Who: Belle Boudreaux and Irina Derevko Where: Frost Enterprises What: a job interview, of sorts When: December second Warnings/Rating: no warnings Status complete
Belle sighed as she straightened her papers, fidgeting a little as she waited for Irina to arrive. She wanted to make sure this went well, because Winston seemed to really admire Irina. Beside, if they were going to be working together closely she needed to get along with the woman. It didn’t seem like it would be too difficult. Belle liked strong minded people. Even if she didn’t agree with them all the time she liked to see people who stood up for their ideals without apologizing.
Irina dressed to impress, with her best-fitting suit and as high a heel as she could muster anymore - stupid arch problems. It might be nice to work for Winston again, if they could iron out the balance of power. She got a bit of distrust from the Boudreaux woman, and hopefully they could talk - she didn’t want to make any waves. She wanted a job that wasn’t too difficult, but was still important. That was about it.
She was buzzed in to the main building, and she sat down, crossing her legs and opening a magazine while she waited. She wasn’t certain if she’d be facing Miss Boudreaux or Winston himself.
Belle took a deep breath and got to her feet. She checked her clothes to make sure she was devoid of mustard stains and crumbs. She headed out to meet Irina, smiling brightly. “Ms. Derevko.” She offered her hand to the older woman. “It’s a pleasure to meecha.”
“Hello, Miss Boudreaux. Ms? Sorry.” Irina wanted to look approachable, but not folksy. She didn’t do folksy. “Thank you for working me in. I’m sure you’re insanely busy, if you pick up after Winston.”
“Either’s fine. They’re both accurate. He keeps me on my toes.” Belle said with a laugh. “So the position’s for a personal assistant, have you done that kinda work before?”
Her first impulse was to turn up her nose - for anyone else, ‘personal assistant’ was shorthand for ‘glorified lackey’. But Winston’s company usually meant much more interesting work, as she was sure this woman knew. “In a manner of speaking, yes.” Irina said. “Actually, for Winston himself for a very short period.” She’d coordinated his operations on a particular industrial spying lark for a year or so, as well as a few other things. “I was also an executive assistant for a Russian businessman - made sure everything was running smoothly, got the information I needed to get.”
Belle nodded and made a note of all that. “Frankly I’m not sure why I’m even interviewin’ you, Ms. Derevko. You’ve worked with Mr. Frost before, and he speaks very highly of you.” She was a little afraid that Irina was meant to be her replacement, but that didn’t mesh with what she knew about how Frost managed things. “I assume this is more of a formality than anything else. I assume you have experience with the kind of business Mr. Frost conducts.” She knew there was an illicit aspect to her job, but she wasn’t sure what it was, exactly.
“I do.” Irina smiled, hoping it didn’t come off as patronizing. “I’m sure it’s changed since 1994, but not all that much. Honestly, I think I’m interviewing because I told Winston I wouldn’t accept charity, but I wouldn’t have expected him to make you take time out of your day.” She did like this Belle Boudreaux. She was competent, and likely even more competent at the clandestine things. “I get the impression I’d be taking orders from him - but I have no compunction about taking orders from you, by the way. As long as they’re sensical.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t assume that I’d be in charge.” Belle said with a laugh. “I just do my job, don’t ask too many questions, get the paperwork filed on time.” She gave Irina a smile. “Why don’t I show you around, get you familiar with the place.”
“If you have the time, that would be fine. Thank you.” Irina smiled back, reaching for her handbag. “This is quite an operation, for something the man claims is a “retirement activity.””
“Not sure Mr. Frost knows what that word means.” Belle said with a chuckle. She gathered her papers and got the door for Irina. “I’d rather be movin’ while we talk, anyway. So this office broke off the main Frost Corporation when Mr. Frost retired. It’s run by him and Mrs. Summers, who you’ll probably meet. The word is that she’s gonna start a school, so she’ll be leavin’ eventually. Dunno what’ll happen to this place when Mr. Frost actually does retire, but I s’pose we’ll see.”
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, to be honest. Unless Winston’s actually slowed down.” Irina was fairly sure the man would keel over at his desk. They started to walk down a long hallway. “I presume that Mrs. Summers is one of his daughters?”
