Betrayal - A Bucky Barnes Fanfic

Chapter 23

Her alarm clock rudely woke her from her dreams. Sleepily, Ava looked at her alarm clock. It was 6:30 am and time to get ready for work. Even though she had spent all day yesterday in bed watching series, she was dead tired. She felt a little bad because she had planned to use her two days off to do her research, but after her encounter with James, she needed a day off where she could just relax.

She hadn't heard from James since he kissed her in the rain the day before yesterday, but maybe it was for the best. Ava felt a slight tug in her chest every time she thought of him. She was almost glad to be going back to work today, at least this way she would be distracted all day.

After her shower and a quick outfit choice, she was already on her way to the New York Times. She dreaded how much work there was to do again. Several smartly dressed women and men waited in the lobby for the lift and Ava joined them. The smell of coffee rose to her nose, which seemed to be in the hands of every second person here. She regretted not buying a coffee in a café too, now she had to drink the bitter coffee from the communal kitchen.

The lift reached her floor and Ava got out. The corridor was empty, but through the glass doors Ava could see all the staff sitting busily at their desks, hastily talking on the phone or hammering away at their keyboards. And it's only half past seven!, Ava thought. She walked down the corridor to the communal kitchen, where two women in tight skirts and smart jackets were already talking. Ava gave them a small smile, which they returned, and set to work on the coffee machine.

"I hope Ranner finally relaxes. I'm beginning to get fed up with his ways," the blonde woman said to her colleague.

"It gets on my nerves too, but I can also understand him a little," the short-haired colleague replied almost pityingly.

"Why is that? He loses his shit on everyone, even for the smallest mistakes. That's not right at all," the blonde said indignantly and Ava agreed with her in thought as she took a cup from one of the shelves.

"Yes, of course. He's got his boss breathing down his neck too though. I heard Stefanie from accounting talk about it – apparently sales are worse than expected after all. The newspaper crisis isn't helping either," the short-haired woman said in a conspiratorial tone.

Ava poured her coffee and hurried to her desk. If Ranner was in a bad mood today, as the two women had implied, she would hate to be sitting at her desk late.

Fortunately, the morning passed without incident. It wasn't until after lunch that Ava got the full brunt of Ranner.

"In my office, now," Ranner said sternly as he passed Ava's desk. He didn't even bother to stop, but walked into his office with a determined stride. Ava immediately jumped up and followed him. Her eyes wandered to Peter's desk a few metres away, who gave her a pitying smile. She only had an hour left on her shift and this was the third time she had been cited to Ranner's office. The first two times hadn't been so bad – it had been about careless mistakes in emails and a forgotten copy. What was in store for her now, she didn't know. But she sorely longed for her end of the day.

"Miss Summers, you've been here for a few months now. By now you really should know how our filing system works," Ranner said through clenched teeth as he sat down behind his oversized desk.

Ava didn't even dare to respond, so Ranner continued, "If I see you not sorting texts into the correct trays one more time, there will be a written warning. Are we clear?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry," Ava returned meekly. She felt tears burning at the corners of her eyes, but blinked them away. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of Ranner. It was just too much for her. The thing with James, the bitching from Ranner. She always did her job conscientiously and mistakes happened eventually, didn't they?