Dr. Robert Brown was definitely not what I had expected. It wasn't like I had spent a lot of time thinking about what a company medic for a security company looked like, but the general idea of some elderly gentleman you'd easily mistake as your family doctor might have come to mind. What didn't come to mind was a guy who was built like a wall, with cornrows, that could have easily moonlighted as a gangbanger if you were narrow minded and followed certain stereotypes. He was incredibly charming and radiated a certain level of calm that made me extremely comfortable. Maybe signing my life over to him wasn't so bad after all.
"Bobby, I want you to meet Stephanie Plum," Carlos introduced me for what felt like the hundredth time today.
"Ah, I heard about your arrival already," Bobby smiled widely, offering me his hands a second later. "Quite a buzz you caused."
"I haven't done anything. Yet, anyway," I replied and heard both Bobby and Carlos laugh.
"Trust me, it doesn't take a lot to cause a buzz around here."
I nodded, figuring a woman itself was probably cause enough. "Can I ask you a rather weird question?"
"Sure," Bobby said, and Carlos looked curiously at me. So far I haven't asked a whole lot of questions about anything, really.
"How busy are you as a doctor? Ever since Carlos mentioned there is a company medic, I wondered about that."
"To be honest, I'm busy enough with annual evaluations and patching up minor injuries as well as making sure that whenever someone needs the ER for something that happened on the job, I'm having a look at the initial diagnosis."
"How often does that happen?"
The rather long silence that followed my question seemed to be all the answers I needed. "A lot then."
"It is a pretty dangerous environment," Carlos tried to offer as an explanation."And also one you wouldn't have to worry about. You're bound to a desk and therefore won't have to go after bad guys. If that, however, should become a desire of yours, I can guarantee you, you'd get sufficient training and partners to make sure you do not land on Bobby's desk or in his workload."
"Speaking of workload, I'd like to schedule our first appointment for a physical."
I let out a long breath, knowing how that probably might look but not being able to actually suppress it. "I was warned that might come up sooner or later."
"Yep," Bobby just said, amused. "And then every year after that."
"Bobby, we might do things a little different this time around and actually not schedule everything and the waivers immediately. Maybe it is for the best to give Stephanie a few weeks to settle in before we scare her away again."
Bobby looked at Carlos, surprised for a moment, making me wonder how rare such a procedure was, before nodding and shrugging eventually. "Alright, just let me know at a later stage then."
"Can I ask in ...um...what capacity I'll be seeing you? Or rather, which tests do you usually run?" I asked cautiously, wondering whether I sounded as paranoid as I felt. It wasn't like I needed to hide anything, but any exam or test at a doctor's office made me uncomfortable since you never know what they would find. Also, let's be honest, getting semi-naked in front of a guy that was considered attractive was also a little nerve-wrecking and not necessarily on top of my to-do list.
"Standard stuff," Bobby said within a heartbeat. "And nothing to worry about. I get some blood samples and just make sure you are taken care of. The exams only really help me keep an eye on things and get a bigger picture of everything. I'll hook you up on a machine and let you run a little, checking your levels of oxygen and overall fitness."
"I... um... might not have the usual level of fitness that might be required around here," I admitted and heard Carlos behind me laugh.
"No worries, we'll get you up to speed in no time."
"That really is standard procedure and nothing to worry about," Bobby repeated himself in a calm and soft manner. "Also, I can't share anything with anyone else but you without your permission. Just because I am employed by RangeMan doesn't void the Hippocratic oath."
"I... I really don't have anything to hide or stuff like that. But...doctors just have a tendency to make me nervous, regardless in what capacity."
"We are good at that," Bobby laughed. "Let's just schedule an appointment for your fitness tests and we'll take it from there."
Without really having a way out of this - and let's be honest, why should I? - we set up an appointment for today in a week, and I promised myself I'd at least work to improve my fitness by then on some minor level.
After bidding my farewell to Bobby, we went back to the fifth floor and my office, surprising me when I seemed to return to a functioning computer. And no more boxes.
"You guys work fast," I admitted, astonished. How long had we been gone, anyway? Looking up, I realized that Carlos wasn't standing in the door as I had expected but was gone, just to show up a moment later with an office chair.
"Take a seat and I'll show you a few of the systems, get you set up and access to everything. All in all, it isn't complicated and most of it will be 'learning by doing' anyway. No one expects you to do everything right away and know how to do everything."
