by notl33t » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:27 am
I promised an update, and an update I will give! I want to thank all of the Kittens who have been/are/were encouraging me as I put this fic out. There's no W/T togetherness in this chapter, but when there will be, I'll warn people. I'm not expecting this story to head into NC-17 territory, but if it does, I'll give readers fair warning.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Purely for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter 3: Working Stiff
Life, Willow had decided, was good. More than good. More than all right. The only thing that needed to happen was a check-in call from Xander and Buffy in the next week. The immediate concern was Tetris, and namely, making it past Level 13 before 6pm rolled around.
“Willow! Good, you haven’t left yet.” Bob ambled through Willow’s door towards Willow’s desk.
“Hey Bob. What’s up?” Willow glanced up from her third monitor, closing Tetris just before Bob got to her side. “Have you got a problem?” Willow tried to sound cheerful and helpful, but Bob had already stopped by three times this week, each time with an increasingly flimsier excuse to talk.
“I know its Friday, but could you program this module for me? I just didn’t have the time to figure out the interface this week.”
“No, Bob. I’m packing up. Maybe I can do it for you next week, if I have the time.” Willow tried to emphasize the if while shutting down her computer.
“Please? I really need it ready for next week Monday.” Bob pleaded.
“Then you should probably work on it this weekend, Bob.” Willow stated while slipping her PowerBook into her messenger style pack. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“But . . . you’re a really amazing team member, I just thought . . . ”
“I have to close up my office now,” Willow waved her arms around and included her now blank monitors for good measure “Good night, Bob.”
Bob left sadly, tail down. Willow shook her head and slung her pack over her right shoulder, adjusting the bulk of it at her left hip. Willow had already completed her assignments for the meeting next Monday by Thursday, but that didn’t mean she was feeling generous. Her assignments were hard enough as it is, and if she was lucky, she would get to design and not just code monkey the new GUI for the computer attached to the new scanners. Willow kept her head down as she closed her office door.
“Weirdo,” she muttered under her breath.
“Yes, yes he is.” Shaun started, smiling indulgently when Willow jumped half a foot into the air. “Ah, Willow, before you go, could we just have a second to catch up?”
“Sure thing, boss.” Willow threw in a big grin for good measure. “Fire away.”
“Did you complete the work I gave you last week?”
“Yes. I emailed it to you.”
“Did you complete the presentation for next week’s meeting?”
“Yes, I emailed it to you.” Willow scowled. “Do you check your email?”
“Sometimes, and I’m not done with you yet.” Shaun raised his right eyebrow. “Feisty.”
“It’s all that California sun, sir.”
“Noted. You’re still a great employee, so far, even with that California strangeness.” Shaun cleared his throat, and stared at the wall above her head. “With that said, Bob’s taken an interest in you. The fact that you both graduated from Stanford means that you are the closest person to him in the office. And he must be getting persistent if he’s trying to get to know you at 6pm on a Friday.”
Willow, uncomfortable at his words, shifted her gaze to her feet.
“He tends to pester a girl in the office until they either scream at him or jump on him, which makes it difficult in general because we’ve got, well, we’ve got fifteen employees total.” Shaun paused for maximum impact. “If you could let him down quickly or decide to date him quickly, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Yeah, well, I think dating shouldn’t be done in the workplace. Not that I haven’t, I mean, I’ve dated people I worked with, but, I think, well, it’s just . . .” Willow waved her right hand around indecisively and decided to point out the door. “He’s really not my type. Really. At all. First off, he’s a --”
“Well, in any case, if you could tell him that, I’d appreciate it.” Shaun turned to go, cheeks blazing.
“Actually, boss?”
“Yes, Willow?”
“You’re my boss, right?” Willow began.
“Yes, I am.” Shaun waited patiently for Willow to start again.
“Well, he makes me feel . . . uncomfortable. It’s not that he isn’t nice and attractive, he is. He’s been really bugging me, you know? I can’t seem to work on something for two hours and then he’s there, all ‘you’re such a wonderful team member, Willow,’ ‘you’re so pretty, Willow’ and all the while I’m just thinking ‘Why won’t this dork just ask me out?’ and ‘Why can’t he just leave me alone?’ and he’s been like this for two weeks . . .” Willow trailed off thoughtfully.
“I’m your boss.” Shaun cut in with a measure of decorum.
“Yes, yes you are.” Willow put on her best resolve face. “So can’t you tell him something?”
“I’ll try to say something.” Shaun sighed. “This is a small company. Word gets around fast and, . . . well, it can get complicated. I’ll say something and keep you posted.”
“Thanks boss.” Willow smiled gratefully and headed out, her mind churning.
“Have a good weekend, Willow.” Shaun set his sights on Bob, who looked quite sheepish packing up in his office.