Hey Guys, first of all – thank you ALL for your great support!
Your favs, alerts and reviews showed me how much you liked the first chapter, and I really hope you'll enjoy this one, as well.
As always, I do not own rookie blue.
Rachel sat by the window in the back of a bus heading down town. It was early in the morning like they told her to be. Their instructions were simple to give but harder to follow. She was supposed to be 'modest yet flirtatious, subtly sexy, hair down but not on her face, dressed elegantly in a higher-class blue-collar kind of way, makeup noticeable but not flashy, and high heels'. They strongly emphasized the high heels.
She wrote it all down as they said it on the phone, to not forget.
Then she searched her closet and found something to wear, placed it on the kitchen chair, and rummaged deep in her shoe collection to find her high heels. These were the hardest item to follow on her list. It meant limping on her wounded leg, knowing it will be highly noticeable with the fancy clothes she will wear.
On the other side of the note she scribbled the address she was given by the temp agency, hoping she will be liked and asked to stay, not like the one she was replacing.
She needed this job to become permanent, there was no other choice. It had to be done.
Maybe this could be a new beginning of a new phase in her life, seeing how the dream she had for most of her life shuddered to million pieces a couple of months ago, when she was so close to finally accomplishing it.
She wiped the nervous sweat from her palms on the sides of her pants, careful not to leave a mark. While doing so she examined herself, once again trying to estimate if the gray dress pants with the white blouse were a good choice. Not that she had anything else to fit the description she was given. It was both practicality and technicality - she had nothing else to wear, plus she didn't have time to shave her legs with the short notice she was given, so a little black dress was not an option. She was also hoping the pants will hide her limp. Correct that – not just hoping, praying. Her life relied on her getting this job. Literally.
She checked the address again, and knew she needs to get off at the next station. She grabbed her purse, slowly got up from her seat and crossed the nearly empty bus to stand by the door, practicing her no-limp-stride-with-heels on the moving bus.
Rachel sighed. This day will be long.
She mentally prepared herself for doing things she never did before, and jumped off the bus when it barely reached full stop. "Fake it till you make it" she reiterated her mantra, a faint smile coming to her face.
Trying her best to keep her step light, she walked through the building's sliding glass doors and strode with much more determination than she knew she had in her to the lobby's receptionist, like she was instructed to do.
The guy at the desk gave her a thorough look top to bottom before speaking to her, and Rachel felt like a piece of meat hang in the market for evaluation. She swallowed hard and spoke with the softest, sweetest voice she could muster, trying her best to keep it stable.
"Can I see an ID, please?" the man asked, and Rachel handed him the card, hoping there will be no remarks about it. The guy looked at her, clearly amused by what he saw in the ID.
"This is a new one" he commented, turning it from one side to the other, examining both sides carefully, and she knew this wasn't what he really wanted to say.
"Yeah…ehhm… my purse… I was robbed last week and they took everything, so I had to go and issue all my documents again." She managed to answer with a shy smile, blurting the words out.
The guy nodded his head, and went on with his work.
Five minutes later Rachel placed the magnetic card she was given on the scanner of the glass gate and waited for it to open. When it did, she strode through it to the elevators, being careful to keep her limp hidden as possible. Instead of the usual elevator buttons she found a pole. It took her a minute or two to figure she needs to type the floor number on the pole's keypad, and then the system will tell her which elevator to go to. So she pressed the number, and waited for the elevator to arrive.
Reaching her desired floor she found another set of glass doors she needed to open by placing the magnetic card on a reader placed on the wall.
This was new to her. This whole 'big brother is watching you'. She was always more of a free spirit kind of person. Always doing what she wants to do, when she wants to do it, all within the given boundaries. But she'll have to put her free spirit in a box and forget about it if she wanted to keep this job. And she did. This was her only chance of becoming something.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled the glass door and yanked it open, walking to the firm's front desk determined to make this work, and leave a great first impression.
She was asked to sit and wait for Miss B, which she obediently did. Rachel's rambling mind was trying to guess if it's B, Bee or Bea (as in Beatrice), which was her way of coping with all the nervous energy cooped inside her since the call she received late last night. It was all about what she needs to do for the next five minutes. Five minutes at a time. And now she had no idea what she needs to do. So her mind went on and on and on.
Two minutes later Miss B walked in to the waiting room and greeted her.
"Hello Miss Rachel, and welcome to our firm. I'm miss B, and I'm the office manager. I'm responsible for all you girls, and you get your instructions from me or from the big boss. No one else. Is that clear? I see you were already instructed by the temp agency about our firm's dress code, and I'm pleased to see you at least made an effort. Turn around please." Miss B's words were spoken like a military officer, and Rachel found herself compliant though in her mind she knew this is not a job where beauty matters. In addition, the rotating finger miss B was holding up was highly intimidating.
