"No, Mrs. Winkle, it's just...I...um-"
"She was going to ask me for help, and that's when it slipped her mind," Slinky interrupted to save the day once more. She stood up and put her hands on her hip. Sam couldn't help but imagine a cap billowing out behind her and the letter S on her shirt. "We've been so busy helping the board members and running errands we've hardly had time to breath." Her eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers. She reached into her pocket and produced Mrs. Winkle's keys. "See? I've even forgot to give you back these from my dad. He says he's done with them."
Without so much as a thank you Winkle angrily snatched the chain from Slinky's hand. The action was so quick one of the keys sliced a neat line down Slinky's index finger and another caught her on the thumb. "Damn it!" she exclaimed as she clutched at her injured hand. She scowled at her supervisor, who showed no remorse for what she'd done. "What the hell did you do that for?"
"It wasn't intentional," her supervisor shot back. She looked irritated that the other woman would be mad at her for an accident. "There's very little harm done, anyway."
"There wouldn't have been any if you'd been more careful," Slinky countered.
"Perhaps if you would perform your duties in a more professional manner." By this time both their voices had raised so that they had the attention of the entire floor. People peeked above their cubicles and out of the break room to see what was going on. "Now get back to work before I call one of the board to deal with this."
"You seem to need one of us already," quipped a voice in one of the nearby cubicles. Mr. Slink stepped out and the employee he was instructing peeked their head out. He glanced between the three as he assessed their faces. "If you'd all like to follow me to my office, there's a few questions I'd like to ask all of you."
"Very well, Mr. Slink," Mrs. Winkle respectfully replied with a short bow of her head.
The other two nodded and they all followed him into his office. He didn't instruct any of them to sit, so they all remained standing as he took his place behind his desk. "I am very well aware of the animosity between yourself and my daughter, Mrs. Winkle," he first made clear. No one was surprised by his announcement except the lady herself. Perhaps she assumed she had hidden her disgust. "But I must ask why Ms. Olsen here, very new to our part of the company, would be so disagreeable to yourself."
"May I speak plainly without repercussions, sir?" Mrs. Winkle requested.
"You may."
"I think it highly irregular how she obtained her current position." She glanced at the said woman with more than a hint of suspicion. "She has had no training nor even a hint of experience with the tasks she's given. She neglects her duties, is frequently nearly late for work, and I believe takes liberties with her breaks."
"Is that all?" Mr. Slink asked.
"I believe that's enough to make her unfit for her position."
"I would say something in Miss Olsen's defense, but I'm afraid I haven't been watching her too closely," he bluntly admitted. "But I have it on good authority that she was chosen expressly by Mr. Davies."
If a leprechaun had dropped through the ceiling with his pot of gold, Mrs. Winkle could not have been more surprised. Sam and Slinky, for their part, were nearly equally stunned by the news. "I-I beg your pardon, sir?"
"Mr. Davis expressly wished for her to obtain the position." He smiled kindly at the young woman in question. "I believe he means to make her his personal secretary before long. You know Mr. Smith doesn't intend to stay with him forever."
"But he knows nothing about this...this girl!" she objected, but Mr. Slink held up his hand for silence.
"If you wish to discuss Mr. Davies' decision, you'll have to go to to him," he protested. He stared directly at each of them. "As for the argument I just witnessed out there in the hall, I'll have to ask you all to be more professional in future conversations."
Winkle straightened, but everyone could see her shoulders shook with anger. "Will that be all, sir?" Mrs. Winkle asked.
"All that I can think of for the moment. You may go back to work, except Miss Olsen. I'd like you to stay for a moment."
"Yes, sir." Slinky gave her an encouraging smile while her nemesis scowled as they both left the room. As soon as the door shut behind them, she couldn't contain her curiosity. "What was it you wanted, Mr. Slink?"
"I may as well warn you that Mrs. Winkle isn't going to be happy with this new piece of information. Thinking about it, I probably would have done well to not bring it up."
"I don't understand. Didn't she know who got me hired for the position?"
