PART 3 - THE SO CALLED INTERVIEW

"Bloody hands. Stop shaking so much." But that was easier said then done, his whole body was a mass of jittery nerves. She was in the building... she was going to see him shortly... and OH DEAR GOD! He still had the pictures in his hands. What was he going to do with them?!

For all I know they were taken years ago and are probably no big deal or, his other voice of reason droll on warily, they could be recent pictures and she might take offense for me having them. Put them away - like now. Last thing you need is to have to explain where you got them from. Hello, I'm Alistair, pleased be assured I'm no psycho stalker... these pictures? Oh would you believe I got them from Zev? He's the real stalker... that you've known since you were a kid... Yeah, right, that would never work.

So he did the next best thing, he opened the one desk drawer he could never close because it was jammed with - oh gosh -more paper, and shoved the photos in.

There had been no warnings just hey, she needs a job, you need an assistant, but I really want her for myself kind of be told, he had never been on the receiving end of Zev's schemes... at least on the bad end of the schemes. Sure the man could protect the company from Cailin's faulty dealings, but he had never done his damnest to take something from Alistair that he wanted for himself. And I do... I do want her. Alistair ran a hand nervously through his hair as the realization struck him. He was never the kind of guy to go after the same girl that a friend wanted, but TQ...there was just something about her that screamed I'm yours, I'm for you only. Crazy thoughts, he knew that much, but it didn't change the butterflies doing leaps in his belly.

He wondered if Zev would have still introduced him to TQ if he had known how much Alistair's interest would have been perked. Who knew? Alistair was pretty sure that Zev hadn't actually meant to let on that Elissa was interested in him. That thought floored him. She was interested, wasn't she. That would be why Zevran had done all this... Wow. Zev's worried that I might actually have a chance where he didn't. A guy like that not having a chance with a woman like her? And he thinks I do...

"I wonder if I can open this window and dump everything out so that my office will look cleaner than his?" It was crazy talk; he knew it, but he was panicking. Most of this stuff was important and if he lost it...oh boy, if he lost it would be like cutting off an arm in shark infested waters and not expecting those sharks to follow the scent of blood to the bigger meal.

"Maybe I can just say a tree fell into my office and a lumberjack got excited. Oh man, who am I kidding? It fell over, made a home and is doing business here." He was just going to have to resolved himself to his fate. "I know, I know! I'll tell her a tornado touched down and it was only my room it hit."

"Or you could tell me some beavers were building a dam in here."

"No, I don't think so. She's smarter than I am, I don't think she'd even believe the tor-na- do...oh damn." He was standing in the middle of the room, looking at the open window as if contemplating if he could toss himself out on the first go. "Ah, yeah... ah... I can totally explain."

"Oh really? I'd like to hear that." She sounded amused and he wondered if that was a good sign? Dare he take it as such? He was shaking so much that he had to grip his hands to calm down. "And Nir, maybe you could do that while looking me in the face or should I be saying Mr. Alistair Theirin?"

"Yeah, sorry. I really should be facing you, right?" He had to pick his mouth up from off the floor and jam it back into place when he turned to face her. Those pictures just didn't do her justice. She was dressed in a smart white blouse with a black sophisticated jacket and a short, tight skirt. And about that blouse, and this was embarrassing because he knew it was the man in him that noticed, it was tight around her breasts. With some force he lifted his gaze to her other eyes, the important sea-green ones. She is so going to kick my ass for staring.

"Yes, my eyes are up here. That is so much better." She wore a bright smile on those perfect lips. Lips he noticed that were not frowning or sneering or even condescending given where his eyes had been earlier. She was as openly friendly in person as she was on Brag ©. "It's good to finally meet you in person."

"Good to meet you too." Alistair returned the smile with a nervous chuckle as he ran fingers through his hair before sticking his hand out suddenly. Hand shake, don't forget the handshake!

He was surprise to find that her fingers weren't fragile, soft things dipped in cream. They were sturdy, firm and there was obvious strength there. Sensei Norusu's class, remember. She must go often. "I gave my resume to Tegan. I like him. Nice man with a good head on his shoulders. I see that Zevran forgot to mention how... full your office was."

Truth be told, the pictures did NOT compare to how stunningly gorgeous she was in person. If he thought she radiated confidence and warmth with her voice alone, seeing her in person just walloped the senses. She had the right shape and form and the way the fabric stretched around her arms and hips had him imagining a firm and well-toned body. Not to mention it led to other thoughts he shouldn't be having, especially in the crowded mess of his office. Of course, that's when he realized she'd stop talking and was waiting for a reply. Oh god, am I an idiot or what. He tried to say, "I've had my secretary quit,", but all that came out was "I-" before the avalanche hit and the entire mess of papers became an entire explosion of white.

