Finding the Right Woman for the Job [Summer]

[Alcide Herveaux]

Alcide had had a very long day. He had to drive out to an on-the-job site because a car had accidentally rammed right into his survey crew plotting a site for a new mall in Mississippi. Alcide was on the verge of simply shifting and biting off the head of the stupid business man (who had been on his cell phone, none the less!) who ran into them.

Now, he had to run a pile load of paperwork through to their insurance company to pay for their medical expenses. The Herveauxs treated their employees very well. Besides, if they didn't pay for the expenses, the government would have their head on a silver platter.

The daytime secretary for the Herveaux and Son Headquarters was swamped with work and the moment he approached her about more paperwork he needed sent to the hospitals, she put up a dainty hand and had to tell him no. Alcide understood and had to do it himself.

This series of events prompted him to get his own secretary. The company could afford it and his father had given him the go ahead. For the past two hours, Alcide was interviewing at least five candidates for the job. Most of them were absolute southern bombshell belle babes. They were easy on the eyes, but it seemed their job history was lacking.

One idiot candidate even wrote why she was fired from her last job: sex on the job. Although enticing and exciting as it sounded, Alcide didn't need a sexual harasser in his company.

Alcide was not going to hire any of the women. He just had one last interview with a female by the name of Summer Morgan. She'd probably end up being another ditz that danced from job to job without a care. Alcide wished everybody could be a werewolf, because werewolves had a sense of pride, loyalty, and generally a great work ethic. Little did he know he was about to meet another Were.

While waiting for this "Summer Morgan", Alcide had her paperwork in his right hand and leaned on the secretary's desk with a smile on his face. His secretary noted and smiled back.

"Can't find the right woman for the job?"

"Sure can't. You think we could just clone you?" Alcide joked, playfully winking at her.

"Oh Alcide." She rolled her eyes and then stole a glance at the door, "looks like your next applicant is here, Alcide."

[Summer Morgan]

Summer had only been in Shreveport for a little over a day and after checking into the cheapest motel she could find, which wasn't saying much. Summer knew she she needed to find a job and find one fast. Taking to the streets she went to all the various bars in town, looking to see if there were any vacancies. They all turned up the same answers.
"Not needing anyone at this time"
"Wasn't qualified enough" this one made Summer laugh, as she was experienced as anyone in bar tending. This is where Summer had the most experience in as it's easy to get in and back out when you're shipping off to a new town or city.
"I need caffeine" she muttered under her breath and made a pit stop at a local coffee shop. Quaint little place called Maurizio's, was almost exactly like an Italian version of that strange little bar and grill back in Bon Temps. A frown passed over her face as she realised she never did get that call from Sam. His loss.

Summer sipped on her coffee and lazily flicked through the local newspaper. Her eyes cast down towards the Employment section and she snorted as one of the bar's she went to was looking for workers. Then she saw it Herveaux & Son was advertising for a new secretary. With nothing left to lose and a background in office work from her first days in the rat race of working life. She pulled out her cell phone and called the number and arranged an interview. Swigging down the last remnants of her latte, Summer raced out of Maurizio's and back towards the dingy little motel to change.

After a quick shower, Summer re-applied her make up. No point in going in there looking like you were fit for a night of boozing and dancing. Got to give the best first impression possible, so Summer gave herself a more muted look than she was accustomed too. Less reds and purples and more earth tones. Giving herself the once over and a smile of approval, Summer looked out her clothes for something appropriate. Picking out the best and most sombre of all her clothes she began to get ready.

Another once over in the full length mirror and made sure there was nothing out of place. The casual black pants were sensible enough, the white short sleeved shirt and black button up vest top complimented the look perfectly. "Something's missing" Summer spoke to herself, biting down on her thumbnail. A eureka style moment later and Summer was rummaging around in her accessories bag and pulled out a large purple hair clip. Pinning half of her hair back and leaving the rest to flow down her back, she was finally pleased with her appearance.

Checking her watch she cursed herself and rushed out the door and hailed a cab to take her to her interview.

