Selfie – This Name You Call Out

Henry speaks to his new assistant

"Ms. Dooley, can you come in for a moment, please?"

"Sure thing, Henry, be right there"

"It's not– It's 'Mr. Higgs'!" – he gritted out but she was already gone. A minute later, he heard her heels clicking outside his door – "Come in"

Sure enough, his new assistant perkily opened the door and smiled widely at him, coming in with the confidence of someone who was never denied entrance anywhere she went. Henry sighed and got up.

"Ms. Dooley"

"Henry"

"That's 'Mr. Higgs' for you, Ms. Dooley"

"Charlie calls you 'Henry'" – she shot back, flipping her long, luscious red hair back and striking a pose. He looked up for a moment before looking back at her.

"And after you've been my assistant for as long as Charlie was, you will also be able to call me by name, but until then, if you would" – she grumbled under her breath and stood up straight, one hand on her hip.

"Mr. Higgs" – she said sweetly – "How may I assist you today?"

"I have a few meetings today, as you well know"

"I do, I keep your schedule and all"

"Yes, well, I'd like you to accompany me" – she blinked.

"Oh. I... Charlie didn't go with you to meetings, did he? He never said anything"

"He did not, that is true, however, he never showed much interest in the business, unlike you, Ms. Dooley. He also never displayed your enthusiasm for growing beyond your current position"

"He's in Customer Service now" – she said slowly, almost absently.

"Yes, he is, however he seems quite content in remaining as an assistant. He only traded superiors, after all"

"'Cause you were riding him too hard or something" – Henry pinked a little at her crude description.

"I–! I did no such thing!"

"What–ever, and you so did, everyone knows how hard you were on him"

"Who is 'everyone'? And I was a perfectly adequate superior to Charlie!"

"If you say so, Mr. Higgs" – she replied, her sarcasm clear.

"I do not appreciate your tone, Ms. Dooley"

"And I hate it when you call me that. Seriously, the world's not gonna end if you call me 'Eliza'"

"I do not feel comfortable calling you by your name, we do not know one another that well"

"I've been here for like, a month already"

"Your first month is not quite finished yet" – he corrected and she rolled her eyes. She rolled her eyes! At him! – "Now, Ms. Dooley, I would prefer if you did not treat me with such insolence"

"What 'insolence' do you mean, Mr. Higgs?"

"Rolling your eyes, addressing me far too intimately–"

"No one calls you 'Mr. Higgs', not even the doorman downstairs!"

"I will have you know that Jones has worked as this building's doorman for the last six years, of course he knows me enough to refer to me by name"

"And I've been here for, like, I don't know, six months"

"Never under me" – he said before he thought better on it, and she snickered – "You know what I mean!" – he blushed again.

"Right, right. So... These meetings" – she rather kindly said.

"Yes, yes. The first one is a lunch meeting, I apologize if you had any plans already"

"Nah, don't worry"

"And we will likely stay out the entire day. You may leave after the third and last meeting, it will run long and by the time we return, it will be around the time you should leave anyway"

"Cool! Ooh, where are we eating? Somewhere fancy? Am I dressed properly?" – she whirled around, her hair almost slapping him, and he sighed.

"Yes, Ms. Dooley, you are very appropriately dressed today" – unlike some days, he said to himself.

"Should I bring anything to these meetings" – she paused and grinned mischievously – "Mr. Higgs?"

"Just your tablet to record the meetings and take notes"

"Why should I take notes if I'm going to record 'em?"

"I meant, summarize the meetings as they go along. Not... The lunch meeting, that would be highly impolite, but tomorrow it would be lovely if you would recap it as well"

"Will do, boss man. Anything else?"

"Not at the moment, but we will leave at eleven thirty sharp, be ready by then"

"Sure thing" – except she didn't move to leave as he thought she would.

"Yes?" – she walked to him and he froze in place.

"Your tie's crooked" – she said softly, straightening it with quick movements. When she stepped back, he finally realized he'd stopped breathing and nearly chocked – "I, hum, I'm gonna go back now"

"Yes, yes. Thank you, Ms. Dooley, for your, ah, assistance"

"Anytime, Henry. I mean. Mr. Higgs" – she smiled fleetingly and closed the door behind her.

"... Crap"