ONLY TO OTHER PEOPLE

ONE

Dolores walked into the lobby of Sterling Cooper, gazing around at the rows of desks of women tapping away at their typewriters, the smell of typewriter ribbon ink and coffee lingering heavily in the room.

Dolores walked up to the elderly woman who was sat behind the reception desk and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Dolores Jackson and it's my first day here and I'm not exactly sure what to do." She explained as the woman nodded in response.

"Don't worry, I'll just call Joan and she'll introduce you to everything." The woman told Dolores, as Dolores nodded and thanked the lady as she began to gesture for a woman to come over.

The woman approached the reception desk, walking in a hypnotic swaying motion, practically putting anyone that saw her under her spell. So this must be Joan.

"Hi, I'm Joan Holloway. You must be Dolores Jackson." Joan introduced herself, as Dolores nodded and shook Joan's hand.

"You'll be Mr Campbell's secretary. Now, a word of warning. He gets very angry sometimes, like a small dog that doesn't get enough attention. Just ignore him or get him a coffee and it usually mulls over. Now, you might want to keep bandaids, an unopened pack of lucky strikes and aspirin in your desk for Mr Campbell. Plus, he drinks whiskey so maybe have a bottle of that knocking about." Joan explained as Dolores nodded.

"Alright, sounds easy enough. Do I get to meet everyone else?" Dolores asked as Joan smiled.

"All in good time. Now, let's get you introduced to Mr Campbell." Joan told her, practically shoving Dolores in the direction of his office.

Joan knocked loudly on his office door and the two girls heard angry mumbling before a "Come in!" was eventually called out.

"Mr Campbell. I'd like to introduce you to Ms Dolores Jackson. She's going to be taking over from Ms Stoltz as your secretary." Joan introduced, as Pete looked at the girl stood in front of him.

Joan turned to leave and looked at Dolores, before smiling. "Good luck." Joan whispered in Dolores' ear, before exiting the room.

"Your 11 O'Clock meeting with Mr Draper and Mr Sterling has been pushed back to noon, Mr Campbell." Dolores informed him as Pete nodded.

"I know. Where are you from?" He asked her.
"Brooklyn. Took me one train to get here this morning." She replied as Pete let out a 'hm' in response.

"What's with the skirt? What are you a Mormon or something?" Pete asked her, pointing to her lengthy black skirt.

"I'm Jewish, Mr Campbell. Will that be all?" She asked him as he let out a slight laugh, smirking slightly.

"Yes that'll be all. Dolores, isn't it?" He asked, as she nodded in response.

"Yes sir." She said, forcing a smile before exiting his office and rolling her eyes.

-

Dolores met up with her roommate Veronica on their lunchbreak.
"It's terrible. The guy I have to work for is just the worst." Dolores complained as Veronica laughed.
"Mine isn't so bad. He's actually alright." Veronica admitted, as Dolores took a sip of her coffee and raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"Which one's yours then?" Dolores asked, as Veronica pointed out a tall blonde man.
"That's him right there. His name's Ken Cosgrove." Veronica told her, as Dolores laughed slightly.

"He looks like an asshole. Hell, they all do here. Especially my one." Dolores sighed.
"Oh cheer up. It'll get better in a week, trust me, that's what it was like for me when I first started working here. Who do you have anyways? Kinsey? Salvatore? Draper?" Veronica began to list names of men that worked in the office, as Dolores cut her short.

"Pete Campbell." Dolores told her, as Veronica tried to hide her face of pity.

"He's...not that bad. Alright, you got me. You really do have the worst luck you know? I thought for a fact that you'd get Kinsey. Damn, that is bad luck." Veronica said, smiling assuringly at Dolores, before looking down at her watch.

"Ah shoot, break's nearly finished. Come on, we better get going." Veronica informed Dolores as they both hurried over to their individual desks.

-

The loud buzz of the intercom disrupted the silence in Pete's office.

"Mr Campbell you have visitors." Dolores spoke into the intercom.

Pete sighed. "Could you be a bit more specific than that Dolores?"

Dolores looked to the three men who were stood outside Pete's office and just signalled for them to go in.

"Dolores get us some more ice please." Pete called over the intercom.

A few minutes passed and Dolores knocked on the door of Pete's office, the door opening, as she smiled at the men.

"Here's your ice Mr Campbell." She told him, handing him the small bucket of ice.

"Thank you Dolores." Pete replied, ignoring her slightly, as Dolores smiled at the others again and left.

"You got lucky with that one Campbell." Ken laughed, as Pete just shook his head.
"You wanna trade?" Pete joked as Ken's face turned serious and he shook his head.
"No, Veronica's the best in this business." Ken informed Pete, as Pete shrugged and lit up a cigarette.

-

The end of the day came quicker than expected, and just as Dolores was placing the cover over her typewriter, Pete walked out of his office.

"Oh, I forgot to mention it earlier, but congratulations on your engagement Mr Campbell." Dolores said, trying her hardest to be nice to him.

Pete looked at her quizzically before nodding. "Thank you Dolores. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Mr Campbell." She smiled at him, as he walked off in the direction of the elevators.

Dolores sighed and rubbed her jaw, her whole face ached from having to smile all day. She picked up her jacket and headed towards the elevator.

-

A sharp knock came about at Dolores' apartment door at about 10pm. Angrily, Dolores threw down her toothbrush into the sink and walked to the door.

Opening it slightly, she muttered angrily. "I'm not buying whatever it is that you freaks are selling at this time of night."

"Is that how you always answer the door?" She heard a familiar voice laugh slightly, his words slurring.

She opened the door fully to see Mr Campbell stood there, smelling heavily of alcohol.

"Mr Campbell. Can I ask what you're doing at my apartment at 10pm?" She asked as he shrugged, looking her straight in the eyes.

Dolores let out a groan of annoyance, as she moved aside so that he could come in and then closed the door behind him.

"Why are you here Pete?" She asked him again, firmly.
"I wanted to see you." He revealed, as she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Me?" She questioned, confused.
"I had to see you." He confessed, as he brought his lips down onto hers.

Dolores pulled away for a second.
"Veronica?" She called out to her friend.
"What is it Dolores?" Her friend replied.
"I'm going to bed now." She told Veronica, as she took Pete's hand and led him to her room.