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One of the most important things about coming into a business with a new perspective was learning as much as she could about people. Teddy had easily drawn plans for what she wanted to do with her part in this, but that was a large, overreaching goal. These things took time and energy and patience. Patience was a virtue not often held by those in such a vicious industry, and that made it such a prized possession.
Today, she wasn't patient. Teddy sat in a new chair in an office hardly decorated beyond its usual expression. She hadn't even been there a week, and she was calling meetings with people who now technically worked for her. This was all about gathering information. Lining everything up. Making sure everything was perfect. Patience.
Teddy adjusted the glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, trained eyes glancing at the next name on her list. Olivia Dawson. Eyebrows quirked at the knock on the closed door, and with a slight tilt of her chin, she called out; "Come in."
Being called to the new boss' office was a lot like being called to the principal's office. Olivia couldn't gauge from the previous people who have gone in whether it was supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing.
She had just gotten the job as well, they couldn't be downsizing already, could they? She knew she was just an assistant but she knew her way around legal documents just as well as the others already.
Olivia straightened her dark jacket, looking down and smoothing her skirt down before wondering why she was so worried about her appearance when she could very well be evaluated on her performance in the company she had just entered. She took deep breaths to calm herself down before knocking on the door. She waited a beat before opening the door.
Had this been a year ago, Olivia would have just stayed at the door, gawking at the woman at the desk. The first thought that popped into her head was how ridiculously blue her eyes were and how so well put together she was. And those glasses just completed the look and Olivia was glad her legs were still working as she closed the door and walked towards the chair opposite the rather imposing woman.
Olivia didn't know much about the new firm partner other than the fact that she was a transfer from a big law firm in the UK. She knew she should have studied her a lot more but she had been too busy worrying about the stability of her place in this firm.
She took a short breath before clearing her throat. "You wanted to see me, Madam?"
Teddy offered her a quick, fleeting look from her shoes to her hair. It was a quick evaluation; she knew she was supposed to rest her eyes, but a little cheat couldn't hurt. Every detail hit her memory and she knew, just like the rest of them, that she would remember this one after one look.
The initial words that left her mouth forced a small chuckle from the Brit. "Teddy is fine." She corrected lightly, and with a slight raise of her hand, she indicated to the chair on the opposite side of her desk.
Sweeping a hand across the length of the desk, she drew a nearby pen between her fingers. With a single click, she looked as if she was already about to write something. Nothing had sprung to mind yet, but it'd only take a moment to find something potentially worthy.
"I'm sure this seems daunting to you, Olivia." She started, tilting her head to the side barely, "I assure you, you have nothing to worry about. I just want to learn more about the people who work here."
Seemed easy enough, she thought. "For starters; is there anything you want me to know about you?"
The atmosphere in the room seemed to change the moment the other woman laughed. Although Olivia had to squeeze the chair she was standing behind just to make sure she didn't run her fingers through her hair out of nervous habit. She forced a smile and nodded at the informality of the address.
The woman didn't look at all like a Teddy, Olivia thought to herself. She looked more like a Victoria or some old timey fancy lady name. She just looked so classy.
Olivia pursed her lips and wet them before sliding into the chair, coughing slightly when Teddy pointed out the obvious. Although if she were being honest, daunting didn't even seem to cut it.
Teddy's question was Olivia's worst nightmare. Talking about herself was not something she was very good at. Her fingers shot up and ran through the ends of her hair briefly. She looked at Teddy and gave her a small grin. "I'm not very good at talking about myself, for one."
She gulped inaudibly and took a breath. "Sorry, I usually deal with the paperwork, I'm better at that than talking. Paperwork is uh...logical, I don't have to think sometimes." She paused and grimaced. "That...doesn't sound right does it."
Bright blue eyes watched the way a hand tracked through her hair, and then Teddy caught her eyes when she offered her first response. She nodded her head to the side; that was fair enough, she supposed. Not everyone liked talking about themselves. It wasn't a bad trait to be missing. For the most part, anyway.
Reaching forward, her eyes darted down as she flicked through the necessary paperwork on her desk. "That's all fine. It's just... A formality to... This formality." She explained, offering the clearly nervous woman a reassuring smile; bright and poised.
"How long have you worked here?" She asked then, settling back in her seat like she planned to be here forever; "What do hope to gain from this position?"
The reassuring smile did nothing to assuage Olivia's worries but she was grateful for the effort. She tried to feign comfort at least, just so she didn't look like the nervous wreck she actually was. Being twitchy never helped anyone win people over.
She simply nodded in response to Teddy's explanation before giving a smile at the questions that came. Those she could answer well enough. "I've been working here two months next week. I'm really here to implement my degree in criminology to help this community."
Thinking of Kenny and Cam gave her a boost of confidence. "I can't be the only one who feels the mutant community has been sidelined long enough. I want to help as much as I can with whatever resources are at my disposal."
The direction of the conversation took a swift turn, and it was exactly what Teddy had wanted. Simple questions often dug something deeper out of most people. Though this woman seemed nervous, she looked like something had bolstered her confidence.
Sympathetic eyes took her in as she spoke. There was a very obvious, very real dream amidst those words. She might have been the first person to walk through that door who didn't tell Teddy an obvious answer. There were only so many who could spin their dreams of climbing the ranks of the legal world to try to make it sound less unimaginative.
She put pen to paper briefly, jotting down the snippets of conversation she was determined to remember. For now, her eyes were solely focused on the words she wrote. "What makes you think that, Olivia?" She asked, curiosity sharp in her tone.
