Diamond Girl

2: Into the Labyrinth

Despite that she could hear the excited the hum of voices, it took a full thirty seconds before someone let her in.

This time the door opened with far less squeal as Susan, their office manager, tugged it open with an experienced hand.

"Sorry, hun. The boys are wild today." 

"Lars stole my banana bread." Lily said apologetically.

Susan sighed as Lily followed behind her, the door wailing shut behind them like a ghoul. Lily watched the familiar paisley skirt, a definite staple in Susan's work wardrobe for years now, flutter around the older woman's sensible shoes. There was no one who knew more about Daveney Diamonds than Susan.

Lily privately thought all that knowledge would be a huge weight.

They took the turns by rote, not stumbling in the slightest as flooring and wall coverings changed.

Shortly after she was hired, Lily had gathered the courage to ask Susan if the building had previously been a haunted house. It had a maze-like layout, complete with doors that wouldn't open, stairs that lead to nowhere, and a jarring change of style from space to space. One area was best accessed via the roof, and another required you to nearly crawl through a short tunnel.  Lily, who had a decent sense of direction, had had to make herself a hand drawn map to carry around for weeks.

Susan had actually laughed, shaking her greying head. She'd informed Lily that the layout had everything to do with the company's history. The original Mr. & Mrs. Daveney had purchased a small space in the center of the large three-story shopping center/office building nearly 70 years ago. In the decades since, the couple, and then their descendants, had steadily acquired other spaces in the building as their business grew. Room by room they chaotically conquered the entire building, up, left, up, left. down, down, etc. They connected the spaces as they gained them with the help of a long line of semi-handy relatives (all with seemingly... unique ideas).

Lily believed the building still remained in all its chaos either because of negligent city building inspectors or - more likely- Some Daveney charm and a very steep discount on a certain small, very shiny something for the missus City Inspector.

The particular route she and Susan took that night was easy, however. It was why there was a "correct" side door for All-Hands meetings. Susan and Lily took only three very quick turns before they entered the space known as "the Bull Pen".

This room was one of the largest in the building. With a galley kitchen on one wall, multiple mismatched tables, couches, and chairs - all undoubtedly sourced from yard sales or second-hand shops - and, most importantly, the best air conditioning in the building, it was their best option for large meetings. That being said - it was still a loud, tight fit for their ever growing company.

Appropriately, at the very center of the Bull Pen was Aaron Tavarious. The overhead light shining down on his stupidly shiny head. It was in this very room she had begun to call him the Minotaur, but she kept that nickname to herself.

The crowd shifted, and-

"He's eating my banana bread!" Lily cried out.

If the words came out sounding like an indignant Kindergartener, Lily refused to acknowledge it.

Susan only raised a tired eyebrow, but she may as well have said "Didn't you bring it here to share?" out loud, which Lily did not appreciate.

"She got in!" Lars called out in warning as he spotted her. Lily squeezed through her milling coworkers and gave Lars a playful pinch as she shouldered past him. 

A few of his fellows from the sales department laughed mischievously before calling out hellos to her, as did many others from various departments. Most everyone was holding plates filled with snacks brought for the meeting.