Generation 02, Chapter 15: Busted

NOTE

As I have stated in the past, I really don't understand exactly what the character that Calla plays did to get fired.  So yeah, it that part of this post makes no sense... that's why.  I tried.  :P

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I'm dusting Blanche's room as she stares at a .pdf of a brochure for Gainsboro on her laptop.  I freeze when I see my own stiff portrait straining to smile for a photo.  So the weren't able to get rid of me completely, were they?

"So, is that the firm you want to work for?"  I casually ask Blanche.

"Yeah, it is.  It's the top firm in the country.  It's basically impossible to get in and even if you do get in, you have to work your ass off to stay in.  One mistake and you get fired on the spot."

"Wow, sounds rough," I say, sounding astonished even though on the inside, I'm smirking.

"Yeah, this guy," she points to a picture of Rusty, " is supposed to interview me but he's retiring."

"Wait, why?"

She shrugs.  "What does it matter to you anyway?"

"Oh never mind.  You're right.  Sorry."  I lie.

Right after I finish dusting, I scuttle over to my room and quickly open up the web browser.

I search for what seems like hours and I've finally found quite a lot of interesting information.  For one, Rusty is, in fact, retiring.  Secondly, he has family connections with, Zebra Co., another company that loaded 50 million to the material company I lost the 50 million for.  I'm 100% sure that nobody knows about this connection and Rusty certainly hasn't mentioned it.

He knows something.  

I whip out my phone and call Rusty's number.  Griselda the secretary for our floor picks up and she hands the phone to Rusty.

"Darling Calla, how are you?"

"I'm good.  Surprised to hear that you're retiring though.  What brought that on?"

"Ah yes, thirty years is a long time for a lawyer.  I felt like my time was up."

He sound so cheery. It's impossible to think he could be hiding something.

"Hey, I didn't realize your son-in-law was the director of Zebra Co.  What a coincidence!" I say as cheerily as possible.

"Oh darn, Calla, I have to go now.  You take care."  And before I can say another word he hangs up on me.

Okay, that was definitely weird.  It supports my suspicions and makes me wonder more about what exactly is going on here.

What if I didn't make that mistake?  What if the whole thing was a scam.  Perhaps Zebra Co. never paid the money in the first place and the money from the bank is just hanging nowhere.  Up for anyone to take....  I never noticed the document on my desk until it was too late.  What if it was planted there.

I immediately call Rusty again but Griselda tells me what he told her.  That I should not bother him with my calls anymore.  And that if I come to the building, they'll eject me.

"Eject me?!" I repeat.

"I know, Calla, it's horrible what he did to you."

"What he did to me?  What exactly do you mean, Griselda?"

"I was wondering if you knew.  After you left, Rusty talked to the other partners.  They wanted to give you a second chance but Rusty said that they shouldn't because you are unreliable and a bad asset to the company."

Oh my God.  He got me fired.  And to think, I trusted the son of a bitch.

"Thank you so much, Griselda, for telling me that."

"No problem, Calla.  I hope you get everything... sorted out."

We hang up and I receive a text from Champ.

Come downstairs.  I have a surprise to show you.  :)

I feel bad but I'm not very interested in this surprise at the moment.  My mind is only on Rusty and my job.  I walk down the stairs thinking about horrible things I want to happen to him.

"Calla, hi!" Champ beams.  He's acting extremely cheerful today but I'm not really in the mood.

"Follow me," Champ leads as we head toward his car.  He opens the door for me and then gets in on the driver's side.  I have a enough sense to ask him where we're going.

"You'll see," is all he says.

We stop in front of a large property.  There's a rundown building to the right and a small sign that says, "for sale."  The yard is beautiful.  There's not that much there but it could definitely become something beautiful.

We walk into the house and I get a good look around.  First of all, there's not much "house" to really see.  There's barely a roof and the three rooms that are in the house are grungy and broken.  To add to that, it smells dusty and moldy.  It'll be a challenge to fix up but there's definitely potential.

I glance at Champ who is pulling out some papers.  Wait a second.  "Are you buying this?"  I ask him.

"I'm thinking about it.  It's pretty good compared to others but I want your opinion first.  You were right.  I should have pursued my dreams as a gardener, instead of working at the bar.  I talked it over with my mom and she's all for the idea.  She even said that Antares could take over the bar.  We need to ask him first, but I'm sure he'll take to the idea.  We could always sell it if need be."

