(One) Interviews.

Part 1 of a dream based story I'm writing. I thought you'd like to see this much.

On the one hundreth and seventy third floor of the building belonging to the medical research pioneers, One-Eight-One, two figures emerged from a shiny metal lift. One was tall, easily clearing six feet in height, and stocky. He walked with a certain confidence that usually came from people who knew their strength without having to prove it. He was dressed in a light grey pinstripe suit, with an open collar on his pastel pink shirt. He had a short beard that matched his short hair, all a dirty blonde. Next to him was a significantly smaller woman. She was just under five and a half feet tall, and easily slim enough for the man to be three times her width. She was brunette, her midlength hair was kept back over her shoulders, giving her an almost innocent look. She was wearing a smart light blue blouse and a navy blue knee length skirt with rather shockingly blue stilettos. She was perfectly groomed, not a hair out of place. A stark contrast to the man lumbering along side her. They were deep in conversation.
"So," the man said, his voice deep and loud, "what am I to do now, love?"
"Not in the office, sweetie." The woman said, her tone implying that he was never to call her love again. "But you'll be my second-in-command. All complaints I can't be bothered with, will go to you."
"Delightful." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "How do I know what you can be bothered with, Rose?"
"Buzz me." She offered, turning to him. "This is your office. Mine is upstairs, just up there." Rose pointed to her right, there was a spiral glass staircase. It lead up one flight to the penthouse office that the woman used as her own. "If you need me, buzz me. The files are on your desk, Price."
"Great." Gabriel sighed again, a smile on his face. He was grateful to her, but she acted like a complete a*s sometimes. Rose had saved his life and he knew that she cared for him, even if she hid it behind threats and dismissal. Just knowing it was enough to keep him happy.
Gabriel Price walked into his office, his name was printed on the black glass door. It was a large room, a huge window covered one wall behind his large, wooden desk. There was a drinks cabinet in one corner and two doors on the opposite wall. One would, no doubt the one closer to his desk, lead to a bathroom and the other would be his receptionist's room. Now he just had to hire a receptionist.
He walked to his desk and stripped off his suit jacket, and undid another button on his shirt. Gabriel threw his jacket over his heavily padded office chair and turned to look at the view of (New New) New York. It was amazing to look out over the water and still be able to see the ruins that had been left behind after the fighting.
He turned back to his desk, eyeing up the stack of folders on the right hand side. His eyes drifted across the desk, past the empty pre-placed silver digi-photo frame, the copy of the Aug Manual that seemed to be in every room he entered and the neat collections of silver pens, to the faded yellow sticky note that had probably been sat there for several weeks, if not several months. He picked it up. It was written in a familiar, but not distinctive, hand. Anyone else who had read it would've thought it was just a reminder, but no one knew Rose's handwriting like he did. The note read, "Be careful with the table. It's mahogany." He smiled, she'd promised only the best and it seemed he was getting it.
Gabriel decided he needed a drink, a bottle of Jack Daniels should do the trick. He padded over to the drinks cabinet, a towering thing taller than he was. It looked more like a wardrobe than a drinks cabinet. The bottom half was pure wood, and the top half was pure glass. He began pulling open the lower doors and saw row after row of different spirits. He grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels Tennessee and a rather ornate crystal glass from the top half of the cabinet and walked back to his desk.
He placed both new items on the wooden surface and pulled the stack of files towards him. Clipped to the top of each file was a quick summery. It was in a hand he didn't recognise, someone new obviously. He read a few of these notices. He split the files into two piles and pushed the larger pile away. Gabriel poured himself a glass of whiskey and sipped it as he spun around. Looking out of this window, he decided, was going to become his new favourite pastime.
An intercom buzzed. "Price, have you got a potential candidate yet?" Rose's voice rang out clearly.
"No." He muttered, spinning around to face his desk again. He downed the rest of his drink and pressed the buttons that had been obscured by the papers on his first glance over the desk. "No, I haven't. But I have a shortlist."
"Names?"
"Giller, Tavstock, Medichi and Roads." Anthony read.
"Roads?" Rose sounded surprised, "Doesn't she have problems with body augs?"
"I believe so, yes. That's what her report said."
"I would recommend not choosing her," Rose sighed, "but it's your sanity."
"Indeed it is." Gabriel grinned, "Can we get her in asap?"
Rose sighed. "We can get her in within the hour, if you really want."
"Let's do that then." Gabriel laughed and turned the intercom off. He sat in silence and looked down at his glass, empty. He poured another drink and rubbed his chin. He pressed the intercom button one more time, "You're amazing, dollface."
"Shut up, Price."
"Thanks, love."
"I'll kill you someday soon." Rose said, muffling a giggle.
