Work Text:
Andi steps nervously into the work place finding herself, one person, in crowds of people. She stands suspiciously while facing the crowd, spine straight as an arrow. Hurried whispers carried across the room in a cadence, giving her the immediate sense that she was missing something important. Eyes were lingered on the enterance-- on her.
She breathed in a nervously before biting her tongue and set her sights forward.
The only cure to her anxiety was sucking it up and ask someone what she was missing. Approaching any of her coworkers was a last resort, but this time Andi needed answers.
She zeroes in on the crowd of sparsely populated groups. A little aways Andi could spot one of of her more bearable coworkers, alone. She walks briskly in their direction before stopping behind them. Quitely she watches her coworker take a anti-bacterial wipe to the counters surface. Finally they they notice of Andi, "Andi! What the hell!" They hold up an arm when spotting her, "You scared me."
Andi rolled her eyes half heartedly. Her coworkers hand was busy throttling a anti-bacterial wipe mid air, gaping at her.
She lifts an eyebrow curiously peering at the counter over her coworkers shoulder. Her eyes landed on the glimmering white surface of the counter. Not one tongue of dirt to be spotted.
Andi quips pointing towards the counters surface, "Hey, I think you got it,"
Andi's coworker nodded idly. "Do I?" Their eyes flickeri to the counter briefly met with a reflection of their lower body. "Oh shit I do," they clutched the rag holding it protectively, staring in near disbelief. "Thanks Andi." They said with a sigh, "We've all in a rush today." They slumped exhaustively, looking at the rest of the crowded labs.
"I can see that." Andi glances headily at the speculating crowds of voices. She frowns before glancing back at her coworker who was already looking for something else they could clean.
"Whats up with today? I wouldve liked being warned that people would be losing their marbles on a tuesday. Why wasn't I told of ajy of it?" She hisses. Caught in the act, her coworker slinks away guiltily. Their eyes lit with a mischievous interest.
"Andi, you're barely going to believe any of this," they paused dramatically.
Andi waited for their explanation unimpressed.
"the CEO of Park Planet is coming to the lab for an inspection."
"The CEO," she murmers hand held to her lips, "Orville Park? .. No, Olivia Park?" She questions relectuntly. Her coworker excitedly surges forward with a big smile, "Thats exactly who im talking about. Everybody has been." Then her coworker chooses to lean into her further conspirioritally.
"You must've heard the rumors right? People wont shut up about it. Olivia's Orivilles successor yet she barely makes any appearances in ads or interviews!"
Her coworker whispered excitedly like revealing a secret. It wasnt a secret really, everyone in the labs knew of it.
They sprung back before their voice turned back to a normal level, "And shes coming here today! Its like theyre asking for us to speculate." Andi didnt care. She was better off not getting involved, and she was content doing her due diligence and having this all swept under the rug.
Slowly, she saw the eagerness in her coworkers face wane, a dawning horror sweep across her coworkers face. Slow and unsure Andi craned her neck backwards in a creeping realization. Her boss beat her to it by slapping a heavy hand onto her shoulder. Instinctively she trys wrestling the grip before wilting when meeting her boss eye to eye. Lifting a cocky brow, her Boss looked down at her.
"You didnt clock into work so all you two could do was gossip and talk get back wor work. Now." Her Boss spoke through gritted teeth.
wiping their hands, her boss leaned back casually. Her boss looked up at the rest of the communing crowds.
"That means the rest of you too! Get back to work," Her bosses voice boomed rippling across the room, arm gesturing to the entire room. Voices quieted until the entire room sat in a silence.
"I want this place cleaned in a jiffy, there is no time to waste!"
She looks at her coworker and they return her gaze. Her Boss took the turn to leave the room and everyone burst into a stumbling chaos. People dispelled from their groups rushing across the room. "Guess that means its my time to get going." She nods curtly moving away. "Thanks for filling me in," she turns in the opposite direction looking over her shoulder.
"I'll see you later, Andi." She barely acknowledges the words, looking forward with a frown.
Her body swivels to avoid people coming from all directions, all of them heading to the same place. The closet which held all of their cleaning supplies.
Avoiding yet another incoming body Andi hunches into herself with a sigh. Today was going to be a long day-- and the hardest part was getting it over with.