"I love it!  The actual property is massive and perfect for your gardening!  And we could always fix up the house, that's not big deal." I enthuse.  My mood has brightened and I'm trying to focus on Champ and not Rusty.  Unfortunately, it's not working too well.

Finally, we complete our tour on the roof of the house, which could be converted into a nice little patio and roof garden.

"It's beautiful," I comment, gazing out at the sea.  My mind starts to drift back to Rusty and his evil deed.  I still need proof, but I'm 99% certain I'm spot on.

"...so do you feel the same way?" Champ asks, looking at me intently with soft eyes.

Holy shit.  I realize that he must have been speaking for quite some time.  He looks awkward so whatever he just said to me must have been difficult for him to confess.  And I missed it?!  What is wrong with me?

Cooly, I remind myself that I'd probably agree with anything he said so I reply with a yes.

"Really?  Everything?  Even the part about shark tank?"

"Shark tanks?" I crinkle my eyebrow.

"I knew it!  You weren't listening to me at all, were you?  It took some nerve to say what I said," Champ mutters.

"Please say it again.  I'll pay attention this time," I beg.

"Nope, not this time.  Perhaps later," he says grudgingly.

"I'm sorry, I've just been preoccupied lately."

"It is your relationship popping up again?"

I nod and he puts his arms around me.  "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"I could help," he adds weakly.

"I just don't want to mix my horrible past to this wonderful one. This one is too perfect to ruin."

I can tell Champ wants to assuage me to tell him but he respects my boundaries and just holds me in his arms.  I lean up to kiss him as we stand in the warm sunlight, watching the sunset.

Generation 02, Chapter 04: Where am I?

The next morning, the sounds of the 7:00 tunes come on.  Damn, I slept in.  Quickly, I check the fridge for milk but find none so instead of cereal I grab an energy bar instead.  Then I change into one of my fancier shirt and skirt outfits, brush my teeth, gurgle some mouthwash, and head out the door with a mint in my mouth.

The subway is slow but I manage to make it to the office quarter to.  I see Blake standing at my desk with two coffees.

"Oh my God, thanks.  My stupid alarm didn't go off," I explain.

He nods and leaves.  I casually continue to sift through the file that Kar assigned to me yesterday.  It's now eight o'clock and I know that they're making the decision.

I tidy up my desk while I wait anxiously.  My hands shake as I shove everything into the trash bin.  The butterflies in my stomach start to flutter when Blake returns.  A big smiles grows on his face as he comes close to me.

"You did it, Calla, you're a partner and you didn't hear it from me," he winks.

I resist the urge to squeal and wrap my arms around his neck.  Instead, I shake his hand and calmly say, "Thanks, that's awesome."  

He leaves and I continue to clear my desk.  Only then do I notice a memo from a client of Rusty's.  It says I need to register a security document to Rusty's client, a large bank that is loaning §50 million to some materials company in Starlight Shores.  

As I skim through this unfamiliar document, my eyes flicker to the date of the deadline.  

No... that can't be right.  

No.  

No.  

NO!  

I sit down at my desk to think about things and organize my thoughts.  The date on the document was two months ago.  How could it have been sitting on my desk for so long?  How could it have just been sitting on my desk for so long?  I stare at the date again and it patronizes me.  I hold my breath.  

Oh.  My.  God.  

I just lost the bank §50 million.  50 MILLION.  

Panic hits me and I quickly file through the recycling and trash to make sure I didn't throw away anything important.  I check the file again to make sure that I didn't miss any loophole that'll release my from this panic.  I check the bank's website and call our contact for the bank but he just delivers bad news.  The bank tried to save themselves from the unsecure document but couldn't make up the §50 million.  It's a blow to the chest.  I've made the most basic of all mistakes a lawyer can make.

Griselda comes bouncing in to give me congratulations but I barely hear her.  I have to get out of it.

"I'm sorry, Griselda, I need to get some fresh air."

"Big news like a partnership can be rather stressful.  You go get some fresh air, I'll let others know if they ask about you," she says, oblivious to my predicament.

