Michael only gave her the check to get her to come into his office. He knows, there's no way, she's going to cash it. He wants her to storm into his office, throw it down on his desk and then, he's going to offer her the job as file clerk.
He gave her $1000!!!!!!
-How can she not go out with him or at least let him help her!!
I wonder what will happen when she goes to give it back!!
-Great update! Loved it!!
that was smart throwing money at her and a) forcing her to call him or b) gettin her outta the apartment (maybe) but it was cool it gave both him and her a good way out no matter what
That's so unfair! I have worked as a waitress and I never had a 1000 check
Sydney really have to give Vaughn a try! I'm sure they could be happy together, she has to trust him.
Maybe Nadia could try to help Sydney by talking to Vaughn or setting them up...
Chapter 7
The following day, after she got off work from the department store at eleven, Sydney took a bus to a stop as close to Michael’s office building as she could get and then walked the rest of the way. She was intent on simply finding his secretary and giving the check to her so she could give it to Michael, but unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way she had hoped.
She felt incredibly uncomfortable as she rode up the elevator surrounded by men and women in expensive clothes while she stood there in her t-shirt and black pants from Wal-Mart. She shrugged it off though and walked straight to the secretary she found on the fifth floor. “Excuse me, I was wondering if I could just drop something off for Michael Vaughn?”
The secretary looked at her strangely before saying, “Mr. Vaughn is in his office if you’d like to give it to him in person.”
“No, really that’s not necessary, I-”
“Sydney?!” she heard him call out her name from down the hall and she swore under her breath. The last thing she was in the mood for was a confrontation. She turned to see him walking towards her rapidly and before she could speak, he ushered her forward, “Come, we’ll talk in my office.”
She sighed and followed him rather reluctantly. She didn’t want to be trapped in his office, but then again, she also didn’t want to cause a scene out in the open that could potentially humiliate Michael and herself. Michael stopped in front of a wooden door with a brass nameplate bearing his name. He unlocked it and then led her inside. “Whoa…,” Sydney sighed when she saw his expansive office with huge floor to ceiling windows. Being on the fifth floor meant they couldn’t see much scenery, but it was at least very well lit.
“Have a seat, please,” he said gesturing towards the chairs by his desk while shutting the door behind them.
“That won’t be necessary; I’m not staying. I just need to return this,” she said as she pulled his now slightly crumpled check from her pocket.
Michael raised up his hands and backed away from her. “I don’t want it back,” he said.
“Take it!” she insisted as she thrust it at him.
“No.”
“Yes!”
“No.”
Their childish exchanged continued for another moment or so before Sydney grunted, stepped forward, reached into Michael’s coat jacket and tucked the check into his front pocket. “There,” she said.
“Sydney,” he sighed as he took the check back out. “Just take it.”
“I’m not your charity case, Michael,” she snapped in an extremely defensive tone.
“I know that,” he told her. “I just want to help you.”
“Help me,” she scoffed. “You don’t give a damn about me.”
“Actually, I do,” he said seriously. “Come on, would you just sit down and hear me out? Five minutes tops, I swear. Just. Listen,” he told her, enunciating the last two words firmly. She sighed and flopped down in one of the chairs, giving him a hard look the entire time.
“Thank you,” he sighed as he sat behind the desk. “I’d like to offer you a job – but before you protest!” he said quickly noticing her mouth opening and knowing she was about to yell. “Hear me out.” She gave a tiny ‘hmph’ but said nothing else.
“It’s a position here. Nine to five, five days a week. No education other than the training we give you here is necessary-”
“I have education,” she muttered, cutting him off.
“I know you do. What did you have… two years of college?” he asked her. She nodded, though she didn’t look at him. “What was your major?”
“Just business…,” she said quietly.
“Alright well, this would just be filing papers, but you could move up to a research position or go back to school,” he said hopefully. She had no reaction to this. “You’d get benefits,” he added, trying to entice her.
“Are you through?” she asked him rather harshly. He nodded. “Fine. Goodbye Mr. Vaughn,” she said as she got up to leave.
“Wait, you’re not taking the job?!” he asked in shock.
“I told you – I don’t need your charity.”
“I’m trying to help you!” he shouted. “If you weren’t being so god damn stubborn-”
“STUBBORN?!” she cut him off with a screech.
“Yes, stubborn,” he told her. “Why won’t you just let me help you?” She looked away. “See, you don’t have a good reason.”
“I’m doing fine on my own,” she told him.
“Fine? Oh… you’re doing fine, are you?” he asked her. “You work four jobs one of them in a diner that is completely unsafe. You live in what could only be a tiny apartment on some godforsaken street and your father-”
“HEY!” she cut him off. “Look, I don’t criticize the way you live, so why don’t you just get off my back!”
“Why don’t you just take the job,” he retorted.
She just glared at him and turned to leave, but she paused when her hand came to rest on the door handle to his office. She sighed, shut her eyes and rested her head on the door. He was right; she couldn’t deny it. She was being stubborn and knew the job would be better for her; she just wanted to know why he was trying so persistently to help her. “How much would it pay?” she asked quietly.
“Eight-fifty an hour to start, then nine after half a year,” he told her.
She sighed heavily. That was more than she made at her other jobs. Cursing to herself and praying that somehow this would come around to burn her, she turned and said, “Alright.”
“Yeah?” a smile broke across his face.
“Yeah,” she grumbled. “I can still work at the department store and the diner at night and-”
“No,” he cut her off.
“No what?!” she asked with confusion.
“No, you can’t work at the diner. It’s a condition of your employment,” he told her.
“WHA-?!” she gasped in indigence. “What are you talking about ‘condition of employment’? Don’t use your lawyer-speak on me,” she threatened.
“I’m not,” he laughed softly. “You take the job; you quit the diner. I don’t want you working in that place that got shot up; it’s not safe.”
She sighed and looked down at her feet. “Why are you doing this, Michael?” she asked in a very quiet, almost timid tone.
Michael walked around his desk and stood beside her. “I just want to help you,” he told her honestly. “Why can’t you accept that?”
She looked up at him and for the first time he saw her look slightly afraid. “No help comes without strings.”
He smiled softly. “I promise this does. The only string would be your friendship; that’s all I want.”
“Alright,” she sighed. “I’ll quit the diner, but I’m keeping my other three jobs.”
He laughed at the fact that her tone had returned to her previous, stubborn one. “Fine,” he sighed. “What are they, by the way?”
“Well… weekend mornings I work at the department store, Sunday afternoons I waitress at another diner and Friday and Saturday night I bartend at-”
“No,” he cut her off. “No bartending.”
“It’s good money!” she insisted.
“It’s skeevy,” he told her. “Jeez Sydney, do you ever take a break?”
“I can take a break after Nadia’s been through college,” she told him.
“How old is she?” he asked.
“Seventeen,” Sydney told him as she looked down. “She’ll be a senior in the fall.”
“Alright,” he sighed. “You don’t have to quit the bars, but know that I think you should.”
“Fine,” she grumbled. “Do I start tomorrow?”
“Yes,” he nodded. Then she went to leave but he called her back, still groaning slightly. He pulled the check out of his pocket and she gave him a look.
“We’ve been through this,” she sighed.
“I know,” he laughed softly. “Consider it a pay advance. Use it to buy clothes, if necessary.”
“This can’t be a pay advance; it’s a personal check!” she told him. He held it out but she walked away. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Great update!
I loved that she took the job and since they're going to see each other a lot more for now on I wonder how long it's going to take before something happens between them. Thanks for the PM and post more soon.