#silverplatters

Impatient fingers drummed against the side of a disposable coffee cup as Nico glanced down at the watch on his wrist. A full month he had been working at the form, and he hadn’t even gotten the slightest whisper of Maxine’s presence. ‘She’s away on business’ ‘She’s in a meeting’ ‘She’s not taking visitors’ were the chosen excuses the receptionists recycled every time he tried to get an audience with her. 

Eventually, she’d have to stop hiding from him ( at least, he assumed that she was hiding from him ). Nico wasn’t stupid, they had known each other as children, but his presence would not be welcomed warmly, not when he was brought on without any sort of approval from her. But, he’d lay on the charm, offer her a drink, and try to lessen the blow of such a surprise.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal Maxine, whom Nico had decided to beat to work ( couldn’t shut him out if he saw her before the receptionists could turn him away ). Offering the golden smile, he extended the coffee cup towards her, her name written in dark black sharpie along the side. “Maxine. Long time, no see, hm?”

And so when her new boss entered the room, Martha slipped into the character she fashioned for the job, with an ease. “Good morning, Maxine,” she begins the day, with no hint of derision nor deceit. “Do you want to go over your schedule?” Still, she had to add a pinch of authenticity to her act, to make it convincing. The kittenish smile on her face, as she brandishes a copy of today’s itinerary on the other’s table, was very much her. @silverplatters​