Late Golden Age - C.B Yggdrasil Facility, Oslo
Haakon led the way to his office. He heard the click of Lyarra's heels against the floor behind him. She was trying to catch up with him after having shut the door.
He opened the door to his office and held it briefly for the girl. She smiled her thanks to him.
"Have a seat." He ordered, pointing to the lone chair in front of his wide pinewood desk. She did as instructed and sat down, folding her wet coat over her lap. Meanwhile, he sat on the other side in his comfortable leather chair.
Haakon turned off his computer. He then shuffled some loose papers underneath a folder in the out tray on his desk. Finally, he sat back in his chair and looked down at the nervous young woman across from him.
For a few moments, neither of them said a single thing. Lyarra fidgeted underneath Haakon's gaze, and couldn't bring herself to hold eye contact with him for very long. Eventually, she started playing with a ring on her middle finger.
White gold inlaid with lettering. It wasn't an engagement ring, though. She also wore a pretty silver necklace. Expensive jewelry, especially for a girl her age. Either she came from riches, or she bought it with another man's money.
"Would you like something to drink, Lyarra?" He asked, taking on a more polite tone than when he'd answered the door.
Lyarra was surprised to say the least. "Oh… Um…" She paused. She did want a drink, probably ran to work in the rain. "I-I think I'm fine…"
"You think?" Haakon asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you want a drink, Lyarra, just say so. Security won't hunt you down if you do."
The girl hitched her breath and nodded. "Oh, okay…" She gulped. "I'd like a coffee please." She smiled again.
Haakon tapped one of the glass keys on his keyboard. Through the glass, he saw the coffee machine light up as it procured one of the mugs and placed it under the spitter. It would be ready in about three minutes.
"It's on the way." He said, then looking back into the girl's eyes. "How did you get this job, Lyarra?"
He already knew the answer. He just wanted to hear her side of the story.
"M-My brother-in-law…" She began. "He's the Minister of Departmental Affairs, and he told me he could get me a job here at Clovis Bray…" She said. "I didn't make the cut to become an intern, unfortunately…" She admitted uneasily.
Haakon nodded along to her story. Though he couldn't understand why becoming an intern was such a big deal. Practically all the interns were eventually filed out to lower-tier desk jobs. None of them ever went on assignment. "Why not?"
Lyarra shrugged uncomfortably. "Well… My grades were high enough, but I didn't do very well on the personal assertiveness quiz…"
Go figure. "Grades? What level of education do you have?"
"I finished high school two years ago." She nodded. "Then I enrolled at the University of Oslo for Solar Fusion Power Studies and Technical Design."
Well, that was certainly a mouthful. What girl of nineteen-twenty would take on that brick of a subject? That would bore anyone to death.
And what was the delay? She'd taken a year between high school and university. Most girls her age would jump at the chance as soon as possible so they could attend campus parties and events.
He'd get to that later. "Why Solar Power?"
She blushed. "It might sound strange but it's a hobby of mine." She craned her head and pushed a wet lock of brown hair out of her eyes. "I get that it sounds super boring though."
Haakon shrugged. "Everyone's got their thing. It won't be the same in this office, though. I'm head of the Astrophysics division in Clovis Bray, and the work will reflect that." He said. "You'd be bored to death."
She didn't even acknowledge the brush-off. She defied his expectations and nodded. "I want to be bored." She said.
Haakon raised an eyebrow at that comment. A girl who wanted to be bored? That was the absolute last thing one should do to a girl.
He would've asked her further about why, yet he soon saw how she'd glanced at the floor and the walls and then back at him. She sniffled, too. She was ashamed of the reason and likely wouldn't share it with him. At least not now, that is.
Haakon would deal with her meddling brother-in-law at a later time. Right now, he'd capitalize on the situation and make the most of it.
"I need someone to show up early, type out my reports, and answer the phone. Among other things." Haakon said as he leaned back in his chair.
"I can do that." She said enthusiastically.
Haakon persisted. "It's very dull work."
"I like dull work."
He looked into her eyes again. She couldn't have been lying. She was telling the truth.
In over three hundred years of living on this Earth, Haakon had never met a girl who had ever uttered that phrase. Not once. It was even stranger to know that she actually meant what she was saying.
Haakon knew she was hiding something, some kind of personal detail that would eventually reveal all to him. But for now, it was out of his reach. After all, they'd just met. It wasn't very polite to pry into those kinds of details after first meeting someone.
He saw the coffee machine finish pouring the rest of the smoky black liquid into the mug. Interview over.
"Well, Lyarra." He sat forward. "You've certainly made an impression."
The nervous tension had filled her eyes again. She was wondering whether or not he'd tell her to leave and never come back. Her big shot at being an assistant to one of Clovis Bray's top operators would be gone forever.
Haakon gave her a thin smile. "Show up before eight tomorrow morning. And every morning after. Is that something you can do?"
As if the balloon of tension had been instantly deflated by a single needle prick, Lyarra sat back and gave a thankful sigh. Then she nodded and beamed at him.
"Yes, sir."