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smackenzieHe wondered what Catherine wanted on a Monday morning. He figured she was going to either give him more work or tell him off for talking to Theo and potentially losing her some assistance.]
He'd have to find her, assuming she wasn't staking out his desk waiting for him to show up, but first he wanted to check his email and see if there was anything new sitting on his desk, and he wanted to say hi to Aidan and ask how his weekend was.
Aidan was a legal secretary for the money, but his real dream was to make a living as a singer-songwriter. He played in bars and little clubs around the city, and he'd recorded an EP which you could sometimes buy from him at a show, but he was still pretty unknown and thus making very little real money from his music. He'd had a gig Sunday night, which Val had planned to go to, but he'd been blindsided by a nap and had missed it.
Val and Aidan had a number of superficial things in common - they'd both been raised by single moms, they both had sisters who were three and four years older, neither of them had anything to do with their dads, they'd both moved here after college, they'd both been at Caswell Velez Malcolm and Simonson for three years, and they were both bi.
(Val had outed himself at the Christmas party last year, although he'd been a little drunk at the time and now no longer remembered the context, and Aidan had been outed to Val by one of Val's fellow law clerks. The fellow clerk had acted like he was helping Val out by suggesting that the guy who val had a crush on could possibly return it. The only problem was that Aidan had a girlfriend to whom he was completely devoted.)
They had some superficial differences too, aside from Aidan's partner and Val's lack of same. Aidan had a younger sister and Val didn't. Aidan bitched about the cold and Val didn't mind it. Val swam regularly and Aidan tried to avoid exercise as much as possible. Aidan had a good singing voice and Val couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. Val lived with a male roommate and Aidan lived with his girlfriend.
And the big difference, perhaps, was that Val treated Caswell Velez Malcolm and Simonson as a stepping-stone to a law career, whereas Aidan was just working there because the money was good and so was the health insurance, and he couldn't make any kind of living playing his guitar and singing. If three years ago he'd gotten a job as an admin for a publishing company or a bank or a non-profit or the school district, he'd have taken it just as easily. He didn't care so much how he made his money or who paid his salary or what he did to earn it. Caswell Velez Malcolm and Simonson was just a paycheck to him.
He was also not a morning person. And while Val tried not to be chirpy and awake to anyone he might run into outside the office in the mornings, he felt perfectly fine being perky in Aidan's direction.
"Good morning," he sang, swinging by Aidan's desk. Aidan raised an eyebrow over his very tall coffee cup. "How was the show last night? I'm sorry I missed it."
"I was fine, the acoustics were terrible," Aidan said. He slurped his coffee. "The fucking bartender kept distracting people at the bar and talking to them every time they turned to watch me. I played to backs. At least it was a decent crowd for a Sunday."
"That sucks. I mean the bartender."
"Yeah, well, now I know about him if I ever get to play there again. Then I got home really late and man, I am so dragging this morning."
"Aren't you dragging every morning?" Val grinned. Aidan shrugged.
"What I get for being a night owl with an early job." He tipped up his coffee cup, apparently draining the very last drops of sweet, sweet caffiene before tossing the cup in his trash can and turning on his computer. "Did Maggie tell you the network was down?"
"She said IT was working on it."
"That's what she told me too. I was hoping it'd be down and I wouldn't have to wade through a shit-ton of emails that don't apply to me. I could actually get something done." His phone rang. "Like, I could answer the phone." He sounded less than excited. Val almost felt bad for him, but he knew Aidan would perk up around eleven or so.
"I'll talk to you later. I think Catherine's looking for me. I need to mentally prepare before she finds me."
"Aidan McInerney," Aidan said into the phone. He covered the mouthpiece with his hand and told Val "I'll find you for lunch. We'll sit in the atrium and bitch." Val gave him a thumb's-up and headed off to his own desk. He hadn't been lying about needing to prepare himself for whatever Catherine wanted.
words: 823
total words: 2067
He'd have to find her, assuming she wasn't staking out his desk waiting for him to show up, but first he wanted to check his email and see if there was anything new sitting on his desk, and he wanted to say hi to Aidan and ask how his weekend was.
