Secrets of an outcast

Fury

"Do you have a pen and paper?" I asked whilst shifting various papers into a pile and shoving them to the far corner of the desk and out of the way.

"Oh, no hang on I'll go grab them." She sounded miserable, and it was no wonder.

"No problem I have them." I ripped a sheet out of my notepad with more force than probably required and passed her a black pen with my logo embossed onto it.

"Thank you" she eyed the pen with admiration, I shot her a puzzled look which she couldn't see.

"If you give me as second I'll open up the staff logins."

She gave an almost imperceptible nod.

As I waited for the page to load I took a quick peek  at the mystifying and damaged girl sitting in front of me. Her head was bowed low, almost as if she was afraid of me and she had her hands folded in her lap, rubbing her fingers nervously.

My eyes raked her face once more. I noticed the vast cuts on her cheek looked as if they had been made with some sort of knife and the discoloration on her jaw must have been caused by a firm punch. Or maybe 2. She had obviously had a hard time. Three possible theories formed in my head as the computer page loaded with slow speed. Theory one was that she was in a bar fight, Not likely. Theory two was that she had a nasty fall, Not likely either, the cuts were to precise. Or Theory 3, which was one I'd rather not think about. I looked back down at the screen before she could notice me ogle at her.

"Well, your login doesn't seem to have been added on yet." My mouth pressed into a line as I realized this was Marks fault for hiring someone without my consent.

"Oh, really?" She seemed genuinely surprised.

"Yes, it appears so. Not to worry, I'll head to the IT department and see what's happened" I muttered, annoyed because it wasn't my job to do it.

"Don't worry, I'll do it" She argued.

"No, it's fine you will not know your way around yet." I tried.

"I'm sure I will find it." She looked at the ground again, was I intimidating her? I hoped not.

"Why don't I show you the way so if you need to go again you will know where it is" I smiled.

"I don't mind" She continued to stare at the floor until I got out of my chair.

We both strolled towards the IT department, once again there was that strange silence that kept occuring between us.

"Would you like a coffee delivered to your office, Stacey?" I wondered as I pushed open the door and held it for her, she thanked me before replying.

"That's fine I can get it" She blushed.

"Its ok, I'm getting one delivered to mine so it's no problem, how do you like it?"

"Milk with one sugar would be lovely, please" She requested.

"This is Jerry, the heart of the technical aspects here" I gestured to him with my hand, Jerry was just under 6'2 and was somebody who looked as tough as he spoke. Not someone you want to get on the wrong side of.  A really brawny man, muscles nearly ripping through his black polo shirt.

He had black hair almost down to his shoulders and almost neon green eyes, which I suspected were contacts.

"Hey, Justin. What seems to be the problem?"

"This is Stacey. She just started today and needs a login." I replied.

"Of course, no problem." He shot me a questioning look which I chose to ignore. One thing I liked about Jerry was that he didn't get nervous when speaking to me, but if it came down to it, he would kick my ass in a fight.

"I have to make some calls, can you show her the way back if she does not know?"

"Yes" He answered simply.

I left without a goodbye and took my Iphone out of my suit jacket pocket.

"Cameron? Two coffees please, milk with one sugar to the office next to me and my usual to mine"

"Of course Justin" He sounded slightly mad.

I was seated in my office chair, left alone with my thoughts waiting for my coffee.

Today has been a highly hectic day , which I was unusually grateful for because of the disarray I was still feeling, it gave me something else to keep me busy and stop my thoughts wondering to Luna.

Cameron walked, more like stormed, into my office with my coffee 5 minutes later, looking very angry.

"Here you are, your usual " He slammed the mug on my desk and coffee splashed all into my lap and I had to resist the urge to wince as it scalded me.

"Cameron, what the hell is wrong with you?" I half shouted as I rose to my feet.

"What's wrong with yo-" He began.

"Me? What's wrong with me?" I squared up to him and spoke through my teeth "Hmmm let's see I'm never going to see my sister again, I lost my parents 3 years ago, I wonder if that has anything to do with what's wrong with me."

There was a beat of silence and anger glinted metallic in his eyes.

"Whatever, you know that isn't what I was referring too, Can't you make your own damn-"

"No, it's what I pay you for." I interjected.

"Not to make coffee" He retorted.

"Yes I pay you to assist me, Cameron." I frowned

"Ok, sure. Well let me see making coffee doesn't seem to be in my job description" He spat and stormed out my office "Consider that my resignation"

I suppressed a sigh as I saw him slam the mug on Stacey's desk as well, coffee splashed onto the brown wood and the red carpet below. His mood had soured awful fast, I wondered if it was because how I had spoken to him earlier, but quickly dismissed the idea.