Substitute for Lawson

2

"Monday's a rough day," Damian muttered to himself, letting out a long sigh.

As always, when entering the company building, he pulls a charming smile on his face, greeting employees in return. Dressed to the nines, friendly, polite, but who knew how shitty he was right now. After all, in the morning in bed with a stranger, he was met with a hangover. Now he clutched a bottle of mineral water in his hand, took a sip from time to time, and could not even imagine how much work was going on in the office. In the elevator, the young girls from the finance department were making eyes at him, as they always did. Standing behind the guy, they whispered, giggled and, one even managed to take a picture as if unnoticed on the phone's camera, a rear view, because the wide back, elastic ass and hips could be seen even through an expensive suit. Of course, he knew about this, but he pretended not to notice, just smiled smugly as he adjusted his tie around his neck.

Damian drained the bottle of water as he got out of the elevator, but it wasn't enough. As he walked into the waiting room, he accurately threw the empty plastic into the trash can, thereby making his secretary jump and jump from her seat.

"Good morning, Mr. Lawsen," the girl says, and he just nods.

He winces, feeling a dryness in his throat and an unpleasant pain in his temples. "Brittany, get me a bottle of water and... an analgin pill." With that, he slams the door of his office shut behind him, and the girl doesn't even have time to answer. Well, in principle, she was already used to the fact that her boss was already a big water drinker, and for some reason he could drink even two liters at a time.

The office was completely cleaned, even the desk was neatly stacked. On Friday night, when he left it, the place was a mess. A pile of folders with documents, contracts, half of which he took home with him, crumpled paper, broken pencils and pens are scattered all over the floor. It was always like this, every day in Damian's office was like a typhoon, but in the morning, as if by magic, there was perfect cleanliness, so perfect that it made my eyes ripple. The cleaners had to learn how to clean his office so that the next day he didn't have to rush around looking for the documents he needed, loudly swearing at the entire floor on the mountain of cleaners.

He takes off his jacket and drapes it over the back of the throne, loosens his tie, and goes to the window. It's like a tradition to take a close look at the view from the window at the beginning of the working day. This lasts at least 5 minutes, after which the secretary enters the office. In the hands of the girl are several folders, a bottle of water and a package of painkillers.

— What is it?" - A man monitors the movement of his subordinate, who puts all the things that she brought on the table.

"Like what?" He raises his eyebrows in surprise, allowing himself a certain impertinence. She is clearly surprised by her boss's question. "By the way, the trainees will arrive in half an hour.

"What interns?" - Frowns the deputy approaching the secretary.

— What do you mean, which ones?" You asked me to remind you and send them to you! — The girl exclaims, still surprised by the boss's confusion.

"Ah..." he stops, his mouth hanging open, trying to remember something from the end of last week. He lets out a long sigh, pressing the right thought into his mind. He'd forgotten all about it.

— You don't need anything else?" - The girl is about to leave, turning to the door, to which the guy nods in the affirmative.

"Dismissed." He plops down in his chair, picks up the folder Brittany brought him, finds the files of the new interns, and starts reading.

He was interested in these interns, namely because they belonged to the legal department. After all, at the very beginning, he was related to him, before a friend-boss made him his deputy.

Hmm, three girls, two guys. Resumes, questionnaires, documents, and letters of recommendation. Looking at their photos attached to their personal files, he found himself thinking that the two girls were very nice. Just like him.

***

The painkiller he'd just taken was finally working, and Damian relaxed into his immediate duties. I plunged so much that I again forgot about the supervision of newly minted employees.

Returning from the conference room, the man went into the reception area, smiled and quickly wrote a message on his phone, not paying attention to anyone, was about to open the door, but he was called out.

"Mr. Lawsen," the receptionist hissed, flying up from her seat. He raised his head questioningly, meeting the gaze of four pairs of eyes. Two guys and two girls.

"Interns? He asks a silly question with a snap of his fingers, to which they actively nod their heads. Oh, what obedient puppies. I think it's time for training. "Well, come on in. He sighs, grabbing the doorknob and letting them pass in front of him. He glances at Brittany out of habit before closing the office door behind him.

Speaking of which. This was the one girl Damian Lawson couldn't possibly have anything to do with. And all this is the brilliant Lukas Kim, who picked up a secretary for a friend so that neither he nor the girl could consider each other as potential partners. Assistant secretary Brittany Mitchell was a married lesbian. Here is such an embarrassment.

The four trainees were standing in a row, waiting to hear what they were going to say. Trying to make a good impression on the manager, all four of them looked great. The two young men were quite serious, which was not the case with the girls. They were smiling shyly, and it seemed that they had already fallen under the spell of the heartbreaker, or maybe they were already informed about what the deputy general was like, so they were already trying to please them from the very beginning. Damian, re-opening their personal files, decided to take a roll call and get to know each other. So, there were only five personal files, and there were only four in front of him. Hmm, one girl is missing.