Upon arrival at Herveaux & Son, Summer paid the driver and hurried inside. Taking a deep breath before walking up to the rather harassed looking secretary. Swamped with paperwork and really not looking happy with the workload, it was no wonder they were looking for more help.
"Hi there" Summer said with a smile, "I'm Summer Morgan I'm here for my interview." The girl looked up with a look of almost relief. "Good, take a seat and I'll let Mr Herveaux know you're here."

Summer took a seat and as she waited on her potential future employer. She wondered if this was the right place for her. She hadn't worked in an office for a few years, so she was bound to be a bit rusty. It wasn't helpful that so many of Summers jobs had been lost because of having to take time off when the moon was full. How do you explain that to someone who has your financial fate resting in there hands? Summer let out a quiet sigh she had talked herself into this interview and it wouldn't likely be permanent so why not just get it over with.

[Alcide Herveaux]

The moment Summer Morgan walked through the door, Alcide asked himself how he could be so privileged to be around so many beautiful women. She looked just like the other applicants, down to her great wardrobe, that incessantly reminded him of Debbie. Except this woman had perfect hair to the nines, she was no redneck, it seemed.

With one sniff, Alcide spotted her nature. Werewolf. He liked her already! Not wanting to get overly excited about a werewolf applying to be his secretary, Alcide kept his calm. Besides, he didn't want to talk about supernatural things in front of his secretary in fear of outing the shifters. But you had better be d**n certain he was at least going to bring it up, just to see what her reaction would be.

The junior Herveaux strode over to where Summer Morgan was sitting and reached out his hand for a handshake. His handshake was very firm and rough, the kind that gave tough-guy first impressions.

"Alcide Herveaux, it's a pleasure to meet you," his green eyes were smiling, as was the rest of his face.

When he had met the other applicants, it was a forced smile, because he knew they were stupid women. But he didn't know too many stupid werewolves, that was for sure.

[Summer Morgan]

Summer wasn't kept waiting long as a dark haired man approached her. He was tall and broad and very good looking, a real rugged man's man type. It didn't take her too long to recognise there similarity in nature. But she somehow managed to keep on her best poker face.

Her potential employer being a Werewolf certainly wasn't something Summer expected but it strangely reassured her. She'd had her fair share of issues with her own kind in the past, both recent and old. But he was obviously a hard working man and a someone who took great pride in himself. These were two good traits to have and traits Summer admired in anyone whoever, whatever they were.

"At least I'll get time off when I need it." she joked to herself.

He smiled warmly at her and outstretched his arm and took her hand in a vice like grip, introducing himself. Summer raised her head up slightly and her eyes met his, almost losing herself.
"Focus Summer!" she chided herself to get herself back into business mode. "Thank you for seeing me at such short notice" Summer said in as sweet a tone as possible. "I really appreciate you taking the time to see me."

[Alcide Herveaux]

"I really appreciate you taking the time to see me."

Alcide nodded. It had been short notice, hadn't it? Then again, the office was overloaded with stressors, they needed someone ASAP.

"Sure, it was no problem. Well, if you'd follow me to my office, we can get started."

He hoped the interview would be fast, because he was awfully tired. She didn't seem so bad for now, at least from first impressions, and that was a good thing! Alcide led the way to his office. Once he got inside, he went behind his desk and sat down, motioning for Summer to have a seat. He hoped she would close the door so they could talk werewolves once the interview started.

"So..." Alcide drew on, "werewolf... How are you today?"

A small smile was on his face, excited to see the reaction she would give him since he recognized her second nature.

[Summer Morgan]

Summer stood up from her chair and wobbled ever so slightly in heels she was still not used to. Casually shrugging it off she followed Alcide into his office closing the door behind them and took a seat as he motioned to the chair sitting in front of his desk. He looked at her with a smile and the words that came out of his mouth made Summer's mouth open slightly, a little shocked at how quickly he brought there similarity out into the open. She mulled over everything and a smile started to creep slowly onto her face. He was proud of what he was, just like she was. He also said what he thought, just like Summer. She pondered if he ever got into trouble with his mouth the same way she usually did.

