Today was a big day for Radar. It was his first day of work, and he was both excited and terrified. After all, this wasn't just any job! He was going to be working for a member of The Order of the Stone, and not just any member of the Order – Jesse herself. Beacontown's Hero In Residence, their leader.
Oh, how he's always looked up to her... he couldn't believe his eyes when she showed up on his doorstep one morning, completely cool and casual, announcing that he had the job.
He had never thought he would get the job! After all who would hire a nervous, jittery, young man, who's only job experience was a window cleaner? Jesse apparently.
Radar took a deep breath, looking at himself in the mirror one last time. He straightened his blue tie and dusted down his jacket one last time before taking a deep breath.
"Here goes nothing." He said to himself as he opened the door to his little cottage and stepped outside into the crisp morning air.
A few white clouds were dotted about in the blue sky, some dry autumn leaves blew across the street, dropping in puddles, or piling up on people's windowsills. Radar made sure not to step in any puddles that was made by the previous night's rain. He couldn't afford arriving at work with muddy boots.
Radar took another deep breath as he carefully walked up the steps of the Order Hall. He felt his heart beating rapidly with nervous excitement.
Radar was about to extend his hand to the gleaming golden door knob, before he froze. Was he really just about to touch the Order Hall's door with his bare hands?
Quickly Radar searched through his pockets, until he found a clean tissue. He used it to carefully turn the door knob, before stepping inside.
Radar looked around him nervously. The Order hall was massive, yet cozy. Somewhere a heater was turned on, keeping the crisp air warm and comfortable. There was a tick red rug on the floor, which looked incredibly soft, as well as a few paintings and photographs on the walls.
Radar gulped slightly, feeling a bit nervous. As welcoming as it felt, the hall was empty... where was he supposed to go? He really hadn't thought this through.
Radar quickly wiped his sweaty hands on his jacket, looking around him as he took in the surroundings. There was a door to his left, which hung slightly ajar. Through it he could make out what looked like a couch. To his right was a staircase, leading up to the second floor of the building.
Radar took a deep shaky breath, trying to get his confidence together.
"Hello?" He called out in a trembling voice. He hated how squeaky and anxious his voice sounded.
Suddenly a voice called back, nearly causing Radar to leap out his skin.
"Coming!"
The voice was followed by the loud thudding of footsteps upstairs. Radar turned his gaze towards the staircase as a figure appeared at the top.
"Sorry!" Jesse said hastily as she came down the steps, taking them two at a time. "I overslept!"
Unlike Radar who had dressed up formally and neatly, Jesse was wearing her casual beige overalls which had a mud stain on the side. Her brown hair was slightly damp, hanging over her shoulders in an uncombed mess. She was wearing socks, holding her boots in her right hand.
"Morning Boss." Radar said, giving her a nervous smile.
"Hello Radar!" Jesse greeted back cheerfully, before promptly sitting down on the bottom step of the staircase to pull on her boots.
"I'm sorry if I came too early..." Radar quickly started apologising, feeling his face flush red at the realization that he might be five minutes earlier than he had intended.
"No, you're not early." Jesse said dismissively as she yanked on her boots. "Axel and I were chasing each other in the rain yesterday night till late, so I just overslept."
Radar felt himself relax a little. Jesse was so carefree, so chilled out, he didn't have anything to worry about after all. Right?
"OK!" Jesse said cheerfully, jumping to her feet.
She quickly pulled her bare fingers through her hair a few times to sort out the worst tangles, before putting her hands on her hips.
"You ready?" She asked, grinning at Radar.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Radar said with an anxious chuckle, lightly shrugging his shoulders.
Jesse was so open and friendly, but she was still his boss, and he was still nervous around her. After all, she's been his idol ever since the Wither Storm Battle took place all those years ago.
"Then let's go!" Jesse said, giving Radar a playful slap on the shoulder, and energetically walking towards the door.
"Sorry you had to meet me here." She said, as they stepped outside and she kicked the door shut again with her foot. "I completely forgot to get you a set of keys for the office!"
"That's OK." Radar said as they started walking down the street together.
He felt anxious as people turned their heads to look at them, a lot waving to Jesse. She grinned, waving back to citizens, and high-fiving some people she passed. Even when they passed a mother with a young boy who started squealing at the sight of Jesse, she bent down to give him a hug.
Radar was amazed at how welcoming and cheerful Jesse was, showing so much kindness towards her citizens. It was so different from Stella and Champion City where he used to live. Stella never even smiled at her citizens, unless they were bringing her things.
"Here we are!" Jesse announced, stepping up to one of the large buildings. "This is my office, where the boring stuff like paperwork is done." She said as she started unlocking the door with a set of keys.
Radar was kind of amused to hear Jesse calling her own work 'boring'. He followed her inside the wooden building, looking around in awe. There were many framed photographs on the wall of Jesse and her friends. A few of them were pictures of the Order wearing their gleaming armour and holding their enchanted weapons, but for the most part they just looked like normal people... Sitting together on the grass in a field, pulling silly faces at the camera...
There was even a row of images, telling a short story. The first one showed Axel, posing for the camera. On the next one, Olivia had leapt up behind him, her arms around his neck. The next image Jesse had joined, and Axel now had both of the girls on his shoulders. On the next image Petra had also clambered on top, all of them laughing hysterically, while Axel's face was red with the effort to hold all three of them. The final picture showed them laying in a heap on the grass, Lukas proudly posing in front of them.
