People seemed to have enjoyed the first chapter, only saying it should have been longer. Not to worry, this one's longer and it's in Olivia's point of view.
Chapter Two
As she went to buy herself lunch from the diner round the corner, she passed by Dean Smith, who was surrounded by a herd of women. She shook her head and marched on. She didn't get what they saw in him. Sure he was decent-looking... very decent-looking actually... but wasn't he also a self-centred man who showed off his more-than-decent salary and Prius that always almost runs her over every morning when she's about to chain her bike to the railing.
"Hey, Olivia! Wait up!" Olivia laughed as she turned round and saw her bestfriend Sam Wesson run up to her. "Why is it that you never wait for me to grab lunch together?"
"Because you're a slow poke, slow poke." she replied with a laugh, poking his rib. "By the way, guess what's happening tonight?"
"What's happening tonight?" he repeated her question as the turned round the corner. They smiled with relief when the stench of junk food and greasy oil filled their nostrils. This was their favourite place to go to during the lunch hour. They went there so often the cook knows their order by heart. He always prepared their lunch just in time for them to eat as soon as they sat down in their usual booth at the far side.
"I get to stay up all night installing the new directory in each and every computer in the godforsaken company."
"But what about band rehearsals?! We have the open mic night at the diner next week!" Sam asked in shock. She, Sam and Ian from tech support had a Police tribute band, which still had no name, and every Friday night they had band rehearsal at her house. Sam played the guitar, Olivia the drums and Ian was the bassist and lead vocalist. They had only one week to come up with a name, and so far, the Tech Police was the only thing they (ahem... Madison...) came up with.
"Mr Adler wants the program up and running by Monday, and it's game night on Saturday. I'd rather miss one band rehearsal than game night."
Game night meant watching any sports' game on TV, followed by card games and the group's favourite: 'Dungeons and Dragons'. They were all geeks at heart who worked in the tech department. Madison, Sam's fiancée and also part of the 'minion group', was a computer technician one town over. Ian's wife, Mel, was an IT teacher at the local high school.
"Yeah you're right..." Sam sighed, but his disappointment disappeared as soon as they were served their usual. "So I saw you talking to Mr Smith this morning... What was that about anyways? The elite never talk down to us... minions..." he asked, mouth full. Olivia rolled her eyes and stopped biting onto her burger. The slight mention—and thought—of that man turned her stomach and stopped her appetite.
"I saved his ass in front of Mr Adler and he kept asking me why I did it." she explained, her mouth full of food once again (how could she stay away from eating the glorious food that is the diner's?!) "Like hey Smithy, I can't help being nice to people. It's what I do!"
"Hey so, uh, do you think we should invite Mr Adler to open mic? I heard he likes The Police. We could invite some of the elite too! Put out flyers! Maybe then they'd start being nice to us!" Sam shot suggestions happily, some food particles and saliva flying out of his mouth. Olivia didn't mind: growing up with four elder brothers made her prone to this kind of behaviour. And Sam's her bestfriend from college; she's so used to him being around.
"Sammy, I don't think the freaking apocalypse would make them nice to us. Or God."
"But if Mr Adler likes us, they'd have to agree, otherwise he'd give them The Look. And die, or worse, get fired and then die!" Sam explained. The Look was a death sentence Mr Adler gave someone who dared disagree with him with just one slight glare. The last time he gave someone The Look they got fired... and wasn't even seen packing up and leaving. Their things still remain on the empty cubicle. The thought scared everyone so much they had to agree with everything he said... or else...
"Okay, fine! I'll print out five flyers. Just them five. No more, no less. Whoever sees them and decides to attend, good for us." Having finished her lunch, she threw her napkin in the empty plate and stood up. "Actually, I'll print six. I'll hand one personally to Mr Adler. I hope he decides to bring his wife along. If she does, she'd bring her friends from the country club along. Imagine the audience!"
The diner was average-sized, but if the place was packed to the brim thanks to her, the diner's owner, Corbin, could hire them as the weekly entertainment!
"Don't forget to give one to the people from the mail room." Sam reminded her as he signalled for a waitress to bring the bill. The people from the mail room were the only ones who got along with tech: they were in the same social hierarchy in the company. "Shit, Olivia, I just remembered! If we're printing out flyers about our band, we have to write a name right? And we still haven't decided on a name."
"Madison's Tech Police is actually quite cool."
"Awesome!" he happily exclaimed and took out his phone. "I'll text her, Ian and Mel that we've finally chosen Tech Police as our band name." He tapped furiously at the phone. He got so excited he hyperventilated a little. "This makes us, like, official doesn't it?! We're officially a tribute band for The Police!"
"Wow, pipe it own a notch before you pop a vein or all, Wesson!" Olivia joked in mock-shock. After paying for their lunch, they rushed back into the building, discussing the designs for the flyers, and what they should say.
"Oh hey, and guess what else?" Olivia told him. Sam looked at her. They stopped in front of his cubicle and he rested his arm over one of the walls. "I'm on first-name basis with Mr Adler!"
"Get out!" Sam exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me this before?!"
"I didn't think it was so important. I just remembered, to be honest." Olivia shrugged, still smitten by the fact.