For the next hour, we worked our way through several systems and occasionally Carlos explained a few things to me, making me realize pretty quickly that I should take a few notes since I wouldn't be able to remember all that. Occasionally, a few of the guys stopped by, mainly to talk to Carlos about one thing or another.
All in all my first day working for RangeMan was exciting as well as incredibly exhausting since there was a lot of new input and a whole lot of new procedures for me to learn. Add in the new systems I needed to get a hang of and all its functions and I was dead to the world the moment my head hit the pillow.
The past few weeks I had worked for EE Martin, as well as the first nights after my resignation, I had always slept crappy, waking up feeling more tired than when I went to bed. Waking up the first day after I had started my job at RangeMan, I felt like I could conquer the world, despite the fact that I had probably a mountain of work to get done as a pile of new systems to get the hang of. The amount of work wasn't any less compared to my last job and while it had only been one single day so far and the jury was still out on whether or not I might have made a mistake, I felt like things were…different.
It had been a lot to take in on my first day, a lot of new input and information, new faces, names and a whole new world I wasn't sure how long it might take to get a hang off, but I was prepared to face the challenge and do my best. Turns out, I took to my new job, environment and colleagues like a fish to water. I had my hangups and weak moments, tackling too many things and trying to conquer too many tasks at once and being knocked over by the sheer amount of work, but I pushed through and learned to take things a little easier and not expect my desk to be empty by the end of the day. These days would probably never return and maybe that wasn't for the worst.
When at EE Martin the mountains of work and piles seemed frustrating and, like I was the only one working, the same piles at RangeMan motivated me to get stuff done. It helped to learn that everyone had similar piles depending on their position in the company, but while Lester, Carlos and some of the other guys sure added to my pile of work, I didn't hold back and added just as much to their piles.
After six months of working for RangeMan and Carlos Manoso, I guess I found my footing. Despite the fact that I was only one of two women RangeMan employed and that I was pretty much the only one who had never served my country in a branch of the military, I never had the impression like rules were bent for me or I held a special status. I was abiding by the same rules as everyone else and despite the fact that I wasn't out in the field, I was subjected to the same annual physical and target practice.
Three months after I started working, I had decided signing the waivers Carlos had asked me to sign on the first day was maybe not the worst of ideas. I felt comfortable enough to know my kidneys wouldn't be sold off to someone and there was nothing fishy going on to begin with. After I had seen a dozen of new hires signing these within a heartbeat, not even seeming to really think about it and working on the waivers myself to get them filed and sent to the appropriate departments and people that actually needed to be aware of them, I decided that maybe it was my turn now as well. What was the worst that could out of it, anyway?
"I think of getting a dog," I heard Lester Santos' distinguish voice, which pulled me out of my thoughts. Looking up from the file I had been staring at mindlessly for an uncertain amount of time, I saw the man himself standing in my doorframe.
"O-kay?" I replied, uncertain where he was going with this. Seemed like he took my response as an invitation to take a seat opposite my desk a minute later.
"What breed do you think I should get?" he asked a heartbeat after he had placed his ass in one of my guest chairs.
"I… A Great Dane?"
"What? No. They are ugly as fuck!"
"If you don't like my opinion, don't ask for it."
"What makes you so cranky so early on this fine Tuesday morning?"
"You keeping me from getting work done by asking unnecessary questions?"
"I stood in that doorway of your office for a solid three minutes, watching you looking into space. Didn't really look productive to me either."
"I was contemplating a problem," I lied, amused. Judging by his grin, he didn't believe me.
"Which was?"
"Next week's roster," I scrambled for answer, taking the first file or paper my eyes landed on. Truth be told, that actually was a problem I needed to look into. "It seems like everyone and their mother are on holidays."
"I can pull doubles if you need extra hands," Lester offered generously.
"You have been pulling doubles for the past month," I remarked, not inclined to turn his offer down, but I also knew I couldn't use his, Zero's, and Junior's generosity forever. These three had been more or less all of RangeMan for the past few weeks after we were hit by a massive wave of sick leave and now the first wave of vacation requests came in.
"So?" Lester just asked, and I wanted to kiss him for making my job a bit easier.
"And with all these doubles you are pulling, when exactly would you have time for that aforementioned dog?"
"I could bring him to the office," he suggested after a moment of thought.
"Yeah, and Carlos would probably kill you for that about a minute after that happened. The last thing we need around here is a puppy."
There was silence for a short while, with Lester looking at me in some odd fashion. Over the past few months, I learned to ignore most of his insane antics, which usually brought more mayhem than relief to my life.
