Realistic or Modern Promoting Reluctance

[Phoeniana]

Jaxonfolded his arms across his chest as if it were going to make the machine work faster. The coffee maker in question gurgled and bubbled while brew, boiling water, and coffe grounds danced themselves around. The entire purpose of him buying a fancy machine like that was supposed to be for quick, great quality coffee. Instead, he stood there, tapping one foot and glaring at the empty glass pitcher with annoyed eyes.

"Sir, I can have one of the interns grab y--"

"No," he replied icily, shutting the mouth of the tiny, busty woman dressed in hot pink. "I'm fine with waiting." Miss Nicole nodded and scuttled away as fast as those unnaturally high heels could take her, leaving him and the machine alone. Silence gathered in the cozy little office room. There wasn't much in there save for the normal things any break room setting required: a fridge, stand, table, chairs, ugly decor, dated magazines, and a set of lockers. His bored, ice-blue gaze traveled over the room with a disinterested frown. This was possibly the what, third time he'd be in here and all his funding had to show was some bland decorations and a mediocre coffee maker.

"Christ," he sighed to no one, running a full hand over his face. His new promoter was going to be there in less than 40 minutes and if he hadn't jumped off the nearest cliff by then, Jaxon was going to have the absolute worst work day of his life.

 

[RandiBauer1]

Kiera walks into the break room and asks “Mr. Lauris do you need help with anything? Can I help you with anything?” She looks at him with her blue eyes and puts a strand of her hair behind her ear. She puts her hands behind her as she stands there in her work outfit and heels.

 

[Phoeniana]

"The only thing I need help with is something you can't control." He was surprised he said that bit aloud, but it was too late for him to take back. As if on cue, the machine sputtered and coughed before a steady stream of coffee poured forth, draining into a single Styrofoam cup. Finally satisfied, Jaxon turned away from the maker, arms still folded across his chest. "What are you even doing here? I thought I told you to make sure the Mytsu's files were in correct, chronological order before I proceeded with my speech. The chairmen will be here in less than a half an hour, and if I don't have those papers propped on my desk, you can kiss your career goodbye."

Unfortunately, that was always the way he was. Cold, precise, and directly to the point. Thankfully, he hired the one woman in the entire city of Greenville that didn't give two hoots about what he ordered from her, making her his finest worker. Apart from the threat, Jaxon plucked the cup from the machine, placing the brim against his lips while leaning back against the counter top. He didn't have all the time in the world to to socialize, but you wouldn't be able to tell by his poise alone.

"When do you get off today, Santini?"

 

[RandiBauer1]

Kiera smiles and says “they are correct by chronological order and on your desk waiting for you.” She looks at him and says “I get off at 4 o’clock sir. Why do you ask?” She moves her hands from behind her back to the front of her.

 

[Phoeniana]

“No reason,” he lied. “I’m just trying to make sure everything is in order. The meeting itself shouldn’t take that long. Depending on how it goes, I will allow you to take the rest of the day for yourself. If it goes poorly, however, be prepared to put in overtime.” Jaxon tipped the cup to his lips and immediately regretted his decision.

“SHIT!” The coffee was still boiling hot! Not only that, but it was black and absolutely flavorless. Jaxon vehemently hacked up what little of the beverage he managed to take in, face sweating and discolored. “Remind...” he paused to cough and take several breaths.

“Remind me to never make coffee again and to hire someone who can. Make that your first task on your weekly schedule.” Another cough. “Actually, make it your daily schedule.”

 

[RandiBauer1]

Kiera keeps looking at him and says “ok. Of course sir.” She smiles and walks over to the counter to grab a napkin. She keeps smiling and hands him the napkin. After handing him the napkin, she walks out of the break room and back to her desk near his office.

She pulls out the chair from her desk and holds the back of her skirt as she sits down so it doesn't ride up. She unlocks her computer and looks at her email as she tries to keep herself. She types a reminder into her computer to let her know to look for someone make coffee for Mr. Lauris to hire.

 

[Phoeniana]

Jaxon eyed her over the napkin she handed to him, dabbing gently at his still burning lips. She was smiling. He squinted. She's always smiling. It wasn't the wildest thing to do, but it was strange. He by no way, shape, or form made his offices a pleasant place to work. It wasn't one of those jobs where people came in absolutely ecstatic to see one of their coworkers and just shoot the gun together. No, nothing like that. All it was was a job. A place of employment. Come in, get to work, leave, get paid, come back. The same old cycle for every person in that building. Yet Kiera alone was the only one he'd seen keep a steady smile on throughout the day. A wrinkle formed on his nose. Whatever happy pill she was taking he could also benefit from.

Without another word, off she walked towards the direction of her tiny little space near his office. He let only half a minute pass before following after, seeing as though they were both near each other. A peak at the sleek watch on his wrists spelled that he only had a 27 more minutes until he had to be up the stairs to the Higher Offices and speak about his plan to the Mytsu's. Sweat gathered on his palm, though he discreetly wiped it on his leg. There weren't many times he was nervous, but today was just as good an opportunity as any.

Walking passed his secretary's office, Jaxon gave two soft raps on the glass door, jutting a head towards his own oak one. "When you're done, see me in my office." With that, he disappeared back into his lair.

 

[RandiBauer1]

Kiera nods and says "yes sir." She keeps looking at her computer and says to herself "I wonder which one would be perfect for the job." She taps her chin with her finger and smiles. She lays her fingers on the keyboard and starts typing.

After typing for a good 10 minutes, she locks her computer and slides her chair back. She gets up and smooths down her top then her skirt. She walks up to the glass door and knocks. She keeps smiling and waits.