“Yeah, the middle one. She’s a pain in the ass, but I gotta tell ya her sisters are worse. Mrs. Richards, the oldest, is quite possibly the anti-Christ.” Belle said it with a cheerful smile. She wasn’t too worried about upsetting Winston. He loved his daughters, but he knew Belle had opinions. “Luckily the younger Mr. Frost is actually pretty well balanced. Guess bein’ around all those crazy women showed him what not to do.”
Irina laughed delightedly. She did appreciate honesty. “I get the impression that people like his daughters will either love me or hate me. I do try not to flatter anyone’s ego overmuch. It doesn’t serve anyone. Do you have to deal with Winston’s son much? I’d hope so, if he’s the sane one in the family.”
“I’m sure that applies to them as well. I haven’t had much contact with him, just t’ organize Thanksgiving stuff.” She stopped in front of the accountant’s office. “This is where we keep the financial people and their files. Next door is the personnel office, which is where we’ll end up.” She turned the other direction and led Irina back toward the private offices.
Irina followed wordlessly, taking it all in. It was all rather big and surprisingly nondescript, for a company with a well-known founder. She was curious about the private offices, and wondered if they would be as carefully blank. Knowing Winston, the answer was probably yes.
The answer was certainly yes. The offices were very nice. The only one that was open was Emma’s, because there was a little girl running in and out, while Emma was on the phone. She peered out, but couldn’t chastise the girl without interrupting the call.
Belle chuckled and shuffled the little girl into the office and closed the door. “Mr. Frost’s is the last in the hall. Pretty sure he’s not busy, if you wanna ask him more specific stuff about your job.”
“I just might, if he’s at liberty for once.” Irina smiled at her. “He’s lucky to have someone so competent to help run this place.”
“He is, and I’m lucky to have him for my boss.” Belle gave her a bright smile. “I’ll make sure he’s available, if you don’t mind takin’ a seat?”
“All right. Thank you; I really don’t mind just knocking.” Irina obeyed, sitting down near the door. “Have you worked with Winston for very long?”
“Not long.” Belle said with a smile. “But it ain’t the years it’s the mileage.” She chuckled a little. After protecting the place from zombies and taking all the crazy jobs he could come up with Belle thought she had a good idea who Winston was and what he was like.
“That sounds fairly normal.” Irina chuckled a little. “Isn’t that so for all very busy bosses? I do recall, when I worked for Mikhail Levovich, that he sent me out every day for one specific sort of coffee cream. In Moscow, when there were still shortages. If I had to go to every Party enclave in the city, he didn’t care.”
Belle laughed. "Dieu, what a pain the ass. Luckily he's not so demanding. At least not about something so petty. Must have been interesting to adjust after living in a Communist country so long." She couldn't imagine living full time in Russia even now, forget about growing up there during the cold war.
“At first it was a nightmare. I didn’t understand some things, and I looked like an idiot over it.” She hadn’t had that much trouble; her Party boss had been very good at skimming off the top and having her invest it. But still, she wasn’t lying. “The idea of simply paying a private citizen rent was mindboggling. Instead of one’s home being tied to one’s job. In Russia, you worked for the state, and if you changed jobs, you changed flats.”
“That’s pretty interesting.” It wasn’t much different from how she’d lived when she was doing field work, but that was a special case. “So you had no say in where you lived? I’d guess the accommodations got better if your job was more important.”
"Definitely." Irina nodded. "My father, for example, was a scientist in the Ministry of Defense. We started out in a tiny town called Pushkinskoe, and then when he rose in ranks, we were allotted a flat in Saint Petersburg itself. With two whole rooms." She smiled, not-so-fondly, at the memory.
Belle made a small face. “Sounds rough all around. Can’t blame you for leavin’, but then again I’ve never really lived anywhere but here and places like it.” She perked up when she heard someone moving inside the office. “Have fun, Miz. Derevko. It was a pleasure t’ meecha.”
“Likewise, Miss Boudreaux. Really. I have a feeling you’ll help me out of a few jams.” Maybe, probably, but it was always good to be nice at the beginning of any relationship. “I hope the rest of your day goes smoothly.”
Belle nodded and smiled. “Merci.” She held the door for Irina, then took a deep breath. She was tempted to listen in on their conversation, but thought better of it.