"Well fuck you too then!"
The outburst rang out across the floor even through the glass door separating Claudia's office from the main area. It caused a collective flinch to pass through the office workers. One or two of them shot a sympathetic look to the brunette sitting at the desk closest to their boss's workspace.
Linda Reed had been Claudia Braddock's personal assistant for nearly two years now. There were plenty of people who had worked at the advertising agency for longer, but nobody had lasted as long as Linda had in her position. Nobody was exactly sure what the record was, but the general consensus was that besides Linda, the one that had lasted longest was Dave, a young man hired right out of college. He had lasted three months.
Somehow Linda had managed to last. The fact that she had still caused amazement among the other staff. But it seemed like not a day went by that she wasn't the first one in, even before miss Braddock, and she often stayed up late with her boss as well. And no matter how often that happened, she was always her cheerful, almost chipper self the following morning. It made some of her coworkers suspect that Linda had a field bed and a spare change of clothes stashed somewhere in the office. And judging from this particular outburst, it would be another late night.
As Linda had expected her boss all but burst through the glass door a moment later. As one, all the heads in the room snapped to face her. It wasn't hard to see why. The woman radiated power.
After nearly twenty years in the advertising business, the last eight of which were spent in charge of her own agency, Claudia had learned to carry herself with an authority that was undeniable. Sure, she dressed the part, all pencil skirts and silk blouses and immaculate salon haircuts and heels that would leave lesser women begging off after just an hour walking around on them, but it was more than looks. Her voice, her body language, everything about how she presented herself made it obvious that she was the woman in charge regardless of what company she was in.
"Simmons, Wilson, you can go home for the day. DeSanto isn't happy with your work."
The two colleagues indicated by that shared an uncertain look across fron their joined desks before nodding, quietly slinking out of the room. Neither of them were sure if they'd still have a job in the morning. Judging from the exact nature of their boss's outburst moments earlier their odds were about fifty/fifty.
It could have just been that Claudia was pissed off in general, in which case they'd probably be dragging their portfolios around to other agencies by the end of the week. But the phrasing of her outburst meant that there was a chance she was simply pissed off at the client, in which case they'd be spared the brunt of Claudia's fury. Either way, the looks their colleagues gave them as they headed up to the elevator was pure pity. Sure, both men were young and talented and could probably bounce back, but still, nobody enjoyed the sight of their colleagues possibly getting fired on the spot. There but for the grace of God and all that.
They had almost made it to the elevator when there was a rush of footsteps behind them, accompanied by the predictable 'Hold the door!'
In spite of the fact that there was a good chance they had just gotten fired the men by the elevator still felt a pang of sympathy for Linda. After all, they might have been out of a job, but she was the one whose job it was going to be to stop Mount Braddock from erupting further.
They exchanged awkward glances as Linda brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Sorry..." she smiled, slightly out of breath. "I'm sure this can be worked out..."
The two men looked back and forth until the younger one finally spoke up. "If you say so Lin... Will you be alright? She sounds like she's on the war path."
"Yeah, I'll be fine..." Linda smiled reassuringly. "I'm just going to pick her up a caramel latté now and make sure that Lucky Wong's will have her delivery order ready. She'll be working late again tonight."
The two men exchanged glances again. They had once overheard Linda place the order over the phone. It took her nearly three minutes to lay out all the details, and Linda knew the order by heart It was actually impressive, in a way, and it went a long way to explaining why Linda had lasted as long as she did. Linda seemed to have an eye for always knowing exactly what Claudia needed, and going out of her way to make sure she had it.
The three exchanged awkward goodbyes outside the elevator. Linda seemed cheerfully certain of the fact that she'd be seeing both of them again tomorrow, or at least after the weekend. The other two weren't so sure, but there was something infectious about Linda's optimism. It was hard not to be impressed watching her work with a smile every day, given the kind of pressure she was under.
It was a good fifteen minutes later that Linda stepped into her boss's office. Sometimes it seemed that she was the only one of miss Braddock's employees who could step in there without feeling nervous. Claudia's office was located in the south east corner of the floor, separated from the main area by glass walls. In theory anyone could see what she was doing in there.
