David

I was kind of scared to meet him at first.

Not that I was really scared to meet him, but I was a little apprehensive of the consequences it might bring. Meeting a new member of the team. A little while ago Agent Reeves had joined the team, but she had been more a less a replacement for Terry. Not the same at all, but it had felt like her place in the team was already established long before she came. With this guy, Agent Granger, it would be different.

He had to create a whole new place within the team. He wasn't replacing anyone. And yet, it still felt like he might be replacing me.

In situations like these, I feel like I was back at High School again. Constantly worried about being part of some group, always trying to belong somewhere. And although I might not show it, these are the situations in which I become really insecure. What if I don't belong to the team anymore? What if somehow he was going to take my place?

I know I am overreacting, we're all adults now. It's not a matter of being popular, and Agent Granger is just going to be my coworker. And I knew that no one wanted to get rid of me. I just…, I just couldn't stop thinking he was replacing me.

With clammy hands I closed the last yards to the elevator. I had had the morning off because I had been called in the night before, and Agent Granger would have arrived at the office by now. While riding the elevator to the second floor I tried to calm my nerves a bit, try to act cool, but at the same time I kept hoping that they hadn't given my desk to Agent Granger yet.

With a 'ding' the elevator announced its arrival at the second floor and the doors opened. Slowly I got out of the elevator and my eyes immediately went to my desk. It sounds stupid now, but I was relieved that my desk was still there, and not taken over by some new guy.

Immediately after that I noticed that somehow they had created space for a small desk in the corner, and behind it sat a big man. I could only see his back from where I was standing but it was obvious that the desk he was working on, in that small corner, was not suited to his size. His shoulders were drawn up almost to his ears, his elbows were pressed to his sides and he was sitting on a small foldable plastic chair. And only two feet away was my own desk, large, roomy and with a very comfortable chair. Empty.

I smiled to myself. I am not a vindictive person, I didn't even know the guy, but it felt good to see the new guy working in a cramped space like that, but most of all it felt good to see my own desk. Still there, still mine.

Of course this was only temporary; they would make sure that Agent Granger got a normal sized desk of his own. And until that time I might even let him sit at my desk when I'm not using it. But not quite yet. Today it would be my desk.

And although I knew I still had some territorial issues to work out for myself, I knew that with the new guy I had nothing to worry about.