Ten

"So… what happened?" Manny, the tall, dark-skinned man, asked, his eyes fixed on the broken window of Tori's car.

"Um… a rock," Tori muttered nervously. "Must have fallen… off the highway or something."

Manny gave her a disbelieving stare. "C'mon, honey, you gotta give me something better than that," he urged, wagging a finger at her. "You have a new boyfriend, maybe you got in a fight?"

Tori let out a soft laugh. "Uh… no… no new boyfriend… I…" She glanced around. "Manny, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some guys decided to take a crack at the car. I got away," she explained, making a face. "I don't want to make a big deal about it… I didn't see them, so…"

"Ah ha!" Manny waggled his fingers at her knowingly. "I got you. No problem," he said, studying the car. "Eighty dollars."

"Great!" Tori said, relieved to hear the price. She smiled and handed over the keys. "You're a lifesaver."

"Wild cherry, I hope," Manny joked. "That's my favorite flavor." He patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, did you get cut?" he asked, noticing a mark on her hand.

"Um…" Tori hesitated. "An accident."

Manny looked at her intently, his expression serious. He tipped her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Girl, are you in some kind of trouble? Be straight with me now."

"No," Tori responded firmly, shaking her head. "I almost was last night, but someone showed up and chased the guys off. I was fine, really. They even gave me a ride back here."

"Mmhm… was he nice? Was he a gentleman?" Manny inquired, his eyes filled with concern.

Tori stifled a grin. "He was a she," she corrected, her eyes twinkling. "And she was… wonderful."

"Ahhh… okay," Manny chuckled, thinking Tori might have lucked out with some powerful woman in the area. "I'll have this finished probably tonight. Maybe tomorrow, okay?"

"Great," Tori nodded in agreement.

Andre approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Tori."

Tori turned and smiled. "Hey… listen, thanks for calling last night. Sorry I gave you a scare yesterday." She gestured toward the door of her apartment. "Come on inside… it's wet out here."

Manny followed her inside, closing the door behind them. He moved quickly across the room to where Kery was standing, stacking printouts on her desk. "So, now tell me everything," he urged eagerly. "I could have killed you last night… five words and you're gone."

Tori finished her task and grinned, pulling Andre over to the couch. "Sit. It's a long story," she said, waiting for him to take a seat before settling in beside him. "Well… where do I start?"

She recounted the entire incident to Andre, watching his jaw drop in amazement. "Whoa… whoa… whoa… Hold on just a minute," he interrupted, holding up a hand. "Let me get this straight. You found out you all were gonna be fired, so you drove out to the lookout, then you ran out of gas on the way back and got stuck near the 101 near the woods and got carjacked, then you got rescued, like Captain America, by Jade West. Am I clear on this so far?"

"Uh… essentially, yes," Tori confirmed, grinning. "Only she made it seem like it was nothing… like she sort of happened by, and the guys ran off or something… but I know she had to have done something to them because her hands were all banged up, and I heard at least one of the guys scream."

"Wow," Andre gasped. "Is she… like… into karate or something?"

"I don't know," Tori replied. "But I think she's into something. She's got all these muscles all up and down her arms… like here," she said, patting her shoulders. "And when she walks, she kinda… well, you can tell she doesn't just sit around her office all day."

"Ooh…" Andre chuckled. "So… what was she doing, wandering the streets looking for damsels in distress to save?"

"Shut up," Tori said, playfully slapping his leg. "No… actually, I… um… I called her," she admitted, noting Andre's shock. "No, don't look at me like that, okay? I had this number she told me to use if I had any problems with the goon squad. I figured it was some flunky of hers, so I called it. I thought I could get him to call triple A or something for me."

"But it wasn't?" Andre asked, intrigued.

"No, no, it was her," Tori confessed. "So I hung up, but she called back and asked me what I needed and told me to drop her a pin," she continued, sighing. "I felt like such an idiot telling her I ran out of gas, but…" She shrugged. "Anyways, these guys came at me, and I told her to call the police, and they hit the car, and it got really scary. Then the next thing I knew, they were gone, and she was there," Tori explained, chuckling softly. "Boy, for someone I was hating a half-hour before, I sure was glad to see her."