The amusement factor started to kick in, the sheer coincidental nature of there meeting and his absolute frankness with her she began to chuckle to herself.
"Well, you certainly don't pull your punches." she tried to reign in her giggle, this was still a job interview after all. "I'm great thanks" she replied to his polite question, now grinning at him and hoped she didn't look like a total fool. "Not really expecting this scenario."

Summer watched him closely, he seemed friendly and polite enough. But she'd been fooled by niceties before, so a wave of caution drifted over her. Telling herself to stay on her guard and remember something her mother used to tell her.
"Sometimes the prettiest packages, carry the ugliest presents." she conciously fought the rolling of her eyes that usually followed this ramble, that almost always came from her mothers lips when drowing her sorrows in a bottle of scotch.

She focussed herself back onto Alcide, waiting for his reply. She really did need this job and thought working for someone who understood what she was could only be a good thing.

[Alcide Herveaux]

"I don't, I like to get things out there when I can," Alcide nodded.

Sometimes, there were things that were very hard for him to say to certain people. Thankfully, talking about werewolves was something that came easy to him. As long as it was to a fellow Were, that was.

"I wasn't either. It's not too often you get a werewolf job applicant knocking on your door. Honestly, that is really a big plus in my book," he sent a reassuring smile her way, as he slid a binder full of questions from his drawer to the top of his desk. He popped it open and scanned it for a second.

He removed his eyes from his binder and looked at Summer, settling back into his rolling chair with his hands entwined over his stomach.

"So tell me, Ms. Morgan, I do see you have an avid job history, what job do you think would be most pertinent to the secretarial job you are applying for and why? What experience can you bring from that job to Herveaux and Son?" Alcide quizzed, interested.

Of course, in the back of his mind, he was too tired to care who he hired now. She practically had the job in the bag. However, he wanted to make sure she wasn't like the other girls: fired for precarious things at old jobs... drug use, sex on the job, blackmail. They didn't need a rat in the company.

[Summer Morgan]

Summer listened to Alcide's words carefully. He did seem sincere in his surprise and he seemed content with her so far even going so far as to say her dual-nature was a plus point. She returned his smile in kind and thought it best to keep her mouth shut unless it was a direct question pertaining to the job vacancy.

She watched as he rummaged around in his desk and brought out a binder and glanced over it then looked up at her. He leant back into his chair and began to speak. This time it was all business. He began to ask about her past job history. Oh Boy she contemplated his questions. She considered exaggerating or embellishing the truth but instantly decided against it. She would be honest, even if it cost her the job. Alcide Herveaux was a good man, at the very least fair and understanding.

"It's been sometime since I worked in an office type environment. But after I left school I had a job in an insurance company. I worked there for 18 months before there was a huge financial loss and they had to let the less experienced staff go first. After that I worked for a car manufacturer. Taking calls, making appointments and other duties as needed within reason." she managed to spit it all out, now was the hardest part. "I handed my notice in there because I was having issues at home, my mother was ill." she almost choked on the word ill.

Summer paused for a moment, another unpleasant memory of her mother drifted in where it was most certainly not wanted. She exhaled, calming herself. "What can I bring to the job? I'll work my tail off, I'll do whatever is required of me. I understand it's been a few years since I last worked in an office, but if you give me a chance. I'll prove to you how hard I can work and how loyal I'll be. You won't regret bringing me on board" Summer finished off with a confident smile. Was her charm good enough to seal the deal? She was about to find out.

[Alcide Herveaux]

Alcide was very impressed by the way she dictated. Her words rolled off her tongue. He made a note about "good phone skills?" in his binder along with "previous office experience". Why was he writing it down? Maybe he wanted to convince himself he was trying to be fair to the other applicants. Not wanting to trick himself, he wrote "WEREWOLF" in big letters and underlined it three times.

She spoke of her mother having an illness. What a shame. Sometimes, Alcide thought his own father had an illness. One related to gambling and drinking. One that got himself in debt to a vampire. On the inside, the young Herveaux was groaning, remembering his "dear" old dad, whose company he basically owned now.