____________________
Andi had dove into the relatively light work of cleaning compared to the tireless complications that came with mechanics. Everyone around her were all collaborating to make this place spotless. It already was spotless as it had always been-- spotless wasnt enough to a CEO whos standard raised above that. Rag and broom in hand Andi made good work with the task she was given.
She tentatively lifted a rag from the counter, surveying its cleanliness.
Content with the results her eyes flitted across the lab, people occupying areas wherever germs could ever possibly lurk.
It looks like everybody had things handled.
Her gaze swept across the rest of the lab.
There was a series of tables and labeled cabinets that held necessary equipment. This was only one room, and various people people entered before making their quick exit. The lab was a labyrinth, far bigger than anything here. The labs were big enough that enough that it was impossible for everyone to explore everything. It was as close to a home as Andi could get.
She was living in the grimy corridors of a Guinevere head. Here bent over a metal table here Andi could feel like she meant something. The labs was her achievement.
The only thing before she relinquished was her poverty, now she held ownership of the title of engineer. Or as others called her, a crownie.
It was bullshit. Her achievements were her own at the sacrafice years deep in college debt.
Andis eye lit when a door ducked conspicuously in the corner slam open. She was yanked nauseatingly from her rumination, attention instantly pulled towards a voice chirping loudly.
"Get in your positions and get ready! Olivia Park is here." Her heart sunk.
Everything had been normal til that sentence was spoken. Andi could clean easy peasy, but to be perceived by Olivia Park, the impercievable? The thought made her shudder. She could find a way to get out of this, she always did. By the time Olivia entered the main labs she would find herself hunched over a toilet, her go to plan when avoiding her coworkers.
It was full proof.
Tentatively she took a step forward before taking off into the hallways, exiting the main lab.
The bathroom was a little away and it'd take some walking to get there.
Focusing on what was ahead Andi was consumed with the thought of holing herself in her only sanctuary. What little sanctuary a bathroom could provide, anyways. Finally just within her sight was the front of the lab. She'd have to turn left to reach the bathrooms. Andi halts abruptly middle of the hallway, the traffic lesser the closer she got to the entrance-- alone except two people.
"Andi, what are you doing here?"
Very slowly Andi turned to face her boss, bones creaking in the process. She forced a smile. Based on her bosses face it must've looked more like a grimace. "Its nothing, im doing nothing."
She lies like she wasn't planning on establishing the bathroom as her temporary campground for the day.
"Okay," her boss drawls in disbelief. Gesturing to Olivia Her Boss introduces them. "This is Olivia Park, the person we were expecting today." She looked at Olivia and so did her boss. Andis mind ceased in a nervous apoplexy, stomach dropping straight to her ass. She stood there, gaping.
"Its nice to meet you," Olivia begins before pausing inquisitively, "who are you," Her smile wavers head tilting in confusion.
Blood roared through her face, mildly disappointed at the drop in Olivia's smile.
"Im-- You can call me Andi."
Olivia clapped her hands happily, "You can call me Olivia." Andi nods vaguely thinking to herself about the reality that out of several universes, she was in the one where she'd meet Olivia offers a brisk hand offering a handshake.
Andi reaches out her hand, hesitating-- Olivia is first to break that gap.
There were responsibilities and bills to pay, she didnt need the CEO on the top of that list too.
She needed to find a way to get out of here-- and fast. Andi barely notices when Olivias hand slips out of hers.
But Andi just couldn't leave. This was The CEO of Park Planet, THE Olivia Park, and her boss she was talking about.
"She seems okay, what do you think, is she a good employee?" Olivia isnt talking to her but her boss, she faintly registers. Startled Andi stares unabashedly at Olivia. Right next to Olivia her Boss had a contemplative frown. They shifted on their feet with a little hum.
"Eh, shes not too bad. She's a little average, clumsy and Andi does make a lot of slip ups but," Her boss rolls their shoulder. "We need a alot of engineers on board anyways."
Andi looked at the floor shyly with a frown. It was different being infront of someone else while also watching another person pick you apart.
"She can come with us, right?" Olivia asks, phrased as a question but she could never be sure.
Her mind scrambles to find any excuse not too, only a limp objection comes out, "I dont see how I could help.."
