Self Service

Boss Lady

Priscilla had her shower radio playing and Bossy by Kelis was on. She put her lotion on, singing along to the radio. This was one of her favorite songs. No matter how old it got to be.

She had just gotten out of the shower after her morning run. Every day without fail, she awakened at five, ran three miles, showered, and managed to leave the house by 6:30. She had once not run and it had thrown her whole day off.

Priscilla turned on her flat irons and put her lotion back in its rightful place. Setting her suit out on the bed, she went to do her hair, straightening her black hair before going to pull on her navy pantsuit and black pumps, heading downstairs to toast an English muffin, make egg whites and bacon, and shred sharp cheddar, six grates. She poured herself precisely four ounces of orange juice, drinking another glass with precisely six ounces of milk.

Every glass in Priscilla's cupboard was marked with ounces, and every morning, she drank six ounces of milk before breakfast and four ounces of orange juice with breakfast.

Putting her breakfast sandwich together, she sat at her small table to enjoy her breakfast in the peace and quiet of home.

After breakfast, she got her thermos of coffee and made her way out to the garage, sliding into her car, opening the garage door before starting the engine. Exiting the garage, she closed the door behind herself and started for the office.

Walking in, she headed towards the elevator, changing course when she saw David step on. She decided to take the steps. She worked out regularly, so it wasn't an issue. But it did take longer to get to her office. However, it was much preferred to being stuck for 105 seconds with David in the elevator flirting with her.

She arrived to her office to find her secretary, Sharon, sitting at her desk, typing away.

"Good morning, Miss Holcomb," the young redhead greeted.

"Good morning, Sharon."

Priscilla liked Sharon because she did her job well and kept the personal stuff to herself. Which Priscilla appreciated. There had only been two times that the fresh nineteen-year old had to leave work for her three-year old son. Priscilla was not much on children and just let Sharon go home to the sick child, keeping the return question to a minimum, "Is he alright?" and appreciating the simple, "Yes, thank you."

Originally, when the HR department sent the girl to Priscilla, she had wondered what the hell was going on and why they would send her this little ass girl. But she turned out to be a really good match for Priscilla, unlike her last secretary who had driven her borderline crazy with her disorganization and chatty Cathy ways. Priscilla would often tune the girl out while she gave her more information about her personal life than she cared to hear.

But that wasn't the reason that Priscilla had let the girl go. She was just bad for business. She couldn't handle taking down messages correctly, and she was terrible with clients. Priscilla could ignore that she talked too much, but she couldn't handle how unprofessional she was. She even ignored the few times the girl had thought it was okay to show up in jeans, reprimanding her each time and leaving it alone. But when she started messing with her money, it was time for her to go find someone else to work for.

Sharon was highly professional, efficient, and quiet. Priscilla had once taken the child home because she saw her waiting for the bus in thirty degrees, and the human in her offered the girl a ride. That was when she found out that Sharon stayed in the projects, hitting one of very few of Priscilla's soft spots — something she related to. She had originally wondered why the girl looked like she was dressing secondhand, and now she knew she probably was.

Priscilla had a shopping habit, so she was donating clothes all the time and had once brought Sharon to her house — telling her to leave the kid at home — and let her come and pick from the clothes she was donating before she actually did. They were the same size, so Priscilla was glad to give her some better wardrobe choices. After all, before her clients saw her, they saw Sharon.