Invited

Fifteen - Wicken

I woke up to a loud pounding on my door. When I looked over at my clock, I muttered a curse. Overslept. I was late to work by two hours because I was an idiot and didn't set my alarm clock before falling asleep. Then again, I didn't anticipate sleeping through the entire night. It hadn't been that late when I laid down.

Another knock got me to my feet. I stumbled over a pair of sneakers on my way to the door, nearly face planting into it as I grasped the knob. Standing on the other side was Layla.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I overslept, didn't turn on my alarm clock. It won't happen again, promise."

Her jaw was tight, her gaze stern. Then in a flash it softened and she was laughing. "Wicken, sweetie, if I was concerned about you being late for work, I would have come to get you when you were ten minutes late – not two hours. Clearly, you are pushing yourself too hard and need a break. Since I am a kind and caring boss, I am giving you one."

"Thank you," I said, averting my gaze. Did not want to be at her mercy.

She grabbed my chin and tilted my gaze back up to her. "You're so adorable, love. There's no way I could punish you. Today, I want you to focus on taking care of you and finding something that will make you happy. I hardly see you smile."

"I'm just tired," I said. Truth was, there wasn't a whole lot to smile about. No way I could say that to her. She'd take it as some kind of personal duty to go even more all out to make me happy. Not sure I wanted to find out what that constituted.

"Another reason why I'm giving you a day off," she said. "Like I said before. I also have loaded your account with more credits so you can go to the marketplace and buy some sunshine. Perhaps you need some decorations as well. This room is atrocious and not acceptable. It's so...plain and boring."

"Sure, I can buy some sunshine for my room." I shrugged. She did kind of have a point. I could do a little something to make my place at least more livable.

She laughed. "Darling, I meant literal sunshine. They sell it on the third floor market. It will do wonders for you."

"Oh." Interesting. Made sense. If people got seasonal depression back home because of the lack of sunshine, then I can see it happening on a ship where it doesn't exist anymore.

"'Oh,' is right," she said with a smirk. My mind automatically went to a bad place, and I'm pretty sure that's how she wanted me to take her statement – as something sexual.

I shivered, facing away from her and going to my kitchen to get a drink of water. "I was thinking about your proposal."

"And?"

Time to bite the bullet and take another one for the team. "I'll do it, but only if we have a clear understanding of what it is I will and won't be doing."

"Of course. Isn't that how it's supposed to be when discussing promotions and things?" She sat down on my bed and crossed her legs. I hated that she was on my bed.

I stayed by my kitchen, leaning against my counter as I drank. "I'm an assistant, nothing more. And I will not be assisting you in anything that involves your personal pleasures. I'll get you coffee, run errands, scoop up the poop of your pets, but that's about as far as it goes. Are you following what I'm saying?"

"You made that clear when I first brought this job up," she said, though I detected sourness in her tone.

"Okay, I just mention it again because sometimes you're hard to read. Where I come from, the things you do are considered come-ons. They aren't acceptable in a relationship between a boss and employee. It's unprofessional." Hopefully that would pat her ego some, relax her so she didn't know how disgusted I was by her.

The smile returned to her face and it widened to full on grin. "You think of everything. It's one of the reasons I knew you'd be perfect for me. You're right, it would be unprofessional, and I'm sure you're concerned about how others will respect you if our relationship was anything but. It can hinder things quite a bit."

"Yes," I said.

"Besides, you seem to be the type who likes to actually get to know a girl beyond just one date before getting together with her." A small giggle left her lips. "A bit old-fashioned, honey, but sweet all the same."

I blinked. "Not sure what going on dates has to do with anything, but sure. Yeah, I generally like to get to know the girls I'm interested in. Helps me decide if they're worth my time or not. I don't have time to mess around, or the resources. Going to clubs costs money. So if I'm going to invest in something, it needs to be important. Not old-fashioned, just smart. Lots of guys do that."

"I guess I have yet to meet them amongst your kind."

Probably because they were too afraid to stand up for themselves. If all she had from her previous human counterparts was a lot of "yes men," then of course they'd just jump right into her pants as soon as she suggested it. Besides, she was good-looking, there was no denying that. Layla had a rather exotic look to her.

If she lived on Earth, people might have thought she was a goddess incarnate. She had amazing curves and large breasts that were hard to not stare at because she enjoyed showing off just how large they were. Her hair was dark, almost black. Despite her pale skin, it seemed to bring out her silver tinted blue eyes. And she was short. Some guys really dug that. There was nothing to complain about in regards to her appearance. Without Chevelle on the back of my mind, I might have been easier to persuade. But I loved Chevelle, and that made all the difference in the world.

I took a long drink of water. "If you don't mind my asking, why do you date 'my kind'?"

"The men on the ship are either my kin, or too...hard. They are military men. Which is fine for business and the needs of the ship, but when it comes to my needs it leaves a lot to be desired." She put her hands on her knees and gazed down at them. It was the first time I'd ever seen her resemble anything similar to vulnerability. I almost felt bad for her. Key word being "almost."

"Gotcha," I said. "I'm sure someday you'll find whatever you're looking for."

A small smile formed on her face. "Yes, I'm sure. Thank you, darling. I'm glad to get this business matter settled. There is a lot to do in the next couple of days alone as we prepare to board even more people from Earth. Then we will need to run several orientation meetings, as well as assign mentors, that sort of thing. I also have a rather important errand for you to run on Earth, but we'll discuss that another time at my place."

"Cool," I somehow managed to say. I wasn't sure where she lived, but I also knew I did not want to be alone with her there. Having her be in my room was bad enough. Anyone walking by who saw me let her in was probably starting all kinds of rumors about us. Almost everyone was working, so I don't think her visit would be noticed.

She got up from the bed and walked over to me. Gently, she patted my cheek. "Thank you for doing this. You have no idea how valuable your work will be to me."

Actually, I had a pretty good idea. "Sure thing. Just tell me when you want me to begin."

"I'll have your first assignment ready for you tomorrow." Layla made her way to the door. "And Wicken, love, please install some kind of a mailbox or message system. I do not enjoy leaving notes taped to your door for everyone to see. It's rather inconvenient."

"Sure thing," I mumbled and moved to at least see her to the door. That was the polite thing to do.