Chain of Respect F/F Ch. 01

Some women valued their careers more than others. To Lori, her career was her life. Ever since the ninth grade, she knew she wanted to be a marketing specialist. She'd had a hard time making friends, but she went through Highschool and college just fine, by keeping a small social circle of two friends who didn't bore her with their party stories and their dreams of meeting the knight in the shining armor or wanting to become a famous model like Blah-blah-who gives a shit.

Her passion and hard work had carried her through college, out to the market, and into one of the best fashion companies in the country. She got an alright GPA, of 3.2; that was only because she couldn't bring herself to put any real effort into any of the unrelated trivial courses--it wasn't her fault that the educational system was stupid, and as far as she was concerned, she had more Marketing knowledge in her pinky than all of those A+ wits combined. She bet none of them made it to a company as nice as the one she was driving her car to now.

She parked her car in the company's garage. She looked into the rear-view mirror and adjusted her long brown bang to the side, before putting her thin delicate glasses on. She didn't really need them unless she was reading, but she liked to put them at all times; it made her look sophisticated, smart.

She got out of the car and walked in through the company's big glass doors, swinging her 2000$-suitcase by her side and amusing herself with the click that her equally expensive black heels made against the floor. She wasn't much of a spender, but when it came to her work clothes and accessories, she didn't think twice about investing half of her salary in any item that would make her look sharp. At 25 of age, already promoted once only after four years in the company, she was confident that she was going to be the boss one day, and she should look the part starting now.

She took a deep breath as the elevator took her to the nineteenth floor. She straightened her poster and rose her chin slightly as the elevator parted its doors upon reaching her floor. She strode to her cubicle, making sure to walk fast so that no one would pin her down for a useless 10-minute chat. Luckily, today, she managed to do that. She sighed with relief as she reached her cubicle.

"Hey Suzan," she said to her cubicle mate.

"Morning Lori," Suzan turned on her wheel office chair to face Lori. "How are you?"

The cubicle included two desks with each one facing its cubicle wall.

"Good," Lori thudded her suitcase on her desk. "Did you finish the spring collection slides?"

"For heaven's sake bitch I just woke up..." Suzan whined.

"So. You were supposed to be done with them yesterday."

"Well yeah but...I had a dozen of episodes of AOT to binge, so I made a judgment call." She smiled, trying to be funny.

Lori didn't find it funny. "...Suzan, you were supposed to finish them," she said, trying to sound firm, but not mean.

"Just relax...only some final touches are left, it'll take half an hour, I'll do it right now...after my coffee." She shook her coffee cup beside her face with a girly smile then took a sip, before she offered Lori hers.

"Thanks." Lori frowned jokingly as she took it, then turned back to her desk and turned on the computer. She shouldn't give her a hard time. Suzan was her only friend here. She wasn't that different from the rest of the girls, but she was different enough. Like most of them, she didn't work as half as hard as Lori, and she liked to run her mouth for a little bit too long every now and then, but she understood her limits. Lori liked to think that Suzan admired her work ethic and she appreciated her for that. She knew that she was the only woman in here that was genuine when being nice to her, as she'd been so from day one, and hadn't changed since.

The first couple of months Lori had spent at this company, with her personality cold, and with no tolerance to hear anything unrelated to work, she wasn't surprised that people found her a bit repulsive to be around. And she didn't care. She wasn't there to make friends she was there to work, and whether the rest of the girls admitted it or not, they were all in a competition.

She was surprised, however, when the girls started acting nice to her, even though her general dismissive attitude hadn't changed. They just...started making visits to her cubicle and starting conversations, and only left when she intently showed on her face that she'd like them to piss off so she could go back to work. She just dismissed them and they left with a smile on their face. All of that was a huge difference from how they usually treated her; they usually ignored her, which had been understandable, given that she'd made it very clear that she had no interest to know any of them; people tended to not like that very much.

Her confusion hadn't lasted that long, as she realized that the change had occurred at the same time that she had gotten her first promotion. She had only been there for four years and had already been promoted, rising above some of the girls who'd been there a decade or more. It had become evidently clear to her, that they had realized, that it wouldn't take that much time until she was the boss. They just chose to practice their ass-kissing skills while Lori was still their level.

