The Boss’s Darkest Demand

The Office

I was walking up to the front desk I noticed once again how pristine and minimalist this company chose for its public views. It’s not bad by any means. But a few more statutes or paintings of contemporary art could give it a little more wow factor than the plain Jane look it has now. But then again, I’m not here to correct what I consider mistakes with their design choices. I’m here to make an impression, hopefully a lasting one.

“Hello. I’m Miss Blackwood, Calliope Blackwood. I’m here on the request of the company”. She looks at me, not impressed. I mean, I wouldn’t be either. I’m dressed in cheap, but classic office attire. Nothing worth being praised over. Except the necklace I never take off. A small, delicate, pendant with my family crest on it with a small diamond adornment. It came with me from the orphanage, and my adoptive parents never bothered to change my last name to theirs, said my name was probably worth being proud of and they didn’t want to take that right away from me.

She looks down at her appointment book, still typing on her computer, ignoring me until we hear footsteps behind me. “Don’t forget this mornings meeting with the new staff for introductions and the lottery trials Mr.Jones”. I decided to turn around, and I really shouldn’t have, because there he was, standing right behind me.

“Ah, Miss Blackwood, uh, Allie, we meet again. I’m glad you’re here with the company” he stated, looking at me with that grin of his. “Atlas, it’s nice to see a friendly face on my first day. Since you conducted the interviews I’m assuming you have other duties to attend to today, hopefully less boring than sorting out people like me” I state. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I shouldn’t be asking about his duties. I internally hit myself in the head. But I kept my composure and just returned his smile once again. The man beside him is giving me these puzzling looks, and I’m not sure what for. My smile faltered just a little, despite my effort. Man he looks like an uptight weirdo doesn’t he? “Actually, Allie, I will be conducting your orientation this morning. I’m assuming your waiting for the other staff to give you directions or collect you? We’ll wait no further. I’ll escort you. Follow me”. He stated.

Um. Okay. I guess we’re walking together now. Weird. Is he gong to be here this whole time? I don’t think I’d be able to concentrate if he was. The three of us walked to the elevator and the other man pressed the button. I wonder what the day will bring if he’s around.

Lost in my thoughts, I heard him speak. “Miss Blackwood, where did you get that necklace?” I looked over from the door to see him holding my pendant between his massive fingers. My eyes slowly met his for a moment. Lost in those eternal blue eyes, and it seemed like forever. “Allie, the necklace”. I snapped back to reality. Looking down I swatted his hand away. “I’ve always had this Atlas. It came from my parents”. And in that moment, the elevator notified us that we had reached our floor. Ignoring them I walked right out. But I couldn’t help but hear them whispering something as I walked away.

Everyone in the office was already gathered together in what looked like a lounging room. It had a space with all kitchen appliances, a bar across the stove, and further from that it had a relaxing recreational area of couches, chairs, bean bag chair even, and a large flatscreen tv. I decided to go make me some coffee while we were all waiting.

A woman, she seemed to be about 40 years old, started talking. Speaking about morals, expectations, classifications, tidiness, and obligations. I was tuning her out mostly while sipping my coffee and leaning forward on the bar. I looked down for a moment to stir my coffee thinking about that handsome Atlas and his striking blue eyes. The next thing I hear as she speaks is that Mr.Jones was going to give us a speech and instruct the new employees on their tasks, ones that determine if we will be continuing to work for the company after the week is out. After finishing my coffee I turned around to wash the cup in the sink. Still spacing out, not paying attention, I hear a deep voice starting to talk. I turned around. It was him, Atlas. It brought me out of my daze.

He was barely in the middle of speaking, staring directly at me when I dropped the cup. All you could hear was the sound of it shattering on the floor. Everyone who was silent turned around to look at me. I was frozen in place. They turned back to look at Atlas, I mean, Mr. Jones expecting something. “Miss Blackwood, I’d expect you to refrain from damaging company property. However, since this information is so shocking as to cause you drop a cup and shatter it, I believe you should get the honors of first choice”. What? First choice of what? I don’t remember anything he was saying from before. What was it? Something about redecorating? Creating a new image of the company? Ah yes. Our test he was talking about during the interview was meaning this. “I apologize for breaking a cup, but I’m sure you know as to why I was so startled. But, in full honesty, I’m wondering how far you will let us go when it comes to redesigning the chosen places within this company. And how much of a time period you expect the project to be completed by. I couldn’t possibly choose without knowing this information before hand, as I don’t want to bite off more than I could chew and risk failure to perform my duties, with all respect, sir” I stated.

Everyone looked at me like I had grown a second head. Yeah they didn’t expect me to be speaking like this did they? I smirked, quite pleased with myself and their reactions. The only one unphased, obviously, was Mr. Jones, Atlas, or whoever he was. And he was looking directly at me. He started to walk in my direction, “You will all have one week to preform your task. If it is not to my liking, you won’t receive a contract, but you’ll receive a letter of recommendation to a company I think best fits you and your abilities. If you surprise me, you get a contract. But if you so much as have incomplete work” he bends his head down to look me in the eyes, “you will receive nothing and be banned from the premises”.

Looking up at him, I made my decision. I had been thinking about it since the first time I walked into this building. “In that case, Atl..Mr. Jones, I believe I will choose the front lobby”. I stated. Still looking at my face, he smirked at me. He lowered his head beside my ear and whispered “Then you better get started because the lobby closes for no-one”.