Temporary Secretary

Part 8

3 December 1980

6:30am Wednesday

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It was early on a Wednesday morning, a half hour until the lobby opened to enquiries. No clients were scheduled for the morning, so Paul had sat himself on the reception desk.

You loved his legs, hanging off the edge like that. They were long and slender. He likely didn't even mean for the gesture to be an enticing one.

The both of you had become rather comfortable with casual conversation. Paul was the sociable type, and would likely be worse off without another presence in his office.

"I've got this dinner with some record execs on Friday," Paul mentioned.

"Oh." You said. "That's nice."

Paul looked at you rather blankly. You looked back.

Sometimes people would say things to you, but they wouldn't give context, just expecting you to understand what they meant. You often felt like you were missing something...

"Er, yes. I meant if you'd like to come along..."

You were a bit confused.

"How come?" You said. "I could take notes I suppose, but it might be awkward in a restaurant."

Paul laughed at that.

"No, no, you don't need to take notes." He said through amusement. "Jus' come with me is all. Might be nice. It'll probably be good for you to sit in as well. We're a two person firm after all."

You blew out a breath.

"Well...I'm not licenced to practice law, so I dunno if you could call it that." You laughed. "Don't think I'd make it through all that schooling."

"S'just a lot of memorization." Paul frowned in thought. "Yer not missing much. Can't believe I graduated to tell the truth. Never been much of a student."

You smiled up at him.

"Well, it seems that you're doing fine for yourself."

Paul nodded giddily.

"Hmm, yeah. The music stuff I like. Less boring, y'know. I'd go near mad workin' for Goliath National Bank or somethin."

"I was in a corporate position before moving here." You said. "This is definitely more entertaining I'd say. Liked archiving data and the like."

Paul's eyes opened wider, a curious look.

"Well, what is it you'd like to do...if given the chance?"

You looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I haven't heard much of the like from you." Paul said. "What field would you like to be in...if you could choose?"

You were a bit at a loss, taken aback by the question.

"Like my dream job?"

"Yeah."

You hadn't thought about it really. It seemed like an obvious thing to know. Everybody had goals, didn't they? Aspirations? It was a question you'd be asked in primary school.

"Uh,"

What did you want to do?

God, it was sort of worrying, not a single thought coming to you. You wanted a good position, right? That was your current goal, to get a better position, move up the corporate ladder, succeed in the business world.