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“You likee?”
“I likee very much!” Darryl chuckled and nodded. “I'm glad to see you're sticking around, and if you ignore Charlie's tantrums, you'll be fine.”
“Want a coffee? I'm just about to make myself one.”
“I’d love one. I'll just take this stuff back to my desk and check the servers.” Darryl held up a zippered cooler bag as he spoke, walked through to the main workspace, and deposited it on his desk. He headed over to the sprawling mess of computer parts, towers and keyboards, brought them out of sleep mode and ran a quick diagnostic. By the time he had finished, Allee had put fresh water and coffee beans into the machine, frothed some milk, had made Darryl a black coffee and was putting the finishing touches on hers; marshmallows and a dusting of chocolate. Darryl saw the extra bits and pieces, pulling down one of the new biscuit tins. He laughed, snaffled a couple of chocolate biscuits for himself before pointing to Allee's mug.
“I think I’ll have one like yours, although I don't have a cool mug like you do. Are you a Classic girl, or do you prefer the newer regenerations?”
Allee deftly poured warmed milk into Darryl's mug before spooning froth on top. Three marshmallows and a dusting of chocolate made it complete, and she wiped down the nozzle and rinsed out the metal milk jug before placing it upside-down on the sink to dry.
“I'm of the school of thought that each regeneration is still the Doctor, just a different aspect of him. I have favourite episodes and quirks from all of them. I just can't choose. I was raised on the Classic, but I do find the newer regenerations are also fantastic.”
Darryl grinned, taking a sip from his cup. He closed his eyes and savoured the coffee, sighing with pleasure.
“I've said it before, and I'll say it again – you're a godsend, Allee. This coffee machine was a stroke of genius. As for me, I've always been a fan of Pertwee. Something about the cape. It just made him that much more debonair and dashing. That’s also where you meet a young Sarah-Jane, and she was a sight for sore eyes!”
They laughed comfortably together, talking back and forth across a range of topics while they drank their coffees. Once they'd finished, Allee took Darryl's mug with her own, washing and drying them both and putting Darryl's back on the shelf. Before returning to their respective desks, Darryl warned Allee once more about Charlie.
“I don't think you've heard the last about that email. I'm sure that Craig never got it, but I know that Charlie sent a copy to the other Leads, and she put a nasty little comment in with it. Try not to let her bring you down, and don't worry, I've got your back.” With that, Darryl nodded to Allee and walked away.
Allee sighed. It wasn't going to be easy, but she wouldn't let Charlie goad her into leaving. She was here to stay, and Charlie and the rest of them would just have to deal with it.
Over the next hour, as people arrived for work, Allee heard the conversations centred around the new containers and provisions in the kitchen. She was surprised when a couple of the artists and designers knocked on her door to thank her for her thoughtfulness and ask if she would be open to receiving suggestions on what supplies she should purchase for the office. Allee agreed that she would take any reasonable request under consideration.
Craig had stopped in the doorway of Allee's office as he'd arrived and evaluated her workspace's new décor. He whistled in appreciation as he saw her Space Invaders wall, walking in to look at it square-on.
“Wow, Allee, you've made yourself quite at home here! That's great to see! I was hoping you'd settle in quickly, and things do seem to be running a bit smoother now that you’re here. I would never have pegged you for a computer geek. You're full of surprises.”
“I used to love playing with the old Sega and Atari consoles, as well as the Commodore 64. One of my best friend’s older cousins gave me his old Atari, and Space Invaders was my favourite game. My entire family are sci-fi and fantasy buffs, but we all come across as innocuous and harmless, so nobody would really suspect my sister of dressing up in hand-made chain-mail and leather on the weekend, to do 'battle' with her own broadsword. Same with my brother. Since he was little, he's been fascinated with rockets and has been making and launching his own since he was twelve. That's why he now works on satellite navigation.”
Craig was visibly stunned, “Whoa. I had no idea you had those kinds of skills or interests!”
“I don't usually broadcast my family's unusual hobbies and interests, although they’ve never really seemed unusual to me.”
“I thought we could have a bit of a chat about the meeting tomorrow. I need to chivvy a couple of the Leads regarding some of the jobs they're falling behind on, so it could be a long one. Did you have anything you needed to speak about, and if so, would you mind if we waited until I'm done?”
