Re: Live and Breathe: Derek / Marta
Marta didn't realize that she looked ill - just that she didn't look as good as other people. Which didn't make much of an impact on her. She'd never been the hottest or prettiest, no matter where she was. Even onstage. Even back in high school. And a lot of things had happened since then that hadn't exactly worked in her favor. At least the scars along the corners of her mouth had mostly faded now, and she no longer had bruises to try to cover with makeup. In fact, she didn't wear nearly as much makeup as she used to. And though she didn't realize it, the lack of it made her look younger. Closer, at least, to her age, even when her history could've made her look much older.
What she didn't expect was someone thinking she needed "TLC", and she definitely didn't expect anyone to provide it. Though she'd come to the hard realization lately (after discussions with different people) that she presented herself as someone looking for sympathy and for someone else to step in to take care of her. And the more she thought about that, the less she wanted to be that person. Though she was still trying to figure out how to get away from it. For the moment though, she just let Derek look at her, eyeing the other woman as she did so. She wasn't at all certain what was being looked for, so she just stood there under the observation.
Observation quickly moved back into words after a moment, and then Marta felt like she was being swept away by a tidal wave. It started off with mention of being a receptionist, and that seemed reasonable. She began to nod, but then Derek kept talking, saying it was bullshit, and going on about a manager. The job is really for a manager. Her mind got stuck on that, even as the list of responsibilities kept growing. Derek needed a manager, and she thought Marta being able to even be a receptionist was bullshit. So... somewhere along the line, someone had fucked up by sending Marta here. But now Derek was stuck with her until things got sorted out. Cleaning, that one she could do, even though Derek didn't expect her to be around to do it. The last part of it got lost as Marta tried to breathe through a quickly rising anxiety. She hoped that even though she wouldn't be keeping this job very long either, that she wouldn't get blamed for it when it was someone else's fuck-up for putting her here. And until it was all straightened out, she'd have to help Derek with whatever she could, even though she obviously wasn't the right person for the job. This place didn't deserve to suffer.
Then Derek stopped talking, so Marta nodded. She was pretty sure she understood the situation.