Yasmine was sitting at her desk and going through her computer. Marla was standing behind her and directing her on how and what she needed to click and how to process forms. It was all pretty standard stuff, and Yasmine caught on very quickly. Her typing speed had always been one of the highest in the classes she took so pushing up her glasses, her fingers moved at high speed. Just as practice, she was given a few forms to transcribe into the system.
“Now, just click the upload button, and that will be that. Woowee girl, you are takin’ ta’ this like a frog to a lily-pad.” Marla praised, giving Yasmine’s shoulder a good squeeze. Smiling at the praise, she flipped to the next page of the documents on her desk and started to fill out the next batch of data.
When the door to their office opened up, they both turned to see who it was.
“Hey there, Marla, could ya-” Poking his head inside was a rather ruggedly handsome man with bright blonde hair that was trimmed short and neat with bluish-green eyes. His square jaw was clean shaven aside from a small patch of neatly manicured hair on the tip of his slightly dimpled chin. Yasmine couldn’t see the rest of him hidden behind the door, but she could already tell the man was at least six foot.
“I'm sorry. I didn’t know you had company. Is that the new hire?” he said with a smile.
“Sure is! Ethan, come in and introduce yourself. I know she’s cute and all, but don’t be shy, haha.” Marla said with a laugh, patting Yasmin’s shoulder.
“M-Marla, please.” She protested, feeling her face flush as she lowered her head but kept her eyes on the man. Ethan chuckled a little at Marla’s words and nodded, coming in. He was wearing a dark blue suit with white pinstripes going vertical, making him look slimmer than he was. He had a dark blue tie on as well that had diagonally running stripes. When she made direct eye contact him, she felt her face get even warmer.
“It's nice to meet you. I'm so glad to have you on the team. Marla has been struggling for so long, so I'm grateful that you accepted the job. I’m Ethan Sinclair. I work for the finance department, and my office is just two down to the right. If you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask,” he said, holding his hand out to her. Yasmine just stared up at the man in stunned silence. His smile never fading, even as she froze. Eventually, Marla nudged the small girl with a wicked grin. Yasmine quickly snapped out of her trance and took the man’s much larger hand, shaking it as best she could.
“Y-Yasmine Roberts, I’m glad to be here. I will try to remember that…Wait, did you say Sinclair? like…” Yasmine looked over at Marla in surprise and she giggled a bit.
“That's right, Ethan, here is my son.” She said with a wicked smile. Really she was more surprised that Marla was old enough to have a son Ethan’s age. She wouldn’t have tagged her for much older than thirty five. And he looked at least in his late twenties. “He’s also single,” Marla said, leaning down and whispering into Yasmine’s ear, making her blush profusely. Ethan’s eyes narrowed at his mother.
“Mom, don’t be filling the new girl’s head with your twisted ideas.”
“Whaaaaat, It’s a mother’s duty to make sure her son is taken care of.” Ethan just sighed and rolled his eyes, letting go of Yasmine’s hand.
“Anyway, I am sure I will be seeing you before the end of the day to get your payroll and direct deposit all set up. But back to the main reason I came in here. Mom- I mean Marla, I need your help with one of these forms you submitted to me. Can you come look at this for me?”
“Of course, sweetie."
"Marla..." Ethan warned only to get an eye roll from his mother.
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"Of course, Mr. Sinclair." Marla teased, getting a sigh out of him. She then turned to Yasmine with a smile.
"Yasmine dear, I’ll be right back. Just keep on keepin’ on. I trust ya.” Yasmine nodded, but her eyes seemed to be completely glued to Ethan. She felt this strange pull towards him. She figured it was just because he was so attractive. But as the two left, Ethan gave her one last look, smiling. When the door closed, it was like she snapped out of a trance, blinking several times.
“What was that all about?” She rubbed her eyes a bit, trying to figure out just what the heck had just happened. With a shake of her head, she got back to work. She couldn’t start slacking just because Marla was out of the room and she was having a manic episode. So, she continued to work as hard as she could to try and impress her overly friendly boss.
Once Marla came back, they continued to run Yasmine through all the systems and her duties there. By the time they were done and got her set up in their system, it was already time for lunch.
“I can’t believe how fast things are going already. Once all those nasty file cabinets are gone, I’m gonna hang up posters, get some nice plants, and maybe a small sitting area for guests!” Marla seemed more excited just to decorate than to get the work all done. It made Yasmine smile and giggle a little. Why anyone would want to come in and sit in their office, she had no idea.
“Well, I will do my best to get this cut down as quick as I can, Mrs. Sinclair.” Marla’s head snapped over to Yasmine.
“Oh sweetheart, please, just Marla. That makes me sound like an old lady.” She said with a sweet smile that Yasmine returned, happy to keep it more personal. “Why don’t you go get lunch, then go see Ethan and get your payroll all finalized.”
“I’m okay, I can keep working-”
“Oh no you don’t, missy. It’s your first day, and you already had a bit of an incident in the morning. You need to rest and recuperate. Go get herself some fuel for that luscious lovely body, darlin’,” Marla said with a wink, turning Yasmine’s seat and pulling her up, grabbing her purse for her, then pushing her out of the office. “Go on, you earned a rest, and don’t forget to stop by Ethan’s office.”
“Okay, Okay!” Yasmine said, laughing softly as she was forced out of the room. She couldn’t get over how sweet and caring Marla was. So she did as she was told and was about to head out when she looked around and saw that the formally empty second floor was now full of people working on different things. She blinked a few times, looking around. It was so much different from earlier. She wasn’t sure it was the same place. But even though there were many more people, she still saw many desks that looked like they hadn't been used in a while.
As Yasmine headed for the stairs, she got a few looks from the people working there. They had obviously never seen her there before, so it was understandable. Giving the Elevator a dirty look as she passed by it, she proceeded down the stairs. Walking by the counter again, she looked around tentatively, wondering if Roger was there, but instead, she was faced with a young woman with long black hair, sharp green eyes, and a septum piercing ring. Her dark mascara was thick, and the dark red eye shadow completed the whole gothic look. Yasmine no longer felt like she stuck out as much. Especially compared to this girl.
The goth girl was too busy scrolling through her phone and chewing on some gum to pay any attention. So Yasmine kept walking and headed out of the city hall building. The parking lot was now half full, and people were walking past carrying plastic bags with food and drinks. They wished her a good afternoon as they passed, and she did her best to return the favor. It would take a bit to get used to everyone being so friendly, but it was a good problem to have.
Yasmine decided to get a chicken salad from one of the local fast food places for now, saving being adventurous for when she was more settled in. She drove back to city hall, ate her lunch in her car, and listened to some music on her phone. Today felt really good so far. Plus, for some reason or another, the quality of her simple, fast food, was way better than it should.
"What are they putting in the food around here to make it so amazing." She gushed scraping up every last morsel of her meal. Once she was done, she threw her trash in garbage by the entrance of the building before walking in. With a smile, she took a deep breath and went over what she had to do next.
“I just need to go see Ethan-” When she said his name she felt a strange pit in her stomach. When she first met him earlier, she felt almost entranced by how handsome he was. But now there was this feeling of dread about seeing him again, like something just wasn’t right. Each step towards his office felt harder than then last. By the time she was at the door to the finance department, she was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Something was very wrong.