A New Recruit At The Embassy

Ophelia POV: 

"Good morning, Miss Everstorm!" That cheery voice ringing in my ear felt like a broken bell tolling beside me.

Glancing up from the paperwork, I noticed a young boy–likely a late teen, standing in front of me with a bright smile. Annoyed by the disturbance, I glanced right back down to the pages lying on my desk.

"Ahem!" Once again, someone else faked a cough by my desk as if intentionally trying to annoy me.

"What?!" Laying my pen down, I jumped off my seat to face these annoying co-workers.

However, as a few moments passed and I realized who I was looking at, I quickly washed the annoyed look off my face. With a stomp of the feet, my hands saluted her on their own while my head hung low in shame.

"Madam superior, I didn't realize it was you…" Gripped with fear, my iron heart flooded every pipe and piston as if I had just run a mile.

"Raise your head, Ophelia," given the order, I raised my head without question.

Quickly glancing from Miss Madelyn–the surveillance master, to the boy standing beside her, a clear hint of resemblance between the two caught my attention. Although curlier than his mother's, the striking color of those maroon hair was no doubt a hereditary feature. 

"I brought you a new recruit, and I want him trained under the best; under you," For a spell, I didn't understand what Miss Madelyn had just said, I was too preoccupied by this young creature nervously smiling and fidgeting beside her. Perhaps noticing my absent-mindedness, Madam Superior growled at me to get my attention. "Ophelia!"

The stomping of her boot made my whole body jerk upright. Quickly turning my attention to Madam, I looked back up at her with my teeth gritted in fear.

"Yes, ma'am!" Yet another salute was in order.

"As I've said already, you are to train my son Ray to be a valuable asset to the embassy right from this instant!" With that said, she glared me down a while longer before walking away in the direction of her underground lair.

"Very well, Ma'am!" By the time I gathered the courage to speak up, she was already far away and couldn't possibly have listened to my answer.

Left with a flimsy-looking boy with flushed cheeks, and a rosy look, I couldn't help but wonder exactly what Madam Superior wanted me to teach him. Looking up and down his clothes, the thought of him interrogating people crossed my head. Dressed in suspenders with a striped blue shirt underneath, I doubted he could get anyone to confess if they'd killed a fly.

"Um…I'm glad to have finally met you, Miss Everstorm," extending his hand, he offered a handshake.

Putting up the same nervous smile as before, he seemed to be quite worried. Pressing two fingers to my temples, I rubbed them a little even though that never worked for me as a marionette. Instead, pulling him into a chair, I gestured for him to settle down beside me and watch as I finished the paperwork for the day.

"First lesson," taking a deep breath, I locked my eyes with him for a moment. "Don't smile, don't think, carry orders like you're made of pistons and oil."

Hearing those words, his smile instantly disappeared. Replacing it was an unsure expression dwindling between confusion and fear.

"Uhm–Sounds rough," he muttered.

"It is, but forget that you're human and work!" Picking up my pen, I followed my own advice and began to work.

"Is that what you do Miss Everstorm? Forget that you're human?" The sudden question left me baffled. 

"What?" I asked, turning my head to figure out if he was mocking me.

"I meant, do you work yourself as a machine here…" nervously scratching his chin, he seemed surprisingly genuine in his query. "Does everyone do that here? To be honest, my mom is trying to force me into this field, but I don't really have a choice, right?"

Adjusting his round glasses, he let out a nervous chuckle.

'He doesn't know who I am? Should I tell him?' I wasn't sure, but since Miss Madelyn didn't deem it necessary, I decided against revealing that information. 

"Yes, everyone works like a machine, you must too even if this isn't what you want to do," picking up the pen again, I finally began filling out the paperwork.

As time went by, Ray kept watching me like a hawk. His eyes followed my every movement, from signing the reports to putting them on different shelves around the embassy building. After a certain point, it felt as if I had a lost puppy following me everywhere, but instead of a snarly mutt, it was a flamboyant-looking gentleman.

"Should I bring you some coffee or something to eat, Miss Everstorm?" He asked, the third time since joining my desk.

"Ah, can you…" While my head remained buried in paperwork trying to avoid his nagging, one of the female employees called out to him. "Can you bring me some coffee too?"

Seconds after the girl showed the courage to ask Madam superior's son to bring coffee, the whole rest of the department began using him like their errand boy. Even so, without a word of complaint, Ray did as he was told despite me telling him not to help these slacking idiots.

"Ma'am," coming back from yet another task given to him by the others, he stood at the edge of the desk trying to get my attention. "Someone told me you like cakes?"

"Cake?" It wasn't that my subconscious took over, but I still couldn't look up at the mention of the word. "Who told you that?!"

"You didn't even rest or eat anything during the lunch break so…" Sliding a small plate on the table with a piece of rich strawberry cake resting on top, he had his gaze cast downward apologetically. "I thought I should bring you something. Besides, sugar should help your mind work much better."

With my eyes locked on the piece of cake, I found myself agreeing with him. It wasn't that I wanted to eat the thing–I mean, he was obviously right. Sugar will help me think clearly. Yeah...That's it, that's it.

Letting go of the pen, my hands jittered about as I slowly reached for the silver spoon.

"Thank you," Ray said, sliding the plate even closer.

For some odd reason, that small act of–I don't even know what to call it, yet it made me feel empty. As if there was something inside me that I'd lost ago. And now that I had regained part of it, my body didn't know how to accept it back inside it. Even so, one thing I knew for certain was that he shouldn't have been the one thanking me, but the other way around entirely.

"Th–" Stuttering at the word, I shook my head and changed it by my stubborn instinct. "There are some files I need to review today, and since eating will waste precious time–"

"I'll get them, just tell me where they are," he interjected before I could finish.

Although feeling more hallowed as I put a bite of cake in my mouth, a conflicted smile took over my lips.

'That's sweet…' I thought, having no clue as to who or what I was referring to.