Overtime & Overkill
Allen Walker
Lavi slung an arm over my shoulder and lead me out of the room, and my body automatically stiffened, shrinking in on itself to minimalize the physical contact between the two of us. My heart clenched and unclenched inside my chest as I tried desperately to conceal and hold back my panic. He was very close. Too close.
He then withdrew his arm, looking at me questioningly with one intelligent green eye. "Are you alright?"
I bit back on a horrified reaction as alarm bells sounded in my head, warning me of the dangers of interacting too long with this one.
He noticed.
"I'm fine," I lied, repeating something I'd said so many times now that I probably didn't even know the correct use of the phrase anymore. "You just startled me is all."
His mouth settled into a disbelieving thin line , but he didn't probe any further, instead leaning himself against the edge of my desk. "I have some questions for you," he eventually said, staring at me in a way that made me feel mildly uncomfortable.
I sat down on my chair, wiggling the computer mouse to wake the monitor. "Go ahead and ask away." I clicked to opened up my emails, using this as a silent excuse to excuse me from looking directly at him, even though I'd checked my emails barely a minute prior to his arrival. It was easy enough for me to do this and converse with him at the same time; multitasking was a parent's specialty.
"First off, if you're wondering who I am, I'm Tiedoll's PA," Lavi revealed as he peered nosily at my computer screen. "My gramps used to have this job, but he's gettin' old."
Now it made sense. I'd wondered why Lavi had come in with the head of the company and the man's two eldest sons.
"Anyway, I just wanted to ask you if anything happened to Yu-chan about three weeks ago."
It took me a little longer than it should have for me to realise that 'Yu-chan' was my boss. In my defence, I'd never really heard someone speak only his first name before.
"On the Friday," he elaborated, taking in my raised brows. "Yu was kinda smiling and it was really creepy. I thought he'd killed…" Lavi paused as my expression darkened and my fingers froze above the keyboard. "Are you alright?"
It was at times like these that I remembered exactly why I hated my boss.
Lavi, as kind as he was, had just accidentally forced me to remember the day I'd come to work glad to be on my last day with Kanda, only to find out that I was stuck with him 'til I quit, which wasn't happening anytime soon.
It'd been both an extremely disappointing and terrifying day, one in which I'd learned the hard way that I could only do as I was told and let the people around me decide how best to lay out the twists and turns of my career.
"So I'm gonna go out on a whim and say that you know exactly what's up, yeah?" Lavi queried, playful voice drawing me back to the present, the beginnings of a sly grin on his lips.
"That," I began through gritted teeth, trying to relax my hands so I wouldn't destroy my keyboard, "was the day he forced me into becoming his permanent PA."
Lavi didn't even bother hiding his grin this time, interestedly leaning in, prompting me to continue. "How'd he force you into the job? Didn't you apply?"
I grimaced automatically, the thought of actually applying for this position so ludicrous to me that I found it difficult to even try hiding my feelings on the matter. "You think I want to be his PA? That man is little better than the devil." Kanda was mean and rude and used the whole 'Vice-Chairman' thing to bully people. I couldn't understand why anyone would want a job that put them within a twenty-foot radius of him. "That bastard is a complete an' total jackarse! I ain' quitin', but I do wanna go back to me ol' position. He won' le' me."
Lavi laughed once, tried to stop himself from losing it, and then erupted into giggles. "W-what's up with th-that accent?!" He snickered, his face slowly turning red as blood rushed to his cheeks. "And are you sure that you should be speaking like that where he can hear?"
"He already knows that I hate him," I said, layering my tone with disdain while I reigned in my troublesome accent.
VWV
Another of our arguments had somehow lead to me writing my annoying boss' speech, one I'd been pestering him about for the past week now. He'd put it off this entire time, messing with me instead of working like he was supposed to.
I had half a mind to hand him gibberish as punishment for ducking his responsibilities and shoving them all off onto me, but I knew I wouldn't. My pride wouldn't allow me to hand him garbage.
It was with great reluctance that I pulled out my phone and pressed the Messages icon, before sending a text to one of the few people in my very short Contacts list.
! ! !
Lenalee
Today 4:07 pm
[ Lena… ]
i i i
I waited, staring at the little screen in my hands with equal parts patience and trepidation.
This was wrong of me.
! ! !
Lenalee just now
[ What'd you do? ]
slide to reply
i i i
Her text made me feel offended, yet also even more guilty for what I was about to ask of her. She would be fine with the request, I knew, but it was impossible for me to completely control my emotions. Better people than me had tried and failed.
! ! !
Lenalee
Today 4:13 pm
[ Thanks for the vote of confidante ]
[ I have to write this speech for Satan… It might take a while ]
i i i
While I waited for her response, I nervously chewed my lip, knowing it wasn't right to ask this of her. This was my responsibility. I should have been handling it all on my own.
