Oh yeah, I DON'T own SM, though God I wish I did....
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The great oak office door slammed against the wall with such force that even the implacable Fionnbarr O'Reilly was taken entirely by surprise. Looking up from the stacks of forms that cluttered the desk, he acknowledged his only son's presence with a mere raised eyebrow. Darien on the other hand, held his body in a stiff pose and threw a glance of pure hatred mingled with disgust at his father from where he stood in the doorway, arm still holding the door against the wall.
"Yes son? Was there anything in particular you wanted?" Fionnbarr queried, calmly turning his gaze back to his work.
"Actually there is," Darien spat out. He moved into the room and took a seat in front of his father. From under his other arm, he produced a manila folder, which he threw onto his father's desk. Looking up once more, Fionnbarr noticed that his son had a rather dishevelled appearance and clearly hadn't shaved in a while.
"What is this?" He asked gingerly picking up a corner of the folder and opening it slowly.
"That," Darien began, "is proof that someone high up the corporate ladder, has been interfering with my job here at O'Reilly Industries."
"Really son? Now what would possibly lead you to undertake such an investigation?"
"Maybe it's the fact that I cannot understand why I haven't been promoted in the year and a half I've been working here! My quality of work is beyond reproach, I can manage the IT department far better than I can manage the idiot who's currently running it, and there are people who are worse than I am at their jobs who have been promoted at least once!"
"I'm sure that it has nothing to do with any one of my board members as you seem inclined to believe," Fionnbarr said after a long pause. "Besides, how do you propose that I question the people whose loyalty to me and this company is infallible? Summon them all to the boardroom and ask them all if they're guilty, based solely on the fact that my son seems to think so? Both you and I would lose respect with them, and that is not something that I am prepared to do. If you seem to think that your work is beyond all reproach, why don't you take it up with the IT manager, I'm sure he can point out any flaws in your work, that is of course his job. And, those who deem that his qualifications merit that position have selected him for it. Also, Darien, never bring accusations like these to me again without more proof than this," he tossed the folder at his son, "it makes you look petty and vindictive."
"Well then sir," Darien spat, "I guess I won't be bringing anything to you ever again. I am sick and tired of trying to prove to you that I am capable of running this company! I quit!" He stood quickly, glared at his father, wrenched the office door open and stomped off.
Fionnbarr O'Reilly, current patriarch of O'Reilly Industries was left staring at the door in shock before he gathered his wits and frowned at the chair in front of him. "So he thinks that he can get a job with no experience? People will think that he's been wasting the past year and a half. Find a job? Ha! He'll come running back to me for money in a month's time!" And with that last comment Fionnbarr returned to the heaps of paperwork on his desk
* * *
The sunlight slanted through the windows of the spacious office on the thirtieth floor. It was a high ceilinged office decorated in a classic, elegant style, blue with silver crescent moon accents. On the wall, over the mantle of the decorative and functional gas fireplace, hung a reprint of Van Gogh's Starry Night. On the wall opposite the windows was a pastoral scene depicting the Greek legend of Endymion and Selene. It wasn't a story she particularly liked, but the painting had been a gift from her mother and she made a place for it in her office. Along the walls were shelves lined with books on everything from business to her favourite fantasy novels. Currently, the blond-haired, blue-eyed CEO of ParkWest was gazing out over the San Francisco skyline, awaiting the arrival of a client. She seemed to be enjoying the beautiful montage before her but in actuality, her mind was focused on her forthcoming business venture. As if she had heard her calling, Raye Finn, Serena's assistant entered the office.
"There is a Mr. Munroe here to see you Ms. Parker," she quietly announced.
"Excellent," Serena cleared her throat once, twice. "Tell him to come in." She stood up from her chair, smoothed her skirt, checked her hair and makeup in a conveniently placed mirror, and moved to the centre of the room to greet her client. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she straightened her posture and tried to calm her nerves.
" Right this way, Mr. Munroe," Raye's voice could be heard in the silent office. "Ms. Parker will see you now."