In practice everybody understood it to be her domain. Claudia's office was a reflection of the woman who worked in it. Several framed prints lined the wall, posters Claudia had designed early in her career. The original designs, without the clients' branding to mar them. The furniture was all borderline minimalistic, designed for function over form. There was a desk chair, and a comfortable one at that, but it had been pushed all the way to the back, resting against the window. Claudia could spend whole days working standing up.
As she was when Linda came in. She was standing at her desk, leafing through a folder. She didn't even acknowledge Linda as she came in. Linda didn't seem to mind. She just set down the cup on a glass coaster and smiled. "Your coffee, miss Braddock. And Wong's will have your usual delivery order in at a quarter to seven."
Claudia just gave the barest of nods. She had long ago stopped being surprised by her personal assistant's ability to anticipate what she needed. She hadn't even asked for the coffee, let alone told Linda that she planned to work late and that she was in a mood for Chinese food. It was downright unnerving sometimes but Claudia didn't get to where she was by looking a gift horse in the mouth.
The fact that Linda was smiling as she returned to her desk amazed her coworkers. As far as they know, she was the only person who frequently left the office smiling. Most of them would settle for leaving it looking relieved.
As the day went on there were no more outbursts, no more shouting phone calls, nobody being summoned into the office to be dressed down. As the sun slowly set the employees filed out one by one, saying their goodbyes. All except for Linda. They would have been more shocked if she did leave before any of them.
The delivery guy came and went. Linda laid out her boss's meal and left it on her desk, then went back to her own to enjoy her spicy tofu and vegetable dumplings. Another trip to the office, and the cardboard containers were quietly removed, replaced by the glass of ice water with lemon that was her boss's preferred dessert.
It was getting close to nine o' clock when Linda stepped into miss Braddock's office again. The older woman was standing by the window, looking out over the city. If any of her employees could see her then they would have been shocked that this was the same woman who watched over them like a hawk during the workday. Her high-heeled shoes were standing abandoned in the corner, and Claudia herself actually looked tired, her shoulders slumping slightly.
Linda took a deep breath. Her boss needed her. This is why she was such a good personal assistant. She would give Claudia what she needed.
Miss Braddock stiffened for only a moment when Linda's hands came to rest on her hips. Then she relaxed again, exhaling slowly. Linda leaned into her, resting her chin on her boss's right shoulder. Claudia's favourite perfume filled her nostrils, and without taking her eye off of the cityscape beyond the glass she leaned back against her personal assistant.
"It's been a long day miss Braddock..." Linda said softly.
Claudia just nodded. She reached down, her own hands, perfectly manicured, lightly stroking over Linda's. "Very long... what did you say to Wilson and Simmons?"
"Just that I'm sure that this will all work out." Linda smiled. "What happens to them isn't up to me."
Claudia nodded slowly. She always appreciated the fact that Linda never told her how to run her business. She never even threw out a cliché like "I think you were too hard on him."
After a moment in silence, with Linda still holding the woman from behind, the personal assistant spoke again. "You're tense..."
"I know..." Claudia sighed. "It's just..."
"Don't." came Linda's voice in her ear, soft but firm. "I think your workday is over, and it's time for you to relax... for us both to relax. Go get ready."
Claudia nodded, quietly untangling herself from Linda's hands. Her stocking-clad feet barely made a sound as she disappeared into the barely visible door that led to her private bathroom. She was just about to open it when Linda's soft yet authoritative voice rang out again. "No, Claudia. The employee bathroom."
"Yes Linda." Claudia sighed, leaving her office through the glass doors in stead. Going from the marble floor of her office to the carpet beyond with only her nylons to separate the soles of her feet from the surface was an odd sensation.
Going from the barely lit office to the harsh white LED lighting of the employee bathrooms made Claudia wince again. She walked over to the sink and took a moment to wash her hands and splash some cold water on her face.
The woman looking back at her in the mirror was getting old. She still looked beautiful of course, she damn well made sure of that, but the lines around her eyes and her hands were hard to miss. She dreaded the moment she'd find her first grey hair in her brush. As she unbuttoned her blouse she couldn't help but notice that she had reached the stage where no amount of spin classes could stop her from going soft around her hips and her belly. She folded up her blouse and skirt in a neat pile and rested them on the sink.
