Royally Kissed | ✓

06; the cyborg

—six—

the cyborg

SONSIE, BRUNETTE, YOUNG.

That was Miss Denise Danssen, the director of operations at Manor Amusement Park, in a nutshell. Paige had always pictured this infamous woman as a forty-year-old, stern, who meowed back at cats.

But as she looked at her now−distractedly glancing at Owen and her while juggling the phone against her ear, one hand pulling up a file, but still able to throw them a smile every once in awhile−all of those prejudiced notions of hers were swiftly thrown out of the window.

She watched in amusement as they waited for her to have a breather.

"...yes, give me the ballpark figure of Boon's proposal and email it to me right now. It's way out of our budget but I'll discuss it with the board and see what I can do−" she paused as her eyes glanced down at what seemed to be another email or document on her desktop. "−wait, have you checked with Mr Sullivan about the renewal for the security agency? Yes. Yes, please...Kurt, it's the annual fire inspection today. I'd go the whole rounds if I could but there's only so much I can do...I am sorry, but I don't think that's possible. We have to follow protocols, Kurt. Alright, thank you...my apologies..."

Owen and her chuckled at the same time as soon as she ended the call.

"Denise, this is Paige Cadwyn, the new intern−" Owen emphasized jocularly, glimpsing at her with eyes crinkled at the corners. "Paige, Miss Denise Danssen, operations manager."

"Hello," Paige said, stretching a hand out and smiled when Denise happily took it. "That was quite a conversation."

"Busy is my life," she said, readjusting her glasses that didn't depreciate her baby blue eyes. "I've heard so much about you from Miss Isolde and Owen here. I've been working under your grandmother's administration for more or less three years but I never saw you once, even as I started here when Mister Tom was still alive."

Owen snapped his head in her direction but she made a blank face. He was aware how attached she was with her grandfather's memories. But it was okay for her to hear the truth. It still hurt, yes, but it didn't mean like she hadn't accepted what happened, yet.

"She was pretty focused with her studies for the past years," Owen answered for her, and Paige blinked at him. There was still something in his voice, like he wanted to add something but kept those thoughts at bay. It was her Achilles' heel, she'd assumed, he'd originally wanted to say but she was grateful that Owen got a good grip of it at the last second. "But she's ready now, I'm sure."

Paige didn't like it that he had so much confidence for her. She hated the tone of his words and at the fact that he knew her that much, even the things she didn't know about herself.

"So you've been here for quite a long time," mused Paige, and Denise nodded with a grin, mouthing a that's right, "what did you start as, if you don't mind me asking?"

She waved her off. "Of course, I don't mind at all. Well...it was during summer when I applied for one of the mascots and then the rest is history."

"Mascot!"

Denise chuckled. "It's true. The competition here was too tight, still is, and I really needed to hive up for my vacation trip at the time. And since I don't have any previous experience before that and because I heard that the wisest approach to get into a company as big as Manor is to apply for the unglamorous positions, I sent a resume and applied for a mascot. I've never left since. That's how you know you're in good hands."