Spellcheck was also being a twat.
I quickly shook my head to clear it from the negative thoughts that had decided to take up residency there, trying to cover them up with more positive ones that I knew Lenalee would be more approving of.
She would definitely like this. Lenalee enjoyed spending time with the kids just as much as we all loved spending time with her.
And also, she would know what I'd meant, spellcheck error or no.
! ! !
Lenalee just now
[ I'm out already, so I'll go by the school now ]
slide to reply
i i i
I breathed out a relieved sigh, smiling despite myself.
Lenalee Lee really was a blessing.
I was happy that she was in our lives. I was happy that she'd been the one to reach out to me all those years ago.
! ! !
Lenalee
Today 4:25 pm
[ Thanks ]
[ I owe you one ]
i i i
I was happy that she was the first human being outside of my family to have taught me these emotions.
! ! !
Lenalee just now
[ No prob ]
[ You can make it up to me by helping me find a new skirt ]
slide to reply
i i i
Thankfulness aside…
I grimaced as I sent through a text of affirmation. I hated shopping. It involved hours of walking and navigating my way through stores and aisle upon aisle of clothing. My feet hurt afterwards and my head always felt like jelly.
The only time shopping was fun was when Katie, Neah or Mana needed clothes.
Smiling softly at the warm memories that particular thought brought to mind, I placed my phone down and set to work.
Kanda had given me a notepad with a couple notes he'd jotted down. From what I could see, he'd already started. There was a basic outline of an introductory paragraph.
That was it.
I had absolutely no idea as to which direction he wanted this speech to go in, nor did I know which point he'd planned to focus on.
Kanda was an unfair, temperamental ass.
Stifling a groan, I ran my eyes over the bulleted list he'd given me and wondered if he'd made a digital presentation to go along with this stupid speech. Did this thing even require one?
"Yu-chan would do the speech if he could," Lavi said, and if I hadn't stopped myself, I would have leapt up out of the seat and yelped or shrieked like a banshee.
Thankfully I didn't though, because I had the sneaking suspicion that Lavi was the kind of person who'd hold that against me until the day one of us died.
Lavi had reclaimed the same spot as before, though this time crouched down to let his folded arms rest atop a small portion of the right side of my desk. "He just ran out of time. As the Vice-Chairman, he has to go to these meetings. It's his responsibility."
"What's it on?" I asked, swallowing my fear. My throat and lips were dry, and my heart still beat faster than what was healthy. Things had been so much better for me back when I was down with Komui. I hadn't had to worry this much.
Lavi plopped his chin on his arms, his easy grin almost as fake as my smile. It was so close to real, the grin nearly perfect in every way. The problem was his eye, which wasn't really in it because it was too busy analysing me. Because that look was back. "Regional designs and branch expansion." He knew something was wrong with me.
Even though it was like this, even though he was trying to dissect my body language and tone and every word I spoke and whatever else those ears and that eye of his was searching for, I calmed myself with the knowledge that Lavi meant me no harm. He was simply the smart, overly friendly type. That was why, for the sake of at least attempting to keep up appearances, I asked, "Shouldn't speeches be on the PA's list of duties?"
It was a legitimate question. I'd been extremely surprised when I'd first broached the idea of writing this speech to Kanda and he'd shot me down, telling me to leave those matters to him.
Okay, so he hadn't exactly used those words. There'd been a tad more… vulgarities included.
"Yu-chan used to let his PA's write his speeches until one them made a massive mistake and… yeah. Then he stopped letting them even go to meetings once his seventh tried to pour him a drink and spilt it all over him."
I winced, easily able to imagine what would have followed such an incident. "I feel really sorry for that person."
Lavi looked like he'd swallowed something unimaginably sour, though I could tell that he was still closely monitoring me. He hadn't been appointed Froi Tiedoll's PA for nothing. "It was horrible. People floors below could hear the yelling…" Suddenly, as though someone had flipped a switch, he was all grins again. "Still, he must like you."
I snorted, then quickly covered my mouth. "Sorry." That had been rude of me. "I think you're wrong. He hates me as much as I hate him."
"He might dislike you, but Yu-chan wouldn't be letting you do this if he didn't think you were at least a little bit capable." He moved in closer, pushing himself up a bit so that his face inches from my own, and I fought my body's reflexive urge to flinch away. "Between you and me," Lavi whispered, "Yu-chan probably expects a lot from you. If he didn't, he would have just told me to write the speech."
That… actually made a lot of sense. Lavi was the PA of the Chairman, so he would naturally be better suited to this. He should have been Kanda's first choice, not me.
Did that mean… Kanda thought I was proficient enough for the job? He didn't keep me on as he PA just so he would have someone to terrorise?