Putting that thought away, he intently listened as Summer continued about how she'd be a hard worker. That was no doubt. Werewolves were good like that. Usually, Alcide would quiz applicants for a longer period of time, seeing if any dead old secrets would come out accidentally.

However, he was convinced she was perfect for the job. He tapped his ball point pen on his binder three times before sitting up in his chair.

"I don't normally do this, but I think you are hired. I just gotta run it through payroll and my father and than you can start," Alcide apprehensively said. He hoped she didn't think he was unprofessional by hiring her on the spot.

"How soon can you start, Summer?"

[Summer Morgan]

Summer watched him intently, his face not showing a sign of acceptance or not. He wrote a few things down inside the binder. That made her curious, just what was he jotting down in there and was it good or bad. She guessed she'd find out sooner or later and put it to the back of her mind.

Her anxiety about the job began to build. If she was planning on sticking around Shreveport for a while, she needed something to help pay for those motel bills. She enjoyed the prospect of working for Alcide. He seemed honest and fair so his attractiveness to her was merely a bonus. Something nice to look at during work hours, that is if she actually got the job.

Summer didn't really hear the first few words that came out of his mouth. She only really heard the last sentence.
"How soon can you start, Summer?" her mouth opened to speak, but she fumbled and threw a brief look of bewilderment.
"Wow, thank you" Summer beamed with pride, she considered his question for all of about 3 seconds. "When would you need me to start?"

[Alcide Herveaux]

The astonishment on her face was priceless. Alcide Herveaux did like making people happy when the times allowed it. Had she not been pretty, not been a werewolf, not had previous job experience, been fired for bad things--Alcide probably wouldn't have hired her. But she gave out all the right impressions. He sure hoped he didn't make a mistake. But there was always a 30 and 90 day review, of course. If things weren't working out by than, they'd have to dump her from the company. But for the sake of werewolf-kind, he hoped she would make him proud.

"I'll have my father meet you and process you through. I'd say you could start being trained in tomorrow. I will probably do most of your training since everybody else can't quite handle someone new at the moment," Alcide started, "so I hope you don't mind seeing my face everyday for eight hours a day."

Sometimes, Alcide's humor hit the wrong bone in people, but he hoped that it went over well with Summer. He did smile to ensure that he was just playing around.

"I can show you to my father's office if you wanna follow me," Alcide put his binder away, took her information in hand, and got up from his seat.

He exited his office and strode down the Herveaux and Son hallway, which was very well kept. Yep, they had someone for janitorial duty too. Some kid in high school that worked four hours at closing. Alcide knocked on his father's door, which was only a hair of a crack open, and entered. Upon entering, he saw his dad at his desk, on his telephone. Not only did he see his dad talking to a client on the phone, he also noticed something small and gold in his hand.

A flask.

His father noted Alcide's presence and fumbled to put it away. It ended up inside his bottom drawer. Alcide made a mental note to have the janitor boy get rid of it as soon as the office closed for the night. His dad did NOT need to be drinking on the job, especially in front of a new recruit. Alcide hoped that Summer hadn't seen the display, and he hoped even more she didn't smell the alcohol.

Of course, she would, unless something was wrong with her wolf sniffer. Alcide could only wonder what Summer thought of his office now that he learned the head of operations was an avid drinker. He shot his father a deathly gaze, before further entering the office. Alcide tossed her papers onto his desk and put one hand on his hip, waiting for dear old Jackson Herveaux to get off the phone.

The older Herveaux, who was a little shorter than Alcide but just the same, only older, finished his conversation on the phone and hung up. He nervously smiled at Alcide, not knowing what else to do since he had caught him with the flask. Why did he even bother?

"What's up?" Jackson asked.

"I'd like you to meet my new secretary, Summer Morgan. I just hired her. And Summer, this is my father, Jackson."

Jackson didn't stand up to greet her but instead leaned forward with his hand outstretched. Alcide knew he wasn't getting up because he had had a little bit too much to drink. He loved his old man but he hated his vices. It only left a dark shadow of embarrassment over the Herveaux namesake.