When she looked up again Olivias gaze was intense. She straightens out at the silent pressure, whatever underneath playing out through a long gaze. Olivia tilted her head inquisitivevely, "Nonsense, you would be a big help. You could provide more insight more about the inner workings of the place."
She wasnt about to deny the CEO and she be damned if she was getting fired in the process. Through gritted teeth she smiles, "Yeah, okay-- ill go."
"Now that Andi's coming do you want to get going?" Her boss interrupted the tension, her eyes darting from Olivia to her boss. She was almost thankful for the interruption. Apart of her resented Olivia like she was taught too. Nobody working at Park Planet liked it here, nobody liked Guinevere or anything involved in it. Out of all of that-- it should be Olivia Park the most.
"Yes, of course," Olivia placated her Boss. Anxiously Andi peered towards Olivia, even after the end of a sentence her eyes were on Andi. She felt her heart recoil in her chest. By now she was definitely regretting trying to reach the bathroom.
Those sorts of things never did go well for her, did they?
"Just follow me ma'am."
Sounding relieved her boss gestured forward. They settled comfortably in the front leading them further into the lab. "It isnt until farther into the lab where you'll see all the equipment," her boss pauses to take in a breath, "but the labs are massive enough to accommodate all the equipment needed, of course." They all sat in a long pause, "like really, really big."
The hallways were otherwise desolate besides rolling tables that could help transport equipment. This was only a small example of the labs the deeper you ascended.
"I wouldnt assume it'd be anything else, its a big place here. The upkeep is apart of how big it is here at Park Planet."
The more they would advance the more the hallways would branch out into a complex series of interwoven rooms extending from the hallway.
"You would think with ya being CEO and all. Comes with a big load when you got the whole park at hand."
Olivia doesnt response, instead their entire group stops right before a hallway that expanded into a different room. The room was long and rectangular, tools littered sporadically across the table. Blue blood normally wouldve been sprayed across the table. Placed in the middle of the table wouldve been any series of projects they had been working on. Its since been cleaned, everyone made sure of it.
"These are the rooms we do repairs in, this isnt the only one of course. The others look the same." Her boss gestures down the rest of the hallway, the same doors which same layout.
In the process of the tour Andi wasnt sure to interrupt. Olivia had demanded that she go and she begrudgingly obliged, she mustve been brought here for a reaon. Glancing tentatively at Olivia she nodded along, her eyes glancing everywhere but her boss. She didn't look like a CEO who was doing an examination, rather adeptly bored. Andi snickers internally before shaking her head.
She couldnt be laughing. Olivia's blatant disinterest was unprofessional in every sense of the word, yet she respected it. Andi would be vying for the opportunity to ignore her boss if it wasnt walking straight into being fired. Being CEO you really could get away with anything, huh?
Her boss allows them to sit so that Olivia could observe the room, shifting towards the enterance. "Lets get a move on, yeah?" Olivia gives a short nod and so they went off further into the hallway.
"We did a lot of cleaning before you arrived to get this place into tip top shape." Her boss boasts, a hand layed proudly on their hip. "Though it aint much for someone like you ones gotta imagine."
Olivia hums. "Oh yeah?" She glances briefly around the place, " I hadn't noticed."
Andi had to suppress a snort eying her bosses face flash into a scowl. They settled a firm hand on their neck, scowl hidden with a shaky smile. "Its a humble place. It aint majestic but it still gets the work done." Her boss nods firmly, "... Yeah, nothing dont have to be beautiful to get the job done. Theres nothing beautiful about robotics."
Olivia hums, and there Andi observes the same disinterest on her face. When Olivia's eyes shifted onto her Bosses face her lips curl, "You're are right about that."
A room approaches through a gaping archway, people filtering through the distant sliver. Her heart ceases beating at the sight of people. "This is it, the main work space. "Everything mundane gets completeted here." The main lab is finally revealed through an archway. People click away at keyboards or file through cabinets, life ticking away despite Olivias presence.
She looks ahead, at any moments notice people would start noticing Olivia-- then her. Reality came crashing down at the absurdity that she had been with the CEO of Park Planet the entire time.
Andi had been content to relax when she went unnoticed by Olivia and her boss, up until they stood with a crowd of people ahead.