She ushered in a rather short, middle-aged man, with greying hair and sharp grey eyes. He was professionally dressed in a navy blue suit that was tailored to make him appear taller. Serena took all this in while stepping forward to firmly shake the man's hand.
"I understand that you are looking for a company that produces practical databases…" Serena began as Raye closed the door to the office behind her. Raye smiled as Serena began yet another speech that would inevitably end with Mr. Munroe captivated with Serena's silver tongue and his company locked into a contract with ParkWest. Serena was a born businessperson, with a sharp mind and the innate ability to charm any person. Raye had seen people come in just to see what ParkWest offered and Serena was able to charm her way into signing them for anything. It was another benefit that ParkWest was far ahead of the competition in innovative computer software (AN: There is NO Microsoft…*mutters* stupid Microsoft*mutters*) thanks entirely to the industrious efforts of Andrew West and his ability to find the brightest minds in the computer industry. Raye shook her head in silent amazement as she made her way back to her desk. It was a well-worn tale at ParkWest that Andrew had managed to woo computer genius Amy Davis, fresh out of university and being offered positions at far more prestigious companies, into her current position as head of R&D at ParkWest. She had been sceptical of the company's ability to turn a profit, but once she had met Serena and Mina and heard the detailed plans that the three of them had made, she had been eager enough to sign on. The three of them had an ideal partnership, Mina was in charge of finance, Andrew, personnel, and Serena took care of the clients.
So just what was the daughter of multimillionaire industrialist Fionnbarr O'Reilly, doing working at ParkWest? It certainly wasn't industrial espionage. Raye repressed a shudder at the thought that her father could have manipulated his way into ParkWest by using her, in order to turn a profit. 'It was a great thing that I found this job on my own, now I don't have to rely on him for anything. Well maybe tuition,' but she'd pay him back for that, it might kill her but she'd be damned if she kept any of his money.
Raye returned to her desk to start some paperwork that Serena wanted. As she was halfway though retyping an extremely verbose proposal that Serena had worked out with another consulting company, Raye's cell phone shrilly pierced the calm of the office. Wincing at the high-frequency ring that she had chosen, she scrambled through her purse to find the damn thing. "Raye Finn's phone," she cheerily began, using the alias she had devised for work.
" Hello Raye! How's life on the 30th floor?" a smooth baritone voice asked.
"Jay?! Son-of-a-bitch!! How the hell did you get this number?!" Raye shouted. "You know what? Never mind! Just don't call me again!" She hit the end button and stared at her phone as if it had betrayed her. "How in the hell did he get my number?" she finally muttered as she turned back to her typing. Just then, her phone rang again and a thoroughly startled Raye almost dropped it. "Hello?" she asked tentatively.
"Raye, Raye, Raye. How am I supposed to hear your answer if you keep hanging up on me?" drawled the same voice.
"What answer?" Raye bit out.
"Whether or not you'll go out with me of course!"
"How many times do I have to say no? Do you not understand the meaning of that word? Now stop calling me, or do I have to come down there and pound some sense into you?" She said in a furious tone. Jay's only reply was a chuckle, until he added,
"Raye, if you do some pounding with me its not going to involve sense." Raye turned a rather interesting shade of scarlet, emitted an inarticulate howl of rage and jabbed the end button again. She ended up sitting there for five minutes, staring at the red plastic object and daring it to ring. She thought she'd won, and was reaching over to pick up her work when it rang for the third time. Taking a deep breath, she answered it.
"I thought I'd made it clear! You are to never call this number, Jay! Unless you want me to come down there and rip you a new—"
"Raye! Take it easy! I promise I won't phone your cell again!"
"Darien?"
"The one and only, dearest-sister-of-mine!"
"Oops! Heh, heh, I thought you were someone else," Raye sweatdropped. "So why are you calling?"
"What? I can't call my baby sister and check up on her? Besides if you're having problems with this Jay—"
"Its nothing I can't handle," 'With a little beating.' "Its fine," Raye said quickly.
