Settling down was easy enough.
It wouldn’t be uncharacteristic for her to feel and seem lost in a new city as old and busy as London. The aimlessness she felt until she was able to get into the office was very much real. The dread of having to go to work on Monday was real as well.
She was no longer allowed contact with anyone in the SIA except for the information division. That would be her lifeline for familiarity.
In her prior briefings, it was suggested to make friends so it would seem like she was truly working there. The thought made her cringe. She would rather be alone than around people unfamiliar to her. Her trust in others was nonexistent in a world full of supernatural beings.
Her first day was a success mostly having to go through HR required training and being shown the simple nature of her job.
Olivia survived a few more days then a week as Executive Account Manager Percival Whitmore's secretary. She hadn't stepped on toes or gotten so irritated with incompetent people that she blew a gasket, but she had gotten close a few times.
Luckily, since she was in a more entry-level position because of her lack of experience yet enough degrees to get her where she needed to be, she wasn't burdened with much to do, and the little errands Executive Whitmore sent her on felt meaningless. That meant she could explore the building as she went through.
Unfortunately, there was a degree of tenseness she felt each time she had to situate herself outside of the old man's office.
Their first meeting was indicative of what sort of man he was.
His put-together appearance was misleading.
"This will be your new secretary, Executive Whitmore," the receptionist who greeted Olivia upon arrival introduced the man to his new worker. She then turned to Olivia. "Let me know if you have any further questions."
"For now, I'll be alright," Olivia responded, being sure not to say too much and to keep a facade on that told the others she was slightly uncomfortable and not sizing up each person who walked by.
"Of course."
The receptionist left Olivia to the wolves, but she didn't realize that until the executive opened his mouth and her view of a nice, normal company was shattered.
"Shorter skirts, more colors," he said. "And for God's sake, what's with a high neckline? Why is your generation so conservative?"
Olivia balked.
"E-excuse me, sir?" she asked.
"You heard what I said," he said. Then, as if he hadn't said something completely degrading he asked, "Could you get me an extra hot Americano from the cafe downstairs?"
Olivia smiled politely despite it not meeting her eyes. If the man was lucky, she wouldn't throw the boiling hot drink over his face upon returning. She had never been spoken to like that before, but it was mostly due to the fact she normally wore clothing more tactical and boyish, to her mother's chagrin.
That very interaction was the reason she lowered her standards and became quiet. She accepted each request with a few words and always did as she was told.
To her surprise, Executive Whitmore became complimentary of her the moment she shut her mouth tightly. As long as her face didn't give way to her thoughts, he thought she was respectful and submissive.
Even though she refused to wear anything that would complicate her mission, he didn't seem to mind that much. She relented with a lowered collar that showed cleavage depending on the angle.
She found the old pervert going to her desk more than she went to his on days she wore something a bit less modest. He was unbelievably predictable.
Despite how much he complimented her, her responsibilities never seemed to widen and she began to feel panicked that she would never move higher in the company.
She knew progress would be slow because Nova told her this mission would span years so they wouldn't jump the gun yet again, but it was still frustrating feeling like she was wasting her life away. She knew there were agents in the field seeing actual action.
Her last failure made it seem like she had lost the Agency's trust. Considering she spent her entire adult life trying to prove herself, it stung. If having to bear the job of a secretary was her way of making reparations, she wouldn't complain outwardly.
Olivia finally settled down in front of the computer and began organizing and simplifying her boss' schedule in a way he could better understand. Despite all of that work, she knew she would still have to explain each detail to him anyway.
Thinking she would be able to do some busy work for a while, she heard the office door open and the executive made his presence known by placing a hand on her polished wooden desk and leaning into it. Her fingers stopped on the keyboard, unable to work when someone was hawking over her in such a way.
"Do you need something, sir?" Olivia asked, being as polite as she possibly could.
When her eyes left the screen and went to his, she noticed he was peering down her v-neck top underneath the sweater she wore.
