Midnight Lovers

Burning the Midnight Oil

Grace cracked her neck as she continued to fill out the meeting minutes and send off emails within the company to their prospective departments.

The meeting had been at least 3 hours long and she had done a tonne of typing using her bluetooth keypad with her ipad.

Now she had to translate the short text to long drawn out information. Glancing at the clock she saw that it was nine at night.

Mr. Stevens had been locked in his office since the end of the meetings. She could hear his gravely voice through the door as he talked to whomever it was on the other end.

She answered some emails from other secretaries and rubbed her sore neck. It had been a long night.

Standing up she grabbed her coffee mug and headed for the door to the office. Knocking on it softly before entering.

"I'm going to get coffee, were you wanting another cup?" she asked Daniel.

The man only responded by holding up his cup towards her while he continued to talk.

Grace stepped into the office and walked over to grasp the cup and then walked away. Shutting the door softly behind herself.

In the staff room she poured herself a refresher and made it the way she liked it before working on Daniel's coffee.

"The devil has you working late does he?" came a male voice, startling Grace so that she screamed.

"Wow, you have a pair of lungs on you don't you?" the man leaning against the door jamb stated.

Grace glared at the man who was smirking at her from his position in the doorway.

"You would have a set of lungs too if someone just scared the crap out of you," She berated, "You could have just come in quietly or knocked at least."

The man pushed off the door and sauntered into the room. He grasped the coffee pot and poured himself a cup.

"You must be Mr. Steven's new secretary," the man declared, "I'm Mick Lane. I work in design."

He stretched out his hand towards Grace who ignored the friendly gesture.

She picked up the cups and walked out without saying anything more. Her teeth grinding. The man didn't even seem sorry that he had startled her.

He didn't even apologize to her for the scare and that was an instant nuh uh for her.

She dropped her coffee off at the desk first then quietly entered Mr. Stevens's office and set his coffee down.

Thankful the man was oblivious to her scream from just down the hall.

"Get me the contract for the merge with Gladiator Corporation," Daniel said without looking up from his computer, "I want those minutes on my desk by midnight."

"Of course, I'll have them done," she replied as she left the room.

She printed off the contract first then dived back into working on the meeting minutes so that she would be done by midnight.

The moment the clock chimed 11:30 she was setting the thick printed file down on his desk. Coloful tabs adorned it so he knew where to find any information about any part of the meeting.

He stared at the thick stack with amusement glinting in his eyes.

*****

"Man, she did all this in under two hours. No wonder Penelope chose her for the position" Daniel thought as he stared at the huge stack in front of him.

He had remembered his first few secretaries that he had hired before finding Penelope. They had wined and put off their tasks until he was demanding them.

Penelope had been just as efficient as Grace was being now, hardly missing a bit of information and effortlessly making his life easier.

Grace didn't complain about the lateness of the night or that she was tired. She just quietly worked in behind her desk and left him alone except to refill his coffee, or to bring him something to eat or even just to clean the office while he worked.

He was really impressed by her, and made a mental note to give her a raise after the trial period.

She was also dressed conservatively rather than outlandishly like most women her age would.

At first he thought she was too proper but he realized she dressed the way she did for convenience.

Rather than heels she wore sneakers which gave her speed as well as quiet approach.

She wore casual work attire like t-shirts and dress pants rather than skirts and showy shirts not because she didn't own them but because it provided comfort as she went through the building.

He had to admit that as the weeks wore on he was happy with her attire and her efficiency in the office.

She delegated tasks that he needed done with priority first in line. She never spoke unkindly to anyone, even those who have been rude to her.

She kept to herself and hardly flirted with any men who even tried. She was also brave enough to step up and speak up when someone was being rude or mean.

He was pleased. It was hard finding someone who didn't view the workplace as a social club and dating pool.

Maybe they would work out fine together. He still had his doubts that she would hold on to her position on her own but he was game to find out if she did.