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Gale's POV
I walked into the conference room hoping to get a seat close to the door. My strategy was not unique, I wanted to be one of the first to escape when the meeting ended. Unfortunately I was not the only one with the same idea so I had to settle for a chair halfway down the table.
BeeTee was already seated at the head of the table, head bent over some new contraption he was working on. The man's a genius. He's amazing.
According to PIIA it was 8:10 and the meeting should begin soon. I had quite a lot to do today, but that's the way I like it. I prefer to stay busy, almost overloaded. It makes the hours and minutes turn into days and weeks that fly by. When I'm idle my mind tends to wander down paths I'd rather not be dragged down.
I nodded to several team members as they walked in and found seats. BeeTee walked over and set his contraption in the center of the table. As he straightened up, he glanced my way and smiled. "Hey, Gale. I see we'll be working together for a while today." I smiled back, nodding. "Morning, BeeTee. Yeah, the schedule has us both in Cyber 'til lunch. Should be fun." He nodded back, adjusted his glasses, and made his way back to the front, stopping occasionally to talk with various team members along the way.
I picked up my cup of coffee, inhaled its rich aroma and sipped the hot liquid into my mouth. I allowed it to roll over my tongue before swallowing, closing my eyes as it travelled down my throat and settled low and warm in my belly. I have to give the CAACD kitchen staff credit – they sure can make a perfect pot of coffee.
BeeTee cleared his throat, effectively calling the meeting to order, and a hush settled over the room as all eyes turned toward him. 3 unfamiliar persons were sitting at the front to his left and I assumed them to be the reason for this meeting.
"Ladies, gentlemen, it's my pleasure to introduce you to the three newest team members here at CAACD. I'm going to let each of them introduce themselves to you and then I'd appreciate it if you all would go out of your way to make them feel welcome. I will have another item to discuss before the meeting is adjourned, so please remain seated after they've spoken."
Glancing at the woman occupying the chair closest to him, he began. "First of all, let me introduce Shasta Burrows. Shasta, please stand and tell us a little bit about yourself." The woman stood, turning to face the rest of the room. She was middle aged, attractive and gave off an air of confidence that made you think of dynamite, small packages and all that. She had coal black hair with a silver streak that framed the left side of her face. It made me wonder if it was natural or the work of a clever stylist.
"Hello, everyone. As you already know, my name is Shasta. I hail from District 6 and I have over 30 years of experience in transportation. I specialize in armored utility transportation. I look forward to not only offering you my expertise, but to learning from the vast resources available here at the CAACD."
As Shasta took her seat, BeeTee proceeded to introduce the man next to her. "Next I'd like to introduce to you Cimarron Hebert. Cimarron, the floor is yours."
My first impression of Cimarron was not very favorable, perhaps a bit jealous. He seemed to be another pretty boy, too young to possibly have any knowledge or experience that would benefit our team. His copper colored hair, pale skin and dark eyes gave the impression he was probably from District 4. I not so much heard as felt the sighs coming from the fairer sex in the room. Poor kid – must be terrible to be adored by people you've never even met before. This must be what Finn goes through every day. Cimarron was tall and lean. The expression on his face was sober, uncomfortable, like he didn't like crowds. He seemed unaware of the effect he had upon the majority of those in attendance.
"Hello. My name is Cimarron, as BeeTee has stated. I'm from District 10. In my short work life, I've made a name for myself within the genetics field. It has been my pleasure to work with Dr. Raymond Foster for the last 5 years. You may know him for his dedication to eradicating disease via enhanced genetics in livestock. I believe I have much to offer you, and much to learn from you. I look forward to working with you all."
He took his seat and I swear it was almost comical to watch the expressions on the faces of the women, those who figured out he'd be in their department, and those who discovered he wouldn't. I would've laughed if it wouldn't have been so quiet.
BeeTee gestured for the last guest to rise. "Last but not least, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Ember Kendrick. Ember…"
I took another sip of my coffee as Ember turned to face us. Big mistake. I hadn't been able to get a good look at any of the new employees from my vantage point, until they stood. When I looked up from my cup to check out Ember I nearly choked on my coffee. It was all I could do to force myself to swallow, not spew. There, standing at the head of the table was the personification of my dreams. This was no tiny little miss, this was a woman, fashioned by the gods to torment my dreams. Tall, voluptuous, her face framed by golden curls that had been pinned into a loose knot at her neck. From here I could see the emerald eyes, the soft pink lips, the fullness in her breasts and hips. I was frozen in place, afraid to move, but also aware that if I didn't get out of here soon the effect she had on me would be apparent to anyone I had to walk past to get out. Shit. How did I get myself in this fix and more importantly, what am I going to do about it? SOMEONE UP THERE BETTER BE LISTENING IN AND HELPING ME OUT! I had been so consumed with her outer beauty that it took me a few seconds to realize she had already begun to speak.
"…from District 5. I've been trained in the ability to harness power from various resources, earth, wind, water, and fire – pretty much anything Mother Nature created. My specialty is the capability to capture and channel that power and then to redirect it, to control not only where it comes from, but where it goes and how it gets there. I believe I bring much to the table and am happy for the opportunity to use my skills for the betterment of Panem. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. I look forward to getting to know each of you."
Ember took her seat and BeeTee swiftly moved the meeting along. The contraption he had been working on earlier was a portable time transistor. He advised that he hadn't worked out all of the bugs, but that it was a huge step towards time travel. He had been able to use it to travel small portions of time, up to 5 minutes forward and backwards, and he was extremely excited about the possibilities it contained. BeeTee told us he would schedule training with each department to learn how to utilize the transistor and asked everyone to be ready to offer any suggestions or advise that might further this progress along.
It wasn't until BeeTee nudged my shoulder that I realized he had ended the meeting and everyone had filed out. Everyone that is, except for BeeTee, myself and Ember. "Gale, I know you are going to be busy this morning, but I'd like you to clear your schedule after lunch and show Ember around. Help her get familiar with the layout of CAACD and how everything works around here. As a matter of fact, why don't you two have lunch together, too. That will give you a chance to get to know each other a little better before you start. I'm going to have the two of you working together for the next few days." And with that, he slapped me on the back and proceeded to walk out of the conference room with Ember. I swear I heard him laughing at me.
Shit. Damn. Shit. I couldn't think of anything else to say. I mean, I don't know if I'm happy that I'm going to have Ember practically all to myself for the next few days, or if I'm mad that I'm going to have to spend the next few days walking with, talking to, having lunch with the girl of my dreams while I constantly have to shift my hard on around trying to keep it from being visible to her. Shit! It was going to be a long day, and I didn't doubt for one minute that the night was going to be longer.