"It's great to meet you," Jackson tried to warmly smile, but it was sort of lopsided and weird, "hey son, that was John Flood on the phone... he... will be coming to the office tomorrow. Apparently, he has some business he needs to talk to me about."

That wasn't good. Whenever the Long Tooth wolf pack packmaster rolled around to speak to Jackson of all people, it was never a good thing. Could it be another scolding? Could it be actual business this time? Alcide was having an okay day. Why'd he have to bring this up.

"Oh..." Alcide subdued his true emotions in front of Summer, "I see. Hm. Well, I'll let the other secretary know too."

He wanted to know more, but he didn't want to discuss pack matters in front of a non-pack-member.

"Say Summer, do you mind stepping out for just a second while I talk to my dad?" Alcide turned to look at Summer, hurt was definitely in his sharp eyes.

[Summer Morgan]

Summer couldn't stop grinning, what started out as a means to an end quickly became a job she was really eager to start. Fighting the urge to fist pump the air, she put a loose lid on her joy to listen to her new boss as he motioned to speak.


"I'll have my father meet you and process you through. I'd say you could start being trained in tomorrow. I will probably do most of your training since everybody else can't quite handle someone new at the moment, so I hope you don't mind seeing my face everyday for eight hours a day."

Summer threw him a mock serious look. "It'll be a chore, but I think I can handle it." Summer had a tendency to be a wise ass and depending on the recipient, they either responded favourably to her sarcasm or just not get it at all. Unable to keep her face straight, Summer's lips curled into her trademark smirk.

Alcide escorted her towards his father office, as he needed to put my details and what not through him to make it official. Summer looked all around as she followed her boss down the hallway towards the senior Herveaux's office. Alcide knocked and didn't seem to wait on an answer, casually strolling in.

His body seemed to tense up upon laying his eyes on his father sitting at his desk. The stench of alcohol hit her nose straight away. Oh boy. Something shiny caught her eyes but it was hurriedly thrown into the desk drawer. She ignored the scent of alcohol and watched on as he looked up and smiled at his son, the elder Herveaux was weary looking but was no doubt a handsome man when he was in his prime. I tried not to think about my mother, but it was hard not to.

Alcide introduced me and his father, who was named as Jackson, struggled to get up from his seat to lean across his desk to shake my hand. I did my utmost to be polite and just nodded instead of opening my mouth, which I was sure would get me into trouble if I wasn't careful.

My eyes darted back and forth between father and son, not really understanding there conversation. Something about a John Flood coming to pay a visit. Wonder who he was to cause such a fuss and palpable tension. Maybe an investor or some other business associate. Summer thought no more of it and refocussed back onto Herveaux and son.

Alcide turned to Summer and gave her a look which confused her. The briefest flash of something. Sadness? Anger? Frustration? It was way too quick for her to catch on. He asked her to wait outside while he spoke to his father. Not to impose I gave both men a respectful nod and Alcide a reassuring smile.
"No problem Mr. Herveaux." Summer looked over towards Jackson "It was a pleasure to meet you sir." and smiled thinly and walked out the room and hoped whatever it was, it wasn't serious.

[Alcide Herveaux]

Summer was taking the drama better than expected. Werewolves loved digging their noses into places where they didn't belong, but not Summer. She respectfully said a hello and left the room. Alcide gently pushed the door closed behind her. As soon as a second went by, Alcide's face turned from charming to alarming.

"Look. I don't know what kind of impressions you are trying to make, dad, but I'm not liking it. No matter how many times I try to tell you not to drink on the job, the next thing you know someone is telling me they smelled alcohol on your breath... or... or I find it myself," Alcide struggled, anger gaining over his normal demeanor, "I hate having to act like the father of a teenager, a teenager who gets in trouble all the d**n time. Now, because of you, I am indebted to a vampire. A vampire, dad."

