Exceeding Expectations
Nicole's office was one of seven that lined the outside of the cubicle farm for Starlight Publishing. Of the seven, she chose the smallest. She felt it received the best sunlight without heating the space up to an unbearable degree. As the Director for New Procurement, she really just managed a small team of book scouts, she was always on the lookout for Starlight Publishing's direction into new genres. Predominantly publishing and marketing for Young Adult, children's, and small print graphic novels, Starlight was pushing to break into New Adult and Romance. This drive in a new direction had her team scouring and receiving the self-published titles out there as well as asking for manuscripts from newer or unheard of authors.
Because of this, Nicole was busy during most of the day, but always made sure to be available to her team whenever they needed her. In fact, her door was only ever closed during lunch, if she was in a remote meeting with her older clients, or if she had to have a private conversation with one of the "subs." This was short for "subordinates," and wasn't necessarily a derogatory term, even if it described the employees in the cubicle farms, since this was a term they gave themselves. To be fair, the term was used when she was hired as a "sub" nearly five years ago. Nevertheless, she was now one of "The Seven" (also a term given by the employees), having worked her way up and presenting some innovative approaches to finding new talent. Why the directors were never called the "doms," was curious. Regardless, Nicole and the other six directors never tried to use language that would cause division and exclude management and staff. Sometimes, it worked well. Other times it didn't- especially during mid-year reviews.
Nicole signed out on her final remote meeting of the day, taking a last look at her dark brown hair, pulled back and swirled into a bun. She brushed a few stray hairs behind her ears as Dustin Worthington lightly knocked on the doorframe to her office. She looked up to see the young man. He stood in her doorway, and with his middle finger, pushed back the glasses on his face and then ran some fingers through the side of his short, dirty blonde hair. "Are you ready, Ms. Smart?"
Nicole smiled, and motioned for him to sit. "Hey, Dustin, I am. Please sit and we can go over the last bit of your review. You already received your preliminary evaluation- did you have any questions?"
She looked at Dustin as he sort of squinted his eyes, and pursed his lips. He crossed his right leg over his left, with his right ankle laying on his left knee. She could see several colorful stripes of his sock bridging the gap between his khaki pant cuff and his dark blue shoes. She smiled outwardly while looking at Dustin- a young man caught between his raucous twenties and the seriousness of his thirties. She remembered that awkwardness all too well.
"Well, Ms. Smart, I wanted to see about maybe extending my telework situation," Dustin said, lightly drumming his fingers on his knee and shin.
Nicole let out a long sigh. "Dustin, I've already discussed your telework several times. COVID's over, and you know Starlight wants all of its employees back in the office. Believe me, if I could do it myself, I would."
"I know, Ms. Smart, but it's easier to get my work done at home- I can do it faster and longer there."
Nicole smiled inwardly at his last turn of phrase.
Dustin continued, "And I have met all of my goals and then some."
He wasn't wrong, she knew that. Not only did he meet all of his goals, he exceeded them. She had never thought about young men much, most of the time, finding them too brash, too cocky, or utterly useless in the workplace. Not only was Dustin none of those things, he didn't come off as whiny even while asking for an extension of his teleworking. In fact, there wasn't anyone, male or female, that was as productive as Dustin was at home. She looked past his thick, brown frames into his hazel eyes. "How is your father, Dustin?"
Dustin sat up a little straighter. "He comes and goes. It's easier for me to help him when he has his timeslips."
"Timeslips?"
"Sorry, that's what Pops and I call it when his dementia hits."
Nicole could see the ache in Dustin's face. She hated to see pain on his face, though she wasn't sure why. She forced a smile, "I personally have nothing against it, Dustin, but I'm going to have to sell it to Ms. Greene, and possibly up to Mr. Dunbar. And, as you well know, because he's the founder, owner, and CEO- he is the final decision maker."
"I know I'm putting you in a weird spot, Ms. Smart, and I'm sorry for that."
"Dustin," she leaned forward, pushing her breasts together ever so slightly, "if you didn't work as hard as you do, with such impressive results, we wouldn't even be entertaining the idea."
Dustin smiled wide, "Thank you, Ms. Smart- I appreciate that."
There it was. That smile.
He looked so cute like that. She felt the flush from her chest creep up her neck- was he looking at her breasts? She felt a flush from her abdomen to her core. "Okay," she exhaled, louder than she should have, "let's finish this review up and get you back out there."
Remembering, she said, "Oh! And before I forget, you got the email about the Christmas party, right?"
Dustin seemed to be distracted, staring at the cabinets behind her desk. "Um, yeah, I did."
Nicole said, "And... you are coming, right?"
"Maybe? I don't know. I don't really care for big crowds where I don't know many people."
"Well, you'll know me, Ms. Greene, Sarah, Don and Dawn, Harris, and Lena. That's what, seven people?"
"Almost a baseball team," Dustin chuckled.
Nicole knew she couldn't literally feel the vibrations of the sound Dustin made. So what the hell was she feeling? "Almost a baseball team," she laughed. "Although we would probably get hammered by anyone we played."
"So might as well get hammered at a party?"
Nicole did laugh at that. "Something like that. It would mean a lot more than you think if you came."
Dustin nodded. "Okay, I'd love to come."
"Sounds like a plan, then." Nicole giggled inside again, accompanied by another flush creeping up her neck and down her abdomen. What the fuck was happening?
****
"As he left Nicole's office, Dustin ran into Don, the newest member of The Seven."
"Hey, Mr. Diaz, how are you," Dustin said.
"Dustin, it's Don, y'know. None of this 'Mr. Diaz-stuff, yeah?" Don brought his arm up in a finger gun, "Unless you get in trouble! Then you'd have to answer to me!"
Dustin chuckled. "You're the only thing keeping me in line, sir!"
"Sir?!"
"Don."
"Better."
"See you later, I'm gonna go get some work done."
"Good for you, Dustin."
Nicole watched the entire interaction with a grin. Don, wearing a green cardigan with a large white snowflake on it, stared after Dustin walking away. She watched the man shake his head and snicker. He said, "That boy is weirdly attractive."
Nicole thought about it. Don wasn't wrong. There wasn't anything stellar about the way Dustin looked. But the way he was put together somehow made everything else work. She even caught several hushed conversations among other women in the office talking about Dustin. Even her mentor, Mrs. Greene had said as much.
"I'm pretty sure you can't call someone in their late 20s a boy. Or girl for that matter," Nicole said.
"I call you 'girl' all the time." Don sat down in the chair previously occupied by Dustin.
"Certainly shouldn't call a woman in her mid-40s a 'girl' either. But you get a pass."
Don raised his eyebrows. "So? Is he coming to the Christmas event?"
Nicole shrugged. "I think so? He didn't want to at first but I think I sold him on it. He's not really into big crowds."
