Baton Pass! (Round 6)

The ticking of the orange clock was obnoxiously loud in the near-empty break room, each sound grating on Sylvie’s already frayed nerves and reminding her that, with every second, she and Loki were inching closer and closer to whatever fate awaited them.  

It was only 8 am, and at the moment, Loki and Sylvie were the break room’s only occupants. They sat side by side on the plastic orange chairs that surrounded a square white table, each nursing a Styrofoam cup filled with tepid water. Every once in a while, they would shoot each other a nervous, worried look; otherwise, though, they both seemed intent on watching the door—waiting for Mobius to return from wherever he’d gone after he’d opened the supply closet and found them…

Well. In a rather compromising position. 

Sylvie still could not believe their awful, awful luck. Of all the times for Mobius to walk in and rescue them from the supply closet, it had to be while she and Loki were sucking each other’s faces. 

And yes, it had been the best kiss/makeout session of her life, even with Mobius ruining it, but that was beside the point.

Sylvie was well aware of what it all looked like. She’d been to the bathroom to “freshen up”; she saw her own appearance. The wrinkled business suit; the rumpled hair; the smeared mascara, and the swollen lips from, again, when she and Loki were making out in the supply closet. Next to her, Loki didn’t fare much better—his clothes were also rumpled, his hair a bit of a mess. 

Every single element of it pointed to them using the closet for something much less innocent than what had actually happened. 

And yes, Sylvie was well aware that things might have progressed to something a little less innocent had Mobius not appeared when he did. But the fact that it didn’t, and they would still get blamed for it, almost made it worse. 

There was no way they weren’t going to get reprimanded for this, if not fired. And if that happened, then everything she had worked so hard for—her job, her promotion—would disappear. And she’d be right back where she started. 

Sylvie sighed. She could feel Loki’s eyes on her. He had been surprisingly quiet up to this point, especially for him. She wondered what he was thinking, whether he regretted the whole thing—particularly the kiss.

The thought left her feeling sad and a bit bereft. 

After a few moments, though, Loki leaned toward her.

“Hey. Don’t worry, Sylvie,” he said softly. “We’ll figure this out. It’s going to be OK.”

“OK? Loki, we could get fired,” Sylvie whispered. “They’re going to think we locked ourselves in there on purpose, as part of some kind of…tryst or…or a weird sex…roleplay…thing.”

“But it wasn’t!” said Loki. “We were locked in there against our will. And everything we did was perfectly innocent.”

“I know that, and you know that, but they don’t know that!” Sylvie hissed. “Mobius walked in on us making out. We had obviously spent the night in the closet together, slept under the same tablecloth—and we both have sex hair!”

Loki’s hand flew to his hair; usually so perfectly coiffed, it was now sticking out in various directions.

“This isn't sex hair! It’s…morning hair.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a very fine line between ‘morning hair’ and ‘my coworker just railed me against the supply closet shelves’ hair.”

Loki groaned. “Will you please stop talking about us having sex! I need to concentrate on figuring out a plan, and that is not helping.”

Sylvie gave him a look of complete disbelief. “Oh, my god. You’re getting turned on right now, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am!” Loki said defensively. “You are evoking lots of very vivid mental images!”

“Loki!” She smacked his arm. “This is serious! Stop picturing us having sex!”

“If you think smacking me and bossily ordering me around is going to help, you are woefully mistaken. If anything, it’s making things worse.”

Sylvie groaned, frustrated.

“Rrrggh, what are we gonna do? I should’ve known something like this would happen. Whenever I find something good, something I want, the universe shows up and pulls the rug out. It’s like I’m just…destined to lose.” She sighed, then glanced at him, sadly. “I’m just sorry I had to take you down with me this time.”

“No. Sylvie, no.” Loki reached over and took her hand. “This isn’t your fault, OK? You’re not destined to lose. Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do,” he said firmly, “because I won’t let it. They can’t fire us for something we didn’t even do. I mean, all we did was kiss—and it wasn’t even during work hours.”

“Yeah.” Sylvie was quiet for a moment. Then, she said, “Still. We probably shouldn’t have done that. The kiss, I mean.”

Loki stared at her. “Do you regret it?” he asked quietly.

