The way I think their first meeting should have gone…

Challenge #1: Introduction…

"Here, Miss Pleasance is where you will be working for the time you're with us."

I surveyed the space that I had been assigned to with interest. It was a great deal larger than my previous job's desk, and not even a cubicle to worry about tipping over (I was forever fretting about such trivial accidents)! There was a closed door from which I could hear paper being crumpled behind. A strangely comforting sound to me for some reason.

"The coffee machine is in the lounge and-ah, this is your…boss." I wondered why she spat out the last word as if it were laced with poison. But never mind that, I had been eager to see the man that I had been hired to 'look after' as Cates put it.

I eagerly whirled round to see a man in his mid thirties stride out of the door next to my desk. He had a kind face, with gently tanned skin and extremely light blonde hair. I immediately felt at ease around him, as a breath taking smile was shot at me.

The smile disappeared, however, when his light blue eyes came to rest on Dr. Cates. I secretly couldn't blame him, the uptight person was making me feel uncomfortable and she hadn't even yelled at me…yet.

"You wanted to see me Dr. Cates?" he asked flatly, a slight southern English accent just recognizable.

"Yes, this is your new secretary, Ms. Alice Pleasance…and I came to see what you had lined up for Mr. Wayne's evaluation again."

His eyes seemed to brighten as he took in the first bit of the sentence, but then he flinched as he was apparently not ready at all for the important deadline.

Cates noticed this and narrowed her already beady eyes. "If you don't have anything ready it will be your head!"

"If you didn't keep such a close eye on me then perhaps I could get a bloody thing done!"

At this statement she glanced over at me, obviously editing a few things out, and muttered so that only I could hear; "Don't let him out of your sight!" and with this, huffed out of the room.

I could make out a mutter that had something to do with a Jabberwocky before his gaze shifted to me.

He grinned at me again and just like that, the suffocating tension was gone.

"Your first name is Alice…like the book." He commented softly.

"Book?" I puzzled, not having the slightest idea of what he was talking about.

"Yes, Alice in Wonderland"

"Oh…yes I guess so." It was not the first time the particular association had been pointed out, but having never read the book; it hadn't really caught on with me

He blushed and looked down at the floor. He was charming, in an awkward sort of way. The kind of attitude that a little boy would have while handing a flower to his first crush.

"I-if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." He walked back into the room and left me there to get organized. I could hear the scratching of pencil on paper through the now left open door. I smiled to myself as I was sitting down to my typewriter.

I could tell I was going to like this job a lot better than the last.

^_^ I did this at 5:34 AM, so please be a bit forgiving.