"Oh damn it! I'm so sorry!" he managed to blurt out as he scrambled around trying to catch and shove the ungrateful sheets back into place without much luck. She was beside him in moments, callus, well worn fingers reaching down to gather up the errant sheets. He was grateful for the help.

"Yeah," he resigned himself to what he realized was now going to be his failed attempt with her, "My assistant/secretary quit and this is my terrible, terrible office. Sorry about all this... but I really and honestly suck at paper work, which explains why I've had 6 people quit on me alone." He ran a hand through his brown-blond hair and let out a sigh. Really? Am I sobbing out my life story here? Too bad I don't have a bit where my pet got run over by a car. "I've been told I should just burn the office and walk away with the losses, but-"

"It's not so bad. You just need someone to help and who won't give up on you." She was organizing the sheets as she picked them up, something he hadn't realized she was doing until he glanced over at her. "You really shouldn't feel bad about this, I've done this for worse people than you." Her voice was so warm, so friendly that it calmed him. Let him lower his guard. He almost felt as if they were on Brag© simply chatting the night away.

"Worse? As if that's even possible." He picked up an empty folder, who knew where the contents were now? Which was to say, somewhere all over the ground. "Who could be worse than me?"

"My dad for one. My mom is forever keeping him organized. You could kind of say I learned from her." The bittersweet smile on her face was there only a moment before the warm one returned. Just what had that been about? "Anyway, I could help you if you want?"

"Why not run away, everyone else does?" He hadn't meant to sound so despondent, but the desk exploding like it did, spitting up papers as if it was Mount Vesuvius, had just killed his shot with her.

"Do I look like I run away from fights?" She had stopped putting paper together and was looking right at him in a way that made him turn slowly, lifting brown eyes to stare into her green-blue eyes. Her face was so close that he could see a tiny little scar in her eyebrow. Funny how you don't really see things like that unless you're really looking at someone's face. "Now answer the question, do I look like a runner?"

"You look like you could take my neck and break it in half." He was being honest. When you had nothing left to lose, why did it matter? "Oh, and then tie it together in ribbons...hmmm. and maybe throw it out the window. I'm pretty sure, you could kick my ass." He laughed despite his silliness.

She raised an eyebrow. "Ribbons? Any particular colour?"

"A bright pink bow."

The wide grin on her face as she shook her head and chuckled showed no ill will reflected in it. "That's what I like about you. You find humour in everything. Well, Alistair Theirin. I will enjoy working under you." She went back to gathering papers, reaching for folders that were puking their guts out and righting the contents within.

"Enjoy...that's a first." But his hands shook and the colour drained slowly from his face. Had she just said... he rewound the conversation in his head and listened to each word carefully. And because he had just had a conversation with Zevran, he found colour returning to his cheeks at the thought of her working under him. "I'll just go over here..." With his gaze on her, he stood up slowly and backed away. Hunched down like she was, her dark brown hair hung in a braided cord down the curve of that beautiful back and towards - And because he was still thinking that bad thought, Alistair flushed when she spoke -

"If you have enough time to admire my backside, you have enough time to go across the street to get us an icecap from Timmy's. I take mine with milk."

"I wasn't, I mean, I was only-" He was a tad flabbergasted. Did she have eyes in the back of her head? What was it with women? Even Healing Tea had skills like that and she wasn't even in the room with him.

"Hmmm? Are you still here?"

She wasn't even looking at him so it didn't matter that his face had the petulant look of a distressed little boy. He let out a small sigh of resignation. "I'll get the icecaps."

20 minutes later...

Getting off the elevator with foam brown tray in hand and matching twin drinks, Alistair found he had to play the game he hated most. Office hockey. Where people who had been sitting stationary for a good 2 hours suddenly had to get up and get in the way. It reminded him of the times he had to take the subway to school where the jumble mass of people did exactly the same thing. Stumble, cut off and get in the way... what he would give to shove half of them into the train tracks... or out the window. Yet he had to stop himself from throwing evil glares about because the difference between a subway and an office was that you could hide in a crowd on the transit, but not so here. Too many witnesses.

The problem with it being so close to the lunch hour only meant more idiots were getting up from their cubicles. He had to swerve and sharp turn to keep from running into people who couldn't be arse to pay attention. Just take it up at the review when they ask for a raise... lets see how many of them might actually want to be a little bit more perceptive in the future.

He managed to keep the icecaps from spilling over the small tray they given him, and he wondered idly, if she'd mind at all that he'd opted for the same drink she'd wanted - easier and quicker that way. Not to mention he had never tried something like this before and he was curious about drinks she liked.

Ducking through more people who had chosen that precise moment to get in his way, Alistair was surprised to see that the secretarial desk in front of his office was filled with paper. "It's contagious, that's what it is." In his head he could see the wash of paper tumbling in on itself, swallowing Elissa before pouring out the doors in search of new space to devour. Elissa!

