Ugly Davey - 5. Chapter 05 – Tread With Caution

Chapter 05 – Tread With Caution

“Hi there, how may I help you?” asked the blonde haired receptionist not looking away from the computer screen.

“Hi, I’m here for my first day as a PA to Mr. Tyler Fritz,” I replied.

Her head snapped towards me so fast that I wondered how she didn’t give herself whiplash. When her eyes settled onto me, her mouth and eyes opened wide in shock.

Guess I better get accustomed to being looked at like that, I inwardly sighed.

I had gotten used to being stared at whenever I entered a room, but never like this. I had grown so accustomed to the looks I usually received when going out, that I had simply started ignoring them. Now on the other hand, I was having a difficult time being the center of attraction.

The moment I had stepped foot into the lobby of the twenty-story building to the 5 minutes it took to arrive on the 16th floor where Fritz LLP, the firm I would be working at was located, I had immediately noticed the many eyes on me. Yet unlike other times when the gazes were of appreciation, lust or even jealousy, now they were only amused, confused or simply disgusted.

But then again who could blame them judging by the way I was dressed. Even I would have stared at myself if I could. I had gone with the whole “Pee Shirt” and bunny ensemble from last night since I didn’t want to go through the trouble of matching and pairing another set of clothes. Combining the outfit with my pimply face, big-ass glasses and the slimy looking strands of hair falling all over my face, I could understand their need to gawk.

The look of shock on the receptionist’s face was quickly replaced by disgust as she turned back to check something on her computer. “You’re David Matthews?” she sneered looking at me.

I was taken aback by her hostile attitude and more than a little confused of how only my appearance could garner such hate that could clearly be seen in her hazel eyes. I noticed how the receptionist’s reed-thin figure and the way in which her dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a severe bun gave her a vulture-like appearance. The tight black dress she was wearing only emphasized her skinniness, but didn’t do much of a job covering her ample cleavage that looked so out of place on her thin body. Definitely a boob job, I decided.

Due to her hostility, I didn’t even bother correcting her that I preferred to go by Dave rather than David. She’d probably bash my head in with a stapler if I did, I thought darkly.

“Yes, I’m David Matthews,” I said instead.

“Well I’m sorry to say this but Tyler isn’t here right now, so you can just go back where you came…”

“Rachel,” a voice called from behind me, “has David Matthews arrived yet?”

I turned around and saw a petite Asian women walking briskly towards us. She appeared to be in her late twenties, but barely reached my chest in height. The women had long flowing black hair and beautiful almond shaped eyes. Though she seemed very professional, there was a kindness to her that was severely lacking in the receptionist.

“I’m David Matthews,” I answered before Rachel could open her mouth.

The woman hesitated a quick second before her professional demeanor returned. “Hello David, I’m Janet Wong. I’m the personal assistant to Mr. Fritz Sr.”

“Nice to meet you Ms. Wong,” I said shaking her slender fingered hand.

“Please, call me Janet,” she said, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards, “Ms. Wong is my mother.”

I chuckled and gave Rachel one last passing glance as Janet started leading me past the reception area. The firm seemed to have an open-space concept where the center of the entire floor was filled with people working on various desks with some hiding behind cubicles. “This is where most of the administrative or junior staff is located,” explained Janet. “That includes positions like the paralegals, law clerks, IT staff, some of the newer Associates, and so on. Some of the Senior Associates are given their own offices,” she said waving her hand to the sidewalls that were dotted with a few doors to tiny offices. “There are two boardrooms on this floor that we use from time to time with one being bigger than the other,” she tapped a door as we walked by that had a sign saying “Boardroom A” on it. “The larger offices in this building are occupied by the three partners that work at this location of the law firm. Fritz LLP has many offices across Canada, but this could be considered as the Headquarters since this is where the founder of the firm, Mr. Fritz, has his office.”

“Do you mean Tyler Fritz?” I asked confused since I knew for certain that no one had told me I’d be working for the founder.

“Oh no, no. There are two Mr. Fritz working here. Tyler is the lawyer you’ll be working for. I work for Tyler’s father, Mr. Fritz Sr. He’s the founder of Fritz LLP. It tends to get pretty confusing having two Mr. Fritz’, so Tyler insists that everybody call him by his first name instead.”

“Oh,” I said understanding. “So what did Rachel mean when she said that Tyler wasn’t here?” I asked Janet as we continued on our way to the far end of the firm.

“Oh yes, we forgot to inform you that Tyler had to go to Toronto over the weekend. Seems like there were some issues that needed to be solved in our Toronto office. It was all pretty sudden, so I think he may have forgotten to give you a call and it seems like he won’t be back for at least a week. So you’ll most likely not have much to do until then. Though if I know Tyler, he’ll probably be calling soon to check up on how you’re fitting in. He’ll let you know what he needs from you then.”

I took in all of this information as I once again looked around the huge room. It was then I suddenly noticed that every single pair of eyes in here was trained on Janet and I as we made our way through the office.

Oh shit! I totally forgot about my getup!

I couldn’t believe that Janet hadn’t brought it up, but based on what I had seen of her so far, I didn’t think she was the type of person to judge someone based on their looks.

So unlike Rachel, I thought with an inward chuckle.

“Um do you know why Rachel was…why she was so…?” I was having trouble framing my question without clearly asking Janet why Rachel was such a Bitch.

“You want to know why Rachel was such a Bitch?” Janet asked with a straight face.