"Usually she would, but this time a special case was made." He stood up and moved over to glance out the large windows behind his chair. "Mrs. Winkle had a falling out with the last girl in your position, so the board decided to leave her out of the hiring process this time. She wasn't too pleased."
"But why would she care that Mr. Davies hired me?" She wanted to ask why he had hired her at all, but as Mrs. Winkle had found out Mr. Slink didn't or couldn't tell her the answer. There was a cough from him and he straightened up.
"I'm afraid Mrs. Winkle has certain, well, ideas about Mr. Davies." He looked over his shoulder and gave her a wink. "If you know what I mean." She knew his meaning. However, she was still dumbfounded by Mr. Slink's pronouncement of her alleged future position as personal secretary to Davies.
"But I don't see Mr. Davies very often. How am I supposed to become his new secretary?" It was a partial lie. She didn't see him very often, but she did see him.
"The position you now possess is generally regarded as one step away from becoming the vice president's personal secretary."
"And the next step?"
"That would be Mrs. Winkle's position, so you see you're her closest competition. She probably feels pretty threatened by you, especially with how you were picked for the job."
"This is really confusing to me," Sam admitted as she shook her head. "So Mr. Davies hired me for a position that's just one step beneath Mrs Winkle, who wants to become his private secretary?"
"That's the gist of it," Mr. Slink admitted. He turned and sat back down in his chair. He had a somber look on his face. "If you want to know anything else, I'm afraid you'll have to ask Mr. Davies himself. As for me, I'll give you a piece of advice and try to steer clear of Mrs. Winkle. She's been here long enough to know a lot about how we operate, so she's practically indispensable to the rest of the board."
"And you, sir?"
"I'd give her the boot pretty fast, but I'm not the only board member." He was smiling at her, but she could hear the warning in his tone of voice. "Now I think I've monopolized your time enough, and it's just about time for you to get off, isn't it?"
Sam looked at her watch and saw that she only had a few minutes left of work.
"So you're right," she agreed. She kindly smiled at him. "And thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to watch my back."
"Good luck, Miss Olsen."
With that the interview ended and Sam returned to her cubicle. Mrs. Winkle was nowhere in sight, but Slinky eagerly awaited her arrival.
"How'd things go?" she asked before Sam could even sit back down in her chair.
"Pretty good." She didn't feel safe in divulging any details when their nemesis could be in any cubicle nearby. Her friend got the hint pretty fast.
"You wanna have dinner tonight?" Slinky's question was innocent enough, but she was silently pleading with her hands for her companion to accept. "My treat."
"Sure, where were you thinking of going?" Sam had a hard time not laughing at Slinky's puppy dog eyes. This was good news for her, though. She'd have a chaperon when leaving the building, so Davies would be less likely to make his appearance.
"Oh, just this little restaurant I know about. Pretty small and secluded." Slinky gave her a wink, and her friend rolled her eyes. "I guess we'd better go now, it's time for us to leave anyway."
Slinky was right as the clock struck five o'clock and everyone began evacuating
like there it was a scheduled fire drill. Even the board members, Slinky's father included, joined in the rush to leave. Both Slinky and Sam had some last minute things to finish up before they felt easy leaving, namely finished up the item ordering in the supply closet, so they were the only ones left when they were finished ten minutes after time. The two friends put on their coats and followed the herd as they meandered their way to the elevator. Before they could reach the door, however, they were met with an unexpected interruption at the elevator door.
"You two." The ladies assumed they were being addressed and turned around to see Mrs. Winkle standing behind them. She had a nasty scowl on her face and her arms were folded across her chest. "Don't think you'll get off as easily with me as with your father."
"Mrs. Winkle, with very little respect, it's kind of past time to be listening to you," Slinky pointed out. "I don't think we need to listen to you."
"You're still in the office, Ms. Slink," their supervisor shot back. "I expect you to treat me with the respect my position deserves."
"That's the only respect you're going to get, because we sure as hell can't respect you as a person," she countered. That remark really riled up their adversary.
"W-why I never!" Winkle stuttered out. Her arms dropped to her sides and her hands balled into fists. In all her rage she looked about ready to attack them.