"Alright, well how about some lunch then? Say, Marché? Twenty minutes?" (AN: Mmmmm…. Movenpick has good food….)
"Sounds good to me, you're buying though!" On the other end of the line, Darien rolled his eyes.
"When have you ever bought me lunch?"
"What else are older brothers for? Besides you're the one who's done school." Darien rolled his eyes again.
"Right. So, Marché, twenty minutes. Don't be late!" Darien paused, "Oh and Raye, go easy on that guy. I'm sure he has no idea what he's getting himself into." Darien chuckled and hung up. Raye stuck her tongue at her phone even though she knew her brother couldn't see her. Then she glanced at the clock on her computer screen, 12:15. It would take her the better part of twenty minutes to get there on time. Saving and closing her application window, Raye tidied up, grabbed her coat and scribbled a note for Serena before heading towards the elevators.
* * *
Down one floor, in R&D, Jay Geddes hung up the phone with a grin. It had been almost too easy to get into Amy's office and find Raye's cell number in her day planner. It was a good thing that Amy succumbed easily to Zach's charms. There was a long-standing pool down in R&D as to when Zach and Amy would hook up, and the pot kept getting larger. Jay heard voices approach the office and Zach say, " Let me get the door for you Amy." It was his cue to leave. Pocketing the piece of paper with Raye's call and home numbers, he opened the side office door and pulled it shut at the same time Zach closed the front one.
Several minutes later, Zach nonchalantly strolled towards Jay with his short hair mussed and his shirt wrinkled. Jay arched an eyebrow at his friend who grinned and replied, "I never kiss and tell." Jay grinned and rolled his eyes. "So, did you get what you needed?" Zach asked as they made their way to their computer terminals.
"Yeah, and I got her real worked up." Jay said with a mischievous chuckle.
"You never stop, do you?"
"It's the thrill of the hunt that attracts me my friend, the thrill of the hunt." Zach snorted.
"Whatever. You better pray she doesn't get really pissed of at you. I heard that Davies lost a few teeth when he got on her bad side. That one has one mean right hook."
"I think I can handle her."
"If you say so. Don't say I didn't warn you."
* * *
Darien got off the cable car in front of the restaurant and quickly crossed in front of it. He managed to snag a table on the patio and listened with a smile as the hostess explained the concept of the restaurant to him. After grabbing a freshly squeezed orange juice, he stretched out in the sun and patiently waited for his sister. For once, he didn't have to wait long as a sudden shadow blocked his sunlight. Opening his eyes, he caught sight of a petite woman in a red coat panting heavily. "Hey! I'm impressed; you're only ten minutes late this time! What'd you do? Run all the way over here?" Raye collapsed in her seat and stuck her tongue out at her older brother.
"Be glad I got here at all. I swear I was almost run over by a bus!"
"Somehow I think that the bus would have been in worse condition"
"Hah-hah. What wit. Listen, can we get something to eat before I collapse of starvation?" Raye's stomach rumbled in agreement. Darien laughed and stood up.
"After you," he said with a bow and a flourish.
When they finally reached the table again, and started eating, Raye looked over at her brother. "So, how's life at O'Reilly Industries going?"
"Oh God, Raye, could you swallow before you start talking to me? I swear I don't know where you got your table manners. You never used to do this at home." Raye swallowed her large portion of food.
"In front of our father? Yeah, right, like I wanted to get lectured to death about how children should be neither seen nor heard?"
"And yet you still managed to fight with him over everything else?" Raye smiled back.
"You're evading my question!" She said with cheerful menace.
"What question was that?" Darien asked innocently.
"What's it like working at ORI?"
"About what you'd expect, Raye."
"That bad huh?"
"Well its not that bad anymore."
"Really? Why's that?"
"I'm not working there anymore." Raye's jaw dropped in mid-chew. "Raye, that's disgusting! I can see your half-digested omelette."
"Not—working—there?" Raye asked, clearly stunned. "Then—where are you working?"
"Nowhere at the moment. I started looking for a job a couple weeks ago. I've had a few interviews, but nothing's panned out yet. With my double degree, I'm sure that it won't be that hard to find one."