“No!” Sylvie said quickly. “No. I just…we probably should have waited, you know? But I’m…I’m glad it happened.” Then, somewhat hesitantly, she asked, “Do you regret it?”

“Not even a little bit,” said Loki.

“Even if we get fired over it?”

“Even then. Totally worth it.”

She scrunched her nose. “It was pretty great, wasn’t it?”

“Oh yes. It was spectacular. Epic, even.”

He squeezed her hand. They smiled at each other.

“Well, I know one thing for sure,” Sylvie said, “If they do fire us, then you and I are going straight back to that closet. If I’m going to get sacked for having sex on company property, I’m going to at least get an orgasm out of it.”

Loki let out a choking noise. 

“Jesus, Lushton. Again with the mental images. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you want me to root for us to get fired.”

She grinned mischievously. “Just trying to find a bright side.”

He shook his head. “Well, your ‘bright side’ is going to kill me.”

“There are worse ways to go.”

Loki breathed a laugh. “Can’t argue there.”

“That’s a first.”

Loki laughed again. He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted when Mobius popped his head into the room. 

They quickly dropped each other’s hands and stood. 

“Hey, you two,” he said, sounding grim. “Renslayer wants to see you both in her office. Now.”

Sylvie’s stomach dropped. Oh, shit.

“Why does Renslayer want to see us?” Loki asked Mobius warily.

“No idea, but I imagine it has something to do with your little adventure in the supply closet last night.”

Loki and Sylvie both began speaking at once:

“Mobius, listen—”

“What you saw, it was completely innocent—”

“We told you, we got locked in accidentally—”

“It wasn’t our fault—”

“OK OK OK OK! Spare me the details,” said Mobius, holding out his hands. “I don’t need to know, I don’t want to know. What I do know is, I just got an email from Miss Minnie that you’re both to report to Renslayer’s office immediately.”

Sylvie exhaled a shaky breath. She shared a glance with Loki; he looked about as nervous as she felt.

The elevator ride to the seventh floor seemed to take ages. When the doors finally slid open, they got out and made their way down the long hallway mostly in silence, their footsteps echoing along the corridor. Then, they walked through the executive lobby and came to a stop outside of Renslayer’s office door.

But before they could knock on it, Loki reached out and touched her upper arm.

“Listen, Sylvie…” he began quietly. “If we are in trouble…I’m going to tell them it was all my fault.”

“No,” said Sylvie, emphatically. “Don’t you dare take the fall for this.”

“You’ve worked too hard. I can afford to lose my job; you can’t.”

Sylvie shook her head. “You’re not sacrificing yourself for me. If we go down, we go down together. You go, I go.”

“There’s no need for both of us to be fired,” said Loki. “I can find another job. Worst comes to worst, I’ll…I’ll call my father—”

“Loki, I swear, if you do this—”

Just then, the door to Renslayer’s office opened. 

“Laufeyson. Lushton. I thought I heard you two out here,” said Renslayer, a fake-looking smile plastered on her face. “Come on in.” 

Sylvie and Loki exchanged another look. Sylvie shook her head, imploringly—Don’t do it. Loki nodded—I have to. Sylvie shook her head again. They gave each other significant looks. Then, wordlessly, they followed Renslayer into the room.

“Please, take a seat,” said Renslayer as she made her way behind her desk. “I hope you don’t mind that I’ve asked Mr. Paradox from human resources to sit in on this meeting.” 

She gestured to a stoic-looking middle-aged man who was sitting in a corner, a thick file on his lap. He nodded in their direction.

Sylvie lowered herself numbly into her seat, stomach churning. 

Shit. This must be bad if HR is involved.

Renslayer, meanwhile, folded her hands in front of her pleasantly. 

“So,” she began, her voice overly bright, “I hear you two had an interesting night…”

“Look, Ms. Renslayer—”

“Loki, don’t—” 

“Sylvie didn’t do anything wrong—”

“Neither did he!” 

“No, no, it was all me. I borrowed her pen—”

“Loki, stop—”

“Enough!” said Renslayer firmly. “Both of you.”

They both fell silent. Loki’s hand twitched on his armrest; Sylvie had to suppress the urge to reach out and take it. 

“Now, as I was saying,” said Renslayer. “On behalf of the TVA, we would like to extend our…gratitude…for your recent all-nighter.”

