Play-a-holic (Private with theJozza)

[GreaterGood]

Robin Petersons is hunched over his computer. Even though he's already staying late, it feels even worse than that, seeing as everybody else left early (not before dumping their work on him, of course). He doesn't mind *that much*... Okay, he does, but he felt a certain sense of satisfaction knowing how reliable he was, how much everyone liked him. He was every teacher's favorite student, ever employee's favorite intern, and now his manager's favorite employee, something that made him smile every time he was praised for it... and then it faded away when he hunched himself over, trying to settle his company's bizarre finances.


This last week, his problem was an odd irregularity with the owner's personal finances, something her accountant foisted on him just because she knew he could. Something about a "diaper budget"? She didn't look like she was expecting, but he has no doubt this is just another prank. People seemed to really be entertained by how easily they could get a rise out of the wound-up people-pleaser.


Robin tries desperately to bunch the auburn hair that had fallen out of his short ponytail behind his ears, hoping the legs of his glasses could keep it out of his face. His gray eyes feel strained staring at his monitor, more and more so as the sun dipped behind the forest outside of his building. He sighs deeply, holding back tears.


"You're succeeding," He reminds himself under his breath, "Everybody loves you, your job is good, and you do what you have to so everyone else can be happy. You're a winner, you're a..."

He quickly shuts up and turns his head, thinking he hears footsteps.

[theJozza]

Said footsteps belonged to none other than Abigail Zhan, owner and president of this company. She's a six foot six, dark-skinned woman with jet black hair and piercing green eyes. She was seen by many to be a titan in the financial industry, and known by all her employees to run a tight ship. Most of the lower level employees regarded her with a quiet mixture of fear and respect.

That being said it wasn't too unusual for her to make personal contact with Robin like now. She'd quickly taken notice of the young mans talents, hence her assistant giving him the special assignment.

As she notices him working, she stands behind him and clears her throat.

"Working late again, Robin?" She asks, her tone neutral, but with the tiniest bit of a chuckle underneath. "I'm not opposed to paying overtime, but I don't need my top accountant collapsing from exhaustion. But it actually is good I found you. There's something very important I need to discuss with you." She says, before not subtly reaching around him and turning off the monitor of his desktop. "Now." She adds, with her special calm but stern tone that every person in this building recognized as a sign that her previous sentence wasn't a request.

[GreaterGood]

"M-Miss Zhan!" Robin says, his legs going stiff, pushing his chair backward after he swiveled around to meet her gaze, "I-I'm sorry, I just- They just- I accepted my entire team's work again. I-I don't mind it of course, I- Uhhh- I just wish they'd invite me to their outings, from time to time..."

Robin sighs. He feels as though he misses out on so much, whenever his co-workers return to regale him of the tales of friday night drinks. He's convinced himself they couldn't happen without him, however, that they toasted to him as he did their jobs.


"You... want to speak with me?" He asks standing up to try and better meet her gaze, "Of course! Anything if it means helping to make your day better!"

Robin prides himself on his "charisma", failing to see how it isn't just his speaking style that made people pretend to like the meek, chipper man. His enthusiasm lightened the mood, sure, but not as much as what he always pretends to be enthusiastic to do.

[theJozza]

"Oh I'm well aware, both of what happened and your feelings on it, which I appreciate," Abigail replies calmly. However, unbeknownst to him all the rest of that team had some very strongly worded emails about responsibility, work ethic, and a threat or two. "Well if you feel that way, how about I treat you to dinner?" Abigail says, offering him her hand. "After all we have something very important to discuss, and celebrate for that matter."

She talks and moves in a way that's very "convincing" to say the least. She also has to struggle just a bit to contain her giggles at his enthusiasm. She does find it quite charming, though not quite in the way he probably assumes she does.

[GreaterGood]

"Worthy of celebration?" Robin asks, "Well... I wouldn't say no to dinner with you- F-For professional reasons, of course!"

Robin always felt nervous when talking to others, especially those in positions of authority. The mere proximity to Ms. Khan, a woman he's spoken to directly only twice before, whose eyes seem to always follow him like the Mona Lisa's, who appears to grin every time she sees him. It makes him nervous, no, anxious. He feels a bead of sweat reach his eyebrow, which he swiftly wipes away.

"W-Where should we go?" Robin asks, "A-And don't worry I can cover the- N-No, wait, I didn't mean to insinuate that you don't have any- Wait- I-"

Robin instinctively puts his hands in his hair, pulling them out of the ponytail as he seems to cower in fear.

"I-I'm sorry..."

[theJozza]

It's becoming increasingly difficult for Abigail to not break down into laughter or d'aww-ing at Robin's display. The adorable awkwardness of it alone is almost too much for her. As such, she simply shrugs and turns taking his hand, figuring that avoiding eye contact for a little bit would help her get herself back under control before she gives anything away.

"Oh it's no trouble I've already gotten us a reservation at my personal favorite restaurant. Besides there's no need for you to worry about the cost, I said this was a celebration after all," Abigail says as she leads him into the elevator and presses the button. She's already arranged for someone to gather all his things from his desk, after all he won't actually be going back to that work station again.

