"Ty," Hubert said. Hubert worked in human resources. He was the same guy who first interviewed Ty for the job. Except for the fact that Hubert seemed to be void a personality, Ty liked him fine.
"Hey Hubert," Ty said. "Is it still a non-stop party with you?" Hubert looked blank for a moment, realized it was a joke and let out a single 'ha' while somehow managing to look like he didn't know how to express humor.
"This is Kera," Hubert said. "Corporate told us to get someone working with you, so this is her."
Kera looked like an incredibly sexy young twenty five year old doing everything in her power to conceal said sexiness. She wore a gray pant suit that left everything to the imagination save for her adorable face sporting Lisa Loeb glasses and a conservative short blonde haircut.
"I look forward to working for you," Kera said sticking out her hand.
"For me?" Ty said. "I think you work with me.."
"Actually, corporate said to make sure she is your subordinate so we could call you a supervisor and give you a raise with your promotion," Hubert said dryly.
"Oh," Ty said shaking Kera's hand. "Okay then."
"I trust you can take it from here," Hubert said. "Show her around. Get her acclimated?" Ty nodded, but felt shock on the inside. His plan had worked for more than he realized. Hubert nodded back and left.
"I trust ole 'personality-man' Hubert already exhausted you with jokes and tales of adventure," Ty said.
"Yeah," Kera said laughing. "He makes Al Gore look like Robin Williams." Ty laughed with her.
This girl just got here and already she was great. It had been six weeks since Ty's encounter with his regional boss and he realized he'd never specified what type of candidate they should hire. It was just his lucky break they happen to choose a young hottie with a great personality.
"This is your desk," Ty said pointing to the only other desk in the room that faced the opposite wall. "For the last two years I just had a cubicle at the end of the hall, but when they decided to hire you they gave us this room to be our office. We have to share it, but it's cool. We can listen to music or whatever."
Kera sat at her desk and pulled out a picture of a black and white Labrador. She turned back to Ty.
"You didn't know you'd be my boss?" Kera said.
"I asked them to hire someone because I thought my workload was too much for one person," Ty said. "I didn't realize they were promoting me too."
"Ever been in charge of someone else before?" she said. Ty couldn't help but smile in his attempts to styfle a laugh. She had no idea what she'd just asked. Recently he'd been in charge of a lot of people.
"Never at a job," Ty said. "I was vice president of the Spanish Club in high school."
They day went by nicely. Ty showed her how to process claims and split the work load evenly between them. He could have given her all of the work while he goofed off, but he dismissed that thought. It felt wrong to even consider. However, as the work day ended, Ty couldn't resist the urge to get to know his coworker in a different way though.
"Your first day's almost over," Ty said. "As your boss, I think you did a great job."
"Thanks, Mr. Baker," she said.
"Let's keep it on a first name basis," Ty said without realizing he just gave her a command.
"Yes, Ty," she responded quickly.
"What are your plans for the rest of the evening?" Ty said.
"Go home and unpack some more," she said.
"You just get back from a trip or something?" Ty said.
"Just moved into a new place," she said. "Two days ago. The only thing I have set up so far is my bed and some of my clothes and bathroom stuff."
"Where'd you come from?" Ty said.
"I was living with my ex boyfriend," she said somewhat embarrassed.
"You mean, he was your boyfriend and then you broke up with him and moved out?" Ty said.
"No," she said. "We broke up six months ago. But we were under lease and neither one of us could afford to break it. He and I both paid a very small amount to share a studio. I had to borrow money to move. That's why I'm so thankful for this job. Without a full time job I wasn't going to be able to pay my rent and pay back my parents. But I just had to get out of there. It was so miserable."
"Six months in a studio with someone you broke up with?" Ty said. "Dude, that's awful. So sorry to hear that. How do you date other people when you're coming home to your ex?"
"I didn't," she said. "I thought it would be rude to not come home some night because I was with a guy, so I just didn't date. And besides, I wasn't ready to see anyone else. It was a pretty hard break up."
"Sounds like it," Ty said.
"Wow," Kera said. "I just met you. You're my boss. I don't think I should be telling you all my personal details. I apologize. It's just that I feel so comfortable around you..."
"It's okay," Ty said cutting her off. "Don't worry about it. Sounds like you don't have any kitchen stuff ready to make dinner with."
"Figured I'd just order a pizza, listen to some music, get high and unpack," she said. "Alone." There was something about the way she said 'alone' that endeared her to Ty in a way that was different from any woman he'd been with so far.
"You don't count your dog as company?" Ty said with a smile.
"He's at my parents' house," Kera said. "They have a lot of land on their property so it's better that he has a place to run around in. I couldn't keep him living in a studio."
Ty's heart sank in his chest. He felt a real rapport with this girl. She made him want to protect her more than just fuck her.
"I wanna ask you a question," Ty said. "And I want you to know that it's totally your choice. Don't answer the way I want you to because I'm your boss."
He didn't think she'd let the fact that he supervised her factor into her choice. But he did think that his brainwashing ability would affect her. He hoped that he wasn't actually controlling her. Rather, he wanted her to answer based on how she felt.
"Okay," she said. "What is it?"
"What would you say to the plan of me buying the pizza and helping you with those boxes?" he said. She smiled.
"Is there a policy on fraternizing with your boss at this company?" she said.
"I doubt it," Ty said. "Hubert and I go to the club at least three nights a week." They both laughed.
"Okay," she said. "Why not?"
Two hours later, Ty and Kera sat on the floor of her one bedroom apartment with their backs against the wall munching down on a slice of pizza. Arecord player sat in the corner playing 'Those Were the Days' by Cream.
"Thanks for the pizza," Kera said. "I don't get my first paycheck for two weeks. Glad to have one less thing on the credit card."
"It's my pleasure," Ty said. "Don't know that I helped much with the unpacking."
"Hey, the record player totally counts," she said. "Only two billion more boxes to go." She sat her pizza down and gave Ty a look like a private eye would give a suspect. "Ummm...this may be a phenomenally bad idea," she said, "But I do have one thing I can offer you."
She pulled a small tin out of her purse and produced a large tightly wrapped joint. Ty laughed a bit.
"I see," he said.
"Am I fired?" she said. "Does the company drug test?"
"You're safe," he said. "They make you sign something, but they never actually test."
She nodded and lit the joint before taking a few large puffs after which she offered it to Ty. He hadn't smoked a lot in his life, but he didn't see a reason not to and the night was going so well. It was the happiest he'd felt in a while.
"Fuck it," Ty said taking the joint and inhaling.
They continued to listen to Kera's classic rock collection while managing to talk and laugh, but not crack into anymore boxes. After an hour, both the joint and the rest of the pizza were gone.
"I don't know that I've ever been this stoned," Ty said feeling the room swirl around him in a beautiful symphony of sounds and colors.
"Had to happen some time," she said also obviously stoned. "I mean, if it wasn't tonight, then it happened a different night. Like, before this you were the highest you'd ever been at some point, right?"
He wanted to answer, but it took him a moment to unpack what she'd just said and in that time, it became very funny. He began laughing like a crazy person. It didn't take long for Kera to join in. They both laughed loud and hard until they collapsed into each other's arms. Their faces closed in on each other with only a few inches of space between.
"Did you want something, boss?" she said playfully. It turned Ty on even amidst his THC haze.