 

[Phoeniana]

“Come in,” he ordered, waiting for her to open the door and close it right behind him. That was one of his biggest pet peeves. His offices constantly remained closed. Jaxon valued his privacy more than anything. Barely glancing up from the storm of papers strewn around his desk, Jaxon pointed to an empty chair with a silent order.

“A couple of weeks ago, I had you create paper work on what a company needs in order to excel. I hadn’t looked at it, being the busy man that I am, but did have it sent out to the Mytsu’s for viewing. They saw it andabsolutely loved it.” A brief pause. “However, this meeting I have today is solely for the discussion of the dossier you’ve written. The same one I have never read nor seen.”

Jaxon let the silence between them brew for a bit, his azure eyes locked onto her face. And a good job he was doing, because that skirt was definitely an eye-averted.

Safely allowing another half minute of silence between them, he lifted a single brow. “You do see what I’m getting at, correct?”

 

[RandiBauer1]

Kiera looks back at him with her blue eyes and asks “do you want me to print the dossier for the meeting sir? If so, I can print it.” She crosses her legs at the ankle as she sits in front of him and places her hands in her lap.

She keeps smiling and asks “or do you want me to come with you to the meeting?”

 

[Phoeniana]

His fingers momentarily stopped shifting over the papers at her first sentence. Discreetly, he sneaked a quick glance. She didn’t look any different than usual: normal, calm, smiling still. On the other hand, she just had to know that he didn’t mean for her to print another one. Damn me for having such a stupid way with words. Jaxon sighed, trying his best to keep the soft tinges of weakness off of his face.

Before he went on to correct her, she spoke again, hitting the hammer a little bit closer to the nail that time. It was hard to tell her that he needed her there at the meeting. If only he hadn't been so lazy and did the reading himself, he would have been able to do it all alone. Jaxon frowned, still remembering putting off glancing over her work for small things like a trip to the bakery or just some "me time"; a fancy way of saying "nap". Regardless, if the Mytsu's were going to be impressed, he was going to need the creator of the paper. He looked at her for a long moment, running a finger over his bottom lip in silent contemplation. All she did, of course, was continue to smile. He sighed finally, curling his hands together and resting his chin there.

"Yes." A short pause. "I know how to start a meeting, how to get everyone comfortable, and how to hype up this company, Lazurus. What I cannot do is pretend that I know everything about what I'm discussing." His head slid a bit to the side. "That's where you come in. I will introduce as not only my secretary, but my right hand in what we're proposing to the Mytsu's. I understand that you do not have much skills in managerial public speaking, but I do have confidence that you can do this. If you do this successfully, I will award you generously. Is that understood, Miss Santini?

 

[RandiBauer1]

Kiera nods and says “yes sir.” She looks at him and asks “what if I’m nervous? What should I do?” She keeps her hands in her lap as she keeps looking at him and smiles.

She moves her hands and crosses her legs at the ankle again.

 

[Phoeniana]

"Then you're just going to have to suck it up, now won't you?" He winced directly after, closing his eyes as if he could will the words back into his mouth so he could swallow them down. There I go again with my damn words. Why am I like this? It was a question he asked himself constantly on a day to day basis he had yet come up with an answer. Jaxon let out a slow exhale, exiting from his station behind his table and taking small steps towards her.

"There is no need to be nervous. You were the one who wrote the paper in the first place. If anything, the speech should come to you naturally. Besides, this will give you a chance to step outside of your comfort zone. Not many of us have heard you talk very much, save for the conversations on the phone. I'm sure this will be a great opportunity to Lazurus, but to you as well." He was now standing in front of her, both hands snug inside of the lip of his very expensive black slacks, his gaze fastened on to hers.

"And I will be there the entire time. I need this deal to go through. I won't see it messed up."

 

[RandiBauer1]

Kiera looks at him and says “I will make sure this deal goes through sir. You can count on me.” She smiles at him and puts her hands on her lap. She keeps smiling and asks “what if I show them the dossier as I’m talking about it?”

She looks at him with her blue eyes and absent-mindedly smooths down the front of her blouse. She places her hands on her lap after making sure there’s no wrinkles in her blouse.

 

[Phoeniana]

"No need," he responded, removing his hand from the lip of his pocket. "I'm sure those fools have went over that dossier a million times. If you show it to them, they're just going to think you're reading from it, which was the first thing I had in mind." Jaxon shook his head, walking away from her to the far, double-paned window behind his chair. "Everything in the dossier came out of your head and your head alone. All you need to do is to talk about it. Be passionate about it."

Kiera sat in front of his desk like a porcelain doll, perfect hands smoothing out her perfect blouse. A pair of perfect legs folded within a perfect sculptured skirt. Jaxon let his gaze wander for a moment, starting with the top of her head to the pointed heels of her feet. She certainly looked the part. The Mytsu's would never guess that she was his secretary. Maybe apart from her doing every little thing he said. A part of him wanted to introduce her solely as his right-hand woman. He knew how big companies worked. The beamed at authority and scowled at the lowly office people on the first floor. Hell, if they knew that a mere secretary came up with the business idea...

"Partner." The word came out before the thought formulated. He blinked his azure eyes twice, sliding his gaze from mid air to the woman in front of him. "I will introduce you as my partner. My office partner. That should earn you some merit and make the speech easier on you. Don't you think?"

 

[RandiBauer1]

Kiera nods and says “yes sir. It will make the speech easier.” She smiles and keeps looking at him. She keeps her hands on her lap and asks “how long do we have until the meeting?”

She uncrosses her legs but doesn’t move her hands.