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Almost as if having been summoned by our mentioning of him, Kanda emerged from his office, wearing a dark Brioni suit and leather shoes. His cuffs were open, revealing the intricate Vacheron Constantin watch on his left wrist, replacing his usual bracelet of prayer beads.
He looked rich and professional.
What a waste of money.
I knew that The Black Order didn't really do suits, but why wasn't he wearing the company's designs? One of the designers would've been happy to make something up for the esteemed Vice-Chairman. Heck, they would've been proud. Some may have even shed a tear.
Even though it was what I thought, I didn't dare speak a word of it aloud. It wasn't my place to say anything. Besides, if he wanted to flaunt his wealth, that had nothing to do with me.
Right now, I had to work on this damn speech. "I really do hate you."
Lavi looked surprised and a little offended, but Kanda smirked, and I sighed frustratedly.
I pushed some hair out of my face, hand remaining there to keep my fringe from falling back into my eyes as I glared from my boss, to the notepad and back again. "Is there anything you want me to focus on in the speech?"
"Figure it out for yourself."
I wasn't usually a violent person, but Kanda was practically begging for a beating. His perfect nose, especially, looked like a good place to start. "Will a virtual presentation be necessary?"
"Yes."
Great. "Any specific colour scheme?" Though I hated him, I needed something. I couldn't go into this completely blind.
"Blue. Dark."
Of course. "Font?"
"Do whatever."
I hoped to all things holy that he'd spare me and give me a direction to go in. "Do you have any other requirements concerning appearance or written content?" I hate you, but please tell me what you want from me.
"No."
My heart sank in my chest. "Anything you want to say before you leave?" I muttered glumly, shoulders sinking slightly, my eyes now fixed to the notepad.
"Screw this up and I'll fire you."
From deep within my feelings of displeasure and weariness sparked a tiny flame of hope that seemed to feed on his words and grow, if only a little. "If you fired me, could I go back down to Komui?"
There was a hellfire burning in Kanda's dark eyes that just dared me to repeat the question, and I actually flinched away this time. His mouth twisted to match the stare, his death glare fierce and petrifying. This was the first time I'd seen him this angry, and it made me sick to my stomach.
I shrank back in my seat, my hair on end and my toes curling.
Quelling a shiver, I looked away to prevent myself from having another breakdown then and there.
Kanda had done more than pour a bottle of water on my hope. He'd dumped a bucketful of sand on it and ground the remains of both into a fine dust.
"I guess not…" I mumbled, quietly this time to avoid making him any madder.
Kanda was a scary guy.
I missed Komui's floor. The people there were all those I knew and felt comfortable around. Also, Komui knew my limitations. He knew what was wrong with me, and I trusted him almost as much as I trusted his sister.
I didn't like it here.
VWV
I'd stopped by the house early in the morning to have a quick shower and find something to munch on before heading back to work.
By three-twenty-seven, I'd finished the speeches. By four-fifteen, I'd finished the accompanying virtual presentations for each of them.
I shook my head to clear it of sleep, then yawned as I clicked to send the three different speeches I'd written to the printer on this floor, which was situated in another of the rooms off the main hallway. While most of the rooms were for conferences, this one was filled with boxes of blank paper and this floor's photocopiers, fax machines and printers.
After collecting the copies from the printer, I stapled the three different speeches and put them in a pile on Kanda's desk, where he'd easily be able to find them later. It helped that his desk was a little cleaner than the last time I'd seen it.
His desk was usually the only messy thing in the office since the begging of the FW influx. At least, that's what my occasional cursory glances of the room told me.
I looked around, and although it was dark, the faint sliver of moonlight peeking through a gap in the curtains offered enough light for me to be able to see.
It was then, as I assessed the room's interior, that I found one small problem I hadn't noticed before.
His 'little' collection of folders and papers didn't fit properly within the cabinet. Things were piled on top, sloping dangerously and threatening to topple off; the cabinet was close enough to Kanda's desk that the whole lot would hit him if that happened.
As entertaining as that would be, I wouldn't allow for him to get hurt like that while I was his PA.
I switched the light on and removed a couple folders, checking them over to figure out how they'd been organised and if there was somewhere else I could put them, only to find that they weren't stored in any form of order whatsoever.
An hour later, I was on the floor of my boss' office with piles of folders around me as I scanned through their contents and marked the little flap at the top with letters and dates.
Sometime after that, I'd deduced that, even with all of my rearranging, not all of the folders would fit.
I'd have to request another cabinet.
VWV
Allen's working on pure sleep-deprived motivation right now. I do it all the time and man, getting distracted and devoting himself to something completely different is real easy to do in this state.
Anyway, I have a poll going that basically asks you guys which fic I should start after I finish one of the five I'm working on. There are titbits of info on my profile about the fics.