"I appreciate your dedication, ladies, but it is past time to leave."
They all started and jerked their heads toward the sound of the voice. Slinky was confused, Mrs. Winkle's mouth dropped open and Sam blushed when they saw Mr. Davies standing a few yards off. Behind him stood Mr. Smith. There was a smile on both their faces, but she thought she saw Davies' eyes dart to their supervisor for a moment as he calculated her anger.
"M-Mr. Davies!" Winkle exclaimed. The name caused Slinky to stiffen at Sam's side. She hadn't recognized their vice-president. Apparently he was modest enough not to plaster his face everywhere throughout the offices. At least, Sam had never noticed his picture anywhere. "What in the world are you doing here?"
"I would rather not be here at this time, but you three seem to be monopolizing the elevators," he teased.
"But your other elevator? Is it out of service?" She was very confused. Sam wasn't surprised to see him from their previous tryst, but she remembered Slinky telling her about private routes for those on the twentieth floor.
"Occasionally I prefer to ride on these. It gives me a change of pace." Sam's blush deepened as his eyes glanced over her. It had given them both a bit of exercise the last time, too. "Why don't we all go down together? I'm sure there's enough room." As if on cue the elevator reached their floor and the doors opened.
"Not with her ego..." Slinky muttered only loud enough for Sam to hear. She'd gotten over her initial shock and refocused her attention on the enemy. She also didn't like the idea of fitting into the elevator, so small a space, with a woman who had just threatened them.
Davies noticed the hated looks being thrown between the two women, and how neither were moving into the elevator. He gave a wink to Sam, the only one of them who seemed to be paying attention to him, and smirked. "Well, if you won't join me, then mind if I take this ride?" He slipped behind Sam and her friend, and into the elevator. Mr. Smith was always just right behind him. "Unless of course you all would join me." He wasn't holding the door open and they began to close.
"Hey, that's our ride!" Slinky argued. She grabbed Sam's wrist and pulled them both into the elevator. Unfortunately, Mrs. Winkle wasn't going to miss this chance at rubbing elbows, almost literally, with the boss, and slipped in before the doors shut.
"Now that we're all comfortable, is everyone going to the car lot?" Davies asked as his finger hovered over the button panel.
"Me and Sam are," Slinky chimed in. She really wanted to say Mrs. Winkle was going lower, a lot lower, but it was too cramped in the elevator to start a brawl. There would be innocent casualties.
"As am I," Mrs. Winkle stately replied.
"Well, away we go, then." He pressed the button and down went the elevator.
Sam was glad that Slinky had placed her between her friend and Mrs. Winkle, otherwise she would have been uncomfortably close to Mr. Davies. She was tense because she expected the scent of his perfume to reach her nose any minute, but after a few moments there was nothing. No distinct smell, no arousal, no orgy of unbridled sex in the elevator. She couldn't even smell normal cologne from the distance between them. There was only an awkward silence as the elevator slowly passed each floor. Mrs. Winkle on her left stood stiff and stared straight ahead. Slinky was eying everyone with a dangerous twinkle. Mr. Davies smiled at each of the crew without paying untoward attention to Sam, and Smith was as stiffly formal as Winkle.
"So Mr. Davies, what do you and your secretary actually do up there on the twentieth floor?" Slinky suddenly questioned. Sam's mouth dropped open and Mrs. Winkle's jaw hit the floor as they stared in horror at their female companion. Slinky noticed the horrified stares. "What? It's a valid question."
Mr. Davies' laugh broke the ice and they all turned to look at him. "You're quite bold, Ms. Slink," he complimented, surprising all three of the ladies.
"Wait a second. How'd you know my name?" Slinky questioned as she glanced down at herself. "I'm not wearing a name tag anywhere, am I?" then she paused and looked up at Davies with narrowed eyes. "Or are you watching through some hidden camera system or something?"
"As much as you'd like to believe I'm a troll stalking the top floor-"
"Oh, never that, Mr. Davies!" Mrs. Winkle protested.