Somehow I manage a tight smile but I know I just look like I'm grimacing.  I quickly push my chair our and speed walk out of the the front door of the building.

When I'm a notable distance away from the building, I check my phone.  I've missed 20 calls in 15 minutes.  Is that even possible?  The most recent one is from Blake.  I force myself to replay it.

"Calla, we know about the bank.  Kar noticed the file when she went in to tell you about the partnership.  You really need to come back from wherever you are.  Now."

I want to go back.  Running away from your problems is not the way to go.  But it will be humiliating.  Especially since they thought I was worthy for partnership.

I scan the streets and walk to the nearest subway.  As if on auto-pilot, I take the subway to a train station and hop onto the nearest train.  I finally rest my legs and order a few beers.  If this isn't proof of my distress, I don't know what is.  My sister would have a cow if she found out that I was drinking.  I hardly ever drink so it only takes a few sips for me to get drunk.  And it feels good.  I'm barely aware of my surroundings and I subconsciously walk off at one of the stops.

I blink my eyes and squint at the scene in front of me.  I appear to be in some unknown town.  A very small town, that is.  On an island.  How is that even possible to get to by train?!?!  There must be a bridge or underground tunnel.  Automatically, I whip out my phone and call Blake.

"Calla?!  You need to get back here now.  Everyone knows.  There's no use hiding.  How the hell did you screw this up?"

"I don't know," I repeat over and over again.

"Where are you?  You really need to get back here.  I'm not joking.  Kar is in the worst mood ever and everyone is panicking."

"Iamsoooosorry...," I slur, partly from drowsiness, shock, and the alcohol.

"Have you been drinking?  Agh, never mind, seriously though, where are you?  Come back here as soon as you sober up."

"I can't!"  I scream.  "I need to thiiiinnnk.  Mooorrre.  I neeeed mooorre tiimmme!"

"Calla-"

I hang up on him.  I slap my face and try to sober myself up.

Then, with my head throbbing, I walk a bit until I notice a large house in the distance.

I work up the courage to ring the doorbell.

A skinny woman with a cigarette in her hand opens the door.

"Are you from the agency?"

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NOTE

I'm extremely sorry about my lack of posts.  I have to admit, Calla's story doesn't interest me as much as it did.  But I'm not quitting, I just might take longer breaks.  As of now, I'm much more interested in some of my Facebook pages but I'm sure this is just a phase and will pass by quickly.

Thank you to those of your who have stuck by me even though I'm hardly posting.  I really appreciate the attention.

I hope you guys have a wonderful day! :)

Generation 02, Chapter 03: Seven Years Later...

My first day of work was nearly seven years ago and I am currently laying on a table in a dark room, taking advantage of the free spa treatment coupon that Char gave me last year.  Today is my 28th birthday and I really need to get the heck out of here.  I have the morning off (by some miracle) but I keep checking my phone underneath my towel for a message that I know will come.  There's a 99% chance that I'll have to go and run back to work.

"Relax, your muscles are extremely tense, dear," my masseuse for the morning, Ciruela, clucks disapprovingly as she digs her fingers into my back.  I don't quite understand how people like massages.  It's quite painful on my back.  Not enough to complain about it, fortunately.

My phone vibrates under my robe and I flinch.

"Is something wrong?"

"No!" I say, my voice high.  "I'm just a little tense, as you said.  It makes me, um, jumpy."

She looks at me quizzically but shrugs and turns away to get some lotion for her hands.  I quickly sneak my phone out.  It could be a call from Kar, and everyone knows that you do not miss calls from her.  I believe it was last year when this guy from the ninth floor didn't answer his phone and was twenty minutes late for a meeting.  Kar terminated him from the firm right then and there in the conference room.  It is rumored that he is now living with his mother and hasn't returned to work since then.

Fear of getting canned overcomes my need to obey the rules of the spa and I quickly pull out my phone from my towel while Ciruela isn't looking.

"What is that?!" Ciruela screeches as she whirls around unexpectedly.  Damn, I've been caught.

I jump and push the phone back into my towel.  Fortunately, I was able to catch a few words of the text: the deal is back on. get back here now. meeting at 10.

Apologetically I confess.  "I"m sorry, I really need to go.  Like, right now."

Ciruela's face is a mix of shock and horror, as if she's never heard of a high-powered job before.