She got to work, and so did Suzan after she finished her precious coffee. They spent some time working in silence, or at least the kind of silence that one would get working among a hundred cubicles. If there was one thing Lori was excited about when getting her next promotion, it would be the new office she'd have with it. She'd be out of this dame beehive. At her office, she'd enjoy true silence.

She was focused on her computer when her head abruptly snapped to the cubicle's opening upon hearing an aggressive knock. A grimace showed on her face for a second before she hid it, as her eyes landed on Miss Santana standing two feet away from her desk the way she always stood: like she had a broom shoved up her ass.

"How's the presentation going girls," Miss Santana said, in her usual confident, enthusiastic tone, that never failed to make Lori feel sick in the stomach.

"Great boss." Suzan turned on her seat then rose to her feet eagerly, making Lori grimace inside. "Just putting the final touches."

"Good girl, excellent," Miss Santana's eyes darted between Suzan and Lori, as Lori stayed on her chair like a self-respecting woman should, and crossed her stockinged legs.

"You look great today by the way," Suzan said with a sly smile.

"Oh stoooop," Agatha threw a slap in the air as she faked shyness. She stood there in her white knee skirt and her Paige suit and white shirt blending smoothly with her pale white skin and blue eyes. She did look great, with her long red hair falling on her shoulders. She was in her mid-thirties, but she looked at least 10 years younger.

"No you really do, doesn't she Lori," Suzan said and looked at Lori, inviting her to join her ass-kissing session with their perfect boss.

Agatha looked at Lori with her faint smile and cold eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah...you look good...I guess," Lori said, relying on her tone alone to show her slight sarcasm.

Suzan got a disappointed look on her face before she looked at the ground, and Agatha, not really that surprised, widened her smile before she said calmly, "Thanks, dear."

"Project will be ready any minute boss." Suzan gave a joking awkward bow.

"Well...make sure it's on time this time," Agatha said, her tone losing some of its friendliness. "And I'm speaking to you Lori."

FUCK you. She never missed a deadline. Not damn once. Well...once, but it was her first month. It was years later and Agatha was still holding that damn little fuck-up over her. She sucked up a breath as she saw Agatha look at her with a smirk and an amused pair of eyes, that knew they were tormenting you. "You got it," she said with difficulty.

"Good girl," she turned with an amused nod. "Continue on, chop-chop." She clapped her hands animatedly as she strode away.

Suzan gave her a sympathetic look, sensing Lori's discomfort, knowing the swears she was harboring in her mouth.

Lori peered her head out of her cubicle, waiting for the tall Amazonian tree to get far enough. When she was sure that Agatha was far enough, she lunged forward towards Suzan and whispered, "Fuck that bitch."

"Come on..." Suzan huffed. "You're un-helpable you know that."

"I never missed a deadline...fucking never."

"Well..." she tilted her head.

"Other than that fucking once for goodness sake," she shouted.

"Keep it down," Britany yelled from the adjacent cubicle.

"Sorry," Lori yelled back then leaned on her elbows getting closer to Suzan. "And baby...do me a favor, don't include me in your ass-eating session next time will you."

Baffled, Suzan recoiled back. "Bitch I did that for you. Promotions are around the corner and you need to get on good terms with her before then."

"I don't need to do anything..." Lori puffed. "I'm the best working girl on this floor. She has to promote me with her foot over her neck or I'll go straight down to Mrs. Barlow." She bragged, reminding Suzan of her winning ace.

Suzan frowned and shook her head, giving up. "Have it your way...but you're relying too much on that HR crap honey."

"So what...I'm the only obvious choice and she knows it. She's only giving me a hard time because she has to promote me soon." I said getting back to my desk. "You can see it in her eyes how salty she's about it."

The only negative thing Lori found about rising up in the ranks, was having to work closer to the nastiest woman in the company.

Agatha Santana wasn't a bad person, per se. She didn't have the qualities that one would usually find in a bad boss. She didn't impose on her employees, and she didn't try to tell anyone how to do their job, and she wasn't strict about dress codes or vacations or being late; she was a cool boss. That was why most girls liked her. But it was how she carried herself that rubbed Lori the wrong way.