Andi looks nervously at Olivia and Olivia already looking at her. "What about you, Andi? you haven't said much this entire time." Blinking owlishly, she stares blankly in Olivia's direction.
"Can we leave?" She blurts, "this room, I mean."
"Olivia still needs to have a look around, why would we leave so early?" Her boss reprimands. Olivia quickly waves a hand in their direction, looking inquisitive.
"Its alright, we can go," Olivia placates. Her boss didnt look happy but didnt dare object. Olivia takes initiative by diving head first leaving them all to follow. Andi could hear the passing conversation, people starting to take notice of Olivia.
She sighs in relief.
"Why did you want to leave Andi?" Startled she eyes Olivia with a cold suspicion. Could she trust the CEO of Park Planet enough to tell her anything? She doesnt meet eyes with Olivia, only increasing her pace so she descended faster into the hallway. Andi sighs before slumping, looking into Olivias direction.
"People just overwhelm me." It was a half truth, but she wasnt about to tell the CEO that.
"Andi has never really been the social sort, she'd rather talk to a dead person before anyone she doesnt know well." Her boss butts in earning a sharp glare of Olivia, her Boss shyly looks away.
"I get it, people can be a nuisance," Olivia agrees.
Andi snorts, "I wouldnt say its quite like that. People can just be distracting. When im working on something I want it to be me, my thoughts and the thing im working on. Keeps things simple that way."
"It is, isnt it? The work itself is much harder alone though, I do most of the work myself alone. It's not my job to work at the theme park, though engineering has always been a side hobby of mine."
Andi couldnt believe she was casually conversating the the CEO of Park Planet. She eyes Olivia nervously. Olivia had a belligerent air too her, a delicate poise in all its feigned attentiveness held a prowling big cat hidden between her subtle scowls. Andi had seen the disinterest hidden beneath her professionalism.
The question was how far that unprofessionality would go, Andi didnt know. She didnt want too.
But she already was here and there was nothing she could do about it. Olivia had been telling her things about herself. More than ever before the CEO, a person to her that felt so untouchable-- felt like an actual human. This was the CEO of Park Planet-- arguably a constituent to most of the planets problems-- a simple curiousity lingered. Andi didnt notice that she had grown unusually silent.
"Are you okay? Youve been out of it this entire time."
"What? Oh, yeah, yeah im okay. I just got distracted thats all."
"You havent talked much this entire time, you dont give me the impression you've been okay."
Shit, Olivia had noticed that? What could Andi tell Olivia that wouldnt get Andi in trouble with her? Trouble was the last thing she wanted. She looks onward-- blank hallway staring back. "Im sorry, this isnt normal for me. Its just.. Im not used to being in the presence of someone like you."
Olivia is staring at her, and Andi shyly tears here gaze away from her. She stares long amd hard in a contemplative silence.
"..Yeah"
They approach a room upon a turn sectioned off from the rest of the hallway. Opening the entrances door a small room opens, a doctor's office. They all stood side by side before Olivia slips inside, leaving them to tag along. An exam table, heart monitor and clinical equipment of all sorts lay neatly in their respective places.
"The emergency rooms. Working with heavy equipment can be dangerous." Her Boss saids with a wary pride. They look at Olivia and Andis eyes flit between the two. "What do you think?"
"Hmm, what?" Olivia gaze swept idly across the room, only noticing now that she was being talked to. "Oh, working with androids is dangerous isnt it?"
Olivia smirks, the smirk dying when her eyes returned to the doctor's office.
"That should mean that having a doctors office is good, isnt it?"
Andi was watching Olivia, yet in the corner of her peripheral she sees her bosses eyes flit between Olivia and her. "Ms. Parks, you wouldnt mind if I had a moment alone with Andi, would you?"
Terrified Andi's eyes were ripped off Olivia onto her boss. There was one thing Andi didnt want more other than finally leaving Olivias presence-- and that was her boss.
"I dont mind, Ill be here." Olivia glanced curiously at her and she returned her gaze hurtfully. That was her duty as CEO wasnt it though? She wasnt going to interrupt their boss and employee dynamic.
"Great, lets go Andi."
Before she knew it she was being dragged out of the door into an isolated hallway. Alone and isolated her Boss turns in her direction.
