Exhausted and Annoyed

EDIT: Added an updated note at the end detailing a few possible routes from here.

**

"Are you kidding me?" Kate replied incredulously. The concept of being pleasant was suddenly and viciously expelled from her mind. "I had an off day today. So what? I'm staying late to make up for it and I don't need you to lecture me about my work ethic."

Mr. Cowall, who had previously been awash in a smarmy smugness, looked surprised and worried in response to her outburst. Kate couldn't look at him. She broke her gaze from his icy eyes and looked down at her coffee mug. The beginnings of shame crept into her mind. He was her boss after all; she probably shouldn't have snapped at him like that.

Still... It felt kind of good to put his smugness back into line. She took a sip from her coffee as she awaited his reaction.

"OK," he said through an exhalation. He took a few more seconds to think before continuing. "I think you have the wrong idea," he said calmly, "I'm not here to chastise you for a single day. You're right, you're still here, and I appreciate that."

Kate couldn't help but hate how quickly he disarmed her. In her exhaustion, it had felt good to be a little feisty.

"In fact, you've been a great employee," he continued, "I just want to take the time to ensure you're happy with your own development. That's a good conversation to have, don't you agree?"

Kate's head spun. The shame that had only been a small flame just moments ago had flared into a rampant inferno. Mr. Cowall was only trying to be nice, even if he was being a little obtuse, and she had practically bit his head off for it. Even though she was exhausted, a small conversation about her role in the company couldn’t hurt. Heck, it might even help her take her mind off the Bergeron file just long enough to let her look at it again with fresh eyes.

Kate sighed and slumped in her chair, her eyes remaining glued to her coffee mug. "You're right," she said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn’t have acted that way. I'm just a little exhausted." Even though she wasn't looking at him, Kate could see through her peripheries that Mr. Cowall straightened in his seat. It almost felt like her agreement was a personal victory for him. Kate hated that even when he was acting genuine and nice he would still play little power play games like he got off on establishing his dominance.

“I completely understand, Katie,” he said, “and I appreciate all the hard work you put in here. No harm, no foul.”

Kate nodded curtly, but her gaze remained fixed on her coffee mug.

“In fact,” he continued, “I’m really glad that you spoke your mind, even if it was just a little misunderstanding. It’s important for you to be happy here, and the only way I can help achieve that is if you speak your mind. Don’t you agree that it’s necessary for you to be completely open and honest with me?”

Kate felt her head slump forward slightly, and she quickly jolted upright in response. Clearly, she was more exhausted than she thought if she was starting to doze off during a conversation with her boss. Fortunately, her sudden jolt didn’t cause her to spill any coffee and she just hoped Mr. Cowall didn’t realize what had happened. She looked up at him, at his cold, dead eyes, and began contemplating what he said. 'Necessary' felt like an awfully strong word to use in this context, but she did agree that being open and honest would prevent her from feeling unnecessarily disgruntled. If Mr. Cowall could handle criticisms, there was no reason for her to lie or keep things hidden. As long as she didn’t say anything to rock the boat too much, Kate supposed that open and honest was the right thing to do.

Kate looked up to respond to him, and locked her gaze with his. As she looked in his eyes, the world began to fall away from around her. She felt wrapped in a sea of icy blue, but it didn't feel awful. It didn't feel cold. It felt oddly comfortable. His cold eyes still gave her chills, but she didn't want to look away. She wanted to nod or say that she agreed with him, because she mostly agreed, but something continued to nag at her. Like a strong current in the ocean, something felt like it was pulling her off course. She knew that she should be open and honest with Mr. Cowall, as long as she felt like he could take it but...

But why would it be up to her to decide what he could and couldn't handle? He was the boss, after all, the onus fell upon him to make sure his employee felt safe and happy in her job. If he didn't like what she had to say, then he could be open and honest back and they could discuss it, but the only way he could know how she felt was if she was completely open and honest. 'Necessary' had felt like such a strong word before, but the more that Kate thought about it, the more it fit. She should always be open and honest with Mr. Cowall. It was necessary.

Kate blinked and quickly realized that Mr. Cowall was waiting for a response from her. She knew she couldn’t have been thinking for too long, but there had been at least a momentary pause in their dialogue.

“Y-yeah. I agree,” she stammered.

She had never felt overly comfortable looking someone in the eyes, and that was especially true with the cold, predatory nature of Mr. Cowall’s gaze, but for some reason she couldn’t tear her eyes away. No, she could... But she didn’t want to.

A thin, sinister smile appeared on Mr. Cowall’s face. Kate probably would have felt concerned by his intentions, she probably would have ended their conversation if she noticed how hungry his expression looked, but she was too lost in the icy depths of his stare to notice it.

"Great!" said Mr. Cowall, "I'm glad we're on the same page." He paused for a moment and their mutual gaze remained unbroken. It may have been a second, it may have been a minute, but Kate had no concept of time. She just felt herself shivering, drowning in a cold, blue sea. Shivering, but comfortable, like she was ready and happy to succumb to the malevolance of the frozen ocean.

Like she was ready to let go of the life raft and drift into its frigid depths.

"My... My review?" she managed to croak out, "Are you going to give me a... A review?"

**

Authour's note: I'm going to keep it hidden or maybe fluid about her awareness, just to avoid spoilers. I think it might be fun, though, to see what suggestions you all might have for how Mr. Cowall should proceed. I don't have any concrete plans for any paths other than the primary path with the convention, and I'm willing to hear your ideas!

Right now he is trying to gauge her susceptibility and he is trying to make sure she doesn't gain awareness of anything. He knows that her susceptibility should increase each time he gets her to agree with something she normally wouldn't, but if he asks for anything to absurd or contradictory, it might cause her to become aware of the machinations.

Any thoughts?

Update: I've put some thought into possible routes from here. I have also added another chapter 3 that will have its own myriad of paths, but I haven't yet fleshed those out in plans. To avoid firm spoilers, but to entice imaginations, here are the possible titles I'm thinking from here:

1) He puts off the review

1.1) Kate is uncomfortable with his stares

1.1.1) Mr. Cowall assures her that it's nothing to worry about

1.1.2) He thinks she should take it as a compliment

1.2) She can't understand why he's asking that

1.2.1) Work has been unpleasant lately

1.2.2) He wants to reciprocate

2) Start with a self assessment

3) An informal review

Admittedly, I have not put too much thought into options 2 and 3, but that should be fixed soon.