Relationships in the Workplace

Day At Work

"Good morning team" Mano greets everyone in the office when he comes in. Some of the co-workers chime in with their greetings. It's the week after the weekend out with Ari. When Mayve sees him she grins mischievously and gets to his side as soon as he sits down at his desk, "So?" He raises a brow and acts normal opening up his emails, "What Mayve?" She tilts her head to get a better look at his face, "How was the date?" He rolled his eyes but couldn't help, but crack a smile. 

Mayve face brightens up "A-ha! Something did happen!" Mano breaks into a bit of a laugh, "You got me. I proposed, the wedding is a week from now, and the honeymoon is the week after." Seeing that she is being mocked she glares at him, "Punk, don't act funny." Before Mano could respond to her again Ari comes in catching his eye. His focus shifts to her as she walks toward them. She had this aura about her that he didn't notice until now. Mayve notices her and waves gently as Ari stops in front of Manos's desk.

Mano was too in awe of Ari's attire her black dress pants, black low heel boots, and light pink shirt with a long-sleeved black vest over it. Ari glowingly smiled down at him as she brushed a loose dirty blonde hair strand away. Mayve just leans on his desk switching glances between Mano and Ari, "Oh my gosh you two are such love birds." She rolls her eyes as she walks away chuckling.

Ari turns apple red hearing that and Mano clears his throat also turning reddish, "I hope your morning was a blessed one Aria..." Ari looked at her surprised that he used her formal name instead of the nickname she grew accustomed to hearing, "I-it was" She stumbled over her words. He looks at the time on his watch and back up at her, "It's almost time to open. Let's get ready." She nods and leaves but not before planting a kiss on his cheek. Mano's face heats up but he does the opening procedures to let the public in. 

                                                                                    **************

Mano's lunch isn't until an hour away and he could take it sooner but he always preferred going later in the day. An email pops up on his email from Mayve who works directly behind him on the other side of the divider. The email from her went "Ugh... look who came in." Mano didn't know who she was referring to and when he looked at the entrance he scowled. A scumbug who is uncomfortably becoming a regular comes in, ignores the other representatives in the building and goes straight for Ari. Ari begrudgingly welcomes the male to have a seat. Mayve comes over to Mano's side with a scowl of her own and her arms crossed "Bastard could be his grandfather for calling out loud." Mano gets up, "I'm going to make a round to be safe"

Mano nears Ari's space which is a half-height cubicle with a desk that neatly divides her space and the client's space. "Hey, so I know you like cars. I just bought this new ride-" Was enough for Mano to hear as he was growing furious. 'Is he here just to bloody flirt?!' was the thought that raged in his mind. Ari is trying to focus on the task at hand but is having a hard time trying to get him back on topic. She uncomfortably waits until he's down yammering. 'To hell with this nonsense' Mano steps in and takes a seat next to Ari.

Ari didn't expect Mano to just come in and do that, but she waited to see what was going to happen next. "Good morning sir" Mano greets him with as much professionalism as he could muster. The older man grimaces as he sees Mano, "Who the hell are you?" Mano inhaled and exhaled to calm himself "I'm Ari's senior. If you haven't noticed she is clearly uncomfortable." The older individual glanced at her and looked back at Mano "She hasn't said the contrary." He gives Mano a cocky grin, "I should report you for terrible customer service." Mano gives the old man a devious smile.

"Or how about this..." he fixes his posture, puts both hands together on her desk, and locks his eyes on the old man. "You've been coming here for weeks harassing my colleague. You're on camera each and every time you do it. You've been reported to our higher-ups and well..." he pulls out a document and slides it towards the old man. The document at the top says Close Account Form. The old man's eyes widen in shock, "W-what?!"

Mano's smile becomes near devilish, "You are now considered a liability for the proven harassment of not just my direct colleague, but others within the company. If you protest you will give us reason to call security over to escort you out and legal action will be taken against you." The old man couldn't find the words as his mouth was agape with no words coming out. "Do I make myself clear" Mano's eyes now pierce through the old man. The old man nods now realizing the shame in his actions and signs the documents.

Ari witnessing all this is not only surprised but also impressed by Mano. She can't lie that she also may have found this side of him quite attractive. The old man leaves her cubicle as other representatives take care of his closure. "Wow.." was all that Ari could utter. She rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his arm. "Thank you Mano..." she exhaled as if a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. Mano takes hold of her hand, "Oh please... if it wasn't for us being in the workplace you would've told him off and then some." She laughs softly, "You make me sound like I'm a bully." He puts on a playful face, "Weeeelllll now that you say that..." She punches his shoulder. "Ow..."