Thanks to my beta luvtheheaven!
Here is my next chapter, so have fun and please review!
After her new boss gave her her first assignment, she turned to her desk. After reading it two times, she opened a word processor and began typing the content of the text. She was so immersed, she didn´t register that her boss was standing directly beside her until he spoke to her.
"Annie, how is it going?" Auggie leaned a little on her desk to keep his balance.
"Oh, it´s good Auggie. I haven´t worked on a translation like this before, but it´s interesting," Annie said. She then added, "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, for sure. What is it?" Auggie answered.
"I´m hungry; can you tell me how I get to the cafeteria?"
"I can tell you. Or I can show you, maybe giving you a tour through the holy halls. What would you prefer?"
"If it isn´t a hassle, then I would love to get the tour," Annie answered.
Auggie pushed away from the desk and retrieved his cane. With a witty smile, Auggie prompted, "Follow me, Ms. Walker. Let me show you around and satisfy your hunger." Auggie waited at the door and motioned to Annie that she should step through.
As they walked through the halls, Annie noticed the looks Auggie got from passersby. Some were nice, some pitied and some didn´t show any feelings. Auggie gave off an aura that was fascinating: strong on one side , broken on the other. Something that didn´t make any sense to her yet.
"A penny for your thoughts, Ms. Walker?" Auggie asked her.
She seemed to be in another world. "Oh it´s nothing Auggie. I wasn´t thinking about anything."
He looked at her skeptically.
"Can you recommend something on the menu?" Annie tried to get out of his questions.
"Oh it´s not French cuisine, but you can eat everything. I like the burger myself, but it´s meat… so yeah what guy doesn´t?" Auggie smirked.
After both had ordered the burger with fries, Auggie tucked his cane under his right arm. He took the tray with a napkin and silverware on it and walked really slowly to the cashier.
"Hey, Matt. Hers and mine," Auggie said, gesturing. "Both on me!" He was told the cost, then handed him some cash. They received their burgers, and Annie walked in front of Auggie to claim a nearby table before it was gone. They enjoyed their lunch in silence. When both of them finished their meals and Auggie was about to get up, Annie started to grab his tray.
"Don´t! I can do it by myself!" he nearly shouted.
Annie blushed and mumbled, "Sorry. I know you can do it by yourself. I just wanted to be nice because you paid my bill, not imply that you aren´t able to do this!"
Auggie´s face was getting red. "I´m sorry, Annie… I´m just used to doing this alone. Thanks though." Auggie murmured.
Annie noticed that the mood of her new boss was like driving a rollercoaster, or the moods Danielle had when she was pregnant. He seemed to be hiding something, but she couldn´t put a finger on what. The lunch date didn´t reveal anything new to her. She was a people watcher, but her new boss wasn´t easy to read. They walked back to the office not speaking a single word. First thing Auggie did, after entering their office, was get rid of his cane. He reached his desk and busied himself with work.
After two hours, he got up without his cane and walked at nearly a snail's pace out of the office into the hall. Sometime, around twenty minutes later he came back carrying two cups to go. He walked up to her, placed a cup on her desk and apologized again. Annie turned in her chair and looked up to him.
"It´s okay, Auggie. I just wanted to be nice. Thanks for the coffee! How long will you be working, though?" Annie asked, unemotionally not showing any mood.
"Oh, I will finish this document and then head home… so maybe an hour. Why?"
"Oh just asking. I´m finished with the translation. What can I do now?"
"Oh you ´re quick. You can call it a day. Or go to the gym downstairs and work out, and when you are through with it, maybe we…?" Auggie stopped. "Maybe what?"
"Oh nothing, just go, Annie. I´ll see you tomorrow." He turned, walked to his desk chair, and sat down taking up his headphones. He heard her phone jingle but didn´t eavesdrop on her call. He worked and pretended to not notice when Annie left rather quickly, clutching her cell phone to her ear.
After she was out of sight, he turned and noticed that her computer was still on. So she intended to come back. He finished his work, turned his equipment off and called it a day. Ten minutes later, after walking through the halls, with a quick stop at the mail station, checking to see if there was something for him in his box. He then walked to his car in the designated handicapped parking space. He was about to get in when he saw Annie passing by.
He called, "Goodbye, Annie! See you tomorrow!" He was wondering how the next day would go.
As soon as he had situated himself in the car, a familiar face popped up in front of his car, nearly giving him a heart attack. He breathed deeply two times, and then opened his window.
"Hey, Joan, what can I do for you now?" he asked. Her face did not reveal her mood, and so he couldn´t help but brace himself for the worst.
"Oh, nothing bad. I just heard you were walking with Ms. Walker through the halls and having lunch together, and I just wanted to thank you, for being nice to her. So thanks, and see you tomorrow." She smiled at him, and turned on her heels and walked to her own car, an Audi TT, which really suited her.
Before he finally returned to his home, he stopped at the supermarket, to get some groceries.
After parking his car and getting out of it, Auggie carried his groceries up to his apartment. The first thing he did once he was inside was lose his cane at the entrance, second lose his tie and third turn Mingus on. He liked this artist since he got his hands on it from iTunes at the rehab center. He had to listen to jazz music a lot in his army time, especially on his last tour because of his buddy who was in charge of the radio in their Humvee. Before, he´d loved the up-tempo numbers and everything with a hard beat. He loved to dance- he never could be still. This was gone now and with that his taste of music had changed as well because of the influence his dead buddy had on him. The music played and he packed his purchased groceries away. He prepared some salad with grilled chicken. He enjoyed the quick meal and washed everything up. He turned to the freezer and grabbed a beer, then lounged on his Stressless chair and read a book.
Meanwhile at Annie´s…
Annie followed a strict routine after getting home from work. First, she changed into comfy clothes, a yoga pant and a big washed-out T-shirt. Second, she put on a kettle of water. And third, she put on her iPod in the docking station and turned it on. Today, she was in the mood for something relaxing. The only music she used for this was Mingus and his slower songs. She then remembered her trips to the Stockholm Mingus´ tribute concerts. The vacations were really enjoyable and she hoped she could travel there again. Her kettle piped and she poured herself some. A good Chai tea should be the rest of what she needed to become relaxed. With a tea cup in hand she walked to her box of books and chose a classical romance. She was so immersed in her book that she didn´t notice the soft knocking on the door. Her sister entered, walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Annie was shocked from the unexpected touch.
"Gosh, Danielle! Don´t do that again, or you´ll have to bury me because of a heart attack!" Annie exclaimed, breathing hard. She tried to calm down.
"Little Sis´, I didn´t mean to startle you. Tell me how was your first day at work?" Danielle asked.
"It was everything and nothing. My supervisor is up one second, down the next and then nothing at all. The work seems to be interesting though. Acquisitions are not nearly as boring as you think. Today was light. I´m just tired of the emotional stress I had, so I will turn in early."
"Ok Annie. Do you want to eat with us? I have chicken parmigiana in the oven."
"Oh. Yes I will. Call me if you´re ready to eat, ok?" Annie said, clearly dismissing Danielle.
After another half an hour Danielle called to say that dinner was served. Annie enjoyed the meal and the light conversation. Her nieces recalled their days. Katia had been to the zoo and told the rest of them everything about the animals her class had visited. Chloe said her day was really good too and that her class had met up with veterans who´d told them stories. Annie asked each girl a few questions. After she loaded the dishwasher, she went to bed. Thinking about a quite handsome, dark-haired man….