Claire had a dilemma.

When her father had retired he handed a lot of things down to her that came along with the company, one of those included his secretary. It was horrible at first, Margaret had been overbearing and thought she was exactly like Jay, scheduling the same lunches as him and even leaving room for a ‘meeting’ that was really a nap. But that wasn’t Claire’s problem, Margaret had retired not too soon after but it was the next hire that was the beginning of Claire’s demise, you.

Claire had denied an extensive list of other potential candidates, but it had come to a point where she had too much on her plate and pawned off the task to her daughter Alex. Where she had picked the most logically and qualified candidate, ending with your bright, doe eyes standing in her office.

You were young, absolutely ethereal in Claire’s eyes. It didn’t help how useful you were, the minute you had strode in you were taking as many tasks as you could juggle off her shoulders, scheduling all her meetings, lunches and especially the way you paid special attention to her. There were times you would pull her away from her desk just to relax and eat lunch together, whether it was filled with silence or your soft giggles as you slowly got to know each other. Learning slowly about how all of Claire’s kids had moved out, and that her and Phil had grown apart and now their divorce was being in the process of being finalized, while she learned about your passions and stories before you started working.

The two of you had become too close, and therefore laid Claire’s dilemma. Now you were striding into her office with a small smile and today’s lunch, her favorite spot that was across town from the office. “Hey… wh- did you go across town for this?” She asks, eyebrows raising as she got up from her desk to help you with the bag of food.