Clockwork | Brittana

Chapter 5

They made their way through the COGS and Santana paused at her office door, letting Brittany go ahead of her as she opened the security functions. As always the automated voice welcomed her to the office and Brittany grinned at the sound.

"I'm never going to get used to that," she laughed.

Santana smiled along with her for a moment before she felt like she needed to break the mood.

"Hey," she sat at her desk because it was familiar and safe and created a kind of barrier between her and the blonde, who's sole purpose for being there was to break down all of Santana's barriers. "I'm sorry about how Israel acted in the meeting."

Brittany fell softly onto the couch, her smiled dampening slightly, "I'm not worried about it. Really Santana, it's fine."

She met the dark eyes that were trying to figure out if she was being honest or not, her gaze didn't waiver and Santana looked away, satisfied.

"Does that happen to you a lot?" she asked softly, this was part of the article that was going to be the hardest for her, being witness to the bigotry Santana was faced with every day.

Santana rolled her eyes in a tired manner, "Yes and no... I'm sure you'll figure it out. If you stay long enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Like you saw," Santana kept her eyes on the screen that was still playing the security feed of the COG, "This isn't the best work environment for attractive women," Brittany ducked her head to hide her blush, "and I would be the first person to understand if it made you too uncomfortable."

"I'm here for a reason," Brittany's voice was steady and it made Santana meet her eyes. "I'm going to finish what I started."

Santana gave her that dissecting look, calculating just how long she would last before nodding and turning back to the screen.

"What did you think of the meeting?"

"I have a few questions," Brittany admitted, glad that they we on a better topic. "Why was Mike Chang surprised when you gave him the pick of his team?"

"Because normally I would assign it myself," Santana shrugged, "and normally I'm always on it. I'm giving him a chance to work with other people, and in a leadership position."

"Isn't that bad for you?" she was a little confused. "Isn't Mike your main competition in this company?"

Santana frowned thoughtfully, "I can't see Mike ever angling for my job... he knows just how much of my time is wasted on administrative bullshit and publicity stunts... he deserves something of his own. Besides, every time I'm on the team they think it's Mike's idea anyway."

Brittany bit her lip, mulling over the idea in her head.

"Miss Lopez, Mike Chang at the door."

"Let him in," Santana clicked the security footage off and turned to the door before it opened. Mike walked in easily, Brittany assumed he was a frequent visitor to her office. He caught Brittany's eye and smiled. "Mike, this is Brittany Pierce, my assistant."

"Hello," he crossed the office and took Brittany's hand.

"Nice to meet you," she offered him her warm and friendly smile. "I liked your presentation today."

"Thank you," he grinned almost bashfully and turned back to Santana. "Is Kurt not coming back?"

"No, he should be back sometime next week," Santana explained, "Brittany is just new."

"So... who do you want me to work with?" he asked scratching the back of his head. Santana snorted disbelievingly.

"Mike," she shook her head. "I'm leaving it up to you, because I know you can handle this on your own, don't make me second guess myself."