Mercy/Ashe
A commission for @shanachan101! I hope you enjoy it, and thank you very much for commissioning me! “Get OUT of here! You’re absolutely worthless! Complete garbage!”
The sight of a tear-stained intern rushing from Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe (Otherwise known as Miss Ashe)’s office was not an uncommon sight. Her previous assistant had been fired after only three days working for Miss Ashe’s company, and the assistant before that didn’t even last the morning. Ashe always started with one simple task that more often than not weeded out those who were not suited for the position as her assistant; fetch a cup of coffee.
Most assistants would be surprised by her seemingly simple request; after all, how hard was it to get a cup of coffee? Then they began to expect some convoluted and difficult-to-remember order. But the order was simple as well. One large macchiato, with an extra shot of espresso. NOT a cortado, and with a chocolate cake pop on the side. Despite the simple instructions, it seemed that no intern or potential hiree was able to get this order correct. Miss Ashe was known for her short temper, and an incorrect coffee was the first step to a rotten day. The intern today had completely forgotten the cake pop, and brought back a large cortado. A simple mistake, but wrong nonetheless. Papers being slammed against the desk was able to be heard from down the hall of the office to where the rest of her workers sat, diligently keeping their heads down to avoid her wrath. Generally she was a “fun” boss; despite her temper she also had a sharp tongue, and was never short of a clever comeback to someone’s sass. Those with a faint of heart would never last in Miss Ashe’s company, and she made sure to remind each and every new employee that walked through her doors, and out of them as well.
“Can SOMEBODY PLEASE find me a decent fuckin’ assistant!” She yelled, not directly at anybody. “All I want is a cup o’ coffee!” She could totally go get the coffee herself, but what was the point in hiring someone who couldn’t complete the most important job of her morning? Just to avoid strife and constant stress from the angry boss, one of her more experienced workers goes to retrieve her order, hoping to satisfy her boss in even one aspect. After receiving her coffee, Miss Ashe was able to start her work day.
It was over as quick as it started, most of her staff already gone for the day. She glanced at the clock, pushing some hair out of her face absentmindedly before turning her attention back to the pile of paperwork still sitting unfinished on her desk. Knowing she had an early meeting, she decided to abandon the paperwork for the night to go get some much needed shut-eye.
The next morning, Ashe was surprised to see an unfamiliar figure standing outside of her office door. “What do you want.” Ashe half barked, her hair slightly tousled from her early morning meeting that had left her almost ripping her hair out.
The figure turned, and Ashe couldn’t help but be surprised by what, by who stood before her. Beautiful soft blonde hair held at bay by a peach coloured scrunchie, soft pink lips, beautiful blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with the innocence of an assistant not yet broken by their superior. “My name is Angela. Angela Ziegler. It is a pleasure to officially meet you, Miss Ashe. I’ve heard a lot of wonderful things about you.” Her comment earned a small scoff from the boss.
“Have you now. You still haven’t said what you want.” Already not listening to orders. This girl won’t last the hour. What were they thinking sending this young thing to me?
“I apologize, I was under the impression that you were the boss of this establishment. Clearly I was mistaken due to the fact that you were unable to assume I was your new assistant.” Her tone was light, a soft smile playing at her lips as she spoke, even though her words dripped with what seemed to be thinly-veiled disrespect, something that Miss Ashe did not tolerate in the slightest.
“Listen, girl, I will NOT be disrespected by some young little city girl with a smart mouth who thinks she can talk to me that way.” She snapped, noting the silence from her other staff. Clearly they were listening, and Ashe felt a brief flash of pity for whoever made the mistake of hiring this bright-eyed bimbo.
The blonde, Angela, didn’t even flinch at the words being half shouted in her face. “I apologize Miss Ashe. I had gathered that you weren’t exactly the type to have people kiss the ground that you walked on. At least, that was what I had heard during my research into your company and your leadership style. I quite admire the razor sharp tongue that others have come to fear.” She tipped her head and shoulders forward slightly into a bow. “I did not mean any disrespect, and I hope that I didn’t wound you too greatly.” Angela’s eyes met those of Miss Ashe, almost daring her to scream in her face again.
Instead, Ashe pushed past Angela with a scornful look. She unlocked the office door, quickly making her way over to the large oak desk that held the stacks of reminders of her unfinished work. “Whatever. If you actually plan on staying here for more than an hour, make yourself useful and get me a coffee, will you?” She placed her hat on the window ledge behind her desk before pulling out the nice looking office chair that was almost like a second home to Ashe.
“It would be my pleasure. What is your order, Miss Ashe? I’ll write it down so I don’t get it incorrect.” When Ashe glanced up, she noticed Angela was already armed with a pen and paper on a clipboard Ashe hadn’t noticed until now.
“Listen carefully, got it?” She barked again, and Angela nodded. “I want one large macchiato, with an extra shot of espresso. NOT a cortado. With a chocolate cake pop on the side.” Ashe made sure to speak a little louder and clearly, as she did with every intern she gave this order to. “And make sure to get it from the coffee shop three doors down from here. None of that Starbucks crap. Got it?”
“Yes Ma’am. I will be back shortly with your breakfast.” Once again she bowed her head before turning on her heel and quickly departing.