Soon enough, the two of them are walking up to the restaurant, which is only about three blocks from the business so they were able to easily walk. The hostess immediately recognizes Abigail, the two briefly hugging, and the waitress that appears to guide them in seems to recognize her too. Said waitress also gives Robin a subtle but knowing look before leaning in to whisper to Abigail.

"So is this the special boy you've been talking about Ms. Zhan? I have to say he's quite cute. Are you sure you don't want to go into the...special room tonight?" She whispers, seemingly holding in her giggles.

"Not tonight, darling," Abigail whispers back as they arrive at their table and she watches Robin sit down. "Though I can assure you that we'll be going there the next time you see him." She gives the waitress a wink and then sits down herself.

"All right the," The waitress says, handing them each a menu. "I'll go fetch you two some waters while you think about what you want. Be right back." She says, giving a slight curtsy and walking off, giggling once she's out of earshot.

[GreaterGood]

Robin doesn't know how to feel about being lead around like this. On the one hand, it certainly was nice to have a bit of guidance, especially when it meant pulling him out of a panic attack. On the other... he can't help but feel awful about taxing her in any way. He's a professional after all, he shouldn't be such a drain on others.



"Right!" Robin says, glad that Ms. Zhan was able to nip that awkwardness at the bud, "But, you really don't have to. I mean, you know how much you pay me, you know that it's technically a little too much for the work I do. I can certainly afford frivolities like this."

Robin, of course, is referring to the spartan way in which he lives. He was brought up to know how to save money at every turn, and thus lived in a tiny, cheap, and borderline empty apartment. He didn't see his lack of furnishings and largely secondhand items as being sad or somehow indicative of poverty, far from it. It was him being smart, taking advantage of a good deal wherever he saw one, and never spending more than he had to. Money tended to go into his bank account to rot, contributing to a the vague concept of a retirement that he has no actual plans for.


He follows his boss closely as they approach the restaurant, trying deliberately to avoid eye contact with her or their waitress, not wanting to seem as though he's intruding, or worse yet eavesdropping. He sits down across from Ms. Zhan and scoots over to the wall, being careful to keep his elbows off the table.


"So," Robin says, wanting to make a good impression and get straight to business, "What's the big project?"

[theJozza]

Abigail at this point is phasing out most of what Robin's saying, or at least not reacting to it while making mental notes to bring up what he's saying later. As it happens, his apartment, much like his cubicle, is currently being cleared out on her orders and its contents moved to her house. Well mostly her basement, considering he's not going to need most of that stuff soon and even if he does he'll finally be getting top quality.

After they sit, Abigail clears her throat and sets her menu aside.

"Ah yes the project," She says with a smile. "Well there are some details I can't quite go into yet, but I've decided to create an all new position that will be operating directly under me. Let's just say it will be covering a lot of private projects that I'll be supervising personally. I trust you're interested?" She asks, regaining her "business" tone, despite the inner giggling at how vague she's being.

In any case, the waitress soon returns with two waters and a bread basket, and Abigail orders for them both.

"I'll have the prime rib with a salad on the side," she says, pointing at the menu. "And Robin will have the chicken alfredo." The waitress nods and walks off. "Hope you don't mind but their alfredo is to die for." She says sweetly, as she already knew he loved pasta and cheese sauce, having done ample research on his personal life before this.

[GreaterGood]

"That's..." Robin prepares to remark on how vague it is, before thinking on the situation. Private position? Directly under Ms. Zhan? "Well, of course! How couldn't I accept?"

He smiles, believing all of his years of hard work and self-sacrificing to have paid off, and not knowing exactly how correct he is. As she orders for him though, he panics.

"Uhhh- Uhhh- Could you please come back!?" Robin calls out, before looking back at Abigail with a panicked expression, "I-I'm very sorry, Ms. Zhan, but I'm a vegetarian. I'm sure it's very good, but I'm afraid my stomach is a little too weak for meat. Not an allergy thing, I mean, I just... I can't think about bad things happening to animals, and the way that livestock is treated is just... awful..."


He sighs, feeling guilty about admitting the next thing.

"I tried to go vegan for a while, but it was just too hard," He says, shamefully hanging his head down, "I just couldn't give up eggs and cheese."

[theJozza]

"Oh dear, I'm very sorry," Abigail says, blushing in embarrassment, and hurriedly waves the waitress back. Truth be told she knew all about his vegetarianism, but had felt that even Robin might get suspicious if his boss knew absolutely everything about him. Moreover, she found his reasoning for it even more adorable, and upon hearing his "shame" comment, she reaches over and pats his hand. "Oh Robin, dear," She says, calmly. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has their favorites, and it certainly isn't not a challenge to just be a vegetarian. Why I certainly could do it. You should be proud of doing that." She smiles and pats his hand again, in a way that should feel extra soothing, and something she hopes he'll get used to.

In any case, she soon changes his order to a vegetable alfredo and the two sit back and wait for their food. They make idle conversation, Abigail able to both remain vague about the job specifics while also hiding how much she already knows about him. Fortunately the food arrives quickly and they get to eating.

Eventually, when they're halfway done, the waitress comes back with a new menu.

"Will we be having any dessert?" She asks.

"Oh I think so," Abigail nods, before taking the last piece of her prime rib. "Any preference Robin?"