“Oh, umm…no…yes…I guess so,” I embarrassingly stuttered.

Janet let out a high lilting laugh. “It’s OK, that’s a commonly known fact in this office,” she said with a smile in her voice. “Rachel isn’t the friendliest person in this office, but she just might treat you worse than anyone else.”

“Why’s that?” I asked surprised, “I’ve only just met her.”

“It’s not because of who you are, but because of your position. She’s been after that job since she first started working here. She seems to have an unhealthy obsession with Tyler and desperately wants to work for him as his PA. She thinks that if she does, Tyler will end up marrying her,” Janet said rolling her eyes.

“She treated Abigail badly too and thought it was a blessing and her chance to land the job when Abigail had to quit due to her pregnancy. Of course Tyler rejected Rachel’s application for the job since neither does she have the credentials needed but also because Tyler is more than aware of her feelings towards him,” Janet finished.

“Wow,” was all I could say. I guess having to appear “ugly” is going to be the least of my problems.

“Here we are.” Janet’s voice brought me back from my thoughts and I noticed we were now standing in front of a door. “This is Mr. Fritz’ office. He wants to welcome you to the firm since Tyler isn’t here to do it himself. I’ll be here to show you to your desk after you’ve talked to him.” With that Janet left, leaving me standing alone in front of the door.

I knocked on the door, waiting anxiously to be let inside. I could still feel the numerous stares trained on my back and was trying my best to desperately ignore them.

“Come in,” called a deep voice from inside.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, I quickly entered the office and closed the door behind me. I found myself in a large spacious office tastefully decorated in strong masculine tones.

On my left side was a set of dark brown leather sofas arranged around a burnt umber coffee table. The wall behind the sofas was covered in multiple certificates ranging from law degrees to firm licenses. On my right was an enormous bookshelf filled with numerous law texts. How can anyone ever manage to read all of those, I thought as I continued to walk towards the large mahogany desk located in the center of the furthest wall that was entirely made out of an enormous floor-to-ceiling window.

A man was standing behind the desk with his back towards me as he looked out of the picturesque window at the breathtaking view of the Coal Harbor. The man seemed to be a few inches taller than my 6’ and had broad shoulders and a head full of grey hair.

“Good morning Sir,” I greeted the man.

“Ah good morning to you too young man,” said the man in his deep voice.

I was just wondering why that voice sounded so eerily familiar when the man turned around and froze in place after laying his eyes on me. The man’s eyes opened wide and his jaw fell open.

Oh fuck! It’s Robert!

I stood there feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. Oh shit, shit, shit! He recognized me! I’m so fired!

The man seemed to break out of his trance and started slowly walking towards me. I bent my head towards the ground and squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the shouting that was most likely to precede my inevitable job termination.

“Please tell me young man…” Robert started saying.

“Look Mr. Fritz, I didn’t mean anything by this. It’s just that I lost…” I had started to ramble when the next words out of Robert’s mouth stopped me dead in my tracks.

“…where you got that most delectable tie from. My goodness that is beautiful!”

It was then I noticed that Robert was wearing another one of his horrendous ties under his expensive grey suit. This time instead of the ostrich heads, the tie was decorated with a huge traffic light complete with the red, yellow, and green signals. The yellow signal’s color seemed brighter than the others as though the tie was trying to warn you about the upcoming red signal. Is that a sign that I should tread with caution? I mentally asked the tie. Of course I got no answer in return.

“You must tell me young man!” Robert persisted.

“Oh, I got it from Sears,” I told Robert cautiously.

“Well then young man, I must make it a mission to go there. I usually shop at those high-end boutiques, but it seems as though their preferences in ties leaves much to be desired for,” he said with a boisterous laugh accompanied by one of his “pats”.

Damn, how could I forget about his “pats”, I thought as my body pitched forward a step.

“Ah let me introduce myself before I forget,” he continued.

Yeah, wouldn’t want that to happen again would we?

“The name’s Robert Fritz,” he said holding out his hand.

“David Matthews,” I replied, forgoing Dave. He might recognize me if I said Dave, better to keep it as David in the office, I decided.

I still couldn’t believe that he hadn’t recognized me. I knew that I looked pretty different in this getup, but not so much that I would be totally unrecognizable. Then it suddenly occurred to me that people were so used to seeing me look good, that their minds couldn’t comprehend that I could ever look ugly. It’s like not being able to identify celebrities without their make-up, I realized.

“Well David, I’d like to welcome you in joining our law firm and hope you will enjoy becoming a new member of our little family,” said Robert with another slap to my back.

I’m glad to be able to say that I took it like a man.

“As Janet would have told you, Tyler is out of town. But I spoke with my son earlier this morning and he said he would be calling to welcome you once you’ve settled in. So you can go ahead and wait for his call. And once again welcome to Fritz LLP.”

“Thank you Sir,” I said once again shaking Robert’s hand and quickly moving out of his reach before he could land another "pat".

Leaving the office, I leaned back against the closed door and took a deep breath, more than glad to have dodged the bullet. But opening my eyes, I once again came face to face with the rest of the employees who were once again staring at me.

Oh God! I guess I dodged one bullet, but still have to face the rest of the Army.

"Only three months to go Davey! You can do it!” said the mental voice in my head that sounded suspiciously like Rick.

“You’re gonna owe me so big for this Rick,” I quietly muttered to the voice.

I only heard one of Rick’s evil chuckles in response.

To be continued…