"And you waited this long to tell me? Why exactly did you leave ORI?" Raye asked, positive something was wrong between her brother and father. Darien sighed.
"You were right about the way the employees treated me. I was an outcast. They never gave me the benefit of the doubt. Not once!" he spat bitterly. "Then when I thought about it a while, I realized something was wrong. There was no reason for me to be stuck in the same position for so long. So, I did a little digging around on the company intranet and databases on my own time and there were odd commands coming down the chain. Someone on ORI's Board of Directors was making sure I got nowhere. I took what little proof I could gather to Father, and he told me I was being 'petty and vindictive'. I decided that was the last time I let him push me around. It's my life and I don't need his job. I told him I quit, and that was it." Darien was clenching the tablecloth in front of him so hard, his knuckles turned white. Raye reached out and unclenched his hands for him, patting them to help get the blood flowing again, and to calm her brother down.
"You did the right thing Dare. You let him control you for too long. But, now you're free of him," she said in a low voice. "Let it go. Let all the anger go. He isn't worth it. He never was."
"How'd you get so wise little sister?" Darien asked in a strained voice.
"Long, hard uphill battles for my own freedom, Dare. Welcome to the real world." The two sat in silence for a while, lost in thoughts and memories.
"Things would have been so much easier if Mother was still alive," Darien said quietly. "She could always make father see reason."
"I wish I could remember more about her. All I can remember was that she always smiled, and I felt safe when I was with her."
"She would have raised you right, Raye—" Darien whispered.
"You did alright, big brother," Raye replied as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. "Enough of this," she said abruptly and smiled shakily at her brother. "It's time to celebrate your new life! Let's go get drunk!"
"In the middle of the afternoon? Don't you have a job to get back to?"
"Oh, yeah…. Oh my God! I have to get back now! We'll postpone this until tonight then! Pick me up at 9:00?" Raye yelled over her shoulder as she vaulted over the little fence that marked the restaurant boundary and dashed down the sidewalk. "Oh, and thanks for lunch!" Darien shook his head and turned to pay the bill.
* * *
Serena smiled and shook Mr. Munroe's hand a final time as the stood in the doorway of her office.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you Ms. Parker," the man grinned. Serena stood there watching him board the elevator, and with a final wave, the doors shut in front of him and Serena let the smile drop from her face. Pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to alleviate some of the stress of her headache, she looked towards her secretary's desk. Raye was conspicuous in her absence, there was no sign of any work on her desk and even her computer monitor was turned off. In fact, the only thing that seemed out of place was the blazing red note stuck to said computer monitor. Serena walked over to the desk and pulled the note off the screen to read it.
Sorry to leave without telling you first, but you were in a meeting! Went out to lunch with an old friend. Be back in about an hour! ~Raye Finn~
Serena felt another smile creep onto her face. Raye Finn was a godsend, the best secretary that Serena could have hoped to find. Sure, she was still in university and therefore had to be at classes during the day, but the work she did made up for that. Besides there was always Lita Spenser, Andrew's secretary/ company receptionist, who was willing to take up the slack during Raye's classes. Raye and Lita seemed to have a knack for organizing things in the most convenient way possible, for which Serena was truly grateful since she could barely file things alphabetically. But it wasn't that alone, at 22, Raye was the youngest person on the 30th floor, where ParkWest's HQ was, and she seemed more like a younger sister than an employee. She had an incredibly outgoing demeanour, although Serena still felt as though something was missing from Raye's life. Was it her lack of boyfriend? 'No, I will not dredge up that hurt,' Serena thought to herself. Besides, she'd seen the way Raye smiled wistfully when Mina came over to chat when she had little work—Serena broke free from her reminiscing with a start. 'That progress report from R&D was supposed to come up today. Wonder what Amy's working on now?' And it was back to business as Serena strode to her office and shut the door with a click.