Ashe sighed to herself. “She’s not terrible. I have to admit, I kind of like the attitude. Definitely not the doe-eyed blonde I was expecting.” She murmured to no one in particular, leaning back in her chair and placing the hat over her face, as if the fabric would be able to shield her from the unfinished work that was taunting her from the moment she stepped foot through the door to her office. If only she could get just a moment’s peace-
Ashe jumped at the soft sound of a knock at her door. “What, what?!” She yelped slightly, her feet landing flat on the ground as she jerked forward back into the normal sitting position, her hat floating to the ground. She looked up to the smiling face of Angela.
“I brought what you requested, ma’am. I apologize for disturbing your apparently much needed power nap.”
“What are you dragging on about?” She snapped defensively. “I wasn’t nappin’, I barely shut my eyes. Are you blind or something?”
“No Ma’am.” Angela said calmly, setting the coffee down on her desk in front of her. “My eyesight is quite good, actually. You’ve been napping for probably about twenty minutes now?” She said, looking up at the clock on the wall. “Yes, about twenty minutes, assuming you fell asleep within five minutes of my departure.” Angela stepped back one step, still holding the cake pop hostage.
Ashe surveyed the cup that was placed in front of her, red eyes narrowed before slowly moving up to Angela’s smiling face. “What’s this?”
“Your coffee.”
“This isn’t the logo from the place I told you to go.” Ashe barked, waving her hand at the cup. “Why didn’t you go to the shop I told you to?”
Angela simply smiled again, clearly not worried about the mistake. “Well, Miss Ashe, when I went to the coffee shop you requested, they informed me that they actually did not make macchiato’s there, only cortado’s, which you explicitly said you did not want. So I left to go to the coffee shop three doors down the other direction, and brought you the coffee you asked for. I also brought the cake pop you asked for. It’s actually quite convenient that I went to the other shop, as the one you told me to go to actually only sold vanilla or birthday cake flavoured cake pops.”
Ashe stared hard at her for a looooong moment, debating whether or not to tell her to shove that cake pop where the sun don’t shine. “...Good job.” She finally said, taking a sip of the coffee. “Finally someone who can follow orders.”
Angela smiled once more, in that angelic way that she seemed to have, and handed over the cake pop. “I’m glad I could fulfill your wishes. If that was sufficient, maybe you would be willing to let me get started on this stack of papers? Assuming these are the ones that haven’t been attended to yet by the way you keep scowling at them.”
Ashe coughed slightly, turning away and leaning back again. “Yeah, take ‘em. Screw them up and you can bet your pretty ass that you won’t ever get to work in this town again, capiche?” She waved her cake pop threateningly, a few sprinkles falling off and onto the desk, which Ashe practically ignored.
“I understand, Miss. Thank you for this opportunity. I promise I’ll be of use to you.”
Ashe looked the blonde up and down for a moment before smirking. “I’m sure you will, doll.” By the end of her first day, Angela had already tackled over a quarter of the very large pile of paperwork. She had worked diligently and quietly for the majority of the day, only stopping to take a break for lunch. The only time she made any sort of noise was when she was calling clients or other important persons on Ashe’s behalf, which Ashe very much appreciated. Ashe had left about halfway through the day, to sit through back to back meetings which seemed almost endless. When she finally returned, she actually found Angela sweeping the area around her desk, a task that Ashe had not asked Angela to do.
“What do you think you’re doin’?” Ashe asked, arms crossed and leaning in the doorway. Angela looked up, tucking a few strands of stray hair behind her ear. “Since it is too late to be calling the associates for the next bit of paperwork, I wanted to keep myself busy while still doing something that was useful. You’re barely able to keep up with the paperwork, so I figured that the basic cleaning was probably a bit neglected as well.” She shrugged slightly, giving her almost a playful smile. “And maybe because I was hoping to catch you before we both left for the day, I stayed in the one place I knew you would have to return to at some point. Pretty devious, huh?”
Was that a flirting tone to her voice? It couldn't have been, though Ashe wasn’t able to deny that she was definitely interested in the woman before her. “..I see.” Was all Ashe could really force herself to say in that moment. “Well..Thanks, I guess.” Ashe walked into the room and over to the desk, picking up the hat that was placed neatly on the windowsill where it was originally placed this morning. “You can go. You’re done for the day. Good job.” Ashe grabbed the keys to her motorcycle and shoved them in her pocket. “Be here at 8am every morning. We’ll discuss your schedule more tomorrow when you come in. What you’re wearing is fine; as long as your underwear can’t be seen I couldn’t care less. I’m going to get a beer.”
“Thank you again, Miss Ashe.” Angela said with a smile, watching her new boss begin to depart. “I don’t normally ask so brazenly, and especially not with my now-boss, but.. Would you care for some company at the bar?”
Ashe glanced over at Angela, briefly wondering what she looked like with her hair down. “..Fine. But sucking up to me won’t get you special treatment.”
“Oh, is it so terrible that someone might want to spend some time with you outside of work?” Angela laughed softly, and Ashe couldn’t help but notice the way the corners of Angela’s eyes crinkled slightly when she laughed.
“Yes.” Ashe replied with a playful snarkiness to her tone. “Now let’s go, if we rush we can still make happy hour. You ‘fraid of motorcycles?”
Angela’s smile widened a bit. “Not one bit.”
“Good.” Was Ashe’s reply as she held the door open for her new assistant. “C’mon then.” Mercy took Ashe’s arm, despite the fact that it wasn’t offered. Ashe glanced down at her, the realization that this girl would probably be her downfall slowly creeping in.
And the worst part was that Miss Ashe was alright with that.