MS had two types of people, technical and non-technical. The product groups are technical groups that develop and code the software. These are the hardcore nerds and they can care less what they look like. Marketing, on the other hand, is non-technical. They care (occasionally too much) about personal hygiene, so naturally, this means they’re dressed better. I was going to have to step up my wardrobe. We chit chatted about my old job and why I wanted a change. He told me a little bit about his role and function on the team. He handled developer audience marketing.
“So what does your first day look like?” Vivek asked.
“Well, I have a meeting with Catherine in about ten minutes. I’ve been forwarded a couple of meetings for later today that I’ll go to, but other than that, I guess I’ll just play it by ear.”
“Sounds good. Well, let me know how I can help. Totally don’t hesitate to pop your head into my office and ask me anything, okay?”
“Thanks!” I smiled appreciatively. “I will definitely do that.”
Just as I thought Vivek was about to head back to his office, he stuck his head back in again. “Oh! I almost forgot. Do you have a doppelganger?”
I gave him a blank stare. “Huh?”
“Everyone on the team identifies with a doppelganger. It’s sort of a team joke. Your doppelganger’s picture goes on your door. Building 36 is like a maze and people always get lost. If you haven’t noticed, every hall here has a sign with the name of a city on it. It’s just to help guide people find their way and distinguish one hallway from another. We’re LA, so we thought it would be fun to do a Hollywood movie star theme. We’re the fun, fabulous, famous team of CMG.” He grinned and mocked a little cheer. “We might as well have fun with it.”
“You’re serious?” I asked, arching an eyebrow but open to the silly team game.
He nodded. “Mia looks like Zooey Daschanel, Catherine looks like a younger Grace Kelly, and I’m a little like Michael Phelps.” He grinned and emphasized his profile. “Do you see the chiseled chin resemblance?” He had short spiky hair and a long chin like Phelps did, but that was about it.
I laughed, playing along. “Who do you think I look like?” I asked in earnest. I’d never really thought about a doppelganger before.
He placed his fingers to his chin and studied me, nodding to himself. “The Gilmore girl!”
I looked at him with a perplexed gaze. Lauren Graham? I’d never really thought about resembling her, but I guess that could work … We both have dark hair …
“Alexis Bledel, the daughter,” he said with finality. “Definitely. You have beautiful skin, big eyes, though they’re not blue like hers, and you do have that cute little butt chin.”
I laughed and touched my chin in response. “I’m impressed you know the name of a character from Gilmore Girls, let alone her eye color.”
“Honey, I know everything,” he said with a little head whip and wink. “Stick with me, girl, and you’ll do just fine around here.” He smiled at me and nodded with the utmost confidence.
I giggled. “Thanks, Vivek,” I said. “This is going to be a fun team, I can tell already.”
Ten minutes later, I headed to Catherine’s office, which was down the hall and around the corner. I was glad that it was located a little distance from mine. It was always uncomfortable having your boss right on top of you. She was drafting an email and her face lit up when she saw me. As expected, Catherine looked as sophisticated and sharp as the first two times I’d met her. Did she ever look bad? Now that I knew about the whole doppelganger thing, she did look a little like Grace Kelly. She was a classic beauty, with a strong, perfect nose, blond hair, green eyes, full lips, and a defined jawline. Today she was wearing a pale pink pleated skirt, a simple white spring blouse, and a pair of light gold high heeled sandals. Like the last couple of times I saw her, she looked like she just walked out of a fashion catalog. Even in one of my new summer outfits, I felt young and unsophisticated next to her.