Lunch With the Boss's Secretary

II

The day the new secretary was hired, Trowa was trying not to get a cold. It was January, and icy cold outside, but the men still sweated in the factory. A new Service division had been opened in their building, and Trowa was head of his own crew of three. Where they were was drafty: every time a new vehicle was driven in or an old one was released, the huge double doors opened and icy air swept in. His crew alternately welcomed and cursed the cold, often loudly. Trowa himself didn't say much; he just smiled faintly and kept them working.

There were advantages to being close to the outside. As one man had complained, there had to be, the way they were all open to pneumonia like that. Sure there was—a large plate glass window that both sucked the warmth out of the air and gave customers a view of capable men hard at work. Those men also had a spectacular view of the street one, two, or three floors below them, and everyone who came and went from Head Office, a squat building positioned authoritatively between the warehouses and the road customers used to get to the Service Center.

This hadn't really been any big deal a few weeks ago, but the big boss' secretary, an elderly, efficient woman with glasses and a Pantene Orange bouffant, had taken a fall over the Christmas holidays and cracked her hip all to pieces. She hadn't been back to work since, and word was that she never would be—the other secretaries and receptionists had spoken with her doctor and things sounded severe.

On the fourth day of the new year, an ad had appeared in all the papers- Seeking Corporate Secretary. Within a week, they had started coming for interviews.

Tall ones, short ones; thin ones, plump ones. Not too many males ones, but plenty of female ones. Everyone knew the boss was itching for a young one, some said to screw, while others logically pointed out Mrs. Davenport's increasing disabilities, and the infamous Monday or Sunday incident.

To the men, it never mattered: they were getting a free assortment of women coming by the plate glass window six times a day.

And Teresina, you are absolutely welcome to pester me for more. XD For this story, I actually have it! (And I'll forget to post if no one reminds me!)