This is my S/T Valentine's Exchange for thebarefootflapper. It ended up that once I fully developed the idea, it turned into a multi-chapter fic. I hope to post the rest of the story either by the end of March or post the rest of the chapters all at once in March. I hope you like it.
I would like to thank the Yankee Countess and Scarletcourt. Both read the chapter, gave some fantastic suggestions, and most importantly, their support as I struggled with this.
Prompt: Workaholic Sybil slaves away hour after hour for her father's company in the hope of saving up enough money to go away on the trip of a lifetime though the arrival of the new junior press secretary could make late nights a at the office just a little bit more interesting…
Whaauh! Exterminate! Exterminate! Shurhhhhhhh!
Sybil rolled over and grabbed her alarm clock, quickly turning it off. Groaning, she got out of bed, walked to the bathroom, and began to ready for the day.
Two hours later...
Arriving at Grantham's, Sybil strolled towards the stairs and began walking up to the shared offices. Soon, she arrived at her floor and stopped to take in the already busy scene. Sighing, she walked to her desk and quickly went to work.
An hour later, Sybil was rubbing her eyes as she went over another wasn't what she dreamed of back in uni. Working for her father was not what she had planned for herself. However, not being able to find work at a museum out of college, Sybil was left with few options and accepted a position as a cataloger in the Photographs department at her father's auction house, Grantham's.
After working for another ten minutes, she checked her watched and realized it was time to head to the weekly department meeting. Arriving at the meeting room, Sybil was surprised to see that she was the first person to arrive. The only other person there was her department director's assistant Lily Markham, who just finished setting up. Hence, Sybil took her usual spot and calmly waited for everyone else to show up. Soon, the rest of the Photographs department filed in, along with members of the Press department, and Sybil's father, Robert.
Once everyone was seated, the meeting began. After they covered some basic departmental items, Isobel Turnbull-Crawley, who was the department head, stood up to get everyone's attention. "Now we have some very important matters to discuss. I am both sad and happy to announce that Sharon Debney will be leaving Grantham's in a month to move to a position at the Tate Modern. I have been thrilled to work with Sharon for the past six years, ever since she interned for me while she was at university. While I am saddened that she will no longer be working here, I am also proud that she will be advancing her career. I hope you all will join me in wishing Sharon the best of luck in her new position."
Everyone applauded Sharon, a favorite in the department. As the applause died down, Isobel continued. "Obviously, this means that there will be some changes in Photographs. I am happy to announce that Sybil will be promoted to Associate Specialist."
Another round of applause followed the announcement. Sybil was stunned. She hadn't expected this at all. However, if anyone else was asked, they would have said it was surprising that Sybil hadn't been promoted sooner.
Before Sybil could dwell too long on her thoughts, the auction house's Senior Press Secretary was standing to make an announcement. Elsie Hughes stood proud in front of everyone and began speaking, her Scottish accent ringing clear.
Smiling, she began. "I would like to introduce the newest addition to our staff, Mr. Tom Branson." Turning to the person Elsie was pointing to, Sybil's heart skipped a beat. Standing across the room, was the most gorgeous man Sybil had ever seen. He had breathtakingly blue eyes, sandy brown hair, and the figure of a rugby player. He reminded her of a combination of the Irish One Direction member (What's his name?) and Tom Hiddleston. Breaking out of her reverie, Sybil realized she had missed most of Elsie's speech, discussing Tom's qualifications. "Tom will be joining us in the newly created position of junior press secretary."
After Elsie spoke, Robert stood and waited for Tom's welcome applause to die down before he began to speak. "I'd like to first welcome Tom to Grantham's. I know he will be a wonderful addition to the firm. Also, I would like to congratulate Sharon on her new position at the Tate Modern. You will be missed here, but I know that you will excel there."
"I'd also like to congratulate Sybil on her promotion. As her superior, I have always been quite pleased with her work. However, as a father, I am quite proud of her and the work she has done here at Grantham's since she started working here three years ago." He paused briefly before continuing. "Now on to the really big news. I am pleased to announce that we were contacted recently by the Countess of Gresham. She has decided to auction off some works from her late father's art collection. Specifically, we will be handling the works of Lucy Victoria Andrews. L.V. Andrews was a rare woman of the Edwardian and First World War time period. She was a suffragist, writer, and photographer. The auction has been scheduled for six months from now. This will be the premiere photographic auction of the year. Thank you."
The meeting ended shortly afterwards and everyone returned to their desks. Two hours later, Sybil was called into Isobel's office. As soon as she entered, her breath caught in her throat. Standing there was Tom Branson. She quickly regained her composure, smiled, and took a seat.
Isobel returned Sybil's smile. "First, I want to thank you for all of your hard work, Sybil. You are a shining example for all the younger workers here at Grantham's. You're always willing to work late and put that extra effort in. You're going to need all of your energy and work ethic in the coming months."
Sybil nodded, but did look confused at what Isobel said. The elder woman continued. "I'm putting you in charge of the L.V. Andrews auction. I know you wrote your M.A. thesis on her and I know you will do an excellent job. You will be working closely with Tom over the next six months as he writes press releases on the auction, as well as putting together the catalog for prospective buyers."
Sybil was stunned for the second time that day. L.V. Andrews was her favorite photographer and the reason why Sybil started taking pictures as a teenager. She knew each and every one of her photos by heart. Just to be able to look at them in person was enough for her.
"Thank you, Isobel. I won't let you down."
Chuckling, Isobel replied, "I know you won't. I had Tom come in so you two could get acquainted with each other and to work out a schedule. You can do that in Tom's office."
Sybil and Tom got up and left the office. "My office is this way," he said, pointing to the left. Sybil was momentarily stunned. Having never heard Tom speak before, as well as not paying attention during his introduction earlier, she had no idea that he was Irish. His accent made her weak in the knees. Pulling herself together, she walked alongside Tom to his office.
Sitting down at his desk, Tom gave a little half smirk, thrilled that he was going to get to work with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "Since we're going to be working together, I need some important information. Where can we get good Indian take out nearby? We're going to need to eat as we hash everything out."
Sybil smiled and thought, The next six months will be interesting...