"Did you see that Andi? She ignored me," Her boss came at her with a waving hand. Not enough to fully invade her personal space, but she was uncomfortable enough. "She'd rather pay more attention to an employee than the place we spent hours cleaning for her." Her boss clenched their fists, glaring at her. "An employee for God's sake!" They take in a deep breath before exhaling.
"I know this wasnt your choice, so lets make a compromise. You come up with an excuse to leave by the time we reach Olivia and you wont get in trouble."
Andi wasnt returning her Bosses harsh glare-- she already knew her answer.
"Remember in the morning where you were sitting on your ass and gossiping with a coworker instead of doing your job? You owe me this, Andi."
She stared blankly into her bosses glare and before nodding faintly. "Okay," this is what Andi wanted right? Andi knew disappointment when she felt it, that longing that tugged in her chest. Seeing Olivia had been an oppurtunity to a life time. For all the baggage Olivia had to her name Andi knew that. To hell with that, she was already considered a crownie.
A little curiousity wouldnt hurt anyone, up until now Andi didnt have a reason to be interested in Olivia Park.
Olivia had a belligerent air too her, a delicate poise in all its feigned attentiveness held a prowling big cat hidden between her subtle scowls.
No doubt, Olivia Park was also beautiful. That also played a part.
Andi and her boss had sat in a tense silence, letting her grapple with the news. "Wipe that gaping fish look off your face, we're leaving. I cant keep you too long or we'll look suspicious." Her shoulders slump in disappointment. She wasnt about to protest, Olivia Park wasnt worth sticking her neck out for and risk being castigated. In a week Andi will be relieved she didnt put herself onto Olivias radar.
They turn a hallway and approach the familiarly isolated room. The door clicks open both of them stepping into the clinical enviroment.
"Hey there, I hope I didnt keep you waiting. Are you ready to go?" Briefly her Boss sends a glance in her direction, going right back to Olivia. Got it-- dont mess this up.
Olivia doesnt bother to mask her boredom.
"Hmm? That would be great, thank you." She sends her Boss a chipper smile that doesnt doesnt quite reach her eyes. A stark contrast to her flat face just moments ago.
One by one they leave the room, back into the same hallway they had been in. They start walking feet rhythmically tapping in the silence, unlike her mind which rapidly filed endlessly through plausible excuses. Andi couldnt say that she was sick like she would a friend. Though she wished she took the day off sick.
"Wasnt I supposed to be helping you through the tour? I probably would be a bigger help if I went back to doing my job." She rolls her shoulder casually meeting eyes with Olivia. Andi is startled when she met the intense gaze of Olivia.
The gaze doesnt waver for several seconds, "Andi, did you really want to go?"
Shit, Andi didnt plan for the conversation to go this way.
"Me?" Nervously her eye darts to her boss and grows loose and antsy. "I do! I do, yeah," her voice grows nervous and strained mimicking her body language.
"Are you lying?" Olivia had been completely facing her direction now. Instead of a boredom there was a fiery interest, indescribable in Andi's anxiety addled brain.
"I.."
"So you are," her eyes darken, but Olivias eyes are no longer on her but on her boss. It didnt help her feel at ease any, watching that prowling gaze settle on her boss.
Olivia starts walking, Andi hanging onto each step with anticipation. Olivia slots herself besides Andi. She was so close yet still so distant from her. "Do you think im dumb? You take Andi away for a couple minutes and just when she comes back she wants to leave." Olivia huffs out a quivering exhale that released her barely hidden anger. She looks in Andi's direction and she freezes.
"You can be honest with me Andi, did you want to leave?"
She looks guiltily at the floor. ".. I thought I didnt care, but actually.. I do." Under the pressure of Olivia looking at her expectantly, Andi had been honest.
Olivia is no longer looking at her but her Boss.
"If she doesn't care then why'd you interfere? Ive seen the main lab, you have plenty workers, don't you?"
"We do," Her boss isnt returning Olivia's gaze instead they look shamefully away. "This tour wouldve ended by now if it werent for Andi. You have a long day ahead of you and so do I, im managing the place. Consider the time Ms Parks!"
"What do you have to do with my choice of time, last time I knew it was my choice."
"I.."
"So what? You thought Andi was wasting your time-- that I was wasting your time so it made it appropriate to toddle off with Andi and then make her come back wanting to leave," heaving a breath she continued with a hiss, "non of that is appropriate!"