“Our recent all-nighter?” Loki repeated carefully. He shot Sylvie a confused glance that she was certain mirrored her own.

“That’s right,” said Renslayer. “Staying here all night long, working on a TVA project together. That shows some real dedication.”

“Dedication?” Sylvie repeated, confused. “But…we weren’t working on a project. We were locked in the supply—” 

Renslayer let out a fake-sounding laugh. “Now, now, let’s not get into semantics,” she said. “You were both here all night and that’s what matters. Mr. Richards is very impressed. That’s why I’ve asked you both here today. We recognize what a great team the two of you make together. And, given your recent interviews and your stellar sales records, we’d like to take this opportunity to officially offer both of you the position of senior sales associate.” Her fake smile widened. “Congratulations.” 

Loki and Sylvie stared at Renslayer, stunned.

“Both of us?” Loki looked at Sylvie, then back at Renslayer. “You want to promote both of us? Together?”

“That’s right,” said Renslayer, pleased. “Mr. Richards himself made the decision. He said, and I quote, ‘I’ve been trying for a long time to find the right person to take this job. It turns out that person came in two.’” Her lips stretched into another fake smile. “As I’m sure you’re aware, the new title comes with a significant salary increase, as well as stock options, bigger cubicles, opportunities for bonuses, and dedicated parking spots for both of you.”

She glanced at Paradox, who had stood and was now placing two pieces of paper in front of each of them, along with two fancy-looking pens.

“Here are your employment contracts, stating the terms of your new positions,” said Paradox, “as well as an extra form from legal. Please sign where indicated.”

Sylvie and Loki shared another look. They both took the papers. Sylvie scanned hers; the quick glimpse at her new salary nearly took her breath away. 

Still, something felt…off. 

Why was TVA trying to reframe their little supply closet adventure as an all-night working session? Why did they suddenly have the budget to hire two senior sales associates? Why wasn’t either of them offered the opportunity to consider whether they wanted to accept or decline?

Next to her, Loki was also examining the papers with a furrowed brow. 

Sylvie shuffled her papers.

“What’s the extra form for?” she asked.

“Oh,” said Ravonna breezily. “It’s just something our lawyers drew up. Standard stuff, really—we make all high-level employees sign them.”

Sylvie examined the paper. It said only that in accepting the promotion, the endorsee waives all rights related to Section 22, subsection B, of the employee handbook.

Section 22…

Sylvie blinked. Wait a second…

Her hand shot out, grabbing Loki’s just before he could sign his agreement. “Wait,” she said.

Loki glanced at her, confused. She gave him a significant look, then turned to Renslayer.

“We’ll consider accepting these positions,” said Sylvie, “but we really can’t do it for less than double your offer.”

Renslayer started. She huffed in disbelief. “I beg your pardon? Double the salary?”

“Double the salary, double the stock options, an office for each of us instead of a cubicle, and twice the vacation time. Oh, and ah…throw in some company cars. Final offer.”

Renslayer stared at her, stunned. Next to her, Loki looked equally stunned. 

“Ah, Sylvie…” he whispered, barely moving his lips. “What are you doing?”

“Shh. Trust me,” she whispered back.

Renslayer let out an uncomfortable laugh. “Ms. Lushton…Sylvie,” she said in a tone of voice one would use when dealing with a child. “I appreciate your pluck, but I’m afraid that’s simply impossible.”

Sylvie smirked. 

“Oh, it’s possible. Or at least, it’ll have to be,” she said firmly. She leaned back and folded her arms in front of her. “Unless, of course, you want the two of us to sue this company and its entire board. Which is what you’re trying to prevent us from doing by signing that legal form. Isn’t it, Ms. Renslayer?”

Renslayer’s eyes widened slightly. She glanced quickly at Paradox, then said, “I…I don’t know what you’re—”

“Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about,” said Sylvie. “Frankly, I don’t blame you for trying. I mean, if my business had a death closet that locks people inside, with no chance of escape, I’d be worried about the fallout, too. It must violate a bunch of laws, not to mention several building codes. Right, Laufeyson?” 

Loki finally caught on. “Oh. Yes. Definitely. And several fire codes, too.”

