(no subject)

[yessirmrjohnson]

There was something off about Cave. It bothered her as she made his coffee and plagued her mind as she went about typing up his reports. By time she had to bring him his lunch, she was convinced she had to ask him. It was probably all in her head, the lack of that personal smile in the morning, the quietness on the radio between her desk and his.

No, it was probably all in her head. Not worth worrying about and certainly not worth bothering him over. With a deep breath, Caroline lifted his lunch tray and knocked twice before stepping into his office.

"Here is your lunch, Sir."

Comments

[yessirmrjohnson]

"I would be if you were a normal man." She smiled up at him. "Normal men cheat on their girlfriends with their old maid secretaries. But I knew the moment I knocked on your door you weren't a normal man."

[paysthebills]

His grin showed no sign of fading, as he lead her into his limo.

"You don't say? And what manner of man might I be then?"

[yessirmrjohnson]

"The kind that knows how to deliver long term." The grin on her face suggested it may have had a few other meanings.

It was three days since Elena's intrusion into all that Caroline knew. She was still waiting for a reply from Cave in writing for his decisions concerning all the suggested agreements with the investors. Finally, she went and knocked on his office.

"Sir? I have a few questions if you have a moment?"

[paysthebills]

"Oh~ that's fantaaaastic~."

There's no indication that he'd heard her. Cave seems to be deeply involved in...whatever it is he's doing. At least he's enjoying himself.

[yessirmrjohnson]

Fine, whatever. If he didn't want to take his work seriously, then forget it. Caroline plopped down at her desk and eyed the forms still awaiting his signiture. The investors were going to pull out if they didn't have something official signed today. All she'd have to do is sign it and let things move on. He'd probably never notice. With a deep breath, she went ahead and did it.

Caroline didn't bother to try to contact him the rest of the day. The next day she was faced with a similar situation and with a little bit hesitation she did the same choice. Within a week signing his name was becoming easier and easier and Caroline stopped bothering to bother Cave for anything at all. If he wanted to be occupied by this month's flash in the pan, then so be it. Someone had to get science done around here.

[paysthebills]

It didn't take long for him to notice. The first time he received a copy of a contract, with an ever-so-neatly forged signature, you could have knocked him over with a feather. How DARE she. Hitting a button on his intercom, he spoke, clearly and calmly:

"Caroline. My office. Now"

It took great strain, but he'd managed to avoid yelling. For now.

[yessirmrjohnson]

There was no doubt in her mind what this was about. She had already gone over the scenario a dozen times in her mind and planned a line of conversation for every outcome. All she'd have to do is keep her cool. With head held high and shoulders square, she opened the door.

"Yes Sir, Mr. Johnson?" She closed the door behind her, not wanting anyone else to hear.

[paysthebills]

Cave had his eyes closed, and was visibly shaking. It was as though he'd literally explode any second. And there was Elena sitting next to him, looking as smug as ever. Through gnashed teeth, he manages to spit out words.

"I'm giving you a chance to explain. You know what about. Go."

[yessirmrjohnson]

"Is it appropriate to have this conversation in front of non-personnel?"

[paysthebills]

"Appropriate?"

Cave slams his fists on his deck, getting up from his seat.

"You think you're in a position to TELL ME WHAT--"

Cave turns to the side, taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

"And for the record, this is Elena's first day. But that's beside the point. You have one last chance. I suggest you use it to explain youself."

[yessirmrjohnson]

Caroline frowned and in an instant all her prepared dialogs were long forgotten. She stepped closer to Cave, eyes narrowed. "Well, I'm glad you've decided to start paying her for her services! While you've been busy playing, I've been working. I tried time and again to get you to take a second to even glance at the papers but every attempt was put off or ignored! The investors were going to pull out if I didn't do something. That was five hundred grand on the line. I won't pretend it was the right thing to do, but choosing between betraying your trust and getting the money needed to keep science happening, I made the right choice. I'd make it again in a heartbeat."

[paysthebills]

"You miserable shrew, who do you think you're talking to like that?"

Cave put an arm up in front of her, cutting her off.

"So, you didn't want to interrupt, is that it? You figured while I was distracted, you would play CEO and forge my signature? You thought that was ACCEPTABLE!? Did you think I wouldn't NOTICE!?


Now you listen to me. I'M the boss, I'M the owner, it's MY MONEY, and dammit, that means I MAKE THE DECISIONS! AND WHILE WE'RE AT IT, YOU MAKE ONE MORE CRASS REMARK TOWARDS ELLE LIKE THAT, AND YOU'LL BE SAYING IN FROM THE DAMNED UNEMPLOYMENT LINE ARE WE CLEAR!?"

[yessirmrjohnson]

"It's pretty clear that the only science you've been interested in recently is Biology. That's not a statement on her, but on you, Sir. Maybe I wouldn't have had to make CEO decisions if we had one in the building."

[paysthebills]

"Is that so!? Well, I think I don't need a personal assistant in the building at the moment.

On your way out, pack up your things so Elena can move into her new office. Consider yourself on unpaid leave. Come back when you're ready to apologize."

And with that, Cave begins scouring the papers on his desk with disgust, tracking all of his forged signatures and figuring out what he's 'agreed' to in the past few days.

[yessirmrjohnson]

Caroline's anger turned instantly to shock as she looked from Elena and then back to Cave. A soft laugh of disbelief slipped out before she could stiffle it. She took a step or two backwards.