"You have acted nothing less of a child, do you realize that? Because what? You wanted me to yourself?"
No response.
Olivia exhales in one large gust flicking a hand in her bosses direction. "Dont dignify me with a response, leave-- now." Her bosses mouth gaped with unsaid words, turning briskly before they were sent scurrying down the hallway. Andi was looking at Olivia, this time in a much different context than before. There were so many things to think that she couldn't.
Nothing but a rattling shock that would leave her shook for days. CEO of Park Planet, Olivia Park standing up for Andi. Andi could laugh if she werent already suffering whip lash.
"Is your boss often like.. That?" Olivia gently prods her carefully.
She pauses to consider the question. Now that her boss was gone, and they had the time she waltzes up to a wall her back settling onto it. "Sometimes, you get used to it after a while. Its not too bad, it provides routine and it pays the bills," it wasnt necessarily a lie.
"You don't have to lie to me, you know. I saw the way your boss acted back there. Ive seen what is and isnt normal at Park Planet," Olivia inhales a sharp breath, "and your boss wasnt normal."
Andi snorts, "yeah they arent very normal arent they," she rubs at her neck. Her back straightens against the wall, arching her face towards the cieling. Olivia slides next to her, and she looks at Olivia, they were both looking at eachother.
"Well, if you want honesty then its honesty your gonna get," Andi sets her eyes forward determined.
Andi drags out a long exhale, "oh where do I even start? Notorious for miscommunication, micro-managing our every decision, acting like they're entitled to our time and oh-- oh-- I can add more."
Olivia's face doesnt make a move. Andis face dropped zipping her lips tight as soon as seeing that stony expression. She didnt overstep did she, did she do something wrong? "Really? That much," Olivia questions just above a murmer.
Was Olivia saying that because she didnt believe her-- a paranoid little voice on her mind whispered.
"Everyone here hates them. The only reason they're still our boss because whoever takes care of that sort of thing allows them too." She grows smaller, her arms nervously wrapping around herself loosely.
Olivia had a contemplative expression on her face, holding a finger to her chin and pinches it lightly. "I see," only their footsteps were audible in a tense silence that hung over Andi. "Bad apples always have a way of slipping through the cracks, dont they?" Olivia was looking at Andi with unwavering interest. Her out of all things in the lab were the only thing able to hold Olivias interest this long. Olivia pushes herself off the wall, and peered over her shoulder.
"We should continue."
Andi agrees.
Andi so that was that, them both exiting the same doctors office her Boss also left-- this time only in eachothers presence.
Shoes click in unison as the silence echoed with each step of their feet. The silence had been comfortable, not much to say after earlier. Everything that could be said was said-- but Andi wasnt content with that-- not now, not when she was getting to see what-- who the CEO actually was. She failed her attempt to hide in the bathroom anyways, she may as well make some use of it.
"When people talked about the CEO of Park Planet, you are nothing like I imagined."
Olivias gaze was staring intensely ahead, glancing at her when Andi spoke.
"Thats something I get alot," she shrugs, "for better or for worse." Wide eyed and perplexed Olivia gives her a small smile.
"I cant say I blame people. Its different to be you than it is different to be me. People always are afraid of the unfamiliar."
She doesn't know what to say but the bare acknowledgement by offering a nod. Andi stares at Olivia with an unwavering gaze, only leaving to stare tentatively at her feet. She really didnt know anything about Olivia or anything anout being a CEO. CEO she was Andi anf Olivia still walked side by side like equals. Why was Olivia even giving Andi the time, why was Olivia even telling her any of this?
For the first time the CEO of Park Planet didnt feel like a vague concept, but human.
More than just an oppurtunity but a puzzle to fill in the gaps of Olivia she initially wouldve never thought to understand.
Olivia had a whole life beneath her perfected appearance. Andi saw Olivia nothing but perfect, a perfect life, a perfect set up to success, perfect in every way her life wasn't. She loathed Olivia for that. It was easy to loathe a person youve never met-- til you met them face to face.
Olivia was like her-- a women. A women from very different circumstances, but a women with the entirety of Park Planet under her feet. And that would come with a lot of responsibility.
"-- Being CEO, it must be hard right?"
