"Blake stepped into his boss's office with the bakery bag in hand. He made it a habit to beat the Secretary to the office and organize her desk: briefs in order in the top middle, newspaper on the upper right corner, daily schedule in the lower right. Then of course, fresh pastries and coffee on the buffet. After she had selected one, or two, the tray could go to the conference room or break room for the rest of the staff. That was the way the day should go, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw her sitting behind her desk staring out the window.
"Ma'am. I'm surprised to find you here so early. Can I get you anything?" She was lost in thought and didn't answer. Blake was a little unnerved by this, but he still had a job to do, so he arranged the buffet and pulled the briefs off her desk and set about organizing them. He finished the task quickly and having finished everything else, he started to leave.
"Why do you do that Blake?" she asked.
"Ma'am?" he questioned.
"Spend time arranging everything just so." Elizabeth gestured to the neat piles.
"So you have ready access to the information you need." Blake was utterly confused by this line of questioning.
"And yet, sometimes, no matter how much information I have, it still isn't enough to get the job done."
"It's been a long week," he offered.
"We have the same amount of time every week and yet it seems that we get less and less accomplished. I just can't get people to see outside their own little box. It's like everyone has tunnel vision," she sighed. "It's getting to me Blake."
"You're too good for the world," he said.
"I doubt that," she scoffed.
"Then you'd be wrong." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at her assistant. Blake was not one to disagree with her, regardless of the topic. "Ma'am, if you don't mind me saying, I've known you for a quite a while, and I have yet to see you place your own needs above someone else's." She tilted her head and looked at him curiously. Blake shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, obviously, it is your job to look out for US interests, but in doing so, it's never to the detriment of the other party. You always try to find a solution that is beneficial to everyone involved. That's beyond rare in this line of work. Ma'am, if I do say so myself, you're a unicorn."
Elizabeth laughed. "Thanks Blake."
Blake started out of the office, but turned back to face her. "If you need a little pick me up later in the day, I can get Minister Chen on SVTC and you can give him a tongue-lashing. I'm sure you can find reason and that always cheers you up." He shot her a cheesy grin.
Elizabeth laughed out loud. "I'll let you know." Blake watched as she rose and headed toward the buffet. If sugary pastries didn't do the trick, he'd keep Chen on speed dial. This unicorn wasn't going to become extinct-not on his watch.