"So you're fired, though?" Andre asked, concerned. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm not actually…" Tori began, recounting how she and Jade revisited the CEO's office after the incident. "And she went over the numbers again. I pointed out how the life sim you make generates money. And she finally had a brainstorm or something…. And she worked it out so we were okay." Tori looked relieved. "It was pretty amazing… she took a couple of government projects and assigned them to us. Then she told one of her VPs that she had been working on the issue for forty-eight hours straight."

"Geezus," the dreadlocked man snorted. "So you're not fired."

"Nope," Tori agreed.

"And she's not so bad?" he asked.

A smile spread across Tori's face. "No," she shook her head. "She is really not… I mean, she is all business, right? And I think she'd fire someone like most other people would just blow their nose or whatever… but toward the end of the night, she was kind of just okay… and I got the feeling we could actually get along, if we really wanted to."

Andre whistled. "My boss wouldn't believe it. You should hear how he talks about her. You'd think she was the daughter of the devil himself."

Tori looked up as her PC chimed.

"Whoops," she got up and checked the screen. "Mail on Saturday?" But a thrill of anticipation ran up her back as she opened the program, scanning the inbox and letting out a soft breath as she saw the first name on the list. "Well… speaking of Jade West…" She clicked on the message and read it. Then read it again. "Oh my God!"

Andre had stepped up behind her and peered over her shoulder. "What?" he puzzled at the message. "You're hired for what? You don't work at Westrek Playroom."

"Uh… hang on a minute… Let me check something." Tori closed the message and opened a work session, and thumbed through her notes as she requested a logon mainframe. "Okay… I press this, then go here… let me log in…" she typed in her password and accessed her employee files, then stared at the main screen in disbelief. "Holy shit!"

"What?" Andre peered at the screen. "What's an ORGID?" he asked. "It sounds disgusting."

"Organization identification," Tori said absently. "You have one… She did it…" she breathed, her fingertip tracing the change in her department, and location, and… her supervisor… West, J.

"She did what?" The man next to her poked her. "Come on, Tor… spill it… what's going on here?"

"She hired me," Tori mumbled.

"I didn't think you were fired?" came the puzzled response.

"Well… yeah, but she had this… I mean, she hired me to work for her," Tori responded, dazed. "She was looking for an assistant."

"Holy shit!" Andre gasped. "You are going to be Jade West's assistant?" He pounded on Tori's back. "You! You're going to the Playroom! You lucky chica!"

"Ow!" Tori ducked out of the way. "Quit it! I've got scratches from that stupid glass." But she felt exhilarated. "And… yeah, I guess I'm going to work for her. I didn't suspect her to make a decision so fast, but now that I think about it… it doesn't surprise me. Don't think she likes to dawdle around."

Inside, she was jumping up and down. "Wow, I can't believe it!"

"Okay, girl… tonight, we party," Andre decided. "You need to go out and celebrate… because let me tell you, from what I hear? You won't get a chance to breathe once you start working for her." He tugged Tori's sleeve. "Let's go to the Laugh Factory, then have a late dinner at Monty's. I'll get Pete and Reggie and a few other people around here, okay?"

Tori grinned. "Sure… that sounds fun… I can do that," she agreed. "Tomorrow… I wanna go clothes shopping… like I know there isn't a dress code or anything, but, I just want to really blend into the Playroom's culture. I have yet to see the Playroom full of people."

"Oh, come on, Tor… I'm a man."

"But you know office culture," Tori insisted.

"I'll celebrate with you, but I draw the line at girly shopping," Andre stated. "I'll be right back. You stay right here, Ms. High and mighty corporate executive."

Tori rolled her eyes. "Okay, I've got to find out what the rest of this email is anyway, it's after 2:00- you want to meet in front of here at 5:00?"

"You betcha," Andre agreed, then bustled off. "Hey… I'll invite Gary. He really likes you." he wiggled his eyebrows.

Tori was completely distracted and waved a hand at him. "Yeah, whatever. Just tell him not to talk about his job all the time, okay?"

"Tori… he can't help working at the water and sewer plant," the dreadlocked man chided her. "He's very excited about it." Brown eyes peered over the monitor at him. The man laughed. "Okay, okay… I'll tell him."

Tori sat back as the door closed, and reread her mail for the third time. "Man, oh man… I can't believe it." She eyed the phone. "Guess I'd better let the folks in on this." She picked up the receiver and dialed a number, waiting until she heard a voice answer. "Dad."

"Oh… hello, Tori," her father's flat, even tone replied. "I wasn't expecting you until tonight. Is there a problem?"

