Mina quieted the room down with a loud shush.
"Electra…" she whispered and Ivor and Ashley nodded knowingly.
With her heart pounding, Mina activated her phone. "Andy Sapps?" a voice answered. It was so deep and husky it could belong to a man
"Ummm…" Mina said, nervously shaking her head. "Andy Zapps. Yesh this is Andy Zapps."
Electra didn't apologize, she just mowed forward into what she wanted. "My assistant Erika is taking a bit of an unplanned vacation. Said something about a 104 degree hay fever. I need an assistant to fill her position for the next day or so. You were the fifth girl on my list. Come down now or I'll just get another one. That's all."
Mina's eyes went wide. She had just gotten the least desirable job on the planet. At least for a day or two. But now, her mission impossible had become possible.
Much to her surprise, Ashley and Raven didn't give her more caustic jabs.
In fact, Ashley looked as pleased as a lion in the sun could be. "Great. Undergrad. Seems my brilliant idea paid off. You're needed after all. Not only will you be her assistant, but you'll be mine too. You'll be finding me some evidence in order to take Madame Maxine down."
Mina pulled her down hoodie, revealing a pair of dirty blonde pigtails. "Dunno how I'm gonna explain the hair color change, but k.'"
"I'm sure you'll think of somethin' kid!" Ivor said, giving his former protege two thumbs up. "Now time to get suited up!"
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
***
When the elevator opened on the 99th floor of the Empire Electra Building, Andy Zapps stood clad in her thunderous outfit….and this time, the lightning bolt earrings did tap her shoulder pads.
"You either have to be from the eighties or eighty to wear this outfit," she grumbled.
But soon, she had to turn off her grumping, Maxine Electra was across from her in an equally overly loud-and-proud outfit.
The usually non-plussed Electra seemed to get a negative charge looking at Mina for a second. "Um, honey. Why are you dirty blonde now?"
Mina tried to lower her squeaky and perky voice to sound deep and husky. "Because I'm a DIRTY blonde, baby" she said, with half lidded eyes.
Electra was silent, but a smirk crept across her yellow lipsticked mouth. "So am I dear. So am I."
Immediately, she got right to business. "So, I am heading out for a very important business deal, and I am leaving you in charge of the schedules of all 500 employees on the 99th floor."
Mina switched her phone's recording button. It recorded in her pocket as she talked "Umm…does anyone need a day pass?"
"Day pass?" Electra said, raising a pencilled eyebrow. "Why would anyone need a day pass. Everyone here has a life pass until they drop dead from a fabulous work overload."
Mina giggled. "Umm, okay. Word!"
"Word?" Electra said again skeptically.
"It's what cool people say!" Mina giggled.
Electra paused, but then chuckled. "Thanks for the tip, Hun. I do like to be hip with the kids. That's Saul."
She pointed to the doorman. "He likes to be hip with the kids too."
"Word up, homeys!" Mina said, knowing Blind would cringe at her use of slang.
"And that's all," Electra said, raising her hand theatrically and stomping towards the elevator.
As soon as she was gone and Saul wasn't looking either, Mina snickered to herself. She pressed the off button on her phone's recording program.
It seemed she had made a fool of herself in front of Electra, but in truth, it was Electra who was a fool.
Mina had recorded the password for Maxine's office.
With a bit of splicing, Electra had spoken the password in her very own husky voice. "Pass-word?"
Word.