She knocked at the office door and waited for the male voice within from within to give her permission to enter. Carefully she carried in the cup of tea, balanced on its saucer.
"Ah thank you Miss Davis" said the man sitting behind the desk. Miss Davis set the tea down before him and stood back, awaiting instructions from her new boss.
"I hope the tea is up to standard, Miss Davis" he said, looking directly at her.
"I..er..hope so..er...James..er... Mr....."
"Call me Sir, Miss Davis. I find that formality and rules are best in the office" he replied.
"And now..this tea, Strong, dark and one sugar I hope?"
Miss Davis looked forlornly at the rather pale, weak beverage she had provided for Mr Carr and she knew right then that she had also forgotten the sugar.
"Err, I hope it's to your liking....Sir." she replied.
He looked suspiciously at the cup and then slowly took a sip. His face wrinkled in disgust at the taste of the tea in his mouth and he spat the tea straight back into the cup.
"Horrible!" he exclaimed. "You have only been here a short time Miss Davis but surely even you could make tea?"
"I'm sorry, sir...I will try better next time."
" If I'm honest Miss Davis, I really think you need something that will remind you how tea should be made. All in all your performance over the past few weeks has been poor and I think you need a reminder of what standards I require. As you may already be aware, I do have very exacting standards and like to be in control of everything that happens here. I will punish those staff members who do not live up to my standards."
Miss Davis' face had become increasingly worried at this speech from her boss and almost unconsciously, she backed away from him.
"Come here!",he said to her sternly. "Don't run away, you will thank me afterwards when you can remember exactly how to please me"
Exactly after what, was not immediately clear. However, Mr Carr stood up and walked over to Miss Davis. As he stood close by her she could not prevent herself thinking how attractive he was, despite the fact that she was in awe of him, indeed, slightly scared of him.
"Miss Davis you need to know who is in charge in this office and that whatever I say, you must carry out to the letter"
"Of course sir..but I do sir"
"I don't think that's the case Miss Davis. Would you do anything to prove your loyalty and obedience?"
"Of course, sir!" she exclaimed.
He looked directly at her. "Very well, to prove it I need to test you"
"Anything sir....I promise"