"You workaholics," she finally sighs.  "This is your time."

"I really am sorry, but at Gainsboro, my time is their time.  Now if you will excuse me, I must leave immediately."

As of now, we are working with a huge client so I cannot miss this meeting.  I made it to the office at about 9:30.  Kar is standing above my desk but she doesn't intimidate my much anymore.  She stares down at my cluttered desk.  It's messy, but it's organized messy.  Besides, I've been meaning to clean it. Once I find a free six minute interval I'll get right to it.

Kar is very tense right now because she and the other partners are deciding on which associates will become partner this year.  If I get it, I'll be the youngest to be partner in all of Gainsboro history.  If that's not an incentive to do well, then I don't know what is.

Last week, a few other associates and I gave presentations explaining why we'd make good partners and what we'd bring to the firm.  It was difficult to tell if my presentation made them happy.  All the partners, except for Blake and Rusty were frowning.  Tomorrow will be the big reveal and I'm as nervous as one of mom's cats.

"Just get your desk clean, before the meeting, Miss Cohen," Kar finally says.  "Oh, and I emailed you a rather large file that I'd like you to deal with by Thursday " she adds as she walks out the door.

I open up the file and scan it quickly for errors.  I've learned to do everything quickly ever since I started working here.  I eat, walk, talk, and even have sex a lot faster.  Not that I've had much of that lately.  Plus, my stubbornness  refusal to ask for help, and the stress help me to get through the files that partners have been dumping on me much faster.  They're some of my top qualities.  Even Kar complimented me once on my speediness.  And it made my day.  Unfortunately, it only happened once.

After scanning through a bit of the file, I begin to put a few folders away when Rusty comes walking in.

"Calla!  How are you?"  He asks.  Before I can respond, he cuts to the chase.  "I've got a letter of appreciation about you from the chairman of that client you were working with last month.  He's very happy so I'm assuming you saved his company a few million?"

"Yeah, something like that," I blush.

Rusty walks out and another person walks in.  It's Griselda, my secretary and friend.  She lets me know that I have received a message.

"It's from Amber.  Your cleaner.  She wants to know where you keep your vacuum cleaner bags."

What?

With my mean charisma skills, I carefully manage to escape this conversation.  "Look, I have to go to the meeting now, uh, just tell her that I'll figure it out when I get home."

Griselda nods worriedly but takes the bait.  I have no idea what vacuum cleaner bags are but I'll just buy a new vacuum cleaner.  I did see a commercial for vacuums and they kept repeating the fact that the vacuum didn't have bags so I'll get that.

Griselda leaves and I quickly shuffle the papers on my desk so they look a little better.  I didn't get much cleaning done but it's not like Kar actually thought I'd get it completely cleaned.  At least it looks a little better than before.

"Calla?"  I jump.  Looking up I smile when I realized it's only Blake.  He has now become one of my best friends here.  "Coming to the meeting?"  He asks quietly.

"Yeah, let me grab a few things...," I reply distractedly as I fumble around on my desk.  Eventually I don't grab anything.  Meetings almost always supply pens and paper.

If you're wondering about Blake and I, I never did ask him out.  A few weeks after I had started working, I found out that he had apparently noticed me.  He had asked Griselda if I was available.  Unfortunately, stupid stupid me forgot to tell Griselda that I had broken up with Farran.  I was single.  But she didn't know that so she told him I was going out with a partner from another firm (Farran).

Things got awkward after that and Blake started to ignore me for about three months.  During that time I found out that he was going out with a girl named Charna and as of today they are living together.  So, because he just happened to ask Griselda and I just happened to forget to update her on my status, there is now an absolute zero chance of getting together with him.  Fortunately, we are now friends.  I'm fine with this but... there's always those moments when I secretly fantasize about him.

I start to get up and while doing so, I peer at Blake.  His eyes are normally a beautiful blue grey but today they're red-rimmed and baggy.  "You look tired.  Are you okay?"

"I could be better.  Took an all-nighter.  No big deal though."

"I definitely sympathize with you, my friend.  Okay, I'm ready to go."

"What's twenty-seven times thirty-six?"  He quizzes me as we walk down the hall toward the meeting room.

"972," I reply absent-mindedly.