"What is it?" I asked, for once deciding on feeding my curiosity about what his weird mind came up with.
"Speaking of Carlos," he said and the way he pronounced the name, I knew whatever he was about to say would be either something I wanted to hit him for and laugh about for no apparent reason.
"Yes?"
"When will you two actually give in to that insane chemistry and sexual attraction between you two and just get it out of your system?"
"I'm…I'm sorry?" I sputtered, shocked. I had been expecting a whole lot of things to come from him, but certainly not anything in that regard. Especially since nothing was going on between me and Carlos. Hell no. We kept our hands firmly to ourselves.
"If this keeps going on much longer, I swear me or someone of the other guys might just lock the two of you in a closet – or meeting room – and not let you out until you haven't ripped each other's clothes and gotten down and dirty. This starts to be frustrating. You ogle him, he ogles you, the two of you literally undress the other one with your eyes, you might as well get that last step done and be done."
"No one ogles anyone," I protested, and I sure as hell would know.
"Sure… you standing on the treadmill for an extended amount of time not moving a singe muscle while the boss gets his weightlifting done shirtless is totally a coincidence. And so is you stopping mid-sentence when he lifted himself out of the pool the other day. Never mind the fact whenever he steps in front of you in a suit, you look like Christmas might have come early and your present it wrapped in Armani this year."
"What?" I more or less screeched. "That…is or was totally …unrelated! Any of it."
Instead of a reply, Lester just lifted one eyebrow and stared at me.
I finally let out a puff of air and shrugged. "It isn't a crime to look and appreciate beauty. Not my fault that he looks good and can easily challenge a GQ cover model any day of the week."
"Yes, and it also isn't a crime to get things going on. Trust me when I tell you he's in the same boat as you are and he's just as subtle. You two might as well just walk around with a big, fat neon sign."
"It's…not a crime," I repeated myself weakly.
"No, but it is frustrating to watch."
"Is that why you want a puppy? To distract you from this?" I mused, confused.
"No, I'm just bored and maybe having something to care for is good for me."
"You are not 12," I exclaimed, just as confused as before.
"Neither are you, so if I might make a suggestion, go after what you want."
"Your suggestion is noted, but won't get any further attention."
"Why not?" he asked, voice almost whining.
"Are we talking about the puppy or…"
"Or!" Lester just said, grinning a second later. "What's keeping you?"
"First off all, it has always been such a fabulous idea to screw the boss. That never ended in drama ever before," I replied sarcastically.
"Why?" Lester asked, confused.
"Because you don't... screw the company. Or, the boss," I repeated, as if this argument made more sense than a minute ago. Well, in all fairness to me and most likely the rest of the world, it actually did, but Lester didn't seem to be included.
"Says who?"
"Um... I believe that's a general rule for drama-free work environments."
"What drama are we talking about?"
"The drama that usually comes with situations like sleeping with the boss."
There was silence for a short moment and Lester looked like he was really confused and tried really hard to make sense of what the hell I was talking about. Finally, he seemed to have made up his mind and came to a conclusion.
"You do realize that you work with guys who most likely couldn't care less," he stated and asked all in one. "Given the chance, I'd even take bets and say about half of us would jump at the opportunity to get it on with you."
The grin that followed told me he wasn't even joking. Before I could reply, however, he went on. "Guys don't operate that way. Also, why should we? It isn't like you haven't proven your worth to the company already or like you only got a certain job due to favorable activities after dark. You work just as hard as the rest of us, wouldn't even gain any advantages and I can guarantee you, we couldn't care less about it. Women care about the why and how and how much you'll gain in advantages, and favors or other things. Men only care about certain x-rated facts and that's that."
"I... um... keep that in mind," I just replied, secretly wondering if that ever would or could be an issue.
"Does that mean you'll get it out of your system and relieve Ranger of his misery?"
"For starters, he doesn't seem like he is miserable."
"You are at least no longer denying the attraction. Good, we are making progress," LEster said, looking pleased with himself.
"You made it very clear that this was never the question to begin with. So, what's there to deny?"
"Good, that brings us to the whole misery-issue."
"To cut things short...I don't see this happen."
"Why?" Lester asked, and confused me with his question. Why did I need to explain myself when I didn't want to get things on with someone?
"Because it wouldn't be a good idea and I am maybe too old-school when it comes to interoffice romances."
"You're adorable," Lester just remarked, heaved himself out of my guest chair and just walked away. As if this conversation more or less never happened.