Amora held her head up high as she walked into the glass covered building. She pulled the glass door open and walked slowly to the front desk. She crossed her arms on the desk. The secretary looked up from her computer. The secretary looked at her expectantly. "Hi, my name is Amora Lovelock and I'm here to apply for the position of PR manager," the woman said pushing her black hair behind her ear.
The secretary groaned, "Just wait over there." The woman pointed to some plastic chairs that lined the wall. Amora thanked the secretary and sat down.
"Whew, I thought I was going to be late," a male voice with a slight English accent said before someone dropped himself down on the chair next to her. "I can't believe I'm here. Aperture Science. It's even bigger than I could have imagined." The man tapped Amora on the shoulder. "Hello Miss, My name's Wheatley."
Amora smiled at the charming manner the man greeted her. "I'm Amora," she said shaking his hand that he offered her.
"That's a lovely name," Wheatley said leaning back into his chair. "So do you work here?" he asked his blue eyes staring at her.
Amora smirked a little, "If I worked here, why would I be out here waiting?"
Wheatley facepalmed, "Of course, I don't know what I was thinking." He chuckled to himself. He grew quiet.
"I'm applying for a job here if that's what you're trying to figure out," Amora said. "So are you apply for the PR position too?" Amora asked.
Wheatley chuckled, "Oh no, I'm applying for the internship here. I'm going to be a scientist and do science stuff."
Amora smiled larger, "Science stuff?" She giggled. Wheatley looked embarrassed.
"Amora Lovelock?" a man asked from an open door.
"That's me," Amora said getting to her feet. "Hey, let's meet up after this and we can get a bite to eat."
Wheatley looked a little shocked. "uh.. yeah. That sounds good."
Amora gave the dirty blonde another smile and turned to the man who called her name. "You're Amora?" the man asked. Amora answered affirmative. "Caroline is waiting for you. First door on your left." Amora was going to thank the man but he left leaving her alone in the bright, white hallway.
She took a deep breath and turned to her left. She walked slowly to the first door, trying to calm her heart rate that threatened to burst through her chest. She tried not to think of the bills that were slowly building up in her apartment and the student debt that was beginning to swallow her whole.
Amora grabbed the doorknob and taking a deep breath, she opened the door. A dark-haired woman sat at a wooden desk reading a pile of papers. She looked up at Amora. "Hello, are you Ms. Caroline?" Amora asked nervously wringing her hands.
The woman's dark eyes analyzed her, "You're Amora?" The woman answered affirmative. "Sit down," Caroline said coldly.
Amora did as she was told and nervously cleared her throat. "I'm apply for the PR position," Amora began hesitantly.
"I know why you're here Amora," Caroline said. Amora tried not to shift under the woman's gaze. "I have looked through your transcript and resume," Caroline said looking back at her desk. "You don't have any previous experience in Public Relations," the older woman said looking back up at her.
Amora looked down at her hands that laid in her lap. "Yes."
"You're hired," Caroline said. "Congratulations. Report tomorrow. Cave will be very excited to meet you." Amora sat there not believing what she was hearing. "You're dismissed," the older woman said.
Amora got up too quickly nearly knocking the chair she was sitting on down. "Thank you so much. I won't let you down," Amora said. The young woman backed away and left the room.
She stood outside the door and did a little dance. She was jumping excitedly when the door in front of her opened. She barely stopped her happy dance when Wheatley appeared in the now opened door. He looked a little pale as he closed the door behind him. "Wheatley, how'd it go?" Amora asked.
"I got the internship," he said in a small voice. "I mean, of course I got the internship. I'm awesome of course and really smart."
Amora laughed, "You don't need to impress me." Wheatley chuckled. He walked ahead of Amora toward the front desk. She walked slowly after him and briefly wondered if he had forgotten about her invitation.
The door that Wheatley came from opened again. Amora looked at the door. A tall man with brown hair walked out of the room. "Howdy, young lady. Are you joining our team?" the man greeted looking down at her, his green eyes were wondering a little further south than Amora would have liked.
"Yes, I just got hired as the PR manager," Amora said. " My name's Amora."
"I'm Rick," the man greeted, "I was just going to lunch with Neil if you want to join us."
Before Amora could answer, Wheatley reappeared, "We would love to join you." Amora nodded her agreement.
Rick seemed pleased with himself, "We can all go in my car. Neil would meet us at the restaurant." The taller man led the way strutting like some action hero.
"I'm so sorry. I totally forgot that you invited me to eat with you," Wheatley said. "I was just thinking about how I get to work here every day. I should get lab coat. I bet I would look good in a lab coat. What do you think?"