"I can't believe it. Well, you can forget it. I quit. I used to work for a man who had a great vision. Someone who loved science, someone who believed in Aperture. If I wanted to work for a panty-chasing sleaze who neglects everything for an easy lay, I could have invested years anywhere else. I was there for you when you had nearly nothing and I was by your side as you become something great. I was there when this place was a hole in the ground and I've given you every day of every year since then. And this is how it's going to end?" Her eyes fell to the desk and she flung a hand in a wide gesture towards them. "You'll find every decision to be one you would have made, each vital to Aperture, and every single one of them time sensitive. God, I hope she was worth it."

"And you-" Caroline pointed at Elena. "I hope you're prepared for everything you've signed up for. For Aperture's sake. I hope you're twenty times smarter than you look, otherwise you won't stand a chance here."

She turned back to Cave. "I couldn't be more disappointed. You ended up being just like everyone else." And with that, she turned for the door.

[paysthebills]

His demeanor calms a bit, the steam leaving him with his prior outburst.

"This isn't about women, you moron. The point was you don't get to make decisions like that without my say so. Did you think I couldn't be bothered with that?

What the hell is wrong with you? What's all this about?"

[yessirmrjohnson]

That stopped Caroline dead in her tracks and she turned, anger again on her face, arms crossed. "What did you call me? Cave-" The name slipped from her mouth before she could stop it, and at this point formality didn't much matter. "I called you, I left messages, I knocked on your office door a number of times. My buzzes to the office went unheard. It wasn't for a lack of trying. I even stopped by your house only to find her. You turned me away from the office on three separate occasions. I thought you made your priorities pretty clear and to be honest, I have too much work to do to hunt you down and make you do what you used to love to do."

[paysthebills]

Gave glanced over at Elena, who shrugged and gave a nod in response. Cave took a deep breath.

"Fine. I've been lacking in attention lately. That doesn't give you the right to go and forge signatures. That's a line you don't cross. What am I supposed to do here? Thank you for forging my name on several highly sensitive documents? You're aware of the several implications this has, aren't you?

But, I suppose the fault lies with me. After all, you shouldn't be worrying about this kind of thing in the first place. You have too much work to do."

Cave looked up at nothing in particular.

"Alright. How about we start small, hm? We'll take turns. I'm wrong for ignoring the company, and you're sorry for..."

Cave trailed off, letting her fill in the blank.

[yessirmrjohnson]

Though Caroline sighed and her expression softened into blankness, her stance remained as defensive as ever.

"You're still demoting me, aren't you? I've worked with you for this long and you don't know me well enough to know that I'd only do something like that in desperate times?"

"Don't use the past to excuse something you've done in the present." Elena spoke up. "You've broken his trust. He has every right to fire you and make it so you never get a job anywhere in the field again. You should be begging him to stay, not chiding him."

[paysthebills]

Cave paused a moment, letting Elena get her two cents in.

"I don't see how I'm supposed to let this one go. Did you call me a...what was it again, Elena?"

"Panty-chasing sleaze, sir."

"Right. Did you do that because of desperate times? You're lucky all your getting is demoted. I haven't heard one word of apology to me, or my gal here."

[yessirmrjohnson]

Her anger had waned some which made her next choice a difficult one. Would she swallow her pride and take whatever menial job he had in mind and watch that... that woman in her place? Or would she walk out, letting him rot with his choices? Aperture had been her home for years, he had been her constant.

"I won't apologize for doing what needed to be done." Caroline's eyes closed and she took a deep breath to keep them from watering. "And I won't stick around and be wasted in some mail room as she pretends to be me."

There were no taking those words back, no way to return to how things used to be. Finally she opened her eyes, clearly on the verge of tears. "Good bye a-and good luck."

She turned and rushed for the door, making it out before she'd even give him a chance to speak. Elena hurried to Cave's side.

"It's better this way. You're Cave Johnson, you don't need some back stabbing floozy to run the company you built. Forget about her."

[paysthebills]

Cave let out a shrill whistle, serving both to drown out whatever Elena was saying, and get the attention of his departing assistant. No one walked away from Cave Johnson without his approval.

"I said I was demoting you, not transferring you to Mexico. But if that's that way you feel, fine. Whenever you feel your jobs worth it, come back and apologize. To both of us."

[yessirmrjohnson]

It was three weeks since Caroline had left and no one heard from her. She made no effort to contact him or answer any calls that may have been made to her. Elena happily took the prized desk by his office, but tried to spend more time in his office. She hated dealing with all the other employees and the stuff they put on her desk might as well be in Greek.

Elena sighed on the corner of his desk where she was filing her nails. "Why don't you hire an assistant for me, Cavey? I don't have enough time to spend with you."

[paysthebills]

"An..assistant? You are the assistant."

Cave attempted to understand the suggested assistant-ception, and failed.

"Anyway, there really isn't money in the budget for that right now sweetheart. Perhaps after the next round of hiring."

While Caroline's departure had indeed freed up a significant chunk of money, he had to keep that money open in anticipation of a new head of research, a title that was unofficially held by his former assistant. While he was more than capable of running things on the business side, he would begrudgingly have to admit he didn't actually know enough about science to work the research side of things.

Unfortunately, he'd either found all potential applicants rude, incompetent, or as disgusting as all get out. The position went brutally unfilled in Caroline's absence.

[yessirmrjohnson]

After two months and the position still unfulfilled, their developments began to stagnate. Memos and communications broke down in the office due to the fact that Elena couldn't care less about what was on them or where they had to go. She figured if she did a bad enough job, Cave would give in and hire her a lackey to do the boring things. Besides, she had bigger things on her mind.

"Cavey," Elena cooed as she just walked into his office without asking. "You know what I just found out? Jenny in accounting just got engaged. She looked so happy I was pretty jealous. My mother keeps bothering me about when I'll get married, but I tried to explain to her how busy you are." She took her normal perch on the corner of his desk. "I know you'll ask someday."