"Don't zone out now. You just entered the office, and we have a meeting to attend to," My partner stated as she stood by the door.

"Oh, shoot, give me a sec."

I said as I hurriedly stood up from my desk that I was organizing. A week had passed since my first day here at aiAI Industries, and things were going as smoothly as Myla and I's relationship would allow.

"We were told this, in advance, and you still managed to be tardy. I'm amazed that you've lasted here this long."

She said, motioning to the door with an impatient look.

"And I'm amazed that I still haven't quit because of you either."

I said as I opened my phone to make sure I didn't look too bad for the meeting. I faced my dear partner, whose annoyed look was growing familiar to me now with my own bothered expression.

"Look, you can wait outside the meeting room. I'll be out in a bit, just have to make sure I'm ready and that my desk isn't a mess."

"Alright." She answered shortly, as she went outside our office.

I had made myself home in the days that had passed and brought in some of my stuff. My desk was adorned with a single potted plant I promised myself I'd take care of, and the bookshelves were now decorated with novels I plan to read, reread and have no plans of reading and simply brought for the aesthetic.

It feels like home if the home was a super tiny but super expensive room. It's like an apartment in California.

I joked, but it did feel cozier than before. The once empty spaces Alexandre had left behind felt more alive and Myla's more minimalist and refined way of decorating her area complimented the vibe of not only the office but the building as a whole.

Right, the place looks good now, time for the most important part.

I ran one last check on my face through my phone before giving myself the OK and heading out. The common area outside my office had also become familiar as I walked towards the elevator giving a short, cordial greeting to my coworkers. The week had gone by without issue, for the most part. Most of the clients we had to work with were having day-to-day relationship problems. Miscommunication, lack of intimacy, disagreements about the smallest things, you get the gist of it. I had grown more accustomed to resolving these issues and went through them as efficiently as I could. We also had a lot of match-making requests, but they went far smoother when you have no prior experience with the person you're matching, let alone once being married to them. Although, I did have to match my high school teacher the other day. So there's that.

Here I thought him complaining about his marriage during tests was just to kill the tension.

I sighed as I readied myself for my very first meeting. It wasn't much, just a short evaluation of me and my partner's work over the week before we'd head out once more. The blue clouds still scattered across the morning sky as we were asked to come in earlier than usual to attend said meeting revealed themselves through the windows of the elevator. I exited the elevator to the exec's area, which I hadn't been to since last week when I had talked to Alexandre. It seemed he was the one to govern our duties for each day, as Myla would still send him reports throughout our shift. I moved through the empty common area as the execs were to arrive later in the day and made it to the meeting room's hallway, where my partner patiently awaited...That is what I'd like to say.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"We're almost late. It's as if you never get tired of pushing your luck."

"I like living on the edge. It's why I just love being your partner," I said with a sarcastic tone common to our conversations. While my prolonged death from her hands was indeed surprising, I had come to deal with her sharp tongue and lack of communication during meetings with clients.

"Right, let's go," I said as I opened the door for us revealing a small room almost no different from the offices except more open and having two sofas facing each other, with a glass table betwixt them. What was most familiar however was the person on one of the sofas, a young man with short black hair and a brown streak running through it greeted us with a familiar and friendly smile.

"Good morning, Bridger, Myla. Please sit down."

We both gave a quick nod as we sat down on the sofa opposite him.

"So you're handling this too, huh?"

"Yep, I requested to be put in charge of the matters regarding your work in our last meeting."

"Thanks, I appreciate it," I said with as much gratitude in my voice as I could muster and gave my dear partner a quick glance.

"What?" She asked me with a sharp glare.

"Nothing just wanted to think of something I could thank you for too but gave up halfway through."

"I've been having that problem with you for a week now. Care to hear my advice?"

We bantered on as usual but the short chuckle cut our spat short.

"Good to see your fights are still only at the verbal level."

"For now," We said simultaneously, though in different tones. I had said it in a devious and scheming tone which contrasted her more exasperated and annoyed manner of speaking.

My 5-step plan for revenge is almost complete after all, just need some steel wool and an electrical motor.

I thought as Alexandre cleared his throat.

"So, I'm here to give you the overall results of your work this past week, how many clients you were able to service, their written reviews, any complaints, etc." He said with a warm smile.

We both nodded, seeing as we were already informed of this previously. I was confident in our (my) work over the week. We had handled a good amount of clients and by asking around, I found we had a higher than average amount of clients visited and aided than the rest of my fellow surveyors.

Admittedly some of that might've been because my partner over here is so efficient when it comes to setting up the apps or collecting data I may as well have a robot for a coworker when visiting houses. I think I watched an anime like that once.

I attempted to remember said anime but was interrupted by Myla nudging my shoulder.

"Hey, listen, this is when you can try and improve on your lousy performance." She said with her signature stern look.

"We'll be fine; after all, you had me to carry the slack," I said with a conceited tone of voice and gave her a dishonest smile.

"Well, let's see here," Alexandre interjected, waiting for our banter to end as he flipped through a stack of papers.

"It seems that you had no major incidents. You were very punctual and had very few late arrivals and didn't miss a single client."

I turned to my partner with a proud grin, and she replied with a tired sigh.

Hey, c'mon, he even said it.

"You also were able to assist more clients than what I and Myla were capable of before, seeing as you asked for more clients to be put in your shift and were able to accommodate them." He said with his trademark positivity.

"Myla, could it be you've been so hard on me cause you knew I'd be such a good asset for this company?"

I said, trying my best to let a tear run down my eye as I faced her with a "genuine" face of gratitude.

"Yes, yes, if you'd like, I can continue being hard on you."

As I thought of a reply to that, Alexandre's expression darkened slightly.

"Umm, that being said..."

"What is it, man?" I asked, beginning to become concerned as well.

"Customer Satisfaction has dropped by a fair amount." He said with an anxious voice and followed it with an uneasy laugh. I sat there with a defeated posture, and my partner let out a short, yet familiar sigh.

"Look on the bright side. Now I can be harder on you to shape you into an even better asset."

"Alright, I get it. I'll shut up."