Poisonous (Wattys2019)

Chapter 3

              "Alright, Daniel. Do you have everything you need?" I ask one last time as I straighten up his jacket.

"Yes, I do."

"Remember I won't be able to pick you up from school anymore, so Tatiana's mom is going to drop you off at grandma's house. If you ever need anything you call my cell."

"Okay, good luck on your first day!" He says with a grin.

"Thanks, Danny. I'll see you tonight." After a hug and kiss goodbye he races through the front doors of the school to his friends.

I take my time on my way to work so that I don't get there too early. I don't want it to look like I'm trying too hard. Turning the corner, the large building comes into view. It's even larger than the VT tech building. It must be close to twenty-five stories made of glass and the building has a slight twist to it.

I drive slowly keeping my eyes open for what might be employee parking. It would have been smart of me to ask where the lot was in relation to the building when Mr. Steele was on the phone with me. Too bad I didn't think of it earlier.

"Is this employee parking for Visionary Tower's?" I ask as I pull up to a small booth where a security guard is set up along with an access control panel.

"It is. You must be Ms. Lucado. I have a badge here for you. Your spot is on the first floor next to Mr. Steele's. His car is the silver Mercedes. You can't miss it."

"Thank you," I say gratefully. Now I don't have to drive around looking for where to park and I won't be late. "What's your name?"

"Pearse." He smiles giving me a glimpse of his chipped front tooth. He's a slightly overweight man who's short in stature and doesn't look much older than me. "If you're going to be here this early on a daily basis then we'll run into each other quite often."

"It was nice meeting you, Pearse. I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"It was nice meeting you too." He scans my new badge for me and the divider slowly opens. "Here's this for you."

"Thanks." I take my new badge and tuck it into my purse. There's an immediate left turn that I take, and I keep my eyes open for a silver car that I'm sure looks super fancy. I also keep my eyes peeled for the Mercedes symbol.

I see a silver car in a spot labeled Steele and take the empty space next to his car. My dingy little Honda looks like an antique next to his car but I'm grateful to even have it. When my grandma decided she didn't want to drive anymore she gave it to me instead of selling it to someone. Having your own transport makes life a hell of a lot easier.

I lock the door and check the handle to make sure it's in fact locked. It eases my paranoia but with the security out front and needing a badge to enter it would make stealing my car difficult. Besides, who would steal my car when there are all these nicer ones around.

I take the elevator up which leads to a walkway that connects to the lobby.

"Hi, my name is Oleander Lucado. I'm Mr. Steele's new assistant. Could you tell me what floor he's on?" I ask the older gentleman working at the front desk. He looks up from some papers he was scanning and gives me a smile.

"It would be my pleasure." He tells me cheerfully. "You can take any of the elevators to your right to the twenty-sixth floor. When you get off the elevator you'll want to take a left and make your way to the end of the hall."

"Thank you so much." I give a small thankful smile before making my way to the elevators. The employees are all very nice here so far.

I crowd onto the elevator with half a dozen other people dressed in suits and blazers. As subtly as possible, I look down at the outfit I chose to wear. I didn't know how strict the dress code was but looking around I think I may have underdressed. My jeans and button-down shirt stick out like a sore thumb in this elevator.

The doors open on my floor and I am the last one to leave the elevator and the soft music playing in it behind. Letting out a deep breath, I stand up straight and make my way down the tan polished wood floor. On my left, I pass two closed doors and on my right, I passed one that's closed. Each has a small golden plaque with names inscribed on them.

At the end of the hall is a small sitting area as well as a table set up with water and one of those fancy coffee machines that use inserts to make different kinds of flavored coffee. Directly in front of me is an open door.

I make my way over to it and see Mr. Steele moving boxes around. To catch his attention, I knock lightly on the door. He jumps slightly before turning to face me.

"Oleander, it's good to see you." He glances at the black Rolex on his wrist. "You're early. That's great. I'm sorry if I seem flustered. We have a lot to get done today. I know I didn't give you much information on the phone but that's because today a lot of things will be changing. I thought it'd be better to give you all the new information instead of some of the old that you'll have to forget about in a couple of days."

"That's okay. It looks like you're getting ready to move. Is that one of the things we have to do today." I ask timidly and carefully step into the room to avoid knocking over any boxes.

"Yes, it is and honestly it'll probably be the only thing we get done today. I have two carts that I stole from the mail room to help us move things more easily. I also bribed a friend to help. He should be here soon. My new office and yours are two floors above us and to the right. I'll show you which one is yours once we make our first trip upstairs."

"Jeeze Caden, it's a good thing you're moving into a bigger office. Now you'll finally be able to fit all this stuff in there."

"Yes, I'm a hoarder Steven. We all know I have a problem, but the first step is admitting it which means I'm making progress." Mr. Steele says with a grin before going over to Steven for one of those bro hugs with a pat on the back.

"And who might this lovely young miss be?" Steven asks turning his attention to me with a charming smile on his face.

"I would be Oleander. Mr. Steele's new assistant." I answer with a tight smile.

"Oleander, what a beautiful name."

"Thanks, it's the name of a flower," I tell him stiffly. If only he knew why my mother named me after that flower. He wouldn't think it was beautiful anymore.

"Please, Oleander call me Caden. It would make me feel more comfortable. People calling me Mr. Steele is still odd to me. It'd make me feel better if I could have one less person calling me that."

"Oh, yes, of course, I'm sorry," I say nervously.

"It's alright, no need to apologize. I hope its okay that I've been calling you Oleander. If not, then just say the world and I'll stop."

"No, that's fine with me," I assure him quickly.

"I'm glad. As Steven said, you have a beautiful name." He says looking at me with a kind smile. Then he starts letting us know how the moving process will proceed. 

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Author's Note:

My apologies for the late update. I lost track of time and then all of a sudden I had to start studying for finals which didn't leave me with much time to do anything but study. I've got three tests next week and am currently fighting a cold that I hope is gone by Tuesday. Wish me luck guys because I need it! I'm barely keeping up with the material and I have so much that I need to review that I don't think I'll have time for. I'm seriously freaking out.

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