I don't know if my mom told you this but I have always had this weird gift.  I can compute large mathematical problems in my head without a calculator.  Blake is extremely obsessed with my gift and constantly throws out random equations.  It gets really annoying but one time I gave him the wrong number on purpose.  Unfortunately, he actually needed the answer and it nearly ruined the big deal he was working on.  So now I always tell people the correct answer (When in reality, they should just use a calculator).

"Your presentation was amazing.  I heard the other partners talking about it after you had left.  Seriously, Calla, tell me something.  Do you ever make mistakes?"

Are we talking about work because if not, I've made the biggest mistake of my life by not telling you I was single the moment I laid eyes on you, I want to say.

"A ton," I finally answer.  I check my phone.

"I don't believe that," Blake says knowingly as we enter the meeting room.

The meeting was not worth the full ten hours we spent in there.  Halfway through the meeting I had to text mom to let her know that I'd be missing my birthday dinner.

They can't make you stay there on your birthday she replied.  Much her to dismay, they can and they did.

I get home at around 11 o'clock that night and Kar is standing right outside the front door of my apartment buildings.  I nearly walk right passed her until she make a loud cough.

"Cohen," she barks.  "I recently purchased apartment 4D.  Mr. Nero told me you lived here so I suppose we're neighbors for the time being," she adds rather pleasantly.

My legs go weak.  It's that same feeling when you know you've done something horrible and can't escape it.  Oh my God.  This is my worst nightmare.  And yes, I had a dream about this exact situation happening.  Only in the dream the roles were reverse, I was partner and Kar was my lowly associate.

"Welcome to the building," is all I can muster.

I finally escape Kar when she gets off at the 4th floor.  On my way to my room, I drop my keys on the wood floor.  This causes Ms. Rosado to open her door.

"Calla, my dear.  This arrived for you today.  As well as this package.  I didn't know it was your birthday.  Happy Birthday m'dear."

Ever since I met Ms. Rosado, I've learned two things about her.  First of all, she's very nosy and talkative.  Secondly, she's extremely frugal.  The inside of her house looks like a thrift store from the 60s.

"Thank you," I say as I get my door to open.  I turn around to grab the parcels from her but she barges unexpectedly into my apartment.

"I'll help you carry them in," she says as she walks into the TV area.

"You know, you could save a lot of money if you washed the shirts yourself."

Yeah... no.  Not only do I not have the skills, I don't have the time.

I manage to get the older woman to leave my apartment before she starts badgering me about other ways I can save money.  I understand her concern for me, but doesn't she get that I have absolutely no time to do all that stuff?

Sighing, I collapse into my bed after eating some stale chips.  A few minutes later, I open my eyes wide, remembering that I need to set my alarm.  The meeting to decide who is partner starts at 8:00 and I want to know as soon as possible so I set the alarm on my phone for 6:00.  Then I settle back into bed and fall asleep.

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NOTE

I'm so sorry for not posting for so long!  :O  I got very distracted with school (it's nearly the end of the semester) and working for my new cat and dog pages on Facebook (Calista's Crazy Colorful Cats and my new page that I'm working on with a few friends, Pawsitively Adorable Puppies).  Feel free to check them out on the right side of this blog.  :)

Again, sorry for not posting for so long!  I hope you guys are still interested in this story.  All feed back is accepted!  :D

Thanks for reading!  And I hope there aren't any errors, I was very desperate to post this post because I've had the pictures and the writing all ready to go (I just had to post the pictures into the post) for a while now.  :P  Anywho, have a nice day/night!

Generation 02, Chapter 02: So, what's your boss like?

THE NEXT WEEK

"How is dinner?"  I ask Farran.  He smiles and nods, his mouth tense as he checks his phone.  I take the opportunity to check mine as well (Oh, and if you're wondering, I did, in fact, attend my birthday party.  Unlike last year, I actually remembered to attend it this time).

"It's been good," he murmurs.  "Listen, I have to take this call... it might be a while."

I perk up.  "Oh!  No problem.  I'll just wait here."

Farran walks out of the hallway, and I can hear excitement in his voice as he chats to whoever is on the phone.  After about twenty minutes by myself, I finally hear his voice disappear and the sound of the elevator shaft fills my eardrums.  He left me.  Did he forget where he was?

