The Silent Office

As I entered the office, a gentleman was sat at his desk in front of a partially opened window. It was an old building and the rotting window frame in front of him was an indication of its approximate age; mouldy and cracked with flaky discoloured paint that resembled the bark of an old birch tree.

The walls and ceiling were painted white allowing as much light from the solitary window to be reflected off every surface, giving the impression that the office was bigger than it actually is. The gentleman was leaning back against the black leather computer chair with his rather large brown boots balancing on the very edge of the desk, as they were ready to fall off. His arms were raised, with hands clasped together and implanted between his head and the back of the chair.

Even though the window was open, the office was quite warm and humid; his damp stained armpits, against his sky blue shirt was a reminder of how humid and motionless the air in that room was.

He spoke to me without disturbing his position. “Sit down” he said quietly. “You must be here for Michelle”. I responded and took a seat. There was a relaxing silence to the room that had a calming effect; almost paralysing. I sat motionless watching the papers on the desks flicker softly in the gentle breeze that drifted through the room.

Flyers that were pinned to the notice board were being pulled forward and back in a hypnotic rocking motion. Every so often two flyers would clash together sending a gentle clap echoing through the silent office, the claps were not strong enough to disturb or break the silence that had dominated the room. Each desk had a computer that was personalise and decorated with soft toys, mementoes or little pictures reminding everyone of their loved ones at home.

I could hear a muted conversation between a group of ladies that appeared to be coming form a distant location, however, their office was only feet away and their tiny voices were cushioned by the office door.

As I sat staring in a trance induced by the silent movement of papers and the swinging cords attached to the cream vertical blinds, I wandered how I could recreate this scenario and export this tranquillity to my own office. Suddenly the silence was shattered by the piercing sound of the office door bell. The sound of feet hurrying to open the door broke the silence even more. “Hiya, you must be the trainer, Brian”. She enquired. “I’m Michelle welcome to my office”. Michelle was dressed in a standard blue Nurses uniform with her bobbed mousy hair pinned back behind her ears; she had a reassuring smile fixed upon her face. As we engaged in a lengthy conversation about her training needs I was always aware of the silence and stillness that was around me and was the inherent atmosphere of this Silent Office.