“Yes, I have a few things I need to talk about, but nothing that can't wait until the end of the meeting. I'm happy for you to go first.”
They discussed the plan for the meeting on the following day, with Allee making speedy notes on a notepad, her hand and pen flying over the paper. She assured Craig that she would have a copy typed out and emailed to him by lunch, and their impromptu meeting broke up as her telephone rang. It was Wal, letting her know that he'd just seen the company providing her office furniture arrive. Allee thanked him, cleared a space for the more oversized items, moved the tatty old chair out of the way, and readied to take possession of her new furnishings.
Minutes later, Wal led a couple of strapping young men into the studio, carrying a wrapped fabric couch in charcoal grey. They put it on the floor, ripping the protective plastic from it before returning for the rest of the furniture. They carried in a small, round, glass and chrome bistro table, a trio of leather and chrome stacking chairs, and a low, long white rectangular coffee table with a glass inlay on top and a drawer and shelf underneath. Allee thanked the young men, and she and Wal manoeuvred the pieces where Allee wanted them. The couch was moved to sit along the wall under the large print, facing the wall with the stickers. The coffee table went in front of the couch, and Allee then placed a tall vase with willow branches on top, along with the jars of chocolates and jelly beans. One of the leather and chrome chairs went on the other side of her desk, and the bistro table was put along the wall covered in stickers. Wal removed the tatty old chair, and once he had put up the signboard on her door, he left. Allee then pulled the remaining bags from behind her desk. They contained Doctor Who merchandise; four cushions, a set of coasters, and a throw rug. Allee draped the throw-rug over the back of the couch and then added the cushions. She put the coasters on the coffee table, and then placed the now-empty bags into the rubbish bin before walking across to Craig's office.
She knocked on Craig’s door and asked if there would be any problems if she kept the studio's catalogues and magazines in her office. She was granted this request, so she made their new home the shelf underneath the coffee table.
Satisfied that her office was finally how she wanted it, Allee got down to work.
“I see that Miss Fuck-my-way-into-a-job hasn't packed it in yet. In fact, it looks as though she's going to get the company to furnish her new digs before she leaves.”
Noah sighed. Along with most of the office, he was surprised to see Allee at work this morning after last Friday. He had received Charlie's email, forwarding the mistakenly addressed one of Allee's on with a note stating that Allee must have given Gareth Pengelly some fantastic sex to wrangle this job, especially since she was grossly unqualified. Noah had deleted it and then sent his own out to his team to delete it immediately if any of them received a copy. Noah hated workplace bullying and would not tolerate it in his team. Yet Charlie had obviously seen this as an opportunity to bitch and gossip.
“You really shouldn't be saying stuff like that,” Noah said.
“Bullshit,” Charlie snorted. “That moron couldn't even figure out how to send an email out of the office, so what makes you think she'd ever have the intelligence to run an office? She's pretty enough, I suppose, if you like that chubby, dumb-arse 1950's housewife act she's got going.” Charlie grimaced and pretended to gag. “Funny, I would've never pegged you as someone who would go for that, Noah. I thought you liked your women intelligent.”
“Back off. For one, apart from hurling insults, you've barely spoken to the woman, so you can't say she's an idiot without speaking to her first. Also, she may not have worked as an Office Manager before, but I recognise Gareth Pengelly's name, and he's a marketing genius. He wouldn't put up with someone incapable of intelligent conversation, let alone employ one to work for him.” Noah rubbed his hand down his face before crossing his arms across his chest and glaring at Charlie. “And as for my taste in women, fuck off!”
Noah turned, his ears turning pink with a mixture of irritation and embarrassment. He wasn't sure how he felt about Allee Duggan; part of him wanted to get to know her, part of him wanted to just leave her alone, and part of him wished that he could just get back to work, as he was already falling behind schedule. The problem was, he had seen a glimpse of fire when Allee had put Charlie in her place on her first day, which had piqued his interest. Then when she had corrected his fandom terminology, he was intrigued, especially as she had then retreated so hastily, like she was nervous or self-conscious. Her ideas regarding the communal areas and the appearance of the coffee machine made him think she knew a bit about running a happy and organised office. Still, her now-infamous email blunder made him wonder if she knew how to use technology at all. He'd just have to wait and see her next move.