"Good." Miss B approved what she saw "now come with me, and tuck that hair behind your ear. You'll have to do something about it."
Rachel nodded, and followed suit.
They marched the length of a wide corridor with various offices on each side, each office with its own secretarial station in front of it. Rachel could hear miss B saying 'this is this and this is that' while pointing at various places they crossed in their path, but nothing registered. She was too nervous. Suddenly miss B stopped, and Rachel tried real hard to not run into her. "And this" miss B said "this will be your station."
Rachel raised her eyes and saw they were standing near the first cubicle in a series of what looked like fifteen or twenty cubicles, spread wall to wall in the enormous room. Rachel stepped forward, looked thoroughly and span the chair around with a swift of a hand, as if her first evaluation of the station will have some effect on the quality of her work in it.
"Every morning a list of tasks will be placed on your desk to fulfill by the end of the day. Food is available at the kitchenette, and I strongly recommend you take the lighter drinks, preferably water." (miss B was taking another look up and down Rachel's figure, which made Rachel think of all the extra weight she gained since her injury. She knew she lost most of it, but still felt uncomfortable) "We will not time your breaks, but they should not affect the quality of your work and completeness of your tasks. This is your list for today." Miss B handed her a sheet of paper, turned around and walked away, clicking her heels on the wooden office floor.
Rachel stood there, looking around, noticing the rest of the girls already deep in their work, though it was not even 7 o'clock. Her eyes wandered around the room, as if she's looking to find someone she knows between them, not that it will happen.
One thing struck her right away – all the girls in the room were young, they were all pretty and beyond, and they were all dressed and styled as if this is a shooting scene for some fashion magazine. Rachel intuitively looked behind her, expecting to find a photographer with all the lightning equipment and cameras. But none were there. This was not a fashion magazine, it was an office, and she had some work to do. She turned around to her station, sat down and looked at the list she was given.
It was a relatively short list, mainly containing instructions such as "type Zain Vs. Netty settlement meeting No. 5" and "make 20 color-coded copies of the evidence list in Berry". This was gibberish. She needed some translation. She raised her eyes from the paper, wondering where she could find miss B again to get some explanations about these tasks. She was surprised to find a blonde girl with wide green eyes standing right behind her.
"Hi" the girl said. "I'm Julie. I was the new girl till you came, so it's my job to show you around, and then when there's a new girl after you – you'll show her. Right then? Goodie." The smile didn't leave Julie's face, and Rachel pondered if maybe she got her muscles pulled in some surgery so she always smiles. Nonetheless, Rachel knew having a friendly face in a new place is a good thing, and smiled back. She was thankful for Julie's help, and they sat together for some time, Julie explaining the filing method on the company's server, the file naming method, and where she can find a headset to listen to all the meetings she'll have to type.
Basically it was an easy job, even a boring one sometimes. Julie said so too, but she also said that every now and then the big boss comes and reference some of the girls to go work for some of his clients, in some really big and well-paying companies. So this was a great place to start. Six months, Julie said. Six months is all it takes in this room. And then you'll either leave for a better firm, be promoted to another job in this firm, or go home. Six months is all there was.
Rachel smiled faintly, praying she will not have to do this for six months, or her brain will explode. After a while Julie went back to her station right behind Rachel's, and Rachel shortly heard her typing.
She worked quietly and efficiently. Marking one tick after the other in her daily list. She learned the printer is one with the copy machine, placed at the end of the hall near the kitchenette. A huge monster that will only work by placing your employee card on it. Rachel was irritated by this whole 'big brother' again, and sighed her despair to the machine.
By the time her work day ended, she completed all her assignments, and her table was clear from all the copies she was asked to do. Proud of herself she walked to the main office door, thinking to head home.
Stepping towards the front desk, miss B came her way, saying three words that were like music to her ears - "see you tomorrow". Simple and effective. Mission accomplished. First day marked off, and she was asked to come back. Rachel nodded to miss B, and answered plainly "see you tomorrow".
Two minutes later, alone in the elevator, Rachel did her little victory dance, and then she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and texted the good news to the temp agency. In reply, she received a text with an address. She saw the address and knew she'll have to take a different bus home. She now had a new home to go to.
On her way she stopped for a quick dinner at a nearby diner, and at the department store to buy a new suit for tomorrow.
