Henry walked into his niece’s room at seven thirty to wake her. He knew she wasn’t going to be happy about the wake-up call but he wanted her to be early as well as make a good impression. He gently shook her, only to be punched in the face. Henry stumbled backwards, a little taken aback by her blow. Refusing to give up, he filled a bucket with cold water and poured half of it on her sleeping frame. She jumped up, glaring menacingly at him.
“What the hell Uncle Henry!”
“You wouldn’t wake up AND punched me.”
“So you throw cold ass water on me?”
“You punched me,” he shrugged.
“Get out. I’m tired.”
“You have work today.”
“I didn’t agree to it. I asked for the address. I did not say I would go.”
“You’re going Ross. I’ve already called him.”
“Why would you do that?”
“So that he’d know you were heading over. Please just do me this favor. He’s a very important associate of mine.”
“Fine. Please tell me I don’t have to get all dressy.”
“No. Jeans are fine. I don’t want to see you in a band shirt though.”
“And why not? I’m already going to this stupid place. I should be able to wear whatever I want.”
“Please Rosslyen, can’t you at least look a bit professional?”
“Ugh, fine. Whatever you want. Get out of my room.”
Henry kissed his niece on the top of her head, content that he had finally won an argument against her, a rare occurrence for anyone. Telling her that she had forty five minutes to get ready, he high tailed it out of her room before the left foot of her green Chuck Taylor’s could hit him.
Ross mumbled to herself as she walked towards her bathroom. She was fuming more about the fact her shoe hadn’t hit her uncle, rather than the fact he had woken her up with cold water. Looking in the mirror, she decided on a cold shower since she was already drenched in it. After a quickie, Ross began to lotion herself with a blend she had created herself, a Shea butter and honey mix. When she’d finally finished, she threw on skinny jeans, a plain black tee, a yellow plaid shirt, and her black Vans. She tied her hair up in a messy bun, grabbed her cheetah print messenger bag, and went to meet her uncle in the foyer.
The drive to her Henry’s associate’s firm was quiet. It was mostly because Ross spent the trip ending every conversation he tried to start with her. She was still mad at him but when he dropped her off in front of the Baxter Building, she kissed him on the cheek. He then knew she had put the morning’s event behind her and had forgiven him. Content, he went to get a large coffee from his favorite spot before heading into work.
Ross would be lying if she didn’t admit the thirty five floor building before her was intimidating, no matter how nice it looked. It was located on 42nd street and Madison avenue, pretty much the buzz of New York City. Sucking in a breath, she walked through the doors and into the lobby. As Ross waited for the elevator to arrive, she took in her surroundings. The lobby housed Abe Shoenstein’s snack shop, an optometrist’s shop, a visitor’s center, anelevator bank, and a loading dock. She was quite impressed by everything that was going on in the one building. It wasn’t until she heard screams did things start to stand out. Ross noticed that there were a few camera crews around her, as well as women and teenage girls crowding around the doors. Rolling her eyes at the commotion, Ross began to wonder what was taking the elevator so long. As she waited, a figure stood beside her. suddenly feeling a bit claustrophobic, Rosslyen turned to find a mass of people surrounding her and the person next to her. Giving them an icy glare, most of them backed away a few inches, to her content. When the elevator finally came, she raced inside, hoping the person who had brought the crowd would wait for the next lift. He didn’t. instead, he walked in and stood beside her, pressing the button for floor thirty second. She gave a relieved sigh, glad she was going to the thirtieth.
The two stood in silence for ten floors before the person said anything. Rosslyen tried to ignore him, but he continued to talk to the point she let her anger take over.
“Would you shut up? I don’t want to talk to you or are you too thick to understand?”
“Fiery. Look, how about you give me your number and we can talk over drinks? I’m more of a whiskey guy but you look like you can only hold so much-“
The elevator dinged at thirty. Relieved, Ross ran out the door. She was glad to get out of the confined space with that man. Putting her feelings aside, she walked towards the reception area. An attractive blond woman who identified herself as Roberta, greeted her with a smile that Rosslyen managed to return. Then she noticed the way Roberta moved. Inching closer to investigate, she saw that the pretty receptionist was actually a robot. Taking a step back, she informed the android that she was there to see a Dr. Richards. The droid nodded as it told Ross to take a seat and that Dr. Richards would be with her shortly. Rosslyen nodded and went to sit on one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs in the corner. Taking out her public sketchpad, she began to draw a portrait of Roberta. She wanted to get the robot in all her glory so she decided to add a very feminine figure, with the legs to match, instead of the robotic arm that moved her. As she concentrated on the art piece, Ross didn’t notice the ding of the elevator or the man that exited it. She was so engrossed in her work, she didn’t realize someone was standing over her until he pointed out the legs. Rosslyen jumped, quickly closing the book and looking at the person who had commented on her sketch.