Aidan was a legal secretary for the money, but his real dream was to make a living as a singer-songwriter. He played in bars and little clubs around the city, and he'd recorded an EP which you could sometimes buy from him at a show, but he was still pretty unknown and thus making very little real money from his music. He'd had a gig Sunday night, which Val had planned to go to, but he'd been blindsided by a nap and had missed it.
Val and Aidan had a number of superficial things in common - they'd both been raised by single moms, they both had sisters who were three and four years older, neither of them had anything to do with their dads, they'd both moved here after college, they'd both been at Caswell Velez Malcolm and Simonson for three years, and they were both bi.
(Val had outed himself at the Christmas party last year, although he'd been a little drunk at the time and now no longer remembered the context, and Aidan had been outed to Val by one of Val's fellow law clerks. The fellow clerk had acted like he was helping Val out by suggesting that the guy who val had a crush on could possibly return it. The only problem was that Aidan had a girlfriend to whom he was completely devoted.)
They had some superficial differences too, aside from Aidan's partner and Val's lack of same. Aidan had a younger sister and Val didn't. Aidan bitched about the cold and Val didn't mind it. Val swam regularly and Aidan tried to avoid exercise as much as possible. Aidan had a good singing voice and Val couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. Val lived with a male roommate and Aidan lived with his girlfriend.
And the big difference, perhaps, was that Val treated Caswell Velez Malcolm and Simonson as a stepping-stone to a law career, whereas Aidan was just working there because the money was good and so was the health insurance, and he couldn't make any kind of living playing his guitar and singing. If three years ago he'd gotten a job as an admin for a publishing company or a bank or a non-profit or the school district, he'd have taken it just as easily. He didn't care so much how he made his money or who paid his salary or what he did to earn it. Caswell Velez Malcolm and Simonson was just a paycheck to him.
He was also not a morning person. And while Val tried not to be chirpy and awake to anyone he might run into outside the office in the mornings, he felt perfectly fine being perky in Aidan's direction.
"Good morning," he sang, swinging by Aidan's desk. Aidan raised an eyebrow over his very tall coffee cup. "How was the show last night? I'm sorry I missed it."
"I was fine, the acoustics were terrible," Aidan said. He slurped his coffee. "The fucking bartender kept distracting people at the bar and talking to them every time they turned to watch me. I played to backs. At least it was a decent crowd for a Sunday."
"That sucks. I mean the bartender."
"Yeah, well, now I know about him if I ever get to play there again. Then I got home really late and man, I am so dragging this morning."
"Aren't you dragging every morning?" Val grinned. Aidan shrugged.
"What I get for being a night owl with an early job." He tipped up his coffee cup, apparently draining the very last drops of sweet, sweet caffiene before tossing the cup in his trash can and turning on his computer. "Did Maggie tell you the network was down?"
"She said IT was working on it."
"That's what she told me too. I was hoping it'd be down and I wouldn't have to wade through a shit-ton of emails that don't apply to me. I could actually get something done." His phone rang. "Like, I could answer the phone." He sounded less than excited. Val almost felt bad for him, but he knew Aidan would perk up around eleven or so.
"I'll talk to you later. I think Catherine's looking for me. I need to mentally prepare before she finds me."
"Aidan McInerney," Aidan said into the phone. He covered the mouthpiece with his hand and told Val "I'll find you for lunch. We'll sit in the atrium and bitch." Val gave him a thumb's-up and headed off to his own desk. He hadn't been lying about needing to prepare himself for whatever Catherine wanted.
words: 823
total words: 2067
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no subject
Date: 2008-11-02 01:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-04 04:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-05 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-02 04:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-04 04:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-03 03:48 pm (UTC)Hmm ... this is the second time you've brought up the network being down. My Important Plot Point sensors are twitching (though I suspect pink-slip-by-email is totally the wrong guess).
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Date: 2008-11-04 04:11 am (UTC)pink-slip-by-email is indeed the wrong guess. i mostly wanted an excuse to think about potential monday morning difficulty and cranky tech people. :D