[Andrew McMahon] When The Lights Are Turned Down Low [Pt.2]

Days in Los Angeles: four. Days of work: three. Days of being productive: zero.
I sit at my desk at work doing nothing but doodling and listening to my co-worker talk about his mother.
"I mean, shes eighty already! That is much too old to be going on dates!" I gave a nod, only half-heartedly listening and trying desperately to remember his name. It was something blatently Latino. Esteban? Julio? Eduardo?
"And she goes, Carlos," Ahh! That was it! Carlos, "I can't just stay home and watch telenovela all day! Can you believe that?"
"Nope," I said. I'm the queen of one word answers. Maybe he'll run out of things to say.
"Really! So what about your parents?" If it was on thing my parents managed to teach me is the hispanics never shut up. My mother is Colombian, so believe me, I know. But I surely wasn't going to tell him that, or we might actually have something to talk about.
"Oh, they're still in New York," I said as cold as I could but still polite. Thats another thing my parents managed to teach me as my father's side of the family were upper east siders who all hated each other, but still wanted to look and act better then the other person. I guess kind of a way to show them up.
Carlos continued on about the work he did in New York for some singer he obviously thought was a big deal, but I had never heard of. I gave him a nasty polite smile and my laptop dinged. I looked at it.
"Oooh! E-mail!" Carlos said excitedly.
"Yeah, who would've thunk we'd have it in the 21st century?" I muttered sarcastically, but low enough that he couldn't hear. I open the message. Its from my boss, Carolyn Kate, who surprisingly, I've never heard anyone use her first name without the last or vise versa. The e-mail read:
Ms. Thrower,
Please report to my office immediately. I have an assignment for you.
-Carolyn Kate.
"Whats it say?" My obnoxious, nosey co-worker asked, leaning over to my desk to read it. Why is he in my office to begin with?
"Carolyn Kate wants to see me," I said, getting up and pushing Carlos out of the way a little.
"Sounds interesting, we'll talk over lunch?" Doubt it.
"I'll see if I'm free." I knew I was, but I won't be for him. I made my way down the hall, passed the cubicles of interns and photoshoppers and to the elevator. I hit the up button and waited for the lift to make its way to the sixth floor. I got in it and rode it up to the tenth floor. I walked passed more cubicles and over to the door with the big letters spelling out my boss' name with CEO of product development and design printed under it. I let myself in knowing that theres just where her secretary is and that she was through another door (see:unnessecary ways to distance yourself from the "lower people").
"Shes expecting you, just go straight in," her secretary told me. I walked passed the desk to the humongous cherry wood door and knocked on it. She shouted something that sounded like "come in" from the other side. I straightened my cardigan and did as I was told. Her office was at least three times as big as mine and at least four times as big as my studio back home. It had a large leather chair, a cherry desk that not only matched the door, looked like it was the size of it and two leather couches on each side of the office. I didn't notice at first glance a man, approximately my age with black hait that made him blend with the sofa. I gave him a half smile to acknowledge his presence.
"You wanted to see me?" I said to my boss.
"Yes, Ms. Thrower, this is Mr. McMahon," She said waving an arm in the man's direction.
"Please, you can call me Andrew," he said, getting up and shaking my hand. I opened my mouth to introduce myself but Carolyn Kate cut me off.
"Mr. McMahon is a returning client of ours. He wants some designs drawn up for his charity. He wants a new, fresh artist to come up with something to put on his t-shirts so I recommended you. DO NOT make me regret it. Take him to your office. That will be all," She said dismissing me.
"Okay then," I said, turning to walk out the door. I noticed no one was behind me and turned back around. "You coming?"
"Oh, yeah. Right," He regained his composure and followed me to the elevator.
The only noise either of us made on our way to my office was the flip-flopping of his sandals. We made it to my office and I gestured for him to take a seat in teh chair to the left of me.
"So do you have any questions before we talk about design ideas?" I asked him. He grinned a very tooth (and cute) smile at me.
"Just one," I raised my eyebrows. "Whats your name?"
"Jess," I said after giggling a little too much (see:awkward, nervous habits) for realizing what a dumbass I was. "So what did you have in mind?"
I'm sweating out excuses that would make your stomach turn.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween and you liked the story.
I think I like this one, but then again, I guess I like all of my stories at one point.
Feedback is always nice!
-Erica.