Scarlet's Day

Well this is piss easy.

The It guys were pretty quick at getting my work laptop to me, including a bag to take it home with me each day, 'just in case' apparently. Something tells me it's Lauren's relaxed approach to work rate that's led to the ability to work from home at a whim. Still, explains why the place looks so messy, half the team just aren't here today.

Lauren walked me through the basics of my day to day... I won't go into details but it boils down to looking at graphs and spreadsheets and recording whenever a number or a line goes up. It's as riveting as it sounds. But it's also so simple that I'm done in a few hours, meaning I could go and ask Lauren for more to do. I know it doesn't sound like me to request more work, but something about the atmosphere here makes me hunger for it, like I'm not being ordered to do more... I hunger for it.

Either way, it meant I got to sit and take notes for Lauren when she met with a client, and that was way more interesting. I've seen TV shows, I know how I expected business meetings to be and, as usual with EMS, my expectations were entirely wrong. The meeting was at a tiny bar on a lower floor, apparently it mostly gets by on businesses like ours wanting a quiet and casual place to meet up out of the office. It's definitely different to the Free Ride, Lauren told me it doesn't have a real name, so people just call it 'the bar' or 'the place' or something equally vague. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure this place is even licensed...

I'm in a speakeasy, aren't I?

"Okay, so Barkeep might not have all the permits, but you've gotta agree it's a nice place!" Lauren argues. The clients had left a little while ago, and I now understand what makes Lauren so formidable. There's no bullshit, no buzzwords, in her words 'no filler.' She tells people exactly what's going wrong, what we can do for them, and why they can't afford to refuse, it's like some kind of magic, she could sell water to a fish. No one can argue because there's nothing to argue against, it's like whatever she states becomes fact.

"Elise is not gonna believe that this is how my first day went." I chuckle, taking a sip of my lemonade. Hey, I'm working, I'm learning, doesn't seem like a good idea to start on the wine.

Lauren has no such reluctance, taking a swig of her beer. "I did warn you, anyone can do the job, it's just about having confidence, and being someone I want to drink a beer with. You've got the latter at least, and the former's teachable. Or at least, you can act like you've got it." She points out. "But, if Moira asks, this is a beautiful glass of ice cold water, yeah?"

I snort at her insistence, but it does tantalise my curiosity. "What's Moira like anyway? I didn't get a chance to meet her." I inquire. Lauren seems to take this as a challenge as she downs the remainder of her beer.

"Come on, I'll introduce you, it'll give me a chance to tell her how the meet went. And gloat. A lot of gloating. Okay, I'm going to gloat, and I may mention you." She decides, gesturing for me to follow her into the lift. We ride it back to the office and head for the glass box masking Moira's appearance.

Sunny clocks where Lauren is leading me and jumps to her feet like she's seen a rat. "Hey! Moira's in a meeting with her fiancé, she said no visitors." She yells in an exasperated tone. Lauren rolls her eyes at the receptionist's words.

"Oh good, Moira's favourite subject, at least I've got you to change the subject to." She groans, before we arrive at the cube and she pushes the door open without knocking. I get my first glimpse at Moira, she looks a bit older than Lauren, and far less rock and roll. She's wearing a grey pantsuit and her black hair is tied up in a pony tail, leaving her unsmiling face on full display. She definitely looks intimidating, but at the same time, I can sense a maternal presence, like a lioness.

I don't get much time to observe her as we enter, as my eyes are drawn to the other inhabitant of the room. I don't know how I expected the fiancé of an enigmatic, straight-laced, professional like Moira to look, but I think this might be the last thing I expected.

In fact, this might be the least expected thing I've ever experienced. I halt in my tracks, and my breathing stops, as I gaze upon the all too familiar face. A face I'd hoped never to see again.

The face of my father.