Amora made a dramatic thinking face and even put a hand to her chin. She could say that he would look good in anything that he wore, but she didn't want to be so forward. "I think that it would be a great idea. You will definitely look like a true scientist."
Wheatley grinned before wiping his glasses. "I wonder where I could find a lab coat," he whispered to himself.
Amora just shook her head amused. The doors to the Aperture offices closed behind her with a near silent thud. She watched as Wheatley spoke with Rick with animated gestures. Rick motioned to a small silver car parked nearby. "Wheatley, why don't you let the young lady sit up front with me," Rick suggested as Wheatley opened the passenger door.
"Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry about that," Wheatley said stepping away from the door which slammed closed again. Amora silently chuckled to herself. Wheatley opened the door again and Amora stepped in with a quick thank you.
She looked over her shoulder to see Wheatley plop down in the seat behind her. Rick looked over his passengers to make sure they were both fastened into their seats. He started the car and whipped through the parking lot. Amora gripped the armrest as tight as she could. "So are y'all excited to start working for famous Cave Johnson?" Rick asked as he weaved around the other vehicles on the road.
"Of course, Aperture is the best. I mean, you are making great strides for science," Wheatley said excitedly in the back seat grabbing onto the back of Amora's seat to pull himself forward. Amora sat quietly. Honestly, she was happy to work anywhere; Aperture was her last hope in the small town of Alluiez, Michigan.
"What do you do in Aperture?" Amora asked when she saw that the conversation in the lulled into uncomfortable silence.
"Me?" Rick asked almost running off the road. Amora nodded once she reopened her eyes. "I'm an adventurer. I go into the dark and unknown parts of the world to find interesting material to experiment on," Rick said as he turned into a parking lot (without signaling much to Amora's annoyance.).
The three Aperture employees exited the car and entered the small café. "Hey Rick," a voice called out as a man with bright orange hair called out. The trio sat themselves next to the man.
"Is there room for us?" a cheerful woman voice asked. Without an answer, an Auburn-haired woman dropped in the empty space beside Wheatley. "Who are you? Are you new? You are actually kindof cute," the woman said quickly as she leaned closer to Wheatley. "Oh, I didn't see you there. What's your name? Are you new here too?" the woman asked turning her attention to Amora.
"Curra, one question at a time," a stern male voice said. A man with dark skin and hair pulled a chair from a nearby table to sit with Amora and the group. "I don't believe I've seen you two around the office," he started. "I'm Andre and this is Curra." The woman waved excitedly when the man said her name. Introductions were made around the table and the Aperture Science employees ordered their meal.
Amora sat quietly; she didn't want to interrupt the older employees. "So Neil, What is this new project that Cave is cooking up?" Rick asked as the waitress set down plates of food in front of everyone.
The man with the orange hair- who Amora learned was Neil- had took a large bite of his burger when Rick asked. "You won't believe it," Neil started somehow still understandable with a mouthful of food. The man paused for a moment before continuing in a softer tone, "I'm going to spaaaaace." Neil was clearly excited about going into space. "Cave wants me to collect as many moon rocks as I can," Neil continued in a normal tone. "What's he going to do with them, who knows."
"That's Mr. Johnson for you," Andre spoke up, "I feel for you Amora. I really do." Amora looked at the man confused.
"Yeah, whatever happened to the last PR manager?" Curra asked. The men around the table were silent.
"I think she quit," Rick said. The other employees left the conversation at that and concentrated on their meals. Amora's mind was running a million miles an hour; why did they talk about this position that way? She tried to focus on her food, but she could start to feel a shadow of doubt in the back of her mind.
Once done with their meal all the employees stood up to leave. Curra and Andre left first saying that they had a deadline coming up soon. Neil left next so he could get another physical for his space trip. "I could drive you back to your cars if you need to," Rick offered.
"That's nice, but I took the bus today," Amora said.
"I did as well," Wheatley added. Rick with a courteous nod to both left the café. "It was nice to meet you Amora," Wheatley said waving goodbye as he too left the café.
"Miss Amora," a voice called to her. Amora turned around to see a man in a lab coat, his black hair was sticking up in ways that seem to defy gravity. "I'm Dr. Doug Rattmann," the man said as Amora looked at the Aperture ID that was clipped to his front pocket. "Aperture is a very unique place. I hope that you are able to find your place. We tend to go through PR managers like candy," the man continued in a tone that seemed to send a shiver down Amora's spine. Dr. Rattmann smiled, "But I'm sure you will do well. Caroline is really good at finding loyal employees. Perhaps we'll see each other around."
A/N: Soo, I wanted to make the cores obvious; I think I succeeded with some, but not so much as others.