If she were at an SIA facility, she would have slapped him across the face and demanded respect. Unfortunately, this mission was important enough for her to hold back despite how much it made her blood boil.
He was someone who answered to no one except those higher than him. The rules of the average person didn't apply to him. He was a package of everything she despised.
"There's a package for me in the mail room, but I forgot to schedule a drop off since I didn't have a secretary last week," he said. "And I would like another coffee."
'Translation: I didn't schedule a drop off because that sort of busywork isn't important enough for someone like me,' Olivia repeated in her thoughts.
"Of course, sir," she said. "I'll be on my way."
Away from her boss was a breath of fresh air. He never cared how long she took as long as the coffee was still hot enough once it made it to his desk.
Olivia decided to take the long way down and as she walked down one of the hallways, a man walked by with golden hair and she immediately pressed her body against one of the walls in case he peered back down the hallway.
She wasn't ready to face Ian yet.
Each night she went to bed, she was updated with more information about his goings on and his schedule. They were closing in on a timeline that would make sense for her to move through the company.
Even if it had to be done in less than savory ways, she would find a way to the top no matter what.
Unfortunately, he was going down the hallway she needed to access the elevators.
She had to take deep breaths. Seeing her target had her adrenaline pumping.
In past missions, that feeling carried her through capturing the target and making them submit. That feeling was useless in an office where she didn't need to be the fight half of fight or flight.
He had to have been in the elevator by that point, she reasoned.
As she stepped away from the wall and went towards the corner, she was dragged around it and pressed against the wall by one of her wrists and her waist.
"Who the hell do you think you're following?"
Dark hair and the sickening scent of cheap cologne. Ian couldn't be such a talented shapeshifter that he could fake his own scent, could he? The man pinning her to the wall wore a plain suit. His quick way of neutralizing what he deemed to be a threat was practicing self-defense used by security guards to hold down someone but not harm them. Since they were security and not law enforcement, they could get into trouble if harm came to someone even if they were doing something bad. Olivia's years of training made her recognize this immediately. The look of astonishment was genuine. She thought for sure Ian had caught her and her cover was blown. The man asked her who she thought she was following and she had to come up with a believable excuse. "I-I'm new here," she spoke timidly and unlike her usual self. "If you would let go of my wrist I could show you…" She brought a sticky note with her to remember the executive's coffee order. There was also a slip with instructions on retr
In Olivia's line of work, death was around every corner. It was something she lived beside often and had grown to accept. At first, it wasn't easy to adopt such callousness. It went against human nature to live alongside death and not fear it. Yet she had to become cold or she would crumble and become a failed agent. It was never certain where people like that went. They had seen too much for civilian life but were no longer usable to the SIA. She knew she had to keep her feelings to herself. In the situation with Q, it was the first time she was hit hard with the reality of never seeing someone again. The impermanence of life scared her for a while, but she had to train those thoughts out of herself and remind herself that the life she worked so hard to achieve would be ripped from her grasp if she was afraid of death just like the others. She would never be a failed agent.Despite thinking Executive Whitmore was an incompetent human being with the privilege given to him by comin
Olivia knew she was staring when her brother walked through the door with an SIA badge hung around his neck and his arms crossed over his muscular chest. His expression told her that he wasn't playing around. She wasn't entirely sure if this was a message from the agency or because he couldn't make direct contact with her without compromising things. Was it personal or business?From the moment she heard of Executive Whitmore's death, red flags were raised in her mind. She had a couple of avenues she would like to explore regarding the cause but she supposed it would be best to hear her brother out first. She was sure not to reflect her familiarity with the agent in front of her. Appearing small would be better with her hands hidden in her sleeves and shoulders slumped."I can take over from here," Jose said to the detective. "Thanks." The detective left without another word, knowing that he couldn't interfere if there was a federal investigation happening. The SIA was a well-known
