The Lobby.

I had been in the lobby of the building previously when I had submitted my resume in person (I’m classy like that, what can I say?). The tone of the room was simple and clean. It was white for the most part with some grey inserted here and there. There were some plants situated around the windows which showed the busy day outside. The desk at the center of the room was a dark grey and swung around in a half circle with a couple screens visible on either side. Some quiet classical music played lightly in the background and the lone receptionist greeted us with a smile as we approached.

“Hello Ms. Finckley, how are you doing today?” She shifted her glance to me and her eyes widened slightly, but she kept her composure.

“Quite well Patricia, and yourself?” Alex said casually, looking a bit amused as her front-line staff adjusted to my presence. I smiled at her with my hands in my pockets and took one out to give her a tidy little wave and a wink.

“F-fine thank you… can I get you anything?” This, she said staring at me, flushing a bit, then looking quickly back to her boss as she got to “anything”, then smiled brightly. I took the opportunity to check her out while she was preoccupied with asking Alex a question.

She was a petite girl, though it was a bit hard to tell how tall due to the fact she was sitting in a chair and the entire area behind the desk was raised up slightly so that she would be at eye level despite the fact that she was sitting down. She had long, brown, slightly wavy hair which looked to hang down to about her stomach. She was wearing a white top unbuttoned to the point that I could see she was proudly displaying some cleavage, though comparably speaking it didn’t run quite nearly as deep as her employer’s. She had some small black glasses on behind which I could see brown eyes.

“In about fifteen minutes, if you could bring up some water, I would appreciate it.”

“Of course! I’ll be up in fifteen minutes!” Patricia bubbled. She looked back and forth between us, seemingly unsure as to whether to ask me a question or not.

“Hi, I’m John,” I spoke confidently, “I’ll have a water as well, if that’s alright Patricia?” I asked.

“Of course, ma’…sir!” It was understandable that the rarely used pronoun “sir” was one she didn’t pull out of the old verbal closet very often. In fact, I had been mistakenly called “ma’am” several times in my life, which never ceased to amuse me.

“Thanks!”

“See you in fifteen.” Alex said as she led the way towards the elevator.

“This is a very nice face for your business,” I said casually to her as we walked.

“Thank you, it is the face of many businesses that operate out of our building,” she looked at me as she spoke, “Patricia does such an excellent job representing each and every one of them as she is the first person both their, and our, customers and clients see.”

I shot a quick glance back at Patricia to catch her trying to focus on her computer screen, but she was smiling and was evidently very pleased at the praise she was receiving from Alex.

As we approached the elevator Alex asked me a question, “So. What made you decide to apply here at the Rad Hatter?”

I looked at her, then looked around pointedly, “Who wouldn’t want to work for such a prestigious establishment?”

She turned slightly and looked at me out of the corner of her eye as we waited for the elevator door. She seemed a bit disappointed in my answer.

“But… that’s not why I applied.” She looked at me again with interest and waited for me to continue. “I applied for a few reasons, but the foremost one is that I have grown up in a family where we bonded over clothing.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. I waited. After a few seconds her curiosity won a small battle and she said, “That sounds… weird. Considering…” She gestured to me.

I chuckled. “Well, we’re not exactly a normal family, considering.” I gestured to myself as I thought smugly, “She doesn’t even know the half of it… and she probably never will!”