"Ah, memories." Jesse said, crossing her arms as she also stopped to look at the row of images. "Simpler times, simpler times."
Radar caught onto a hint of sadness in her voice, but decided that he was probably imagining it. Jesse was so cheerful outside, giving citizens hugs or high-fives, she couldn't possibly be sad now, could she?
"So, um, what should I do first?" Radar asked, looking over at Jesse nervously.
He felt awfully unprepared for this new job. What if he messed it up?
"Since the weekend just ended, things are still pretty chill." Jesse said, turning away from the wall and energetically walking down the hallway. Radar hastily followed.
"Kinda like when you get back to school on a Monday, ya know? The teachers are just pretending to work, even though everybody's still lazying around." She said with a chuckle, making Radar smile.
"I usually spend Mondays clearing up the work that I just dumped around in my office last Friday before I went home."
She turned around so she could face Radar, now walking backwards. "Mind helping me with that?"
"I'd love to." Radar said, smiling at her.
Jesse grinned back, before swinging around once more so she was walking normal. Radar couldn't help himself from smiling broadly. He had pictured himself signing papers today, or tidying his workspace, but no, he was going to be personally helping Jesse. Awesome!
Jesse pushed open another door to reveal what looked like a rather messy storage room. Stacks of papers were crowded on every surface, layered beneath dust. There was a desk in one corner, completely cluttered with random objects and scraps of paper. Even its chair had a stack of books on it. Beside the desk stood a small dustbin, overflowing with wrinkled bits of paper, and even an empty chip package.
"This is my office." Jesse announced, grinning over at at Radar who looked quite shocked.
"It's..." He started, looking around the room.
"Messy, I know." Jesse said casually, tossing her keys onto the already piled desk.
She bent down to pick up the stack of books that was on her chair, causing a small dust cloud to rise up. Jesse sneezed, dropping the books.
"Are you OK?" Radar asked quickly, stepping up to Jesse.
"Allergic to dust." She announced, waving her hand in front of her face. "Probably should've cleaned this place out before I went home Friday, but I just had better things to do."
With that Jesse bent down to pick up the books, but Radar quickly stepped forward and picked them up for her.
"I'll carry them." He offered.
"You sure?" Jesse asked. "You're jacket's going to be covered in dust after this."
"That's what assistants are for." Radar pointed out, smiling at her. He desperately wanted to make a good first impression on his first day.
"Thanks." Jesse said, grinning broadly. "Because that's only the first stack."
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It took roughly about forty minutes to clear out the previous week's paperwork from Jesse's office and into the actual storage room. All they had left to do, before they could start on that week's work, was to sort a few documents into their respective places.
In the past forty minutes, Radar had grown to like Jesse even more than he used to. Getting to know her was amazing, she wasn't your typical boss. She treated him like he was one of her friends, repeatedly insisting that he called her Jesse instead of Ma'am or Boss.
She was constantly chatting to him as they worked, not talking about work related stuff, but instead about everyday things. Her favourite cafe in Beacontown, things she and her friends had done over the weekend, and what types of books she liked to read.
But at that specific moment, Radar was nervous. He had been following Jesse around the office for the past thirty minutes, carrying a stack of files as she sorted them into the the correct cabinets. Only, about twenty minutes ago, her phone had rang.
It was obviously one of Jesse's friends, and she casually talked and joked around with them whilst continuing to move about the office and sorting files into cabinets with Radar right on her heals.
And now, Radar needed to pee.
First of all, Jesse was still on the phone and he didn't want to interrupt her.
Secondly, he was just too shy! They were busy right now after all, he couldn't just shove the stack of papers into her hands and tell her to wait while he go to bathroom. He was too embarrassed to say anything, and at first decided to wait.
But it was getting increasingly hard. If a guy's got to go, a guy's got to go. He kept following Jesse around the office, hoping his unusual way of walking wasn't too noticeable.
She was still laughing with her friend over the phone, seemingly unaware of her intern's dilemma.
Jesse pressed the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she opened another cabinet to put the file in, listening intently to the person on the other side of the line. As she closed it again, she didn't start walking away, instead she reached up to hold her phone with her hand again.
"HmmMmm, yes. Listen Petra, could you give me a second quick?" She asked, before covering her phone with her hand.
Jesse tried to give Radar a stern look, however she couldn't help but grin broadly.
"What?" Radar asked softly.
"Radar." Jesse said matter-of-factly, taking the last files from him with her free hand. "Go."
Radar's face immediately grew as red as a tomato, but he didn't need telling twice. He gave Jesse a quick, but appreciative, nod before darting out of the room.
Jesse chuckled, shaking her head. He was so sweet. She had absolutely no regrets about hiring him.
Congratulations, you have just wasted part of your life, reading 2101 words I wrote at midnight, because I was bored.
So, I don't really know about this one shot xD Not really a very active one, with a proper plot, just a little, embarrassing, bit of Radar's first day working for Jesse. I was playing Storymode, when somebody mentioned that Radar didn't want to touch the Order Hall's door without gloves. XD This idea was born.
Feel free to request if you have something specific you want to read next!
Bye for now!