"I thought his full name was Mr Adler! He's not even on first-name basis with anyone form the elite! It had to be those court-side tickets you gave him." He sat down in his chair, picked up his earpiece and looked up at her. "You really do live up to your name, Tech Queen."
Olivia walked backwards and made a cheesy courtesy. "Thanks, my loyal, trustworthy soldier." she told him with a fake English accent, making him chuckle before switching on his earpiece. She shook her head and closed her office door behind her before sitting in her very comfortable chair Mr Adler—Zach... she'll never get used to calling him that—gave her to congratulate her on her well-deserved promotion. She switched on her laptop and immediately started working on the flyers' design.
It only took her fifteen minutes to complete the draft design, and after some finishing touches, she printed out seven copies of it. When she did, someone knocked on her door and Adam from the mail room opened the door and stepped in, carrying a trolley full of packages and envelopes.
"Your Highness, I bring forth some parchments from the kingdom up on the fourth floor." Adam joked in a fake posh accent, making her chuckle. He took out a bundle of envelopes and papers from the trolley, placing them on her desk, and over them a clipboard with a paper, which she signed quickly before giving it back to him.
"Hey before you go, stick this to your wall." She took a flyer from her drawer and gave it to him. He gave it a quick look. "We're playing at the diner round the corner next weekend and me and the guys would really appreciate it if our friends from the mail room attended."
"You bet my nan's soul we'll be there!" he told her, putting the flyer in the trolley. "Well, I'll get goin' then. Farewell, Queen Tech."
"Farewell, fellow soldier." she joked back, giving him the peace sign before he left the room. Once the door was closed behind him she groaned at the sight of papers and envelopes. "Why do I get so much mail? I'm only a supervisor!" she murmured to herself, shuffling the envelopes. Crap, crap, letter from Mr Adler—damn it, ZACH—which was stamped as VIP, Dean Smith, Dean Smith, Dean Smith, Dean—
She stopped and took a look at the last three envelopes in the 'To-Read Later' pile. Why was Smithy's mail with hers again? She thought they alphabetised each bundle and sorted them according to floor and hierarchy! Did this mean she had to stand up, walk out of her office, turn round the corner and... shudder... give them to him? This happened every single day for the past week since she got promoted and it was starting to annoy the shit out of her. She told Adam and the rest numerous times to double check the mail before rushing out to deliver them.
"No way, I am not getting up from here." she told herself, shaking her head frantically. "If they're so important, he'd be here to collect them by now, right? Damn right!"
After a few seconds of contemplating what to do and staring at them, she sighed impatiently and picked his mail, quickly stormed out of her office and knocked on his door. She didn't even give him a chance to say "come in", opening the door quickly. His head snapped up from his laptop, looking really surprised to see her.
'Of course he'd surprised. I'm a tech! Tech never walk in this side of the building if they weren't called beforehand!' she thought.
"You mail got mixed up with mine... again..." she explained, placing the envelopes on his desk, not making eye contact. She inhaled and sighed shortly. He smelled minty... damn it why did she have to like men who smelled like mint!
"Thanks, you didn't have to come all the way here." Dean smiled at her. She found herself gazing at his smile. She shook her head, snapping back to reality. Why was she gazing at him? "I could've sent Kay to fetch my mail."
Olivia snorted. "Like she'd cross the borderline between the royal land and the underworld!" Olivia joked, making reference to 'Dungeons & Dragons', shaking her head with humour. She was taken by surprise when Dean chuckled at her joke.
"Yeah, you're right. She'd rather eat carbs than get out of her cubicle." he chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Hey, thanks again."
"No big, Smithy."
"Smith." Dean corrected her and smirked. "For every time you call me Smithy I'll call you Liv. Comprende?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively, and Olivia felt her skin crawl and a blush crept across her cheeks.
'NO WAY. WHY AM I BLUSHING? AND WHY'S MY SKIN CRAWLING?! THIS SHOULDN'T EVEN HAPPEN FOR GOD'S SAKE!' her inner voice screamed in her head.
"Right got it, Mr Smith." She turned on her heel quickly to hide her red face.
"You can call me Dean." he added before she left his office. Head bent down, she marched fast back into her office, closing the door behind her before sitting down on her chair, sighing with relief. Finally, she was out of there!
You can call me Dean.
Call me Dean.
"Oh no. We're on first-name basis now." she thought out loud. The thought scared the living crap out of her... so why did her lips curl into a small smile at the thought of her and Dean—sigh... Dean...—calling each other by their first names?
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! What do you think of Olivia's developing attraction towards Dean? Anything you'd like me to add in terms of characters, events, drama?
The chapter's a little longer than yesterday's, which I've worked super hard to do, but the next one will be even longer I promise! If you like where the story is going please remember to leave your reviews which make me all happy and dancey in the morning.
New chapters for 'Baby's Got Blue Eyes', 'Save Yourself' and 'Room For One More?' will be up by the end of May or earlier, depending on my mood and reviews (WHICH THEY DESPERATELY NEED SO PUT A SMILE ON MY FACE AND REVIEW!).
Until next time!