Office Day

(A modern day FE Fanfic)

Well it was a normal day for Ike as he pulled on a pale stripped button up stripped shirt. He wore a jacket but never bothered with a tie. A quick stop in front of the mirror to run a brush through his hair a couple times, trying to gain a semblance of tidiness without actually exerting any effort and he was off. Quickly patting his pockets, he found the four important items he always had before leaving for work; Wallet, keys, cell phone and MP3 player.

Then he saw his little sister, Mist, sitting on the couch staring out the window. "Hey Mist, you need a ride to school?"

She just shook her head, not bothering to turn around," Nah, that's ok, my girlfriend Jill is driving me."

Before he could ask who Jill was, someone came pulling up in a sleek dark green Chrysler Wyvern. He could hear the blaring rock music all the way inside. The car turned off and out stepped a girl that made Ike's eyebrows shoot to the top of his head. She had long red hair tied back in a ponytail and dark eyes, almost burgundy. Her low cut black jeans clung to her hips and her high cut white shirt showed off her stomach… and a belly button ring. All in all, she looked like the kind of girl Ike could imagine smoking cigarettes behind the school and shooting pool in a local bar.

"Mist…. We need to talk about-"

"Sorry Ike, gotta go, love you, bye!"

Leaving her poor brother with a quick kiss on the cheek, she grabbed her backpack and dashed out the door, leaving him to just sigh, that is until he saw the kiss Jill got. Definitely saw tongue there… But before he could do anything, they were already in the car and racing off down the street. As much as he hated to admit something nice about her, that Jill girl had a nice car…

The alarm on his phone decided to go off then, telling him it was time to get going, so pulling out the keys and fumbling for the right one, while he trudged out into the garage and climbed into his brand new Nissan Ragnell and almost smiled as the engine roared to life. One final touch though.

His MP3 player hooked into a slot on the dashboard as he considered what to listen to. Passing by the heavy metal and rock, he actually decided to go with something classical and soothing. "Rebirth" by The Herons, the only classical group Ike had found that he'd classify as decent. The singer, Reyson, had such a pleasant voice, Ike sighed, letting at least a little of his mornings frustration drift away on his exhaled breath as he pulled out of the garage.

Outside he quickly rolled down the windows and turned on the air. It was a real scorcher outside; 97 degrees according to the dashboard and it would only get hotter as the sun approached its zenith. No clouds to dampen the shimmering heat mirages on the distant blacktop that never seemed to get any closer no matter how fast he drove or how many billboards when flying past. Only one sign on that highway made any difference to Ike, and it said "Melior, next three exits."

He pulled into the underground parking garage of Greil Inc. a company his father had founded. They produced weapons for the military. Ike took his traditional parking spot and strolled over to the elevator when he saw someone else.

Elincia Crimea walked towards the elevator also, tossing her waist length green braid over her shoulder with one hand, the other held up her car key. The horn honked and lights flashed as the doors locked on a Lincoln Pegasus,; well known as a high end luxury car, making Ike whistle appreciatively. "E-Elincia… Its good to see you. That's your car over there?"

She nodded, giving him a sly smile that always made him distinctly nervous that she knew about the secret crush he harbored for her. 'Yes… Uncle Renning is off with your father at the factory so he asked me to take his place at the stock holders meeting today. I'm interested to her the news on the new line and perhaps you'll have some free time afterwards when we can talk."

The smile he could take. The wink was too much. Fortunately the elevator reached their floor and he nodded quickly and ran off, saying something about coffee. Mostly, he just didn't want her to see him blushing.

Jogging towards the coffeemaker, he stopped in front of his secretaries desk to pick up messages right as she picked up the phone, pressed it to her ear and used her free hands to file her nails. "Thank you for calling Greil Inc. This is Callil speaking, how can I he- … Well fine! Hang up! Miss Callil did not want to talk to you anyways!" Ike paused and asked Miss Callil to make some coffee as another strange sight met his eyes; Mia, one of his best employees staggering down the hall across the office like a zombie with blood pouring out of several large gashes across her head. The secretary had just slammed down the phone when he stopped, staring dumbstruck at Mia's gaping wounds before she turned a corner and was out of sight. He went running after her, ignoring the muttering in the background," Miss Callil, answer phones, Miss Callil, make coffee, Miss Callil, lick my boots, Well Miss Callil does not get paid enough to bow and scrap like some servant boy. Brom! Make Miss Callil coffee… And your Cinnamon rolls too!"

Ike ignored the secretaries complaining as he followed the trail of blood," Mia? Mia! What happened to you!?"

She turned around, grinning from ear to ear in spite of the blood," Oh, hey, Boss! Ok, so I was driving to work as some guy blew a red light and T-boned me in the intersection, He banged my car up good, but I've got State Farm and they have accident forgiveness so that is OK and I am not gonna let a little wound like this keep me from work, no sir!"

Ike had to smile at that and give the girl kudos. She was indeed determined. " Ok Mia, at least get to the bathroom and clean up… Maybe go see Rhys too, he used to work in a hospital."

Mia saluted and staggered off to go get cleaned up, leaving Ike to go back and mollify his secretary. Miss Callil . Sitting on her desk was a small stack of papers for him and a cup of steaming decaf. "Miss Callil gets your coffee but Goddess above help you is you ask Miss Callil to clean blood out of the carpets!"

Sighing again, Ike started going through the papers when there was a quiet coughing sound made him turn. There stood the accountant Soren with a large stack of files," Ike, the meeting is about to begin. I have the budget report for you to approve as well."

Boring… but it had to be done. The meeting drug on for several hours, and since Elincia was leaning forward intently the entire time, Ike spent his trying not to seem too bored. He finally got to leave at around 7:00, dead tired but at least Elincia seemed impressed… and to think, his father had said one day the company would be his. One day, Ike would get to deal with this headache every single day…