Vice

6: Personal Secretary

When Jaquie said there were plenty of company clothes to choose from, it was an understatement. 

The basement he leads her to is overflowing with clothing from brands she's never heard of. Everything from shimmering dresses to arching high heels hang on racks and shelves spanning across the entire room. It's like walking into a clothing emporium, and she wonders how they can keep a collection of clothing this big down here "just in case of spills, tears, or accidents."

Natara browses through the selection - not even sure where to start - and Jaquie slips into another room to wait for her to get changed. As she flips through the dresses, a modest blue and black polka dotted dress that looks like it might fit her and a little pair of black flats catch her eye. She tries them on and, shockingly, they both do fit.

She feels a bit lucky, like Cinderella picking the right sized glass slipper for herself. Well, even if the shoes and dress were a bit large, she supposes they couldn't fit much worse than her old clothes. Natara folds her oversized greying slacks and pilled shirt up and holds them in her arms awkwardly, unsure if they'll get moved or stolen if she leaves them in the room.

Well, in a room like this, maybe it's more likely they'd get thrown out.

She steps out of the room and Jaquie holds out a small company themed bag. Natara dumps the clothing in the bag with a smile, then carries it by the handle. 

"I know I personally hate them, but I figure you want to keep them. They didn't look like they belonged to you, anyway." He hands her a freshly printed name tag on a black and white Vicetech Corporation lanyard.

"It's my mother's outfit. She'd kill me." Natara drapes the lanyard around her neck. Even though Jaquie is a bit over-honest and very different from her, there's something about him she likes. In its own way, the fact that he brought the bag for her was thoughtful. 

"Thank god you swapped, though. You look miles better," Jaquie brings his fingertips up to his lips and flicks them away. "After your first paycheck you'll be able to freshen up your wardrobe. Until then, continue borrowing from here. As you saw, there's plenty. More than the girls could ever reasonably need, but Mr. Vice Senior wants to keep them spoiled."

Natara isn't exactly sure what that means, or who Mr. Vice Senior is, but she nods. As she follows Jaquie down the halls, she notices her reflection in the glass paned lower floor offices and her eyes widen when she sees herself. In her new ensemble, she looks like a totally different person - almost like someone who could actually fit in.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Ison." Natara turns her gaze to Jaquie, who jerks back, waving his hands wildly in the air as he leads her toward an elevator at the end of the hall.

"Oh my goodness, do not call me that. Jaquie will do, please." They step inside the elevator and he selects their floor. Natara's eyes wander between the red and black carpeting and the shiny gold doors.

When the door opens, Jaquie leads her down the hall and into a tiny office with blank walls and an empty glass desk. Unlike the lower floors, this office does not have see-through walls.

The chair behind the desk is black leather and one small window behind it with black trim sits on the wall behind it. The trim surrounding the floor and door is also black, which provides a nice contrast against the white walls and the red tile floor. A gold colored rug decorates the center of the room and a collection of equally spaced small hooks are arranged on the walls. 

"This is yours," Jaquie says and Natara gives him a double take. He's not serious, she thinks. I'm not fresh out of high school getting a ten dollar an hour job with a private office. Maybe the top student in my class, but not me. This shouldn't be happening to me. "I'll give you the company catalog to look at in your free time, so you can pick out some paintings to hang from the hooks."

All of this makes her even more worried about the kind of job she might be walking into. Is this a scam? She is sure of it. Natara knows that when things sound too good to be true, they often are a sham in some way. And this whole job sounds way too good to be true.

But the clothes are comfortable, pretty, and form fitting. The money is great. The work experience is wonderful. And the office - her new office - is incredible. It's private, too, and Natara feels grateful for that. It's all so lovely...it's just hard to believe it's real.

"So you want me to start working now?" She stammers, not knowing where to start. "What will I be doing? What is my job description exactly?" 

"You will be a personal secretary to the heir of Vicecorp, Axius Vice." Jaquie states. 

His tone is firm but also gives away a hint of his nervousness. Even though Natara is fresh out of high school, no doubt she's heard about the odd heir to Vicecorp, right? But the blank expression on her face gives away the fact that she really doesn't know who Axius Vice is. And maybe that's a good thing, Jaquie suddenly thinks.

"What will I be doing for him?" She asks,  feeling relaxed from knowing her job title. It's a secretary. That's a good job, and it doesn't sound too much like a sham.

Jaquie motions for her to sit at her new desk and she lowers herself into the leather chair. She runs her fingertips over the smooth glass of the desk and Jaquie pulls a piece of paper out from the pocket of his button up shirt.

"This. Do it perfectly," Jaquie warns. Now is the real test of how much this girl can handle, he thinks. If she can make it through the day then we can take down that banner in the front window. Natara's hazel eyes scan the list and once she's finished looking it over she nods.

"Understood, sir! U-um, understood, Jaquie." She stammers and Jaquie's shoulders relax. Now that Natara has a concrete list of what she needs to do Natara relaxes, too. 

Jaquie sets a company cell phone on top of Natara's new desk. "Pick this up as soon as it rings. I have to go attend to other matters, so unfortunately I can't give you more of a debriefing, but you should be able to figure things out. Page me if you have questions, it just might take a moment for me to answer."

When Jaquie leaves the room, Natara sinks into the leather chair. She closes her eyes and lets out a long breath of air. She feels a little sick to her stomach from this flurry of new events and environments, but unbelievably happy and accomplished. She's hired. It's really happening. She has a job. She isn't a failure. She isn't unwanted. Maybe she can make her parents proud. Maybe she can do this "adulting" thing.

She picks up her to-do list and decides to get started. The first thing on the agenda is a cup of coffee, made with one cup of coffee and one cup of French vanilla creamer. That seems simple enough, she thinks. Natara has made coffee at home many times for her parents and occasionally for herself if she had a long night of studying.

Before she starts, there is a knock at the office door.