Olivia sends a bare glance in her direction, Andi already carefully observing her. Olivias expression was blank. "It is. Its a big responsibility to shoulder, there is effort that gives shoveled into managing Park Planet that you wouldnt think of.
Andi looks at the floor, "yeah.." She inclines her head left, gasping softly. Shit, this is where they were supposed to turn--and she almost missed it. She picks up her pace to reach the corner, only stopping when she did. She turns to Olivias direction. "We're getting close to our next stop. My boss managed to show you most of it, so we won't be doung this much longer.
She stares down at the hallway, and Andi stares longingly.
"I probably dont have much time here either, I was running on a time crunch before I got here anyways. I slept through ny timers."
Andi snorts looking in Olivia's direction, "I guess we can both hurry then."
Andi they did, reaching another hallway each door placed an even distance from one another. She already has a knob on hand, door clattering open. An office, a computer office. It was different than the one before, this time its only contents a computer. "The computer rooms, these are public use computers we use to store plans future projects, concept art and visual maps."
A hand placed loosely on her hip she stares ahead, her mind still lingering on the conversation they left unfinished.
"Im sorry to mention it again, but dont you ever wish sometimes that you werent CEO? You know, if its that big of a responsibility.."
Hesitantly she looks into Olivias direction, this time she didn't meet Andis eye. "What else can I already do but be CEO?" Finally Olivia does look at Andi, her expression blank as a slate.
That wasnt an answer, and she knew it. She wasnt about to push the subject, she already got enough from Olivia.
"Do you ever wish you werent an engineer?" Andi's question was reflected back onto her.
"Of course I do. Park Planet is an already strenuous place with minimal safety regulations. Everyday I have to look in the face of a cute android with a wrench deep down its throat and hope it doesnt malfunctions. Thats all I have hope!"
Andie inhales before dragging out a long exhale, "and that isnt even the half of it. You have the whole wealth of Park Planet at your hand, I have nothing."
Silence drags as her voice rapidly spewing words dies.
"..Sorry"
"You dont have to be sorry. Youre right." Olivia is looking at her, and hesitant to meet her gaze Andi does. They sit there for a while, just looking at eachother. There was something different in there gazes, despite meeting eyes so many times they just started grasping at the minds behind them. "We should leave," Olivia is first to tear her gaze away from Andi.
"Yeah, we should." They start towards the door and just as Andi opens it Olivia pauses to look at her watch.
"Im sorry, but I have to leave." She recoils in disappointment, left gaping as Olivia approached. She pauses, both of them standing in the doorway.
A hand reaches to ruffle her hair. "It isnt everyday someone has the gut to say what you have to me today." After frowning throughout their entire interaction a small smile was blooming on her face. "I like that about you Andi, keep it."
"Wait!" Andi reaches out a desperate hand, grasping at the possibility that maybe Olivia Park doesnt have to go. Olivia turns to send her a brief glance, smiling apologetically. "Duty calls Andi, I have to leave. My responsibility here at Park Planet is so much bigger than you and I." Olivia doesnt hesitate turning her back from Andi in one big sweep. And so Olivia left behind in her absence an empty hallway.
Her hand twitched in the air and she slowly brought it back to her side. The desolate place and the gleaming surface of freshly mopped hallways compared to nothing the life Olivia brought to them.
Andi had missed her oppurtunity, had reality been more sparing and Olivia hadnt been a CEO Olivia at a moments notice wouldnt have been ripped away.
They were just two women with very-- very different lives-- and responsibilities didnt wait for the who had them.
____________________
Andi stared blankly at the wall before clocking in, warily shouldering past another crowd. For whatever reason this time she didn't know before rounding the corner. She flinches at a voice shouting loudly into the morning, "everyone get back to work now, not all of you can be sitting on your asses gossiping." Clearing their throat they continue.
"Before any of you start spreading rumours-- your boss isnt going to come back, they were fired as of today."
She sits stunned for several moments, with a hand held over her lips recalling everything. The moment Andi and Olivias eyes had first met, their brief moments of shared intimacy, then-- the confrontation.
"Did I have something to do with that?" She says just above a murmer just as a coworker was shoving past Andi.
Her coworker turns their head, "did you say something?"
"Oh, its nothing."