Whenever she entered a room, although she'd walk and talk all cheerfully and in an uplifting manner and tone, Lori could always spot a harbored sense of...superiority in her every move. She walked like she owned the damn place, striding quickly like nothing was standing in her way with her chin up and her head held high.

It was true, that Mrs. Yanami walked like that too, but Mrs. Yanami could walk whatever way she fucking wanted cause her name was printed on the company's gates, she did own Yanami's Company. Agatha, at the end of the day, was just another employee, no matter how high she had reached on the corporate ladder, and she acted like wasn't. All the girls noticed that about her, but for some reason, Lori was the only one that found it obnoxious. She saw the snobby, ugly personality Agatha was hiding behind her friendly face and tone and gestures.

Like, when she'd ask someone for a favor, she wouldn't ask, she'd order, but in a friendly, over-enthusiastic tone, like she was talking to a toddler. "Hailey, be a dear and bring me a coffee." And when Hailey would return. "Good girl," or, "Tiffany, I'm running against the clock here, pick up my dress from dry-cleaning downstairs. I need it for the interview today so make it quick honey."

When she had made her first friendly request to Lori, and asked her if she could fetch her a cup of coffee, Lori didn't refuse, given that the bitch had coated it in a kind tone that would make it so rude to refuse. So she told her "Sure," with an equally friendly smile and tone, then she walked back to her cubicle and ignored the request. That was maybe the turning point of their relationship, cause when Lori saw Agatha walk towards the coffee machine minutes later to fetch her own god dame cup of coffee, she spotted that resentment in her sharp eyes that she'd usually hide. She'd felt that since that brief exchange, Agatha had put her on her list.

"DONE," Suzan whooped throwing her arms in the air.

Lori recoiled from Suzan's sudden girly shout and regained her grip over her coffee cup after it spilled some on the floor. "Fuck's sake Suzan."

"What...I'm done." Suzan turned on her chair animatedly. "Presentation is officially ready. Be happy you ungrateful twat."

"Well show it to Miss Santana..." Lori glared at the mess of coffee on the floor. "And bring a mop with you..."

"Hey..." Suzan rose to her feet and adjusted her blazer and snatched her notes. "Leave that bossing around shit till you're actually my boss."

"Yeah yeah..." She waved her hand. "Just tell me what she says."

Suzan got out of the cubicle, leaving Lori to her work. Lori stared at her computer screen for a bit, fretting about what the bitch would say about her work. Ever since a fight she and Agatha had a couple of months ago, she'd made Suzan do all the communication between them. She wasn't that happy about that, given that she always did most of the work, but she doubted that Suzan would take any unearned credit for herself; she wasn't a cunt, and she didn't care that much about the job to turn into one. Lori sighed and took a random glance at the cubicle's opening, only to find Suzan standing there with a thoughtful look on her face. "What?"

"I was thinking," Suzan said wiggling the notes in her hand. "...why don't you do it."

"Do what--no." Lori shook her head. "Now go show it to her before she gives me shit about being late or something."

"I'm serious," Suzan whined, persisting. "There's still some bad blood between you from your last fight, just go in there and show her the work and clear the air."

"Honey she hates me," Lori said aggressively. "And I know I wouldn't be able to control myself. Up until now ignoring her has worked just fine for me. If I walk in there and she starts giving me trivial shit about this or that I'll go ballistic on her and our relationship would be worse."

"No you wouldn't, cause you're smarter than that. So just go in there and suck it up...and it wouldn't hurt if you..." she shuffled her flats, seeming hesitant about continuing. "...Apologized for--"

"Apologize! Why what the fuck do I have to apologize," Lori hissed making sure to keep her voice down. "She was in the wrong."

"Fine..." Suzan held her hands up in defense, trying to calm Lori down. "Don't apologize, just brief her on the presentation...with a polite smile on your face...and get out."

Lori's eyes darted between Suzan's hopeful face and the notes in her hands. Her friend was right. If they were going to work even closer together soon, it would be best if there wasn't so much bad blood between them. Especially that Agatha could still make her life hard, even after the promotion.

Her face must've betrayed her acceptance cause she saw Suzan's face gradually light up in stupid victory. "Give me those notes," she snarled as she stormed up from her seat and snatched the notebook from Suzan's hand.