"Ah —" Damian started, then cleared his throat and decided he'd ask about it later. "Hilary Bradley," the man read, looking up at the girls. The one on the left smiled sweetly, raising her hand like a student.

"It's me," she bites her lip as Damian gives her a welcoming smile.

"Briana Edva —" before he can finish, the girl immediately interrupts him, raising her hand.

"It's me! She hums with a smug grin, as if trying to attract more attention to herself.

— And here's the third one… Emily Fox - " Looks at her file, frowns, and looks up again.

"And she's not here today." Briana blurts out, her winning smile still on her lips. — We don't know where she is.

"Um, I see..." Mr. Lawsen dismisses the girl's case, starting to roll the boys.

***

The girl's day did not go well from the very beginning. The alarm didn't go off while I was going to burn my favorite blouse with an iron, and when I called a taxi, thinking that it would be faster than on public transport, I got into a terrible traffic jam.

- What a tin, - the girl whined at the bottom of her voice, looking at her wristwatch. - I didn't have time to get a job, as I'm already late…

— What?" The taxi driver said, thinking the girl was talking to him.

— Nothing. - The girl immediately blurts out, a little embarrassed.

She is already too late, now she can only pray that she will be understood and forgiven for the first time, or not. After all, this is not an ordinary medium-sized firm, but the British branch of one of the leading construction companies in South Korea. And after all, when she got a call after the interview, saying that she was suitable, Emily was insanely happy, but in the end, on the first day something went wrong.

Less than six months later, the girl finally gets to the firm's office, pays the taxi driver, and straightens up to look at the huge office building. Oh, my God. Her small hands start to fog up with excitement, and she bites her lips painfully and tries to exhale. As if, as in that fable of the Russian writer " ... in the goiter the breath was stolen...", but since she was not a representative of birds, what kind of goiter could we talk about? Then the thyroid gland? Or... well, it doesn't matter, as long as it felt like that. The girl adjusts the strap of a small purse on her shoulder and exhales, quickly crosses the parking lot.

And it would have been all right if it hadn't been for another setback that had been haunting her since morning. The girl twists her leg out of the blue and falls straight to the asphalt, making a muffled squeak.

"Damn it! She cursed, wincing at the pain in her ankle. — What kind of day is this?" - She looks around and realizes that no one will help her, in addition to this, she notices that the small heel on her left shoe is simply broken. - Well done Emily, you're just a winner in life! - He takes the damaged shoe off his foot and puts the heel to the place where it flew off, naively believes that he can return it to its place.

— Can I help you?" A pleasant female voice is heard, making Emily flinch and turn her head up. A young girl is standing in front of her, her eyes boring into her worriedly. — Can you stand up?"

"I..." she was a little confused, but instantly realizing what position she was in, she jumps sharply, but involuntarily winces when the pain in her ankle becomes stronger. — Ouch…

"Let me help you… Should you go to the hospital? - The stranger groans, offering her her shoulder.

"No," I said. Emily blurts out, startled, her gaze shifting to the building. — I'm already late, and if I don't show up at all, I'll be fired right away on my first day!" So... I'll go…

"You want to go there, too?" - The girl smiles softly, supporting Amy by the waist — - Well, then we go one way! All the more reason for me to accompany you. All right?"

Fox sighs in frustration, and has no idea how he's going to work in just one shoe.

The girls enter through automatic doors in the building, after which they are met by a security guard. He greets her politely, but looks at her curiously, which makes her blush because she looks so shabby this morning.

"This is the new girl," the girl answers the guard's silent question. He nods and, without presenting any kind of pass, lowers the turnstile in front of them.

The girls walk on, heading for the elevators, and the employees who pass them politely say good morning to the polite stranger, who, just in time to show concern, helped Emily up. "She is well known here..." — the trainee assessed the situation to herself, and limped on.

— How do you know I'm new?" "The girl is asking a very stupid question, but it wasn't surprising what state she's in right now.

"I have some sneakers here," the stranger doesn't answer the question, but turns her appraising gaze to the broken shoes. — Can I borrow it, what size do you have?"

"Thirty-eight, but you didn't answer…

— You said yourself that today is your first day, and you look scared... - The girl grins, pressing the elevator call. "What department are you from?"

Emily frees herself from the employee's arms, tries to straighten up and not act like a frightened dog. — From a legal entity…

"Oh," she nods, satisfied. - How lucky, we are from the same department! - He smiles all over her mouth, making the new girl relax at least for a moment, because the fact that she met a girl from the same department where she herself needed to go is a stroke of luck. First good luck of the day.

"Emily Fox," she says, summoning all her courage, introducing herself as confidently as possible and extending her hand in greeting.

"Alice Kim —" as the girls shake hands, the elevator doors open. "Nice to meet you."