"Yeah, you might. You'll overwork me."
"Oh shut up." Rose snorted, all pretence of her business woman facade had faded away. "You're an a*s."
"You love me anyway."
"You're right, I do."
"C'mere then."
"Actually, I'll be down in a second." Rose was smiling, Gabriel could hear it in her voice.
"No problem." He said, clicking the intercom off again. He spun around and looked out of the window, watching the city around him.
He was faintly reflected in the glass, a formidable man with an expensive suit. There was a scar across his face, that was the worst thing about his surgery. He bought his hand up and stroked across it, from above his right eye down to his jaw, barely missing the corner of his lips. He dropped his hand to his lap and tilted the glass from the other, raising it to his eye line and inspecting the amber liquid inside.
"I never understood why you drank that trash." Rose's voice filled the silent room. She was leaning on the door frame with a bottle in her hand. "This is what you'll want to drink."
"Wine?"
"Of course."
"Wouldn't expect anything else." Gabriel shook his head. "Not from you anyway."
"Behave." Rose tutted, walking across the room to the cabinet. She pulled out two wine glasses and a corkscrew. She walked over to the desk and carefully placed the glasses down. "Roads is coming in an hour, so I figured we might as well catch up."
"Yeah, I can't remember much before the attack..."
"I know. They said you couldn't remember your childhood." Rose pulled the cork from the wine bottle and filled the two glasses in front of her with a blood red liquid.
"I can't remember anything but fragments." Gabriel said solemnly. He poured the rest of the whiskey in his glass down his throat with a huge gulp. He put his glass down near the edge of the desk and took the glass that Rose offered him.
"I remember you telling me about your family... You only told me anything once, but you loved them. That much was evident."
Gabriel nodded. He smiled as a child's laughter filled his thoughts. "I can remember that... But, we're on to bigger and better things, yes?"
"Yes." Rose smiled, concern filled her eyes but she said nothing else. Gabriel sniffed the wine and wrinkled his nose.
"Not exactly appealing."
"It's better than that piss you drink." Rose snapped. "Anyway, it's one of my favourites."
"And so is 'that piss' to me!" Gabriel mumbled, rather upset by Rose's words. He looked up at her and winked, "Drink up, beautiful."
"You're such a charmer." Rose giggled. She hopped up and sat on the desk opposite Gabriel.
"You know, you almost look sexy."
"Almost?"
"I mean, you could be, if you didn't look about twelve..." He smirked.
"You are such an a*****e." Rose snorted. "I'll have you know I'm very much desired. While you were getting your a*s patched back together, I was proposed to. Twice."
This was news to Gabriel. His face fell and his jaw clenched. It was an unpleasant surprise for him.
"I said no to both of them," Rose waved the idea away, "I was too worried. Something about emotional stress or trauma, or something."
Gabriel nodded, slowly unclenching his jaw. A heavy silence fell in the room, not a comfortable one either. It was only broken by the chorus of Linkin Park's 'Numb' being blurted out of Rose's phone.
"Numb? Really?" Gabriel snorted, the music bringing him back into the room and out of his thoughts.
"Shut up. I need to take this call." Rose scolded him. She stood up and walked to the door before pressing the accept button. "Hello? Rose Newman speaking."
"You forgot-" The door shut behind her, "Your wine." Gabriel sighed. He picked up the bottle and walked to the cabinet again. He put the wine in the bottom half of the cabinet and rummaged around for another drink. He couldn't find one that took his fancy, so decided to keep the Jack on his desk.
Gabriel sat back in his office chair and poured himself another glass of whiskey. He rested the glass on his knee and tapped his fingers on the crystal, disappointed that there was no ice.
Suddenly there was a light tapping on his door. Was the hour up already? Gabriel turned around and placed the glass on the table before piling the folders on top of each other, Roads' being the top file for easy access.
"Come in."
The door swung open and in walked a woman with long blonde hair and a figure hugging black dress that stopped well before her knees. She wasn't beautiful, but she was defiantly attractive. Her small frame was coupled with large breasts and a small dress. Her eyes were large and round as she entered the room, she seemed genuinely interested in everything that was going on around her.
"Hello, Elise."
Elise Roads stopped in her tracks. She took in the man in front of her. The one she saw march off to war over five years ago. Only two words came to mind. "You're dead."
"Correction, I should be dead." Gabriel felt a small, smug smile spread across his face. He stood up and reached a hand across the desk, making sure to show off the fancy metalwork that had replaced his flesh. His right hand was a dull silver. There were no noticeable differences from a real flesh and blood hand apart from its colour. "I had a few operations and now I'm fine."
Elise shook her head and stumbled back a few paces. "You're dead. And they've put your face on a robot."
"No, Elise, I'm very much alive." Gabriel grinned.
"That's what all the robots say." Elise muttered like she was trying to convince herself of something that she knew wasn't true, which is exactly what she was trying to do. "But you're just a machine with a dead man's face."
