Victoria sat at her desk in her office with her head supported in her hand, her eyes half shut and her eyelids growing heavier by the second as she stared on at the computer screen. Her other hand tapped on the mouse to dismiss one candidate after the next. She shut her eyes tight, rubbed the bridge of her nose and let out an exasperated sigh before leaning back in her chair and clicking through another bio after skimming through it. She turned to the document left on her desk and grimaced at it as if to place the blame on the paper itself.
She found it laying on her desk when she came in the morning of and was pleased to find that she was going to be getting a promotion soon. What she had been less thrilled about was the requirements of this promotion. She would receive a promotion to the rank of General and with that she'd need to choose a Lieutenant to act as her second in command, bodyguard, and assistant. This was common practice among the Canopy Security, a private military contractor, as the higherups thought it instilled a sense of comradery among their soldiers. They preferred having their higher-ranking officers choose someone they trust over someone who just did well on a few tests.
Additionally, it showed the recruits that it didn't matter who they were, why they were here, or where they came from. So long as someone felt you could get a job done, anyone could go from the lowest rank of a Recruit to that of a Lieutenant before their first year had even finished. With this new rank, of course, came responsibilities, many of them far out weighting the bragging rights and authority that came with the title of becoming a General's second in command. Because of this, many chose to forgo the promotion in favor choosing a different path, one that came with far less stress.
Right now, though, that was exactly what Victoria had been experiencing. She let out another exasperated sigh and clapped her hands against her face to palm across her cheeks and rub her eyes.
"One more and we take a break for a bit," Victoria said to herself. The difficulty in finding a Lieutenant wasn't a matter of trust, but a matter of skill with the soldiers and students she had to pick from. Many of them had potential; given a watchful eye and a stern hand, they'd be the pride of the Canopy Security. At this moment however, it was just that, potential. Victoria had already decided that she was not looking for a homework assignment. She needed someone that could act on their own, didn't need prior or further training or have their hand held, she needed someone like You.
Victoria's brows raised as she looked over your bio. You were a fourth-year student at the local military academy, the very same Victoria attended herself, but still only held the rank of recruit. You were twenty-two years old, in the academy since you were eighteen but from the comments of your peers, you looked for any way for someone to kick you out. Your teachers and commanding officers constantly described you as obstinate. More said you had a problem with authority. It had also been a running joke among the officers and teaches that they were placing bets as to when the head master would finally get sick of your shenanigans and kick you out. It was a joke Victoria did not find funny.
You had your own merit, that was plain to anyone who saw your bio. More than once you came close to setting records in combat simulations, sparring and physical training. A few of them surpassing even Victoria's own personal records. Victoria entertained the thought further and further the more she read into your bio. With your hard-headed nature, you'd no doubt be a project and a half. But Victoria thought that if she could manage to get you to accept, then perhaps she could show the recruits that Canopy doesn't believe in lost causes, perhaps even show the other officers that a specific touch was all you needed.
Victoria smirked and scoffed at these thoughts before clicking on the bio to select you as the candidate. There would be no need to review this as many of Victoria's fellow officers knew better than to question her choices. With that, she sent off an email to you, keeping it intentionally cryptic as to not draw attention to you or herself and just asking you to meet her later this week.
~Days later~
When you received the email asking for a Specialist Dowell to see you personally, you thought this was going to be a disciplinary hearing if not an outright court martial. Then again, if that were the case then why was it phrased as a request? Regardless, you and the Specialist decided on a time to meet in her office. You had already started heading towards her quarters in no real hurry, knowing you were already a few minutes late and didn't see a point in running and getting your stuffy uniform stained with sweat.
When you arrived at the door to Victoria's office, you gave her door a firm knock and the usual query for permission to enter. You stood there, waited for a moment, sighed and rolled your eyes and knocked again. You asked if anyone had been in there and kept knocking just till Victoria caught your attention by coming up beside you. She held a cup of coffee in one hand and regarded you with a raised brow.
"I'm surprised you're here this early, I thought you'd be later." Victoria droned and opened her door, proceeding into her office as she directing you to take a seat.
When you murmured something under your breath, Victoria's head shot around to regard you with an inquisitive glare. With that, you thought better of repeating what you said, just this once.
As you took a seat, Victoria perched herself onto the front of her desk after she set her coffee mug down. Victoria leaned back where she sat on the desk, her hands held behind her to support herself. She held you in her gaze for some time and you had to fight your own instincts to not allow a shiver to shoot down your spine. Furthermore, you also had to resist the urge to make another comment about the situation at hand. You bit your tongue, drew in a deep breath and issued an already exasperated sigh as you leaned back in your chair.
You asked why you were here exactly and if this was meant to be yet another pep talk, Victoria could just save her breath. What surprised you after you said this, was the smirk that played on Victoria's lips. It was slight, like you had to know it was there to even find it.
It was around this time that you noticed the uniform Victoria had been wearing was a deviation of the standard officer uniform. You remembered that she found herself in a pair of slacks, but this time around, she took to wearing a pencil skirt that formed around her hips, thighs and waist. Your eyes traced from her ankles swathed in white leggings all the way up her long slender legs till they filled out to her full thighs hugged so tight in that skirt she'd been wearing. When Victoria pulled herself up onto her desk further and crossed her legs over one another. You were sure she had noticed your gawking and found yourself unable to look her in the eyes. Perhaps out of a sense of self-preservation.
When you did catch a periphery glance at her face, you came to notice her full lips curling more into a trammeled smile than a smirk. Victoria scoffed under her breath, placed her hands at her knee and rolled her shoulders back to sit straight and proper.
"You seem distracted Recruit; something on your mind?" Victoria asked, seemingly refusing to answer your other question while she wore a knowing smirk about her face. At her own inquiry however, you did look up for a moment to lock your eyes with hers before turning your head away at the feel of your heart skipping a beat in your chest.
In the back of your mind, you berated yourself. There was no reason for you to be acting like this, she was just another stuffy recruiter in another stupid uniform from a pretentious private military contractor. Your teeth grit inside your skull as you turned back to Victoria, feeling emboldened if not for the fact that you still wore a faint blush on your cheeks.
You asked, more so,
demanded
why you were called here. It was obvious you felt your time was being wasted here or perhaps you were part of a joke that you were not privy to.
"I'd like to make you an offer Recruit, I'll spare you the talk about trying to get you on the right track or trying to get you to focus and just say this; I want you as my lieutenant." Victoria herself felt the air chill around the two of you after you said it and noticed a hint of color wash from your face.
You asked her to repeat herself, perhaps even tripping over your words at this request.
"I, want you, to become, my Lieutenant." Victoria explained again, her words and pauses deliberate. She hopped from her perch on the desk and began to circle around you; taking a gloved hand and grazing the tips of her fingers along your shoulders as she circled behind you. Your breath hitched in your throat at this before you exhaled and tried to calm your frayed nerves. "What do you say?" Victoria asked as she placed her hands at your shoulders, standing behind you now.
After a moment to compose yourself, you squared your shoulders and asked her why; of all the students, officers and what have you, why did she decide to choose you?