by closetromantic19 » Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:27 pm
Title: Intra-Office Soulmates (1/?)
Author: Katie
Rating: NC-17
Uber Setting: Contemporary
Status: In progress
Note(s): Thoughts in italics.
CHAPTER 1
There are only so many things one can assume about a twenty-six-year old woman in this day and age who is unmarried and who has no plans to get married, and one of them is that her career is more important. It was an admirable, if not daunting, trait in a person but Cordelia Chase had to respect it. According to her father, next to good breeding a good work ethic was the best trait a person could have. Right now it was the trait she needed. She was to go on leave for her honeymoon in barely two months. She didn’t have time to plan a vacation to Aruba and train a replacement. She needed someone competent, and fast.
Tara Maclay had had two jobs in her twenty-six years, the most demanding of which included the question: ‘would you like fries with that?’ dozens of times a day. Yet she was by no stretch of the imagination stupid. An MBA from Brown University was proof enough of that. No, it wasn’t intelligence she lacked. Truth be told, she didn’t like the corporate life. She hated golf, loathed water cooler gossip. Something about being trapped inside a tiny cubicle, a mindless drone, working the nine to five…she couldn’t do it. And this gig is different how, Tare? She mused. And in the end it wasn’t, and there was no convincing herself otherwise. It had been on a whim that she had even applied; repeatedly shocked by the success she had in convincing human resources, senior management, and various board members that she was up to the task. Now here she was, on her way to interview with Cordelia Chase, third richest woman in the world, and the most intimidating by reputation.
“Alexander Harris, I don’t give a rat’s ass about company policy; I am not hanging up this phone until you tell me why you haven’t proposed to me yet?!”
It crossed Tara’s mind that those who had called Cordelia the most intimidating woman in the world had been misinformed. She let that thought pass, however, and allowed herself to take in the sheer luxury of the waiting room before her, and the enraged bottle blonde at the reception desk, where one of a multitude of phones was now ringing.
The receptionist picked it up on the second ring without a pause. “Chase Industries, please hold,” and returned to berating Alexander, whoever that was. Another phone rang. “Hold please, Chase Industries. No I cannot take your message. No I cannot put you through.” And another ring. “Hold, dammit! Because I’m busy. Because I said so. Because of you men and your commitment issues! Bastards!” She slammed down the phone triumphantly.
Tara began to wonder how she was ever going to get in to see Ms. Chase, when she felt the receptionist’s eyes on her. She glanced up to see that the blonde woman was glancing at her curiously, an expectant look on her face. “Anya Jenkins,” the woman said, in a voice so full of energy and kindness it frightened Tara after the tyrannical outburst of only moments before.
“That is,” the woman continued more sternly, “I’m Anya Jenkins. I don’t have any idea who you are.”
Tara could only stare blankly.
“It’s customary in social situations, particularly those of introduction,” Anya barreled on, oblivious to the shock of the woman before her, “to begin by saying one’s own name, to let the other person know to whom they are speaking.”
“T-tara…my name is…Tara—“ Tara began awkwardly.
Anya spoke suddenly into a headset receiver, startling her, “Xander, I hear you trying to sneak away, I’m not finished with you yet!” To Tara she said, “Tara…Tara what? Do you have an appointment?"
Tara was beginning to regret her decision to re-enter the work force. She felt the impatient eyes of the receptionist on her again and fumbled for an answer that didn’t sound as lost as she felt. “I ha-have an appointment with Ms. Chase. The job,” she finished blankly.
Anya was immediately contrite. “Xander,” she said urgently into her headset, “I have to go, I’ll call you back.” She moved around her desk and before Tara knew what was happening Anya was shaking her hand overzealously and leading her into a private waiting room. “Miss Maclay, of course, right this way, can I get you something to drink?”
[hr]
Any thoughts? I feel like this opening chapter is a little (or a lot shorter than it should be) I have future ones planned but I'm having trouble continuing. Standard chapter length is about 2000 words and this one's only about 800 or so...I know it's stupid but it feels like it's missing something and I just don't know where I can afford to be more descriptive without messing up the flow.[hr]
Last edited by
closetromantic19 on Thu Jul 07, 2005 2:33 am, edited 6 times in total.
"Yeah, a lot of young people nowadays are experimenting with shortness. Gotta nip that in the bud." Riley in "Family"
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