To say Olivia woke up on the wrong side of the bed was an understatement. The night before, she skipped dinner because of being called into the police station. Then she tried to go to bed at her usual hour only to toss and turn at the irritation that her mother was getting involved in her life in such an unsavory way. Nova had told her to carve her own path with this mission and that she was going to have minimal involvement so it would seem more believable. How would it be believable if people around Olivia started dropping like flies or disappearing? It seemed that her mother also crafted it to look like vampires or werewolves were the ones who killed her boss. She was trying to stay out of supernatural crimes so that people wouldn't suspect her of being involved. Particularly, she didn't need Ian to think she had any privy to supernatural beings. She wanted to seem like a regular human who feared them just like everyone else. She didn't fear them, however, she hated their divi
Olivia was permitted to finish off the rest of her week at the office of the late Executive Whitmore. There was a lot to do regarding filling in his partners on the situation. She spared details and spoke politely if they wanted to call. Even though she wasn't much of an actress, she was getting to exercise that side of herself much more than she ever had before. People tried to comfort her and she had to act receptive despite having only known the man for a couple of weeks. Some even shared anecdotes of why he was a good man and she stomached the stories with words offering comfort. She felt lucky that most of the conversation was done over email. By the time she sent the last notice to a partner, she was burnt out of talking to others. Hearing another inspiring story about the man who used to ogle her breasts each time she didn't dress like a nun was becoming harder and harder. On top of cleaning up the man's professional life, Olivia had the horrible privilege of being the firs
Olivia arrived at the office with a health smoothie and coffee in tow, going against her very nature to bow down to someone who asked for things so disrespectfully, She even grabbed her own caffeinated beverage at the cafe in hopes that it would carry her through what was going to likely be a hectic morning. At least she didn't think they would put her in front of the CEO right away. It would be cruel to subject a newbie to that on her first day.When she was a secretary, much of it was spent training and she imagined similarly for her first week there.'May the matcha latte gods carry me through this morning,' she prayed silently and sarcastically. She wasn't religious but she needed all the help she could get.Matcha lattes were Q's drink but she grew to love them. She wasn't always sentimental, but it felt like he was still with her when she drank them and she needed his steadfast encouragement that day.On the elevator ride to almost the very top of the skyscraper, she took a few
That golden-haired, shapeshifting bastard was supposed to be her target. All it took was one night to mess everything up. Olivia Perez felt lonely in a city she didn't know well enough to form real friendships, so she sought company at an understated bar. There she could blend into the casual environment where she stuck to the shadows in dark clothing. The moment a handsome man walked through the door, she was drawn to him based strictly on his confidence.'An American accent, how charming,' she thought, as she watched the man order a drink. 'I hope to God he's not a werewolf.'In her line of work as an agent for the Supernatural Intelligence Agency, she had seen her fair share of things no amount of drinking could make her forget. It was pathetic that she desired to find a regular human man to settle down with one day if her fast paced life ever slowed down.She took a sip of her gin and tonic with extra lime, wondering if the dark haired man could be her company for the evening. S
“Please… Please…”The room was dark and Olivia could smell blood with each shallow breath she took. It wasn’t her blood she was smelling. Despite how incoherent she was from blood loss, not a drop of hers was wasted in the cold room she lay in.The vampires made sure not to spare an ounce. Each time they drank from her she felt herself get fainter and fainter.It could have been days, but she had such a bad measure of time. The world spun if she opened her eyes for a long time. “It’s going to be okay…” She wasn’t speaking to an empty room–at least that’s what she had convinced herself. Q was still alive, wasn’t he?Sweeping her hand across the dust covered floor, she grabbed her partner’s arm. “Q?” she whispered. “I’ll get us out of here. I just… Need to rest first.” She was in and out of consciousness from there. The vampires occasionally gave them sips of water which was their only sustenance for God knows how long. Of course, the vampires kept their den dark. Most had evolved