Suddenly, my phone rings.  I hit speaker and Farran's voice fills the small apartment.  "I'm so sorry for leaving like that.  My job... they gave me an offer in Starlight Shores.  I couldn't not take it.  They said I had to leave right away and I didn't have a chance to say goodbye."

Goodbye?  Wait, what's happening?

"Farran?"

"I'm sorry Calla, things won't work out with us."

Why am I not surprised? I think.  I stand up and begin to clear up the plates as he continues to speak.

"I'm going to have to break us up.  I'm really sorry.  Please forgive me."

"No, it's fine.  I understand," I say like a broken robot.  My voice is steady and monotone.

"Thank Calla, you know you mean the world to me."

I don't say anything.  I realize that I wasn't really interested in him.  And the only thing that we had in common was our love of work, which is obviously not something that should connect to people.  Oh well, I suppose he was pretty decent, for a first boyfriend.

"So, um, I'll see you," I finally say.

"Yeah, see you.  And I'm sorry."

I mumble something like, "Yeah, it's okay."

Then we hang up.  I brush my teeth, throw on some sweats, and crawl into bed.  Tomorrow is my first day at work.  I hope it's better than today was.

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I wake up at 5:30, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, slip on my new black suit, tie my hair up, and walk out the door.  It's my first day at Gainsboro and I don't want to start out my career by being late.  I've always been known for my punctuality and I'm not going to ruin that.

The Gainsboro building is tall.  And extremely intimidating.  But I'm excited as adrenaline and excitement rushes through my veins.

I make my way up to the floor as directed by the receptionist.  It's white.  And black.  Just like my apartment.  People are walking around in suits.  A woman sits at a desk.  I squint my eyes and see that her name is Griselda Gris.  Well, that's an unfortunate name.

"Calla Cohen?"

I turn my head to the left and see a man in a bright blue jacket greet me.

"I'm Rusty Turkessa.  And you must be Mrs. Cohen. Nice to meet you, and welcome to Gainsboro.  You're our new associate, correct?"

"Yes," I say confidently.

"Good!  I'll show you around and then you can get straight to work."

"Yay," I exclaim, genuinely enthused.

I get home that night at 10.  It has been an exhausting day at work, yet I loved it.  It was almost better than law school.  I met a ton of new people, as well as my freaky boss, a woman named Krystal Kar (she was the downside of today).  I swear, she must be related to some evil person....

I was just sitting in the breakout room, taking a break (of course), when she yelled at me for wasting money.  She went into this lengthy explanation that here at Gainsboro, everyone's lives are segmented into six-minute intervals.  Every interval is worth money so if I were to waste six minutes staring out a window or doing some other menial task, I'd lose the company about §50, twelve minutes would lose §100, and so on.

Her scary nose was practically poking me by the time the conversation was over so after that I made sure that I was occupied at all times, especially when I knew I was in her line of view.  Anyway, after that talk, she dumped a bunch of files for me to begin working on.  Griselda, a woman who I've made friends with, told me that all of the senior partners, like Kar (as everyone calls her) and Rusty do it.  With my work ethic, I know I will get it done.  And hopefully before she expects it.  That will surely prove to her that I am no wimpy new girl.  And I will force myself to get used to measuring my time by sixes.  I don't want to have that talk again.

On the plus side, I met the most handsome man on the planet.  His name is Blake Nero and I've never had a crush harder than this one.  In fact, it makes me happy that Farran broke up with me.  I can still remember his grey eyes staring back at me.  I just hope that he hadn't seen me blush.  From what I've gathered from our brief conversation, he's intelligent and kind.  Not to mention, gorgeous.  He just transferred to Gainsboro as a partner from another firm so not only is he perfect, he's also of high status at the firm.

If I hated work (which I don't), he'd be the only reason for me to come back.

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NOTE

Happy Holidays!  

Seriously, I hope that you guys aren't reading this today.  I hope you're spending time (forced or voluntary) with your families, significant others, hobos... anyway *clears throat* I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you are or have been celebrating.  

And if you're spending the holidays alone (and I really hope you're not), just remember that I love you.  ^_^  See you guys in 2013 if I don't post before then!

Also, I hope you like my new banner.  I finally found time to work on it!