* * *
Humming along with the muzak in the elevator, Raye tried to wait patiently for the doors to open and expel her from "The Chamber of Weirdness" as she liked to call it. Unfortunately, patience was not one her virtues, but with a final ding, the doors opened and Raye sauntered out of the blue, vine-covered and mirrored express elevator. That many cool colours in a confined area drove her crazy. Shuddering delicately, she waved hello to Lita who was occupied on the phone. Lita waved wildly to get her attention again and held up a finger as she finalized an appointment with someone.
"Thursday at 9:00 am. Good? Great! See you then!" Lita hit a button on the modified switchboard and ended the call. "I'm glad I caught you Raye!" Lita waved her closer. "Ok huge secret! Mina and Andrew want to hold a surprise party for Serena's birthday on Friday. I'm supposed to tell you about it," she whispered.
"Uh, Lita?" Raye asked when her friend had turned back to her work with a dismissive smile. "Where is it?"
"Oops! Heh-heh! Totally slipped my mind! Here of course, where else could Mina and Andrew get her to go? She works entirely too hard!"
"That's true, so, here, Friday, what time?"
"Er…Regular time? Mina thinks we should decorate the Conference Room, We're going to do that Thursday night."
"Need any help with that?"
"Thought you'd never ask! Of course we do! Have you seen that size of that room? And Serena almost never leaves the building until at least eight!"
"Alright, well I don't have class that night, so I'll stay behind."
"Make sure she doesn't see you!"
"No problem Leets! I'll just spend the time in Mina's office catching up on work.
"Ok then! See you later!" Lita smiled and waved her away as she answered another call.
* * *
Darien smoothed out his cobalt blue tie and checked his hair in the mirror, one final time before heading out the door of his apartment. 'This is the last interview I've been called to. If I land this, I can stop worrying. And, if I don't get this…No, think positive! You will get this job! You will! You will get the job…' Darien chanted to himself as he boarded the streetcar.
"So Mr. Finn is it?"
"Yes, sir."
"I understand that you've applied for a position in software development?"
"That is correct."
"Mr. Finn, tell me, what experience have you had in this field since you left university a year and a half ago?"
"None, sir."
"None?"
"Yes, sir. I had to take care of the family business after my father took ill in my final year. The only experience I have had has been through my summer co-ops."
"And these places wouldn't hire you?"
"They are too far away sir. They are located on the other coast. I have family here in California, and I think it is best if I remain here with them."
"I see. So, you've had no steady job since school. What happened to your father's business?"
"I sold it, sir."
"Sold it?"
"Yes, sir. It was the best way to keep it and my family out of debt."
"Ah, I see that you have a double degree in Business and Software Engineering?"
"Yes, that would be correct."
"And you were still forced to sell?"
"Yes." The interviewer made a contemplative noise.
"I see, well, Mr. Finn, we'll certainly keep in touch, but I'm afraid we've filled up all our available positions. I'm very sorry." Darien nodded, not trusting himself to speak and trying to tune out the ringing noise in his head.
"Thank you very much sir," he managed to croak out as he shook the man's hand and left the interview room.
Darien managed to get all the way out of the building before his legs gave out from under him. He hadn't stood a chance in that interview, like he hadn't at any of the others. The truly unfortunate thing was that he had desperately needed that job, heck, any job. In the day and a half since he'd met Raye for lunch, Darien found out that their father had frozen most of Darien's bank account. What scarce amount he'd managed to save from his portfolio had gone to pay the last and this month's rent, groceries and bills. He was approaching the end of it far too quickly. 'I don't think I've ever been this hard up for cash in my life!' He thought to himself as he got up from the bench he was sitting on and boarded the streetcar with out a clear sense of where he was headed. 'I guess he decided to teach me a lesson.' Darien snorted. 'Perfect. He makes the time and effort to screw me over, but not to read my report or even listen to what I had to say.' Glancing out the window, Darien found he'd ended up near his sister's building. Thinking it must be some sort of sign; he disembarked and made his way over to her building. As soon as he reached the entrance, his cell phone rang.
"Hello?" He asked, a bit freaked out.
