Slowly. Slowly. Steady. Almost there. Just one. More. centimeter….
“Summers!!”
Damn it. One flinch and it was all over.
“Summers!!”
“Will you stop yelling my name?” Buffy screamed back, throwing away her ruined work for the umpteenth time.
“I expect to be answered when I call somebody’s name.” Forrest said from across the room.
“I was working on something that required my complete focus, something that I’ve ruined because of you. Maybe if you actually worked, you’d grasp my meaning.” Buffy turned her back on him and began scribbling notes.
Forrest sneered at her back. “Walsh wants to see you, now.”
“What is it with the people here? Not everyone runs on her schedule. I need to finish my work.” She continued to write in her notes. Feeling he was still standing there and knowing he wasn’t going to leave, she sighed and threw down her pen.
Standing and smoothing out her lab coat, she turned and breezed past him. Forrest quickly fell into step behind her. “You do realize you don’t work for the military? People have first names, not everyone appreciates being talked to like that.”
“I do what I’m told.” Forrest said with a shrug.
“Look, what do you have against me? I don’t understand.” She said coming to a halt in the middle of the long white hall.
Rolling his eyes, Forrest just continued walking until he was in front of the right office door. When she didn’t move, he pointed at the door. “She’s waiting.”
“I give up.” Buffy walked slowly to where Forrest stood. “Do you know what she wants?”
Forrest didn’t answer.
“Well that’s great. Thanks for the awesome conversation. You can stop fussing over me and leave now.” Buffy turned and looked at the dark wooden door. It looked ominous against the bright walls that surrounded it. Slowly, she brought her hand up and knocked on the door. She heard a muffled “Come in”. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
“Ms. Summers, please, have a seat?” Ms. Walsh said without looking up from the paperwork she was filling out.
Buffy moved to sit across from the stern woman behind the desk. She sat there for what seemed like an eternity. She couldn’t help the sighs that escaped from her lips or the eye rolls she gave the top of Walsh’s head. ‘Was it really necessary for me to be here right now?’ she thought.
Finally, Walsh put down her pen and reached for a file sitting at the corner of her desk.
“Ms. Summers, I’d like for you to look over this.”
Walsh said tossing the file in Buffy’s direction.
Buffy took the file and scanned the contents. “Ms. Walsh, I don’t understand. Why are you giving me this?”
“Summers, that is a request that was sent to me from a colleague from our sister company, Cobate, based in the UK. They are in need of a research associate to assist in a field project.”
Buffy still looked confused. “And you’re telling me about this because…”
“I have decided to recommend you for the position. In that file I have included the letter of recommendation that I sent to Mr. Giles, the supervisor of the project.”
“But I’m in the middle of a project here. I don’t get why, out of all of the other researchers on staff, you chose me.” Buffy said throwing the file onto the desk.
“Ms. Summers, I believe that you have come to a dead end on the project that you’re currently working on. “
“But…I’m still in the early stages of research. How can I…”
“Ms. Summers,” Wash interrupted, “let me be completely frank with you. The project you are currently working on seems to have been hindered by a lack of communication between researchers. I believe that I must break up that team of researchers for the project to continue.”
Buffy was silent for a few moments. “Right, I understand. I’m not teacher’s pet. Therefore, at the first chance you get to get rid of me, you take it.” She sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to rub away the headache that was starting to form. “You know what the worst part of all of this is? You’re not just putting me on a different project or sending me to another division. You’re sending me halfway across the world, completely uprooting my life and you’re perfectly fine with that.”
Buffy stood and started to pace. “When you hired me, I told you that my goal in life was to research diseases. Now you’re willing to rip me away from that goal. And you didn’t even consult me before recommending me for this position.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “Okay, so what happens if he doesn’t accept me for his project?”
“I received his response earlier today. You were the only person recommended and so you have been offered the position.”
“Great, so now I’m being pushed out of one job and placed in another, not because of my qualifications but because you were the only person to respond. So, what are my options? Accept or…?”
“Or we will let you go. Obviously we’ll give you a copy of that letter of recommendation…” Walsh said.
“How generous.” Buffy snipped.
“However, that is not guaranteed to get you another job anytime soon.” Walsh finished.
Buffy nodded in defeat and opened the office door needing to escape the room sooner rather than later. “I guess the answer is obvious. I will accept the job. When do I need to arrive in England? I have to get things in order here first.”
“The company is in England, not the project itself.”
“Where am I headed then?”
“A small island owned by the company, near Abu Dhabi.”
“Great, even better.” Buffy said sarcastically.
“They are expecting you in two weeks, that should give you time to get everything in order. I will transfer all of your information to Cobate and get all other information for you about the project.”
Again, Buffy just nodded in defeat. “If that’s all, I’m going back the lab.” She turned on her heels and swept out of the office, wiping away the tears that had started rolling down her cheeks and feeling as though she had been hit by a truck. Her life was suddenly headed down an unknown path and she didn’t like it.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!