"No… no… I got some good news… I thought I'd pass it along," Tori answered quietly. "I was promoted."

"That's nice, baby… I thought perhaps you were going to say you'd given up that job and were coming home… what kind of promotion was it?"

"Well, we were bought out. I think I told you that was happening last week."

"Oh? Oh yes… you mentioned it," David Vega recalled. "Your mother was saying she's had dealings with that company."

"Mm… yes, they're pretty big. There was an opening there under the CEO and I applied for it, and they hired me," Tori told him carefully. "I'm… well, I've got to go shopping a bit tomorrow."

A note of concern entered her father's voice. "Why? Did you gain weight again? Don't your regular clothes work? I didn't think there was a dress code. Gaming companies are run by hooligans and misfits."

"Oh… no… I haven't gained any weight," Tori reassured him. "Mom would kill me. In fact, I lost a few pounds the last few days… I just want to fit into corporate culture since I am going to be under the CEO."

"Oh… really?" David sounded impressed. "That sounds like you have to make sure you make a good impression. I'll send you some cash, maybe take yourself to a salon if you need it."

"Um… okay," Tori stated.

"Just don't come home with extra holes and crazy colored hair; we still have to take family pictures."

"Is that Tori?" She heard on the other end. A rustle, then her mother's deep voice rumbled down the line. "Tor?"

"Yes, Mother," Tori answered quietly.

"You ready to come home?" Her mother asked.

"No, I just got a promotion," Tori answered.

"Wow, didn't think that little publishing company you worked for was on its last leg. But this is good news," she said. "Who will you be working for? Did the merger actually go through?"

"Jade West," Tori tasted the name, rolling it around in her mouth with pleasure.

A moment of silence. "Shit…" she muttered. "That's not just a promotion. You literally jumped stratospheres with that move. We have been trying to get the edge in with her and her games." Her mother's voice trailed off. "Well, well. Never mind that. This could be of great value to me. Good work, Tori. Proud of you."

Tori felt a smile edge her lips. "Thank you," she heard her father's voice in the background.

"I'm sending her some cash to treat herself to a salon visit."

"Great idea, Dave," her mother returned. "Get a good haircut, but don't come back with pink hair and piercings, please."

"Sure, Mom," Tori answered.

"I want you to send pictures, all right?" came her mother's demand. "I want to make sure you're giving the right impressions. This could be very valuable to me." a pause "I was going to bring you home. We were thinking of having the wedding in the spring, but this… this could be worth the wait."

"I'll send pictures, I promise."

"Good. Here, talk to your Dad."

"Your mom is so proud of you, baby," her father's voice sounded smug. "I haven't seen her this enthusiastic since that Lauren Bobart got caught at 'Beetle Juice' getting felt up. God, she hates her. She feels her party is going to hell, thanks to women like her." He paused and said. "Have you talked to your sisters lately?"

"No," Tori stated.

"Well, Trina is pregnant again, by the way. Be sure to congratulate her when you talk to her later."

Tori smiled. She loved her niece and was glad that Trina had found her stride as a mother. "That's awesome. I will… Thanks. When did she find out?"

"Last week… but we've suspected for a while now," her father responded, of course. "Richard has such an ugly face. I'm waiting for you and Daniel to give me beautiful grandchildren." A rustle. "Well, Tor. I have to go. You go on and get a salon appointment and have a good time."

"Yeah, Dad," Tori said and sighed as she hung up, staring at her cell in disgust. "Glad that's over." She turned her attention back to her mail and sat down, cracking her knuckles as she started to reply to Jade's message.

Jade,

You move really fast, did anyone ever tell you that? You nearly gave me a heart attack when I checked my status in CAS.

Okay, I got the attachment. I'm kind of lost though. Is there a dress code? Like, what does everyone wear to work? I want to fit into the corporate culture, so can I get some tips on what is appropriate to wear at the office? I guess a trip to the mall is in order, but I'd love it if you'd give me a hint since you are the one that sets the tone.

Well, It's been quite a week—my friends are all taking me out tonight to the Laugh Factory and then Monty's because they tell me I won't have a chance to breathe once I start working for you.

I hope that's true. I'm really excited—I hope I don't disappoint anyone.

Tori

It felt a little strange to be sending such a casual mail to this person, this… she wasn't sure what she thought about Jade West, but she had a feeling she'd know a lot more about her soon enough.