Vice

8: Coffee Delivery

Natara's shoulders tense as she draws her coffee mug back from Jace's toast. Surely working for Axius Vice wouldn't be that awful, would it? How awful can working for one guy be, really?

"What exactly is wrong with Mr. Vice?" Natara raises an eyebrow and takes another sip. The delicious warmth from her coffee slips down the back of her throat, blooming comfort through her chest. Unfortunately, no matter how much she drinks, it doesn't feel like it's fully calming her.

"I hear he's picky, short-tempered, and frankly insufferable." Jace shrugs, chugging his coffee. "I don't know the full details when it comes to being his secretary, though. I'm not exactly the type to look cute in a button-up blouse and short skirt. Or a pretty dress, in your case."

"Surely Mr. Vice hires male secretaries, too." Natara shakes her head, finishing the last of her mug and hand-washing it in the sink.

"He might, since he doesn't seem to care for anybody." Jace snickers, filling himself another mug. "Jaquie, on the other hand, loves women just about to death. He tries to hire them even for the higher up positions. Says they're the only ones who really know how to run anything."

Natara snorts and tries to keep her coffee from spilling from her nose. "Does he hate men or something? Though, I'm happy to hear that. Usually it's the other way around, isn't it?"

"No, he..." Jace's eyes slip away as he gulps down his second mug. "He likes men a lot. You should probably take Vice Junior his coffee. The elevator's that way. It's been good meeting you. I'm be sure to stop in another time to make sure you're settling in alright, because I want your vote for nicest-employee-of-the-month."

"That's not a real award here, is it?" Natara giggles, grabbing Mr. Vice's pumpkin spice coffee. She steps toward the elevator and Jace preps himself a third mug of coffee. She presses the button for the elevator to open.

"No, it's not." He chuckles as she steps inside. Natara waves as the door closes, with the smell of pumpkin spice drifting in the air around her. 

Standing in the elevator waiting for it to rise, she tries to memorize all the floor numbers - where her office is, where the coffee area is, where the extra clothes are, and which one Jaquie's office is on. It's a lot to take in, so she tries to make up rhymes with each number to keep them all in order.

The elevator parks on the floor her office is on and she walks toward it, still amazed that she actually has her own office on only her first day of working. Is she sure she isn't dreaming? Her coworker Jace is friendly, her supervisor Jaquie is caring, her new clothes are lovely, and her private office is incredible.

It's spoiling her and she's sure Mr. Axius Vice isn't actually as bad as everyone says he is. They're probably trying to scare her so she works extra hard.

She wheels the corner into her office and heads to her desk, grabbing the instructions Jaquie gave her and checking the location of Mr. Vice's office. It's on one of the higher floors and apparently it's the only office on that entire floor, so at least there shouldn't be any reason for her to get lost trying to find it.