Vice

20: Trouble

Natara's company phone goes off right as Jace's car pulls back into the Vicecorp parking garage.

New message from Jaquie. It reads: Mr. Vice needs lunch prepared ASAP! General Tso's in work fridge. Cook on stove. Don't microwave.

Natara practically jumps out of Jace's sports car, stumbling her way toward the company building. Was that on my to-do list today? Is the food late? 

"Thanks for the lunch, Jace! I-It was really nice!" She stammers, sprinting past him and hopping into the elevator. He grins and shakes his head as he shuts his door, watching the elevator close between them.

When the elevator reaches the floor with the company fridge (the same floor with the coffee maker and blender), she runs to the fridge. She jerks open the door and pulls out a container of General Tso's marked "A. Vice" on top.

The smell wafts through the company kitchen, reminding her of the date with Jace. 

It was lovely getting to spend that time with him, and it really does seem like...there might be something more between us. Surely it's not my imagination. He smiles and winks at me so much, he goes out of his way to spend time with me (and he wants to spend even more time with me), and he paid for lunch today claiming that it was the guy's job to treat the girl!

Natara spins around - hugging the General Tso's to her chest - and holds back a squeal. She pulls open the lid on the container and pours it into one of the pots on the stove.

It looks like General Tso's chicken but it doesn't smell like that at all. Natara wonders what kind of dish it is. As she heats it up, she pinches her nose closed. Jeez, it smells gross. I guess it must taste good. Maybe it's some kind of special recipe?

Natara understands why Mr. Vice wanted the meal cooked on a stovetop instead of in the microwave (she's had microwaved Chinese food and it doesn't turn out the same as it does when it's warmed on the stove) but...this? She wishes she didn't have to cook this on the stove because she has to suffer with the stench for longer.

Once it's warmed she spreads the food out on a plate, covers the plate with the pot lid to keep the food warm (and the smell out), and quickly washes and dries the pot. After she's finished cleaning the pot she quickly removes the lid from the food and cleans that too, leaving everything just as clean as it was before she cooked anything. She grabs a plastic fork and a couple of napkins and heads up to Mr. Vice's office.

When she reaches his office she opens up the alcove and puts the food inside. 

She makes it about halfway down the hallway before she hears a crash inside Mr. Vice's office. 

A crash. 

The thought of sound coming from Mr. Vice's office is so foreign that Natara thinks she's imagined it. She hesitates, not sure if she should run toward the office to see what happened or if she should ignore it because Mr. Vice wouldn't open his office door for her anyway.

But the decision is made for her when Jaquie storms out of the elevator.

"What did you do? What food did you give him? What did you put in it? Are you acting out because of what happened this morning?" Jaquie rattles, pale as a ghost and pinching at the collar of his shirt. 

Natara thinks he might be angry with her from the raised tone of his voice but there's no fire in his eyes or red in his face. He looks terrified. Natara has never seen Jaquie scared.

Worst of all, Natara doesn't realize why he's scared. She followed the instructions he texted her. There wasn't another container of food in the fridge (especially marked with A. Vice) so there's no way she got it mixed up with something else. Nothing should have been wrong with it.

"I don't understand. Was something the matter with the food?" She stammers. 

Jaquie looks at her as if her head has transformed into a horse's head. His eyes bulge and she sees a beat of sweat forming at the top of his forehead. He tugs hard on the collar of his shirt as if he's trying to get some more breathing room.

"He didn't say what was wrong but he's furious. Absolutely furious," Jaquie's usual animated voice trembles ever so slightly. "Like, I can't do anything to save your job at this point furious. He told me I either punish you hard for this or he takes it to Vice Senior. Do you have any idea what you did? Do you know what was wrong with the food?"

Natara shakes her head. She honestly doesn't know. Jaquie looks stressed and defeated.

"I don't know what went wrong either. You do still want to keep this job, though, right? It really wasn't anything purposeful?" He asks, watching Natara's face carefully. 

She nods. Seconds pass. Jaquie wipes the sweat off his forehead.

"Then I'm sorry. You'll be working really late tonight. I know you have a lot of paperwork to do today with Mr. Vice's daily papers but I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you the paperwork of the other department secretaries to do and I'll be leaving out supplies for you to clean all of the restrooms in the building tonight. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened but I need to appease Mr. Vice about this," he says.

"I'll order you a sub sandwich for dinner tonight. Do you like Italian sandwiches?" Jaquie offers. In his eyes is desperation; the look of a good hearted man caught between a rock and a hard place. Natara nods again, thankful for all the effort he's going through for her. It seems like he really is desperate for someone to stay in this position.

"I'm going to clean the glass up. I'm certain he doesn't want to see you right now." Jaquie gives her a light smile, followed by a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Honestly I don't think Mr. Vice ever wants to see me..." Natara says dryly. She never thought she'd end up having such a cold first boss. Then again, she also wasn't sure she'd ever get far enough in life to have a boss - or a job - at all. 

Jaquie heads down the hall and knocks on Mr. Vice's door. Natara heads back toward the elevator. As the elevator door closes, she sees the door to Mr. Vice's office open but she can't catch a glimpse of anything inside.

Jaquie had said there was glass that needed cleaned up. Was the food so bad that Mr. Vice had knocked something over? Her mind races with questions as she walks back toward her office, but one question stands out in particular: 

What happened to Mr. Vice's food?