Chapter 7
Monday morning rolled around quickly for Remus, before he knew it he was hitting his alarm clock and groaning- he did not miss 7am starts. He had forgotten to ask about the dress code in his interview or in his response email, but from what he could gather based on the clothes of the receptionist and the interviewer (Dorcas, he thought her name was)- it was on the formal side.
Remus slowly sat up in his bed but hesitated before actually getting up. What if this job turned out to be awful? Nope. No. He could not afford to be negative. ‘This job will be perfect’ he instead told himself and hoped with all his might that his affirmation would become reality.
By the time he had finally rolled out of bed and gotten dressed- he decided on a pair of dark brown slacks, a white shirt and a brown tie to match- Minnie had already left to go to the office and it appeared Poppy had had an early start too. The kitchen was empty apart from a small note on the kitchen counter written in pink pen. Remus walked up to it,
‘Wishing you the best of luck love, make us proud
XX Minnie & Poppy <3’
It was written in poppy's swirly yet somehow bubbly handwriting. If there was any doubt left about who had written the note, the little heart at the end gave it away; Poppy was much gentler than Minerva and yet somehow still managed to be sterner. Minnie definitely had a soft spot that she let only a few people see, but to Remus both were as warm as any family could be. Instinctively, his mouth curved into a smile and he pocketed the note. After a quick breakfast of coffee and a mildly stale croissant he found in the pantry, Remus set off to work.
The tall black-tinted glass doors at the entrance to the building looked just as menacing as they had the first time, yet this time Remus felt as though he had a right to walk through them. He still couldn't believe that this position was his, small as it may be, and hey, personal assistant? Maybe that could get him somewhere eventually? Well it really depended on who he was assisting. Actually, wait. Who was he assisting? The application form had only said ‘assistant’ and Dorcas hadn't specified either. Remus assumed it must be someone higher up in the company. Secretaries didn't usually have assistants.
“I guess I'm about to find out” Remus thought to himself.
As he walked towards the front desk he noticed that the lady at the counter was the same as the week prior. She had short, blond hair and was rapidly writing something down in a notebook, looking rather focused for 7:50 in the morning.
“One moment, please,” she said without looking up.
“Yeah, no problem,” Remus replied.
She finished scribbling down her sentence and looked up with that same large smile as before.
“Oh I recognise you!” she said, “I was on reception during your interview last week. Oh, I'm glad you got the job. You'd be surprised how many people walk in here thinking they don't have to be polite or at least say hello. They're being interviewed- I already work here! But I digress, it's good to see you. Let me show you around.”
She picked up the same black phone as before and dialled in a number, letting the phone ring. Remus thought to himself that it was refreshing to see someone so bubbly. Even despite the rude people she had just described, she didn't seem particularly discouraged and, Remus thought, by extension, maybe working here wouldn't be too bad.
“Hi, yes I'm good thank you. Yes, yes, of course, I’m just about to show Mr Lupin around quickly so I'll need someone to cover. Ok, great. Thank you. See you soon, bye” she put down the phone and opened a drawer. She took out a little sign that said ‘reception temporarily closed please ring for assistance’ and one of those little desk bells Remus had only seen in films with American hotels, though this bell wasn't silver but rather a Matte black, perhaps to match the dark decor of the surroundings. The receptionist opened up a little half-door at the side of the desk to let herself out and walked up to Remus with a smile.
“Alrighty, if you're ready to go please follow me.”
Remus followed her into one of the lifts to the left of the room, a different one from before, Remus noted. Also differing from before was the atmosphere in the lift, with the receptionist making enough small talk for the both of them. Remus didn't know how she could do it, but he secretly admired her ability to keep talking. It's not like she was rude and it was pleasant to have a colleague talk so freely and casually with him. At his old job, he was lucky if he was met with indifference and unlucky If he ran into one of the people who treated him as though he had just contracted the bubonic plague. This lady did neither, instead happily chatting about the weather and rude clients she had met as a receptionist. Their conversation continued as they left the elevator on the fifth floor and walked across the a long corridor to come to another lift. As the doors opened with a ding she turned to look at him.
“My name is Natalie by the way, I completely forgot to say” she chuckled as she stepped inside, “Now, it's my Job to introduce you to your work and I'll start by saying, don't worry, it's not too difficult and I'm sure you'll get the hang of it quickly. Generally you'll be stationed on floor 15, there is an office space for you to use in a private room, however mostly you'll be working from a desk in our CEOs office. Mainly, you'll be filing paperwork, taking calls, maybe bringing him a coffee if he's busy, that kind of thing, you get the gist. Oh and don't worry if Reggie seems harsh; he's nice really, though perhaps don't call him Reggie until he allows you to. His actual name is Regulus but he prefers to introduce himself in person, so pretend I didn't tell you that.” The lift chimed again as the doors opened, “ I'm sure he will inform you of the rest, good luck Mr.Lupin-”
“Oh,um Remus, you can call me Remus”, he corrected.
She gave him a kind smile. “good luck then Remus, it's just down the hall on the left.”
Remus watched as the lift's doors closed before turning around to walk down the hall. He could hear a faint voice talking over the phone in the distance.
Once again there was that name - Reg, Reggie , Regulus. Remus was sure he had heard it before. Natalie hadn't mentioned a last name. Maybe that would help. Regulus Wilson? Maybe? Regulus Johnson? No. None of those were right, besides even if he did somehow know a Reg, what would be the chances that he knew this Reg? He walked on.
Sure enough, to his left Remus saw that there was an entry into a another corridor. He made his way down it and entered the door at the end, to face another, smaller corridor, behind which there lay an office. The walls were a dark green with the exception of two clear glass walls, one facing the outside and one which Remus now faced. The entrance door appeared to be on the side and so Remus made his way towards it, looking inside the office as he went. Inside was a man facing away from him, he had wavy black hair that looked well maintained and appeared to be slightly shorter than Remus’. He was wearing a silk green waistcoat over a white long sleeved shirt and a pair of long black trousers, it appeared. He was also speaking… french?
“Putain la merde,” he sighed exhasperated, “non mère, non, je ne sais pas.”
His voice was smooth despite sounding as though he was audibly face palming.
“ C’est Sirius, je ne sais pas jamais.”
And yet.. his voice seemed a little familiar? somehow? Regulus…?
Who could it be? Not Wilson or Johnson or Jones or Smith?
The man swiveled around, now facing the glass partition. It was only now that Remus could finally see his face.
Black. Regulus Black.
Well shit.