Working for Love

Very Weird (8)

"How was your night yesterday?" Viveca inquired when I got into the office. She was rotating one of the plants so the other side would get more sunshine.

I thought about the argument I had with Delilah, but also the wonderful time I had with the kids before I had to take them to school the next morning. "Not bad. What about you? How was your boyfriend?" Was his name Manny?

"It was nice. We didn't do much. Do you want some coffee?" She straightened, brushing some dirt off her hands.

I shrugged. "If you're having one."

We walked together to the coffee room. Damon was already in there, absently staring at a wall as he leaned against the flat white table and sipped from a disposable coffee cup. When we walked in, he straightened, sending us a dashing grin. "Good morning, ladies. Did you have a good night?"

I glanced at Viveca. I thought she said she never sees him in the coffee room. "Not awful."

"Good," she said to him, looking over the coffee options.

"How were your nieces and nephews?" Damon asked, stepping away from the table so Viveca would have better access to the coffee maker.

I pointed at the coffee I wanted when Viveca asked, then answered his question. "They were really good for me all night, but Roy left some of his homework at his house, so that wasn't ideal for him, and I had to explain to his teacher what happened, which wasn't ideal for me."

The door opened, and someone hesitated in the doorway. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Asa looking around the small room, then curiously at Damon. "Good morning, everyone. It's busy in here today."

Funny that the coffee room isn't always busy. It seems like the slackers would be in here a lot to get away from work. It also seems like a lot more people would be in here to get coffee in the morning. I guess everyone else brews their own at home or stops to get some before they come in. Or maybe not everyone is a coffee addict like Viveca. I smirked a little to myself. "Morning, Asa."

His blood red eyes turned to me, and he smiled slightly. "Well, if it isn't everyone's favorite human." I had a lot of people introduced to me through the last few days, and apparently the company was buzzing about their new human. Nobody had been too intrusive yet, but I felt like they had a lot more questions than they were asking—mostly about my home life so they could gossip about it to others. But that was just speculation.

"Apparently," I said. "I didn't think I would be so popular."

"Seeing as we have never hired a human before, it makes sense that you would be an object of interest to many of us," he said.

Viveca glanced over her shoulder at him. "Do you want me to make you something?"

"I'll just have a cup of black, thanks." Asa returned his attention to me. "Since you are so popular, I thought I would ask if it would be all right if we sat together at lunch to discuss mortality like I had mentioned the other day. I've never really gotten to know a human before, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to ask some questions."

"Oh," I said, a little surprised by his request. "Um... sure. I don't mind. Will you mind if we talk about that, Viveca?" She always sat with me at lunch, and I wasn't sure if it was too delicate or dark of a topic for elves.

She glanced back again. "Hm? Oh, no, not at all."

"Excellent," said Asa.

"What is it exactly you'll be discussing?" Damon butted in, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.