At Teddy's next question, Olivia paused and blinked as she tried to figure out how to best answer it. She was about to divulge into personal territory which wasn't her forte.
"The...the thing that happened in Montana, for instance. Although I believe that Stagford has made strides in the acceptance of mutants, there are still so many parts in just the US itself that seem to think that mutants are less than."
Olivia's mind went straight to Kenny and sighed inaudibly. "I don't want to think that my loved ones could be subject to small minds who think they can get away with it."
Licking her lips, Olivia looked up at Teddy and grimaced. "It sounds mighty personal, I realise that, and it doesn't really go with what we learn about the law but if I can at least help the people closest to me, then I'd think that's something I can live with." She paused before adding, "This firm has been doing wonders when it comes to that."
There was the little piece of information Teddy had barely started digging for. There was something personal driving this one, and she couldn't deny the way that flagged her attention. Despite the downturned nature of her face, she took the time to watch her as she offered her relatively detailed explanation. She didn't need to give the Brit the inner workings of her reasoning. She didn't need to give her names; she knew this was tied to someone. It had to be.
"This firm is fortunate to be nestled in what most would consider as the American safe haven for meta-humans." Teddy said then. It was a tactical advantage, and there was no denying it. "The downside, however, is just that. It's one of the few firms willing to take on these heavily outweighed cases, but we're stuck here, where the acceptance is so high. Anti-discrimination laws are drafted for just about every difference except this one."
Which managed to lead her all the way back to the person sitting before her. Heart and compassion. And passion, too, if she really needed to think it. "You're not one of them, are you." She offered then. It was half a question, but given the way people talked, it could probably be assumed that Teddy already knew she was non-powered.
Olivia listened as Teddy spoke, catching herself from drifting away from the conversation due to the soothing cadence of the other woman's voice. She slipped her fingers through each other and placed them in her lap, thumbing her skin every now and then to keep them occupied.
By the way she worded the question and the tone that accompanied it, Olivia figured her new boss already knew the answer to that question. It had been one of the issues she faced when she was first interviewed for the job. To be perfectly honest, she was surprised she got hired anyway.
She shook her head briefly and looked at the other woman straight in the eye. "I'm hoping that won't be a problem moving on."
A problem? Teddy pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing again. But the smile that speed across her lips could have said it all.
"On the contrary. It's the quality about you I find most compelling." Teddy admitted. It might have been a strong word to use for a stranger, but it was true nonetheless.
"Meta-humans fighting for the civil rights of their own people? Of course they do. Those rights are their rights. It's their fight." She explained, like it needed a lot of explanation. She studied the face across from her curiously. It could have been a bitter piece of information to swallow, after all. "You? You're potentially the vision of change to a lot of narrow minded people."
Compelling had to be a new adjective Olivia ever heard describing her. And as she listened to Teddy continue to wax poetic, Olivia grew a little uncomfortable. Although she couldn't really say she wasn't flattered.
The idea that she could be a "vision of change" brought with it an implication that her new boss wanted to use her as the face of the company. Which, in hindsight, sounded improbable due to how new she was in the firm.
"You're not one of them?" Olivia asked after a beat of silence. "I don't mean to pry, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. But the way you talk, you sound like you're not."
All those little details that most people thought were lost were things Teddy picked up on immediately. Against her better judgement she used her eyes to pinpoint the little, minute inflections a body gave to detail the inner workings of their mind. She seemed uncomfortable, and Teddy had to guess why.
"I am." She replied easily, "I apologise if I made it sound otherwise. That wasn't my intention. Being a meta-human herself was hardly something to keep hidden, but she could respect the way her own wording was taken. It was the point, after all. "When it comes to this line of work, I try not to make a habit out of expressing that fact, because it often looks like a trump card for an easy connection." It was hard to believe being a meta-human could cheapen the work, but that was the unfortunate world they lived in.
"And I don't mind the questions, by the way. I welcome your curiosity as much as I hope you'll welcome mine." Teddy continued. Everyone who walked through that door was someone she worked with, now. Getting to know them felt important, if not necessary.
Olivia nodded. She supposed after years of having to hide something this big, it usually didn't come as second nature to drop that nugget of information into a conversation. Especially by accident. It took Casey a couple of years before she told Olivia about her nephew's mutation so it made sense that someone who chose this career to keep it under seal. Even if she's surrounded by her own peers.
"I do. Although, like I've said before, I'm not good at talking about myself. And truth be told, your position as my boss makes it even more difficult." Olivia admitted. She supposed if one thing came out of this, her new boss would at least know she was honest.
She took a deep breath as she tried to figure out what else Teddy might want to know. "I'm sure whatever credentials you need are stated in my resume but, is there anything else you would like to know? I'll try not to skimp out on the details." She offered a small, albeit still nervous, smile.
Teddy always had to wonder just what she was being given when it came to interview-style conversations like this. She knew exactly what to look for in a liar; the movements were all the same, and they all narrowed to the particular point. It was funny on some level to hear what people thought she wanted to hear. In comparison, this was refreshing.
"I respect your honesty, Olivia." Teddy replied in time. And she had to smile at that. Most people were more interested in kissing her ass than offering genuine honesty.
Eyes darted down to catch the little smile she was offered. It harboured natural hints of nervousness, and that was to be expected. She made a mental note to do her best not to make this all seem so daunting. Save that for the court room. "Where do you see yourself in this firm in six months? And a year, for that matter." Then she waved her hand idle, as if easing the tension of such a serious, generic question. The warmth of her smile had to work wonders for that too; "I ask because really, I want to know when you think you'll be ready for more than paperwork."
