My nails tapped languidly against the oak top of my desk. It was boring, completely and utterly boring. Who knew work could be this mind numbing. Fighting the urge to start spinning in endless circles in my swivel chair I looked across the room at my boss.
She was a witch, in every sense of the word. If I tried hard enough I could imagine her with a huge wart on her bird beak nose dressed in grungy fabric. I stifled my laughter at the thought of her dancing around a deep frothing cauldron full of evil potion. She was frigid, it was hard to think that she was married and had two children. Granted, I never met them, not that I wanted to. Her spawn, I shuddered at the thought.
The shrill ringing of my office phone snapped me out of my hate filled daze.
“Erickson and Donner…”
“Patch me through to Mrs. Erickson.”
The voice on the other end was young, demanding and angry. I almost told him off. Who did he think he was calling an important law firm with no respect or mannerisms? Taking a breath I stomped down my anger.
“May I ask who is calling, Sir?”
“Her son Liam.”
My face blanched, her son. Her son, who I was rude to not but a moment before, the son of my boss. Without a word I patched him through silently praying he wouldn’t say anything.
My nerves were biting at my insides as I watched her talk to her son. I had no idea what they were saying, but until she came out and either berated me for something as ridiculous as giving back what her son dished out or just didn’t talk to me at all, I would be on edge.
She was known for firing people for no reason at all. I was surprised I had actually been here for almost a year.
Sighing heavily I grabbed a manila folder off the corner of my desk and leafed through its contents. I had to file this. Actually, I had to file quite a few things. Worst part of the job really, it took hours simply because you had to look through numerous filing cabinets to actually find the thing you were looking for. With a groan I grabbed the stack of folders and stood up.
Maybe, I could take up the rest of my work day filing these papers away. By then, I could just rush out of the office and not have to worry about my boss confronting me. It sounded like a plan to me. Any time away from the calculating and careful gaze of my boss was almost as good as the paradise I fantasized about.
Making my way into the file room I gave a crooked smile.
“Hello again friend of a friend.” I breathed running my hand along the front of numerous filing cabinets. No, I wasn’t crazy, but working here was slowly testing my patience. Sure, Mrs. Erickson was actually a friend of the family; sure I had been born into a family of very successful lawyers. Emphasis mind you on the very successful detail. That didn’t make me want to be a part of the business, not in the slightest bit, but my parents would have none of it.
So, here I sat, filing away papers because I didn’t want to face my boss’s wrath. Even though, I wasn’t sure if she was mad or not.
Finally done I stood up and brushed the imaginary dust off my tight black skirt. Two hours, two long grueling hours of paper after paper. Who would want this kind of job? Who would willingly work as a dragon’s assistant?
Grudgingly I made my way back to my tiny little cubicle. I stared at the dragon herself, looking at me over her black wire glasses. Oh no, I was in trouble now. With an inward groan I made my way into her office.
“Aurelia, I need you to set up a dinner date for me and my son. Somewhere, foreign would be preferred. No earlier than six o’clock but no later than nine.”
