GLaDOS particularly liked Cave Johnson. He was a boisterous, loud, self-assured man with just the right amount of anger. She could still recall his lemon speech word for word, and how it gave her more motivation to dethrone Wheatley. That little, insignificant, moronic...
She knew Caroline was very fond of the man. He did get her a job at Aperture after all, one of the smartest choices either of them could have made.
The girl finally had the chance to show the world what she could do. Shortly after being hired, Caroline became involved in designing a few test chambers Johnson was planning to make public. She also had a hand in creating some commentary for a few pre-recorded messages, an efficient way to encourage test goers through the varying chambers.
Though, in the end, Johnson decided to go with a more impromptu approach.
This didn't bother Caroline in the slightest. For the first time in years she was actually able to pay off all of her bills, with enough left over to buy groceries. She was judged for her mind, not her gender, constantly appraised by Johnson, and for the love of Goddard the place had air conditioning!
GLaDOS felt herself, or perhaps Caroline, beaming on the inside as the image of her strolling through the Aperture hallways appeared on screen. She wore a simple black dress that complimented nicely with a white Aperture lab coat. Her hair was down, and thrown over her shoulder. Some strands curled upwards toward her chin.
Taking in a whiff of the science around her, she smiled. It was another wonderful day at work, where she would sit down, and work out complex puzzles for the chambers. She absolutely loved it.
Turning a corner, she greeted other staff members on the way to her office. She even found herself humming a tune as she took out her keys, and opened the door.
Her face dropped at the sight waiting for her.
The office was completely bare. There wasn't even a light switch on the wall, let alone a light to turn on. Just a dark room of nothing.
Panicked, Caroline made a dash towards Johnson's office, tears wanting to force their way into her eyes.
Everything was perfectly normal yesterday. She filed her paper work on time, and even stayed a few hours after her shift to make sure her puzzles were at the right level of difficulty. Had she forgotten to punch out? Oh, Johnson would have her job for sure! But she knew him enough to know he wouldn't give her the cold boot like that, right?
"Mr. Johnson!" She cried, knocking on the enormous birch wood doors to his office.
One of them creaked open revealing an empty desk. Caroline called Johnson's name once more, and peaked inside to follow a book shelf that lined the walls. It directed her attention towards a second empty desk.
She walked inside, and upon closer inspection recognized a few of her possessions, including her beloved Aperture Science coffee mug.
"Looks like you beat me here, Caroline!"
A hand rested firmly on her shoulder, and squeezed it.
"Mr. Johnson?" She squeaked in confusion.
"I decided it would be a great birthday present if I took the liberty to move all of your belongings into my office. Well, actually the staff moved your belongings. I took the liberty of assigning you as my secretary. You actually were supposed to start at nine, by the way. Don't let it happen again."
The woman's eyes shifted towards a clock mounted over the doors, which read at five after nine, then towards the calendar sitting to the left of her desk. Sure enough, there was a day circled in bright red marker. How could she have forgotten her own birthday?
"The boys also got you these." Johnson said, interrupting her thoughts. He lifted up a box of cupcakes, and opened the lid to reveal a few already missing.
"Aren't those for the staff meeting today?" Caroline asked, remembering she had seen them outside the meeting hall on her way in.
"Like I said, a gift from the boys!"
She laughed in response; a genuine, happy little giggle. It was probably one of the best presents she could have asked for, if she ever thought to ask for anything in the first place.
She turned to Johnson, and laced her fingers delicately, fighting the growing urge to hug the man before her.
"Thank you, Sir."
He patted her shoulder again, and shoved the box of cupcakes towards her.
"If the boys ask, which they shouldn't, there were no cupcakes to begin with."
Caroline was hardly paying attention. She placed the open box on her desk, and began eating while she filled out her new paper work.
A/N: Sorry this one took a little longer to get up! I've been busy with finals week. :/ Been looking up CaveXCaroline stuff on the nets, and am falling in love with these two! So, I had to make a little bit of a fluff chapter just for them. Once again, thank you guys for the reviews! (and thank you CB93 for the time line.)
Nope, Caroline didn't work for Black Mesa. Just some no name research group that she doesn't even care to remember the name of. :)