Start at the Top

"Well, given the changes you made to Angie, you probably should make sure Director Fullmer is on board," Ronnie said. "He's the one who could fire her. And he can make sure my job is secure, if you want me to keep working here."

"The big boss it is, then!" Josh said. "No need to burn any bridges. You can always explore other career opportunities once I get a handle on this power."

"That seems wise," his mother agreed as they rode the elevator to the penthouse office.

Josh wondered if she was capable of seeing any idea he vocalized as unwise. He would have to figure that out at some point. Maybe text her if he wanted her unifluenced opinion. He took advantage of the privacy of the elevator to grope her ass and she sighed contentedly. Plenty of time to figure that out later.

Director Martin Fuller's office had it's own reception area, where a 30-ish black woman with short natural hair and gold-rimmed glasses was typing on a computer.

"Good morning, Saundra!" Ronnie greeted the woman.

"Oh! Hi, Ronnie!" she ssid, looking up with a grin. "What brings you up here? And who's this?"

"This is my son, Josh," Ronnie said. "Josh, this is Director Fullmer's personal assistant, Saundra."

"It's very nice to meet you, Saundra," Josh said. "Very, very nice."

The PA shivered and blinked at the uncany sound of his voice.

"It's...it's nice...to meet you too," she said. "Very very nice."

She shivered again.

She glanced at Ronnie, but her gaze went right back to Josh.

"Did you need something, Ronnie?" she asked without looking at her. "I'm afraid Geoff isn't available right now. Tauren was waiting for him when he got here and Beka showed up a few minutes later."

"Tell me who Tauren and Beka are, Saundra," Josh said.

"Oh! Of course! Sorry, Josh! Tauren is Mr. Fullmer's daughter from his first marriage and Beka is his third wife," Saundra explained, eager to be helpful. "I probably shouldn't gossip, but Beka doesn't think Geoff should keep paying Tauren's rent now that she graduated college and has a job. But of course, Tauren wants to stay on the gravy train! I don't know why they can't hash this out at home, but they seem to think this is the best place to argue about it, so I end up knowing way more about it than I need to!"

"You seem like a very nice person, Saundra," he said.

She blushed.

"So do you, Josh!" she said. "I'm sorry, but what's going on with your voice?"

"You like my voice, don't you Saundra?" he asked.

"I do," she admitted. "I really, really do!"

"Then you don't need to worry about why my voice is this way or why you like the sound of it so much," he said. "Just know that you really like my voice and you really like me and you really like my mom!"

"That's true, I do!" she agreed.

"So it doesn't matter why you want to do anything and everything I tell you to do," he said. "Doing what I tell you to do makes you happy, so why question it?"

"There's no reason to!" she exclaimed.

"No reason at all!" Josh agreed. "Now, I'd love to get to know you better, Saundra. But I also think I could help out your boss with his family problems. So I just need to figure out if I should let the Fullmers wait or not."