"Hmm... Okay, whatever makes you comfortable. But, let me remind you, you're going to be working for the number one biomech aug company in the known universe." Gabriel paused, he spread his fingers along the table, pushing his palm to the cool wood. "And over ninety percent of the people that work here will have visible augs. I think the only person with no augs at all is my boss."
"Your boss?" Elise asked, her voice high pitched, a clear sign she was ill at ease.
"My boss." Gabriel nodded.
"I want to talk to them. Not some machine programmed to interview me."
"I'm not a f*****g ma- You know what? It doesn't matter." Gabriel's fist slammed down on the intercom button and he let it buzz until Rose picked up. "Rose, darling, sweetie, baby, dollface, come here please."
"What did I say?" Rose sighed. "Gimmie a minute."
"Thank you, sweetheart." He turned off the intercom and offered Elise a seat, one that must've been bought in while he was in his trance. She collapsed into the seat, still shying away from Gabriel.
The door was pushed open; Rose hadn't even bothered with a knock at the door. She walked into the room and looked Elise up and down, clearly not liking what she saw.
"Next time you go to an interview, put some clothes on. Scraps of cloth doesn't work well for you." She said in monotone. She sighed and turned to Gabriel, "What now?"
"This, Elise, is my boss." Gabriel motioned to Rose. "Rose Newman, the founder and sole owner of this company."
"N-no." Elise frowned. "You said your boss."
"This is my boss." Gabriel suppressed a laugh.
"No, that's the head of the company." Elise said, sudden anger in her voice, "That's the b***h that started this who f*****g robot worship. And she's also the b***h that got rich from other peoples misery!"
Rose's eyes lit up in amusement, she crossed her arms and waited for Elise to finish her pointless rant.
"She... You! You're a b***h! My uncle needed a new kidney, but your company had bought them all!"
"And he died."
"He did." Elise's eyes were burning with fury, and pain.
"He was all you had in the world." Rose sounded sympathetic. "And you loved him, but it's my fault he died."
"Y... Yeah."
"No." Rose said sharply. "If he had insurance, he'd have had one of the kidneys my company was donated."
"Bu-"
"And next time you insult someone with connections to me, think twice about the consequences. He," Rose nodded at Gabriel, "saved my life in the war. He saved almost three hundred men and women singlehandedly. He's a war hero."
Elise sat in stunned silence.
"Exactly. So, you see, when you insult him, and this company, I get very upset. I started this company to keep him alive."
Gabriel raised an eyebrow, surprised at this. Evidently there was a lot of news he didn't know.
"Little Miss Perfect, get your head out of your a*s and see what this company has done for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of war vets. We're giving them a second chance."
"I-"
"Get out." Rose said calmly. "Get out of this office, out of this building. Get. Out."
Elise drew herself up to her, not very impressive, full height and looked Rose in the eyes. She looked at Rose's stony gaze, her eyes flickering from one side of Rose's face to the other. No response from Rose. She stormed out of the room.
"Goodbye." Gabriel called as the black glass door shut behind Elise. "Don't come back."
Rose pulled out her phone, a slim piece of curved glass. She pressed a few buttons and sent a text. She smiled happily and looked at Gabriel.
"So, who was she to you?"
"Before the war, and the cryo, she was my girlfriend." He admitted. "Did you mean it?"
"What?" Rose frowned, her perfectly plucked brows meeting.
"About starting this company to save me... Or keep me alive or whatever."
"Yeah." Rose nodded. "Why do you think I kept you frozen for four years after that explosion that ripped you apart?"
"I don't know." Gabriel shrugged, collapsing back into his office chair. "I figured it was just to keep me alive."
"To keep you alive until I, us... We, One-Eight-One, had the technology to give you that arm and leg. And don't get me started on your spine or eye. Those were almost impossible."
"But, four years is such a short time..."
"We'd been working on it for pretty much a decade beforehand."
"A dec- You're way too young to have been working on this for a decade before the war."
"Not me," Rose grinned, "My dad."
"I never met him, is he cool?"
"He's the best."
"Yeah, tell him I said thanks."
"Will do, next time I'm at the grave."
"Oh s**t. Sorry." Gabriel cringed. "I didn't mean-"
"It's okay. I know you didn't know." Rose smiled, "Anyway, I've got something for you upstairs."
"Something?"
"A job that requires you and I to go to Rio."
"Just us?" Gabriel smirked, his face looked just like the man she knew before he was scarred by the war.
"Just us." Rose stuck her tongue out at him. "C'mon, I'll show you."

Reviews

[Amata Luna]

Nice one. I have written the second part before this and it's the same great one if not the better one. I like Rose's and Price's character in each place and it seems that they are unfolding slowly into a much more interesting couple with each of their persons. Now you left me wondering, what will be the end of this two in such a situation? ;)

[Coyote Poetry]

Great conversation in this chapter. I like the way you are leading the reader. Giving enough to keep the story entertaining and adding to the plot of this story. I like the complete chapter. A excellent chapter.
Coyote