Re: Live and Breathe: Derek / Marta
The smile was polite, but the girl uncertain. She had the dark circles under her eyes that were expected with a hospital stay, a paleness to the skin that suggested illness. Not a chronic illness though, nor a terminal one, just like a wilted flower that needed both more water and more sunshine to be restored, but she wasn't a dying one, flopped over and too close to death to make a revival.
All she needed was a little TLC, and Derek beamed as she finally placed her slightly cool hands in Derek's warm ones. "Let me get a good look at you," she said in that same curious lilt, stepping to the side so more of Martha's features were visible in the light of the room. High cheekbones, small chin, thin lips, but she could be devastating with a little more attention.
There was something under that though, a hardness that Derek saw in her uncertainty, a beating that was still being administered to her self esteem. But she would work, and she would be good at it with half a chance. "Yes, you'll do well," she decided and finally took a step back, closer to the oxygen bar. "So they insisted that you were suitable for a receptionist, which I think is bullshit, and the job is really for a manager. You make appointments, make sure the equipment is working okay, order any needed supplies, pay the bills and --" here she paused, released one hand, and wiggled her fingers in the air. "Whatever else you need. And if you want to hire a company to do the cleaning, I'm okay with that. I don't do it and I don't expect you to do it. I'll leave that up to you. So I'll pay you a manager's salary, and benefits, and if you need anything else, I want you to tell me."