Vampiric: Chapter Nine, Part 2

Mid-December, Caroline was in the throes of planning again, as were a good many of us. The one before Christmas would be crucial as it would be the last of the year and would help determine how many would await her coming suggestions for action in the new year. It was a lot to have to worry about. Her speech had to uphold her stance on why the revolution was necessary as well as insinuate the coming call to action while making it seem like the viewer’s idea.

One day, while I was working on arranging our information and ideas into an outline for her use in writing her speech, she came into the office and stood in the door. She stood with her hands on her hips and her feet planted slightly apart from each other. “Out.”

I looked up from my laptop; unsure what she meant, I asked, “What?”

“Get out of my office.”

“…Fine,” I said, standing and slowly starting to collect my papers and charger. “I’ll work downstairs.”

“No, you won’t,” Caroline said, her face set in her usual scowl.

I set everything back on her desk, ready to give up her guessing game. If I was fired, I didn’t really see a reason behind it or why she didn’t just come out and say it. It was stupid and childish and I could easily delete the outline. Then she’d have nothing to go off of and be forced to read and sort through her own research. “Then what? Am I fired, then? Is that it?”

She didn’t say anything and that made it worse. Her scowl cracked into a smile just as I was ready to leave and toss her office in a whirlwind.

“There’s no need to work in my office when you have your own,” she said, seeming almost unable to hide her humor.

“Wait, what?” I asked; I shook my head, certain I had misheard. “What do you mean?”

Caroline grabbed my hand and pulled me from behind the desk, out the office, and to a room a few doors down the hall. “I mean you have your own office now.” She handed me a key after opening the door. Inside were a couple of file cabinets, a beautiful oak desk and chair set, and a comfy crimson armchair with matching ottoman.

“Thank you doesn’t seem to cover it,” I said, slowly exploring the space and dragging my hand across the desktop.

“It’s half of your present.” She leaned against the door frame. “Tomorrow we’re skipping work for the second half.”

“There’s so much left to do, though,” I reminded her, certain our current time restraints couldn’t be stretched any further. Not without us pulling an all-nighter—and I doubted she’d agree to that. She was still skeptical about my regular sleeping habits, so forget condoning me to forgo sleep.

“I’m your boss.” Caroline stood upright again, a smile playing across her lips. “If you like your job, you won’t argue.”

Actually needing my job—as it was the only steady, non-human thing in my life—instead of arguing, I asked, “What’s this for?”

She shrugged. “I thought you deserved something for making it to three months.”

“Thank you,” I said for lack of any better way to express the gratitude swelling in my chest. “You and Ian were a big part of those three months.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said, shrugging and grinning as though to say I didn’t need to remind her but she would take any and all praise anyway. “Oh, and you’re coming with me for Christmas. Ian, too. No way both of you are going to mope around instead of going somewhere.”

“You told me your plan, already.”

She grinned at me over her shoulder adding, “I was only reminding you, in case you thought you’d argue that as well.” And with that, she left, leaving me to collect my things from her office and settle into mine. That, and finish up the outline for her speech so she could work on fleshing it out for the rest of the day.