A Different Monday

Elena normally worked in a large office by the river. She caught the eight o’clock bus every morning and started work at nine. That Monday, however, she was sitting in a small café with her laptop on a table by the window, and she had to admit that it felt rather nice.

“Why aren’t you at the office?” her colleague Mitch asked on the phone. “There’s no electricity in the building,” Elena explained. “So I’ve moved here with a cup of coffee.” “Do you often work in cafés?” “Never,” she said. “I’ve always thought I wouldn’t be able to concentrate.”

She usually drank tea, but the café had run out of her favourite kind, so she had ordered coffee. When the waiter brought a plate of toast, Elena realised that she was hungry, which was unusual for her at that hour. She normally ate nothing until lunch.

Mitch, who usually took hours to answer an email, was suddenly replying within minutes. “I’m quite enjoying this change,” he wrote. “I’m working in the kitchen, and the cat is asleep on my feet.” Elena laughed. “Does the cat usually help you?” “Never!” he replied.

At noon the power came back on and the office reopened, but Elena stayed where she was. “I work well here,” she told herself, glancing at the sun outside. She opened a new message to the team and typed: “Maybe every Monday could be different.”