The Great Lee

"Where have you two been?" Maia shouted as soon as Mandy and Josh stepped inside their office. "Josephine has been biting my head off! I don't know why but she was specifically looking for you." She pointed a shaky finger at Mandy.

"Me? Why?" Mandy asked, confused.

"I have no idea. But President Enriquez is here and I think that might be why she's so stressed. They said he will check the floors today," Maia cupped her hands to her cheek. "And our floor's a mess!" She looked at Josh. "Where have you been?" She repeated the question to Josh.

"We went out to get coffee and we lost track of time," Josh answered Maia, glancing at Mandy as if he wanted her to confirm his story.

"Coffee? You went out to get coffee? We have coffee right HERE!" Maia was clearly upset that they were late.

"We just thought…" Mandy was about to defend herself and Josh but Maia cut her off.

"Amanda, I'll let you off with a warning for today since it's your first day. But don't let this happen again. And as for you," she turned to Josh, "we will have a chat later. For now, tidy up the floor and make this place look like an office. And where did these boxes come from anyway?"

"They're Lee's. He asked me to get them earlier and…" Josh started to explain.

"Never mind. I don't care. Just get rid of them!"

"Yes, Ma'am." Josh put down his coffee on the table and hurriedly cleaned the place. Mandy also put down hers and began helping Josh.

Josh and Mandy quietly worked while Jane and Carla whispered to each other. Rae just watched them and thought it was the most exciting thing that has ever happened in the office recently.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If I didn't agree to that coffee, we wouldn't be late and you wouldn't be in trouble," Mandy broke the silence.

"What are you talking about? It's my fault we're both in trouble, or at least I think I am the only one in trouble. You're off the hook. Don't worry about it." Josh smiled. "Besides, I know Maia. She's not usually like that. She's just stressed knowing President Enriquez is visiting today. Come to think of it, I think this will be the first time that he will visit here since I was hired."

"Really?" Mandy thought her dad frequently visited the floors since he's always at work. "And how long have you been here?"

"A little over two years. Better save the chit-chat for later. Right now let's clear this place of mess." Josh looked down at Mandy's shoes. "Maybe you should wear something… uhm… more comfortable tomorrow. You'll get blisters wearing those all day."

Mandy nodded. He was right. It's not even noon yet but her feet are already aching. "I'll keep that in mind."

They resumed working, picking the papers on the tables and arranging them neatly on the shelves. Josh picked up the boxes he had brought up from the copier room.

"I'll take these to Lee. You just continue here. Don't forget to ask the girls if they need help with something. But stay away from Maia for now. Let her cool down." Josh picked up the boxes and went out.

Mandy went to Carla to ask her if she needed help with something.

. . .

Josh went to the service elevator. Lee's office was two floors up. Normally, he would take the stairs going up to Lee but because of the boxes, he decided to take the elevator. Though the boxes were empty, it would still be a struggle to get them through the stairwell door.

The elevator opened but Josh couldn't see where he was going so he bumped into the person that was coming in.

"Hey!"

"I'm so sorry," apologized Josh.

"Watch where you're going!"

Josh recognized the deep, arrogant voice anywhere. It was Lee. Josh peaked from behind the boxes to see Lee dusting off some invisible dust from his crisp shirt.

"Sorry, Lee," apologized Josh again. "The boxes were blocking my view."

"Obviously. Where the hell are you going with those boxes anyway?" Lee asked, obviously annoyed.

"You asked me to bring them up to you, remember?"

"Are these STILL those boxes? I asked you to bring them up HOURS ago." Lee's voice boomed through the hallway. The people passing by were already watching them.

"I know but we have a new hire down at our floor and Maia asked me to show…"

"SO WHAT?" Lee interrupted. "When I tell you to do something, you drop whatever it is you are doing and you do it - IMMEDIATELY."

"I'll remember that next time." Josh wanted to argue with him but with Lee, there is definitely no winning an argument.

"Good! And because you took SO LONG to bring those up, I decided I don't need them anymore." Lee said. He clearly wanted to annoy Josh.

"Okay, then. I'll throw them out."

Josh turned around to face the elevator again, pressed the "Down" button and bit his tongue to keep from saying something he might regret.

Lee stood beside him, also waiting for the elevator. As the elevator opened, Lee beat Josh to it, preventing Josh from entering. But Josh didn't force himself into the elevator. He doesn't want to be in the same room as Lee, ad so much more not inside the same elevator where the space was so tight. He shook his head as he thought of how arrogant Lee was — to think that they used to be friends.

Lee smiled as the elevator closed on Josh. He hated Josh since that fateful day. He could still remember what happened like it was just yesterday. He vowed to ALWAYS to give Josh a hard time at work. He will do anything to kick Josh out of the company.

. . .

Carla didn't have anything to ask Mandy to do so Mandy went to Jane.

"Actually, I do need help getting these filed but Rae is doing something so if you can please finish them before President Enriquez gets here, that will be a big help. You're gonna need to pair the invoices with the receipts, though, before you put them in file."

Mandy took the papers and put them on her table.

She read the documents, figuring out which receipt goes to which invoice. She was amazed with the figures on the invoices. She never thought they were spending so much.

Just then, Mandy heard the door open.

"That was quick." She thought it was Josh so she didn't look up.

"What is?" An unfamiliar voice responded to her.

Mandy looked up, surprised.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"And who did you think I was?" Lee asked her.

"I, I thought you were… I thought you were Josh." Mandy hesitated to answer but she thought she would get in trouble again if she didn't.

Lee let out a laugh. "Please! Not even close."

Mandy agreed. But not for the same reason as Lee's.

Mandy looked at the stranger. He was handsome, no doubt. His skin was clear and flawless. He dressed well, signature items from head to foot, Mandy could tell. His shirt was neatly pressed. His teeth were flawlessly straight. HIs hair was combed to perfection. His pants were tailor-fit. His shoes were black and shiny.

"This guy is 100% vain. He's definitely serious about keeping his appearance." Mandy thought. "But he stinks because of his arrogance."

Lee looked at Mandy. He went down there to see who the new employee was. He thought it was a male but he was surprised to see a female. Lee thought Mandy was beautiful. Her soft, flawless skin, her tender lips, her expressive eyes. Lee looked at her from head to foot. It made Mandy uncomfortable.

"Hi, Lee!" Maia called from her table, waving at Lee to come to her.

"So this is Lee." Mandy thought. She made a mental note to find out more about him.

"Ah yes, just the girl I wanted to see," Lee said to Maia, but his eyes were fixed on Mandy. "I need to tell you something." He smiled at Mandy before walking over to where Maia was.

"What was that all about?" Jane whispered to Mandy.

Mandy shrugged. She couldn't care less about some stranger with a bad attitude. She sat down again and went back to work.

She could hear Lee's laugh. Mandy wondered what they were talking about. Just then, Josh came in.

"Where have you been?" Jane whispered. She was making sideway glances to the direction where Lee was. Josh looked over to that direction, in time to hear Lee laugh again.

"No way! Lee's here?" Josh asked Jane. Jane nodded in response.

Josh turned towards the door but then he heard Lee's voice call after him.

"Leaving, Josh? You just got back?" Josh stopped, turned around and saw Lee approaching him.

"Leave? Why would you think that? I was just going to the men's room."

Lee walked passed him, ignoring his reply. Josh noticed Maia was right behind him.

"Josh, we need to talk. Follow me," Maia said.

"Uh-oh! Looks like somebody's in trouble." Smug was all over Lee's face as he passed Josh and then went out the door.

Josh nodded and followed Maia. He already knew what she was going to say.