"Hi Dare, it's me! How you holding up?" There was a long pause and then a strained chuckle from his side of the line.
"Not that great. It's been a horrible day, week, month, hell even year. Take your pick, Raye." Alert to the strain in her brother's voice Raye asked,
"Where are you?" Another strained chuckle
"You'll never guess. In front of your apartment, where are you?"
"At work. Listen do you need to talk? No, wait, of course you do. Stay there, Dare. I'll be over in about ten minutes." Raye gathered up her stuff and knocked on Serena's office door. "Serena? I need to take a personal day, something's come up."
"Oh Raye, I'm sorry, hon. Listen you take all the time you need, I'll get Lita to help me if I need anything."
"Thanks Serena, see you tomorrow then." Raye headed for the express elevators, then changed her mind and headed to the reception desk. "Lita, something's come up. I told Serena I'd take the rest of the day off, but I'll see if I can get back in time to help you guys decorate."
"Oh hey, no worries. Take all the time you need. I'm sure Mina can wrangle some of the guys down in R&D to help us if she hasn't already." Raye smiled her thanks and headed into the waiting elevator.
Raye and Darien were seated around the coffee table in her studio apartment, cradling steaming cups of their favourite caffeinated beverages; while he filled her in on his job-hunt gone wrong and frozen bank account.
"I can't believe he did this to you! Where the hell does he get the nerve? As if you hadn't worked for any of that while you were at ORI?! Darien! He can't do this to you!"
"There's no use in getting that angry at it Raye. There's not much I can do about it now."
"The hell you can't!"
"No, Raye, I really can't. It would take too long and in the end, I'd just end up losing even more money. The best course of action would have been to get a job but I can't seem to manage that either."
"You'll just have to keep looking, I'm sure something will come up!" Raye said angrily. "I still can't believe he did this to you!"
"That's just the way he is Raye, nothing you say or do is going to change that." Darien replied with a yawn that caught his sister's attention.
"You need to rest Darien! You can use my couch-bed. I'll leave so you can get some shut eye."
"Raye this is your apartment—"
"Nonsense! You need the rest, and I need to get out of here before I break something, I'll be back in a couple of hours, and we'll have dinner."
"You're a good sister, Raye." Darien replied with another yawn.
"Yeah, I know," she waited until he was fast asleep before letting herself out quietly and heading back to ParkWest.
* * *
Raye jabbed the balloon at the wall in anger. It'd been over two hours and she still hadn't found any way for Darien to get out of the corner their father had forced him into. The balloon popped and Lita almost screamed in frustration.
"Raye! That's the twentieth freaking balloon! What are you doing to them?" Lita's frustration wasn't due solely to Raye's mistreatment of balloons but it was easier to deal with that then with Mina and Andrew's goofing off and Zach and Amy's flirting.
"I'm sorry, Lita," Raye sighed. "I guess I'm not entirely focused on the task at hand."
"Anything I can help with?" Lita asked as she began blowing up another balloon.
"Not unless you can—That's it! You're a genius Lita!" Raye jumped off the stepladder and headed over to where Mina and Andrew were pelting each other with glitter. "Mina! Hey, Mina!" Raye waved her hands in front of Mina's face and Andrew took the opportunity to score a good shot at Mina's head.
"No fair! Interference!" Mina yelled at him. "Yes, Raye?" she asked sweetly.
"Is it alright if I bring someone to the party tomorrow?"
"Sure! The more the merrier! Hey, they're not the reason you took a personal day are they? You sly devil you!" Mina winked at her.
Raye snorted. "Don't I wish? No, it was a regular old family emergency."
"Yeah, go right ahead, but don't forget to tell Lita, she's in charge of the catering." And with a grin she went back to stalking Andrew around the tables, they'd set up for the party. Raye grinned as well and returned to her little corner to help Lita finish off the decorations.
Right, so that's it! Um, don't really expect a quicker update for the next chapter. I seem to be stuck with how exactly I want to proceed and well my final exams are coming up so I haven't really had a chance to write…. Ah well…..Read & Review!!!!!!
selenis