Next morning, same early hour, same bus, even the same guy at the lobby, only now she already had an employee card, so she simply greeted him and walked pass the glass gates. By the way he checked her out, she knew the black knee-length pencil skirt with matching tight jacket and lilac blouse with some cleavage showing were the right thing to wear. She smiled and walked lightly to the elevators, clicking her heels and wiggling her assets in the process, enjoying the feeling of the guy's drooling on her back.
Julie was already waiting for the elevator, so they rode up together. Rachel could feel the friendship budding, and knew she might found a friend for life. When the elevator reached their floor and they opened the glass door, Julie started giggling and her face blushed in a matter of seconds. She turned her head towards Rachel, and Rachel looked down the hall to see what made Julie react like a teenager girl with a crush. At the end of the corridor stood a tall man in a black suit. By all meanings his figure was perfect. Rachel didn't see his face, but his back was enough to know this body was the talk of the office. And that spot where the back ended and the legs started… well… Rachel thought it would be easier to just stop her rolling thoughts there. She turned to Julie with one question in her mouth "who?"
"Oh, he's the new guy. He started working here a couple of months ago. He's the girls' chauffeur. He takes us places we need to go, runs errands for us. And all sorts. He's our mystery guy. We know his name is JD, but he never spoke to any of us longer than what was necessary. He calls us all 'miss', and never addresses us directly. Most of the time he just sits in his car in the basement parking lot. Believe it or not, there is a bet between us who will be the first to get him to talk…" Julie finished with a wink, and Rachel could certainly believe her. By the time Julie finished, the guy already walked away, and Rachel and Julie walked down the hall to their stations.
By 10 AM, Rachel already typed her first task for the day, and now had to print it once to see it's okay, and then make 25 more copies of it and leave it on her desk for miss B. she walked to the printer and placed her card. The first copy came out and was fine, so Rachel went back to her station to send the next 25 copies. When she released the printing job again, the printer started shooting pages and Rachel decided to go make herself a nice cup of coffee in the meantime, knowing it's gonna take a while to print. She noticed the day before that there was a good coffee machine and a nice milk foamer in the kitchenette, so she decided now is the time to spoil herself.
Walking back to her station with the coffee at hand, she noticed the printer had finished, and decided to collect the copies now and not make a double trip to the printer. She quickly sipped some of her hot coffee, to have the flavor in her mouth till she can sit and enjoy the rest of it. She took the turn to enter the printer's area, and bumped into something that wasn't there before. Her first reaction was a loud surprised gulp. Then she yelped when she felt the heat of the coffee making its way through her clothes down to the floor.
Looking down, Rachel saw a pair of manly black shoes who were nicely polished till she spilled coffee all over them. Upper to that were black suit pants, and she couldn't look any higher. She didn't need to. She instinctively knew who this was.
JD.
She blushed from embarrassment, and her eyes drifted upwards and got stuck on her own blouse. Her once lilac and now mocha blouse. She couldn't hold the shame longer, and ran to the bathroom, leaving her empty cup of coffee on Julie's desk.
Julie entered the bathroom right behind her, and saw her by the sink, trying to wash the coffee stain away from her blouse. Not a minute had passed and miss B entered the room, as well. One look from her was enough for Julie to step out without a word.
Rachel raised her eyes from the basin and looked at miss B through the mirror.
"Sorry, miss B. didn't mean to do that. I'll get myself cleaned and I'll get back to work."
"Turn around, miss Rachel" miss B's commanding voice gave Rachel the creeps, but she did as she was told. She closed the tap and turned around, barely lifting her eyes high enough to make eye contact with miss B.
"You can't stay here like this, miss Rachel." miss B's voice was stern.
"I'll stay at my desk. I promise. I already finished typing and printing that deposition, so I don't have much more to do. I won't get up, I promise. I'll button up my jacket, and I'll stay at my desk and..." There was some pleading in her voice. The expression on miss B's face switched from disgust to surprise when she heard Rachel's productivity. She interrupted Rachel's speech with her own, this time her voice a little softer.
"You can't. Mr. Edmonds is coming back from his trip today, and the office has to be tip-top. He can't see you like this. You know what? Seeing you already did your major task for today, why won't I get you a ride to a place we work with. The company has an open account there, and you could get something… nicer… to wear. Maybe even several nice things to wear…" miss B referred to Rachel's current outfit as if it was jeans and T, or worse. Rachel actually thought she looked nice as it was.
"You wait here, and miss Julie will come and get you once we're ready. I'll notify the store you're on your way."
It was thirty minutes later when Julie came back to the bathroom and called Rachel out. She walked with her to the elevators, and went down with her to the basement where a silver Cayenne was waiting for them. Rachel climbed to the back seat, and Julie closed the door behind her. T
he car took off the second the door was slammed.
So... want you think will happen next? Will they recognize each other?