The Butterfly Effect

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Danielle seemingly made no progress since Roman left for the office that morning. He came back to the woman sitting at the kitchen table, staring blankly at the screen, with no tabs open nor a completed resume. No clear accomplishments. To her defense, she at least figured out where the power button was. 

Roman sighed as he put on a pot of coffee. The one thing Roman hated was inefficiency and wasted time or resources. And watching her stare at the laptop was getting on his nerves. He didn't want to lose his temper, but her helplessness irritated him. If she was going to do something, she'd need help. 

It was going to be a long night.

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Elle was pleasantly surprising. Roman found her to be diligent, eager to learn. She was quick to take notes and seemed to like a pen and pad better than a computer, which Roman considered inefficient. 

Otherwise, she looked to be a good student. Roman even surprised himself by finding it semi-pleasant to teach someone who held on to every last word that left his mouth and looked to him for acknowledgment. He would never admit that it was stroking his ego. 

He was never a patient guy; he was always quick and sharp-tongued with his remarks and blatantly made it known when he found someone stupid. But he found he couldn't be snarky with her. She was so pure and well-intended. All of her inquiries were made with an honest, open mind to accept anything. She didn't seem to be suspicious or have an inkling of what needed to be done. Roman liked that he was looked to for all the answers, that he had to power to guide her. The fact that she thought of him as some powerful professional made his chest puff up like a peacock. It made him prideful in his knowledge, even if it was something simple like the structure of a resume. 

The time passed quickly. Roman hadn't even realized it was late until he saw Danielle stifle a yawn. A glance at his watch let him know it was well past midnight.

They had made good progress. She completed her meager resume with no job experience and volunteer work dated two years ago. It wasn't,by any means, attractive to any employer, but upon completion, Elle appeared greatly satisfied. Her smile took over her face in a way that had Roman staring, with a small smile of his own. 

He learned more about her as they worked into the night. Applying to retail stores and fast-food chains, calling public libraries and bookstores, and leaving messages for secretary spots at daycares showed a lot about her character. 

She didn't mind being a busboy in a kitchen but did not like the idea of working in a private kitchen. She was shaken by the prospect of entering another home, so Roman avoided job offers like a housekeeper or babysitter. 

She loved kids and animals. She was energetic when she asked if she should apply to be a dog-walker or nanny, but was crestfallen when Roman informed her she would probably need more qualifications. Roman couldn't help but laugh, because everything showed on her face. Her pout when she thought Roman was making fun of her, or her confusion and then shock that yes, the laptop screen is also a touchscreen. Even the way her brows rose just the slightest when she concentrated to type made her fun to observe. She was clumsily bad at it, but her enthusiasm was refreshing. 

"It's late, we can continue tomorrow. I'll have my secretary call and help you during her lunch break."

Danielle didn't like the thought of Roman's hungry secretary "helping" her, considering how short she had been last time. 

"I'll be ok, I'll manage, thanks. I'm sure she'd like to eat her lunch in peace."

"I told her to call you today, did she not do that?"

At the rise his brows, Danielle gestured her hands in refutal. "N-No! She called! Uh, I'm—I'll be ok without her."

"...Was she not of help?"

Danielle winced at the memory of the call and smiled sourly. "No, —she was, it's just—I'm not especially qualified and she's very frank."

"What do you mean?"

"She told me to call Wendy's with my qualifications since they accept high schoolers. I mean—it was a joke, and she was right. I'd be lucky if they called me back, um—" 

Roman was pissed. He didn't think much about why, but his secretary being rude to Elle was something that he couldn't overlook. The damage done to Elle's pride couldn't be hidden behind her forced smile. It bothered him enough to fire her the next morning. The progress of finding a competent secretary was painstaking; he needed one that could put up with him as much as Roman could put up with them—he was not a good boss. But seeing Elle's face like that triggered him. He didn't like that expression on her. That secretary was as good as gone.