Read Online In Irina's Cards (The Variant Conspiracy #1) by Christine Hart - Free Book Online
Authors: Christine Hart
Ads: Link
that huge bouncer in the gut.
Morning came with the unpleasant ringing of Darryl’s wind-up pocket alarm clock. Yet one more reason to get a cell phone, I thought, as I reached for the obnoxiously loud bell.
As soon as I remembered my plans to find Jonah and Cole at work, I couldn’t wait to get out the door. I skipped the diner and got a croissant for breakfast on the way back to Innoviro. I finished the pastry and dusted my hands as I walked up the last flight of stairs to the familiar steel door.
Melissa already sat at her desk. She glanced up at me briefly and returned to writing something on a notepad. I wondered what her to-do list looked like and if it contained an item for ‘ get Irina fired ’ possibly coded with language like ‘ remove the new bag ’.
“Ivan’s not in yet, but he asked me to give you a tour of the office.” Melissa stood. She refused to break eye contact with her notepad.
“Follow me. It’s a short tour. You won’t have access to the labs below until you’ve passed your three month probation,” she said. “You’ll probably never see any of our international offices, so I won’t even bother talking about those.”
I followed, nodding and saying, ‘OK’ as optimistically as I could each time she pointed something out in a flat, joyless tone of voice. I looked around for signs of other staff, hoping for Jonah or Cole to pass. Utter silence, with the exception of our footsteps and the ticking of fluorescent lights overhead, left me disappointed.
Melissa circled back to her desk and instructed me to wait in the lounge for Ivan to arrive. “Task-wise, I have no idea what he has in mind for you, but I can’t let you browse.” She watched her screen, clacking away on her keyboard, but I could tell she had me in her peripheral vision.
Fortunately, only minutes passed until Ivan arrived and cheerfully invited me to follow him to his office. I felt the exciting rush of a fresh start. My life had the potential to evolve into anything–exciting challenges, fascinating projects, rewarding achievements. In spite of my sheer gratitude at having a job, I knew this role was not likely to offer any of those things. My expectations were confirmed with a THUD when Ivan set his briefcase down and asked me to go to the coffee shop around the corner for his soy latte and a cranberry breakfast scone.
As the day wore on, each of Ivan’s assignments continued to live up to the job title of personal assistant. I typed up scrawled notes from a prior meeting. I picked up his dry cleaning, called his salon to make a hair and facial appointment, organized his office closet, and reviewed his daybook to circle droppable tasks or in his words, ‘weed out the non-essentials’ when it came to his daily activities. At four o’clock, I called him a courier, then a cab, requesting that it arrive precisely at four-thirty.
Ivan’s last task of the day transcended demeaning and reached the realm of bizarre. While he selected files to carry home in his briefcase, he instructed me to find a nearby pet shop and purchase two mice. This would have puzzled me if I hadn’t been directed to the kitchenette inside his office that morning to apply cream cheese to his crumbly scone (an extremely tedious task if you’ve never attempted it) and pour his coffee into a mug. The kitchenette I had noticed during my interview had been partially concealed by an elegant partition of Russian illustrations. Hidden behind the barrier sat a cabinet and on top of that, a well-appointed terrarium containing a large coiled snake. Ivan told me his name was Chester.
Knowing what lay ahead for the mice, I insisted the pet shop’s attendant select the mice himself. I wanted it to be an impartial twist of fate for the furry creatures. When I got back, I expected to find Ivan waiting in his office–until I saw that the clock on the wall pointed to ten after five. Ivan had of course left in his cab and I found a hand-written note
Morning came with the unpleasant ringing of Darryl’s wind-up pocket alarm clock. Yet one more reason to get a cell phone, I thought, as I reached for the obnoxiously loud bell.
As soon as I remembered my plans to find Jonah and Cole at work, I couldn’t wait to get out the door. I skipped the diner and got a croissant for breakfast on the way back to Innoviro. I finished the pastry and dusted my hands as I walked up the last flight of stairs to the familiar steel door.
Melissa already sat at her desk. She glanced up at me briefly and returned to writing something on a notepad. I wondered what her to-do list looked like and if it contained an item for ‘ get Irina fired ’ possibly coded with language like ‘ remove the new bag ’.
“Ivan’s not in yet, but he asked me to give you a tour of the office.” Melissa stood. She refused to break eye contact with her notepad.
“Follow me. It’s a short tour. You won’t have access to the labs below until you’ve passed your three month probation,” she said. “You’ll probably never see any of our international offices, so I won’t even bother talking about those.”
I followed, nodding and saying, ‘OK’ as optimistically as I could each time she pointed something out in a flat, joyless tone of voice. I looked around for signs of other staff, hoping for Jonah or Cole to pass. Utter silence, with the exception of our footsteps and the ticking of fluorescent lights overhead, left me disappointed.
Melissa circled back to her desk and instructed me to wait in the lounge for Ivan to arrive. “Task-wise, I have no idea what he has in mind for you, but I can’t let you browse.” She watched her screen, clacking away on her keyboard, but I could tell she had me in her peripheral vision.
Fortunately, only minutes passed until Ivan arrived and cheerfully invited me to follow him to his office. I felt the exciting rush of a fresh start. My life had the potential to evolve into anything–exciting challenges, fascinating projects, rewarding achievements. In spite of my sheer gratitude at having a job, I knew this role was not likely to offer any of those things. My expectations were confirmed with a THUD when Ivan set his briefcase down and asked me to go to the coffee shop around the corner for his soy latte and a cranberry breakfast scone.
As the day wore on, each of Ivan’s assignments continued to live up to the job title of personal assistant. I typed up scrawled notes from a prior meeting. I picked up his dry cleaning, called his salon to make a hair and facial appointment, organized his office closet, and reviewed his daybook to circle droppable tasks or in his words, ‘weed out the non-essentials’ when it came to his daily activities. At four o’clock, I called him a courier, then a cab, requesting that it arrive precisely at four-thirty.
Ivan’s last task of the day transcended demeaning and reached the realm of bizarre. While he selected files to carry home in his briefcase, he instructed me to find a nearby pet shop and purchase two mice. This would have puzzled me if I hadn’t been directed to the kitchenette inside his office that morning to apply cream cheese to his crumbly scone (an extremely tedious task if you’ve never attempted it) and pour his coffee into a mug. The kitchenette I had noticed during my interview had been partially concealed by an elegant partition of Russian illustrations. Hidden behind the barrier sat a cabinet and on top of that, a well-appointed terrarium containing a large coiled snake. Ivan told me his name was Chester.
Knowing what lay ahead for the mice, I insisted the pet shop’s attendant select the mice himself. I wanted it to be an impartial twist of fate for the furry creatures. When I got back, I expected to find Ivan waiting in his office–until I saw that the clock on the wall pointed to ten after five. Ivan had of course left in his cab and I found a hand-written note
Similar Books