"Outta girl," Suzan gave her a light slap on her butt cheek as she walked away. "Go kiss that ass." She teased.

She rose her middle finger at Suzan without looking back as she continued walking to Agatha's office. On her way there, her mind reluctantly recalled their childish fight.

Mrs. Yanami had been planning to come down to get a briefing on their new marketing strategy, and all the girls had been hunkered in the meeting room getting prepared. In the middle of their preparations, they found out that there were some documents messing, important documents. Agatha, staying true to her state whenever Mrs. Yanami was supposed to visit their floor, had already been a nervous wreck, but when she found out about the missing documents, she exploded, and for some reason--probably because of the coffee fetching incident--chose to aim all her anger at Lori. She blamed her for everything, called her stupid and incompetent, and said that she didn't deserve to work in the company. Lori of course took all of it to heart, and unlike the other girls who'd usually just shut up and take it, she exploded in return.

She was never as nervous as when she stood in Mrs. Barlow's office hours later and told her side of the story. Part of her nervousness, other than that Agatha was her superior, was that Mrs. Barlow was Agatha's sister. And they were obviously really close. She saw them get to and leave from work together, or sit in each other's offices drinking coffee and chatting. So it was an understatement to say that she felt like a piano was lifted from her shoulders when Mrs. Barlow ruled in her favor. Agatha didn't seem salty at that, or at least she didn't show it.

That incident made Lori feel like she had somewhat of an ally in the company, a good, professional ally. Mr. Barlow and Agatha were sisters and still, she ruled in Lori's favor, and even urged Agatha to apologize, which of course Agatha shrugged off with a snicker. That allowed Lori to feel safe in standing up to the stuck-up bitch and not let her walk all over her.

Upon reaching Agatha's office now, she paused at the door. She sucked in a deep breath, as she tidied up her long brown hair and adjusted her dark blazer. She took a couple of calming breaths then knocked on the door.

After a second, a lively response came. "Come in."

That fucking tone. Lori pushed the door open and entered. "Miss Santana..." she looked at the woman sitting behind her desk.

Her eyes hadn't left her computer screen yet. And when they did, her face fell into an indifferent frown at seeing Lori at her door. "Oh, you. What do you want?"

I don't see you speaking in this rude tone in public you witch--Lori coughed then said with a polite smile. "We sent you the presentation, I just want to know what you think of it." She stood respectfully with her hands behind her back.

Agatha's eyebrow rose in confusion and reclined in her chair, as her gaze stayed cold as ice. "Suzan usually briefs me, why the sudden need to be courteous."

"...Emm..." she pushed her heel against the door closing it as she thought of an answer. "...I'm just interested to know what you think Miss." Part of that was true. An extra cost to cutting the relationship with the woman in front of her, other than making an enemy of her superior, was being unable to make use of her expertise. Agatha had been in the company for almost 15 years, and according to everybody, she'd been one of the main reasons for the company's current success. But still, Lori could do without benefiting from some extra knowledge if that meant she didn't have to tolerate her boss's pretentious attitude.

"Yeah..." She nodded slowly like she didn't get an answer to her question, and pushed her red hair behind her ear. "But why not send Suzan...like usual."

"Umm--I don't...I gu--"

"Ummmm--ahhh--oooh." She mocked aggressively. "At least Suzan didn't babble like an idiot...come in sit down make yourself comfortable." She carelessly waved her hands at the chairs in front of her desk.

Idiot. Resisting the urge to run towards Agatha and karate-kick her out of the big window behind her desk, Lori relaxed her muscles and made her way to the chair. She sat down and laid her notebook in her lap, looking at Agatha as she clicked around her computer. "Okay..." Agatha sighed as she arrived at the folder. "Let's see what you girls did here."

Lori grew confused as she watched Agatha recline in her chair, casually left her legs up, and rest her feet at her desk. Consequently, Lori was forced to stare into the dirty soles of Agatha's black pumps if she wanted to look her way.

Cunt...as simple as that...cunt. Resting her feet on her office wasn't that disrespectful, but she put them right in Lori's face, and knowing her better by now, Lori knew that it was no oversight.