“Nice picture.”
“Thank you.” Rosslyen stood, sticking out her hand, which he promptly shook. “I’m Rosslyen Eakes.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Richards. I assume you’re Henry Partin’s niece?”
“Yep. “
“I’m surprised to see you here. Your uncle said you were indecisive about working here.”
“Did he?” Ross said through clenched teeth although there was a smile on her face.
“Yes. I am glad you decided to come. I could use all the help I can get.”
“I’m here to help. But can I ask, why do you have a robot as a receptionist?”
“You noticed? Not many people do.”
“I did and I can’t see how they couldn’t. The way she moves screams ‘Look at me, I’m a robot.’ A little tweaking to the arm should fix that.”
“Artistic and smart. You will definitely be of some use around here,” Dr. Richards said as the two walked towards the elevator.
“So, what exactly will I be doing?”
“Taking notes for the most part but I will need your assistance for a few experiments as well as handling things in the building.”
“So I’m like a freaking secretary?”
“If you want to use that term. If you’re going to work here I’m going to need you to be able to control your emotions.”
“Control my emotions? Who the hell do you think you are? Do you have any idea how to talk to a female?”
“I am perfectly capable to talking to a woman and I am your employer so please attempt to be respectful. “
Ross stared at Dr. Richard in disbelief. Every ounce of her wanted to punch him in the face but she refrained from doing so because he was an acquaintance of her uncle. Giving him a curt nod, she began to ignore what he was saying.
“-Were you even listening to me Rosslyen?”
“Nope. I heard what you said.”
“And what was that?” Dr. Richards asked as they exited the elevator, slightly amused.
“You were blabbing on about how I mustn’t touch anything unless you give the okay, floors thirty one, two, four and five are off limits although I can use one of the rooms on thirty one if we are working late, I have an hour lunch, I must be on time, don’t antagonize Ben, Sue, or Jonny, uh, I think that was it.”
“So you were listening.”
“No, I heard you. To be honest Dr. Richards, I don’t like rules. I will follow yours but I won’t really like them. “
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Just in case I do something stupid, something against your rules.”
“Fair enough but please don’t. I would hate to explain to Henry why you got hurt.”
“Yeah, sure. Where are we?”
“This is my lab, the place you’ll be assisting me. I’m going to need you to stay right there.”
“Why?”
“In order for you to get into the lab, use the computers, and such I need to have you on file. The computer will generate a full profile of you, to the very last detail.”
Ross gave him a horrified look, uncertain what to expect.
“Don’t worry, it only takes the genetic code and imprints it into the database. No one can get in.”
“Sure they can’t. I’m pretty sure I can hack into your systems on my cellphone.”
Dr. Richards smiled. “My systems have a vast amount of firewalls. There is no way you can hack into it Ms. Eakes.”
Rosslyen smirked at him and took out her phone. “Challenge accepted,” she stated before beginning.
Dr. Richards watched her, intrigued by her confidence. She glanced at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes. He looked down at his computer and his eyes widened in shock. His files were being deleted, all the work he had spent countless nights preparing and executing gone. His gaze returned to the girl who was looking at him innocently.
“You deleted it all? How could you… all my hard work… tell me you have it backed up. Please tell me it’s not all gone.”
“Sorry Dr. Richards but once you say that I won’t be some stupid secretary, I’ll consider helping you get your files back.”
“Rosslyen Eakes, return my work to its proper folders this instant.”
She began to laugh. “As if. My uncle didn’t tell you I was this good, did he?”
“No. I figured hacking into a firm’s database was child’s play. How was I to know? How did you do it?”
“I’m not telling. Now, tell me I’m not just a secretary and mean it Dr. Richards.”
Dr. Richards mumbled what she wanted. Ross laughed and decided to restore the files he was currently working on. When he asked for the rest, the girl chuckled and took a seat on a far sofa. As she watched his downtrodden frame, the door opened.