The word "vampire" and "debt" put together was like a bee sting to Jackson. All werewolves shared a dislike of the dead ones, including Jackson. He hated knowing that his son was having issues because of his own issues. But his addictions were very real. Though he was no mere human, he could still be addicted.

Alcide had his fair share of problems, and dear old dad only put more worriment upon his already full desk. It was hard being the only mature owner of a big construction-related company as well as having an angry, conniving maybe ex-maybe not ex-girlfriend on his hands. Besides the fact he was always trying to defend his father to the Long Tooth wolf pack. It was too much stress, just too much.

Jackson didn't know how to respond. He couldn't make eye contact. His eyes shifted towards his hands.

"I'm sorry," Jackson quietly said.

"That's what you say everytime. Just... ugh... just get Ms. Morgan processed, then I'll just forget about this for now," Alcide lectured.

He didn't even bother with a goodbye, he turned on his heel, quickly gathered his composure, and left the room. You could still see that his normally tan face was red from fuming and the stress lines seemed to be a bit more exaggerated on his face. Alcide tried to manage a smile, but it was definitely false.

"Alright, you can go on in. Hey, if he starts drinking in front of you or does anything you think is just inappropriate, give my cell phone a call," if she didn't know he had a drinking problem, now she did, "here's my phone number."

He fished in his pocket for a business card and handed it to her.

"I will see you at 9 AM tomorrow, I just need you to do some paperwork for my dad right now, then you can head on out for the day. It was great meeting you, Summer. See you tomorrow."

And with that, the younger Herveaux stormed away. He briefly told the office secretary he was leaving for the day before grabbing his hard hat and gloves under one arm and disappearing from the office in a heat of anger.

He had a plate full of problems right now and he had to deal with Colonel Flood next, which wouldn't be pretty. He hadn't even bothered lecturing Jackson about that, because Flood would have his own words for Jackson about it.

(OOC Note: you can post once more, and have the thread ended... I think it would be okay to just have Summer entering the office and end it there, OR you can definitely play out the dialogue if you want)

[Summer Morgan]

((OOC: No worries. Just gonna write and see where it leads))


Summer watched as Alcide went back into his father's office. He was not a happy man, but he closed the door behind him with a real gentleness. The clicking as the wood slotted into place did feel ominous. She had no idea what was going on behind the door and part of her really didn't want to know either. Summer paced back and forth a bit and her heels clacked against the floor.

"Ugh"she groaned and looked down at her feet. "I really hate these shoes" she muttered to herself. She looked around to see if anyone was nearby. All clear. Summer slipped out of her shoes that had heels way too high for her liking. A moment of blessed relief as the feeling slowly returned into her aching feet. "Gotta get me something that won't cut off the circulation of blood" Summer trailed off incoherently. Dropping the odd F-bomb in to describe her feelings.

Alcide came bursting out the doorway of his father's office, looking none to pleased. It didn't take a genius to notice he was fighting back his anger. Summer wasn't one to scare easily, she was a Were after all, but the look on Alcide's face took her by suprise.
"Alright, you can go on in. Hey, if he starts drinking in front of you or does anything you think is just inappropriate, give my cell phone a call, here's my phone number." Summer took the card without a word, normally a hot guy giving her his cell number was a thing to savour. But not this time.

He asked her to come in at 9am to start work all the while still stewing over whatever happened with his father, Jackson. He forced a not very convincing smile and made some pleasantries and then stormed off down the hallway. He wanted out of there and out of there fast.

Most other women, no most other people would have been offended or at the least a little bit taken aback by his attitude. But dealing with an irresponsible parent was one of Summer's specialties. She had nothing but sympathy and empathy for his paternal problem. Alice Morgan, could make knocking back Scotch a national sport. Summer shook her head, now was not the time to dwell on her mother.

Making a start to go into Jackson Herveaux's office, she realised she was still bearfoot. Rolling her eyes and not looking forward to the pinching sensation of the heels. Sucking it up, she took a few steps forward and knocked on the door.

"Come on in darlin'" came the deep drawl of Herveaux Sr. Summer breathed in and out slowly before walking in, plastering on her best Summer-esque smile.