Before he could throw the tray to the wind and bolt into his office to see if Elissa was okay, he saw her move forward without injury as she stacked an offending armload of paper onto the desk. With his short hair blown back and his eyes wide, he approached with a barely controlled gasp. "Good god. Is everything okay here?"

"Yes...sir." She cocked a head towards the direction of his office and shrugged. "I needed to make space in there." Had she just called him sir? Wow. That kind of was...hot. Although, looking abruptly over his shoulders he realized that was not the reaction she had intended. Term of respect to the boss, in front of the staff. Damn it man, I need to stop acting like I'm on the prowl.

"Ah. That-"

"I took the liberty of clearing out your daybook so that you could head out early as we discussed." She sounded so professional and sure of herself that it took Alistair a moment to realize he had asked nothing of the sort.

"What really?" He would have looked down at the calender itself, except the bloody thing was hidden under the mountains of folders and files... all that dreaded paper. "Great job T-" He started to call her by her avatar tag and realized how completely careless and stupid that was.

"You can call me Miss Bryce - Elissa is too causal." The smile she gave him was polite and professional as her voice, but it left no room for fraternization. In fact, while she was approachable and friendly, she left no room for the easy-going mood they'd shared earlier. Zevran was at least right in this regard. TQ - no it was better to think of her as Elissa Bryce (it was her real name afterall) was very good at what she did.

"Miss... Bryce. My entire day?" He sounded timid, almost embarrassed in asking for the reconfirmation.

"Yes sir." There was that sir again, this time with no pause. "Just like you asked."

He realized he was just staring at her, standing awkwardly with that tray in his hand, and that people had lowered their voices with curious glances of their own. "Why thank you. I appreciate it."

She came forward to take the drink from the tray and whispered, "I need you out from under foot so I can clean up. I hope that's okay?" Serious and collected, Alistair couldn't help but be impressed by her dedication.

"Of course. Definitely. No problem there at all." He felt her hands for a moment as they touched his, it left a flutter in the pit of his stomach, and then she took her drink and disappeared behind the stacks of paper to retreat into his office.

"...the boss has a new secretary?"

"...how long is she going last..."

"Maybe 30 minutes..."

"She's going through the paper... gotta be at least a day..."

"...wait till she tries to flush that toilet..."

Egad! They were already taking bets?! Alistair turned slowly, but miraculously the damn obstacle course that had thrown itself underfoot was no where to be seen this time. It was like the sudden whoosh of heads had dived instantly for cover upon his turning. Damn, noisy bastards.

"Hey Alistair. You already got her working hard? You sly dog you." Zevran's coy voice and the playful jab of his fist to his friend's shoulder was a little too showy for his liking. Why was he trying to bring this kind of attention out in the open when he knew full well Alistair would try to deny - oh, you bastard.

"It's what a secretary does, Zev." He started to say, but Elissa had come back out again and was rolling her sea-green eyes at Zevran.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have a desk and a job to go back to?" The type of look she gave Zevran left no speculation that friendship or not, work came first. So that is interesting, even though they were friends, she wasn't going to take any crap from him.

"Oh, that's harsh. I thought we'd go out for lunch. Remember, I said it was my treat. There's this great Dim Sum place just down the street- um, hey?" It was almost comical in how Zevran sidestepped and skipped around Elissa who moved like a force of nature. She was the storm and he was the flying branch skirting around the fringes. He skipped over to Alistair and turned to face... air.

"I think she's gone back into my office, Zevran." Alistair sipped his icecap carefully, surprised at the perk of what cold iced cappuccino could do for him. Wasn't like drinking that over-priced stuff at Starbucks, that's for sure. "You know how it is, Zev. All's fair in war..." Was he smirking at Zev? Bragging even? In your face, point one to ME!

With a thoughtful roll of his shoulders, Zevran cracked his knuckles before sparing Alistair a mischievous smile."It's love and war, friend. Don't worry, I'm not beaten yet." Oh great, you know its something bad when he looks at you like he's eaten the canary. "Maybe I should give her a hand."

"Wait, what?" And for a brief moment the world turned grey, everything slowed down around Alistair and all he could see were those damning piles of paper staring back at him. Had his own ineptitude cost him this chance with Elissa?

And then the slowmo button was unpressed, colour exploded around him and her voice, angry and high pitch billowed out. "What the hell are you doing? Get out of this office right now or I'll tie you in pink ribbons and throw you out the window. I'd do it too. You know I can."

"You're serious! Holy smokes! Let go! Let go! I'm going!"

The little "kitten" that was Zev came bolting out with his tail between his legs, spinning around the desk and down the aisle without turning back.

Alistair couldn't help, but laugh.