"I'm glad to agree with you, Mrs. Winkle," he gently replied. But I do make it a habit to recognize as many of my immediate employees by sight as I can manage. Just don't ask me to name any of them who work at one of our foreign facilities."
"So back to my question, Mr. Davies. What do you do up there?" Slinky wouldn't be deterred from her first question.
"If you must know, I sign papers I haven't read until my hand cramps, and I eat overpriced caviar until my stomach bursts." Sam couldn't help but smile and Mrs. Winkle politely let out a false laugh. Any laugh sounded false coming from her thin, pale lips. Slinky scowled at his playful tone, but she didn't have time to reprimand him before they reached their stop. The elevator doors opened to the underground parking lot. "If you ladies will excuse us, I have a dinner appointment where I need to pander to some clients." He tipped his head to them all and exited the elevator with Smith on his heals.
"He's pretty wily, even for a vice-president," Slinky remarked as they watched the gentlemen disappear amongst the cars. She held open the doors with her hand and nodded door the parked vehicles. "Come on, Sam, all the respectable company's left." She shot a glare at Winkle which didn't go unnoticed.
"You'd better be speaking of yourself," their supervisor returned the insult. She pushed passed Sam before Slinky could think of another insult and was soon out of sight.
"God, I hate her," she grumbled as Sam stepped out. The elevator doors were allowed to shut and they were left alone in the parking lot. "So you wanna drive or we walk?"
"How far is it?"
"A couple of blocks. The neighborhoods aren't really that rough, but it is kind of a long walk."
"I'll drive then." Sam pulled out her car keys and jingled them in the air. "It's the least I can do for the free food."
"Don't thank me yet, you haven't tried the food."
They both laughed as they walked to Sam's car. The trip was uneventful and they were soon seated at a small but comfortable corner table in a small but comfortable restaurant. The atmosphere was quaint and the food was worth the price. As soon as the waiter had left with their orders, however, Slinky got down to her questions.
"So what'd you and my dad talk about, anyway?" Her curiosity was nearly killing her with the long wait.
"Oh, just some juicy gossip," Sam teased. Her friend pouted and she swore she heard a whimper. She sighed and leaned in close. "You
promise not to tell anyone in the office?"
"Cross my heart," Slinky promised as she crossed a finger over the right side of her chest.
"That's the wrong side."
"Oh, sorry." She crossed the correct side.
"And you won't tell your dad I told you this?"
"Is it that bad?" Slinky asked in some surprise.
"Just promise."
"All right, I promise." She made sure to cross the correct side of her chest. "Now are you gonna tell me or do I have to beg some more?"
"He said my job was kind of like a training position for Winkle's job." Slinky gave her a blank look, and she sighed. "It means if Winkle is ever fired, I get her job." Her friend's mouth dropped open.
"Are you serious?" she asked after a short pause.
"That's what he said. Have you ever heard who's supposed to take her place when she retires?"
"Retires?" Slinky snorted here. "We all just suppose she's gonna die on the job and we'll have to bury her in the supply room."
"There's gotta be some sort of system for promotion," Sam persisted.
"Come to think of it, the person you replaced was someone who'd been there for a while," Slinky mused as she leaned back in thought. "Before I came, anyway, and I've been there for almost five years."
"Five whole years, hunh?" her friend teased.
Slinky faked a hurt expression. "Hey, it's been a long five years." A sudden thought struck her. "We never did find out exactly what, or who, she'd done, too. She went into Mr. Richards office, you know, the board man, and when she came out she looked kind of dazed. I tried to get out what had happened, but she never really did like me so she kept her mouth shut. I can't think of a reason why." Here Slinky gave a comical face and her companion rolled her eyes. "Anyway, five o'clock came around, everyone left, and when we came back the next day all her stuff was gone and Mrs. Witch said she'd been fired for misconduct."
"And that's it?" Sam inquired. There just seemed to be so much information missing. "No warning? No other explanation?"
"Nope. I tried looking around for some more juicy gossip, but all my usual wells were dry." Slinky paused for a moment as their drinks were brought, but then quickly continued. "There was some rumor running around that she'd fooled with one of the guys on the board, but I could never even get a name or how long it'd been going on."