Sylvie nodded. “I bet Laufeyson and I could both sue for, oh, false imprisonment? Gross negligence? Emotional distress?” 

“Not to mention pain and suffering,” Loki added. “It could end up costing TVA a lot of money. The lawyer fees alone would be astronomical.” He leaned back in his chair. “Of course, I could always ask my father’s lawyers—or, better yet, his contacts in the press. They would know better than I would.”

Renslayer paled. 

“Er…let me…” she stammered. “Let me just consult with HR and Mr. Richards for a bit.” She gave them a tight smile; then, she and Paradox stood. “If you’ll excuse us for a moment…”

They walked out of the room.

Loki turned to her. “Sylvie! That was amazing! How in the world did you know that’s what they were trying to do?”

Sylvie shrugged modestly. “It pays to read the employee handbook every once in a while. Even if you’re only reading it to avoid talking to your annoying coworker.”

She nudged his side. Loki grinned.

An hour later, TVA’s two newest senior sales associates signed contracts for double the previous offered salary, double the stock options, and double the vacation time. Their company cars would be arriving on Monday, and would be parked in their new, reserved parking spaces. They were also given the rest of the day off “for their troubles,” according to Renslayer. 

Unfortunately, their requests for private offices couldn’t be fulfilled; TVA only had one extra-large office available for them to share—Renslayer’s, in fact. Renslayer would be moved to a smaller office on the first floor. 

That was fine by Sylvie. She found that she didn’t mind sharing with Loki. Not anymore.

Richards himself came down to watch them sign their new contracts.

“You two drive a hard bargain,” said Richards; he sounded impressed. “The mark of good sales associates. I expect great things from both of you.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Sylvie. She smiled at Loki. “We make a great team.”

Loki smiled softly back at her. “We do, indeed.”

*** 

“Well. That certainly worked out for the best,” said Loki. He held the front door open for her, and they stepped out into the bright midmorning sunlight outside the TVA office. 

“Yeah, it did,” said Sylvie, still somewhat reeling from the morning—from the past 24 hours, really. “Nice of Mobius to cover for us. About the…you know.”

“Well, of course he covered for us. We’re his favorites, after all.” 

“I’m his favorite. You’re just his pie buddy.”

Loki gave her a sidelong glance, but said nothing. 

“Boy. It’s certainly been a roller coaster of a day, hasn’t it?” said Sylvie. “I mean, this time yesterday, I made less than a quarter of the salary I’m currently making, and you and I were mortal enemies.”

“One-sided mortal enemies,” Loki corrected her. He shook his head. “I still can't believe you hated me so much. And I had no idea.”

“Well. I was wrong to,” Sylvie said. “You’re not so bad. Dare I say I even…enjoy your company now?”

Loki beamed at her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Annoyingly.”

“Well, there’s one more surprising thing that happened today, then,” said Loki. “Sylvie Lushton admitted she was wrong about something.”

Sylvie hit him playfully. “Oh, piss off.”

Loki laughed. 

They walked for a few moments in comfortable silence; then, Loki said, “So, fellow senior sales associate. What are you going to do with the rest of your day off? Any plans?”

Sylvie hummed, considering his question. “I don’t know. I wasn’t exactly expecting it.”

“I don’t know, either,” said Loki, putting his hands in his pockets. They walked a few more steps; then, he said, almost hesitantly, “Maybe…we can figure it out…together?”

Sylvie’s eyes snapped to his. He held her gaze.

“Together, huh?”

“Yes. Together. Like…” Loki cleared his throat. “Like, maybe…a date?”

Sylvie crossed her arms. She looked him up and down appraisingly. 

“Hmm. Maybe. What did you have in mind?”

Loki blinked. “Um…Coffee?”

“Mmm. Try again.”

“Coffee and…breakfast?”

“Getting closer.”

“Coffee and…brunch?” Loki said. “Maybe a movie?”

“Keep going.”

”Cannoli at my place after the movie?”

"Is that what the kids are calling it now?"

Loki laughed. "And, most importantly...it's my treat."

Sylvie grinned. “There we go,” she said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Sounds perfect.”

Loki’s features settled into a soft smile. He took her hand. “Sounds perfect, indeed.”

And, hand in hand, they walked toward their future, whatever it might hold.

Together.