The Tree

As the third day ended, Olivia said: It is good.
 
While reviewing her files she listened to her collection of French songs, sipping on cognac.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksiFrib7vh0&feature=related
 
Trenet, my true love...
 
She supped on some crackers and roe, from the south of Russia, dreaming of a day when she would never need another 'letter of instruction'. Hell, she would be writing those documents and signing with a flair:
 
THE DECIDER
 
Completing her feeding for the night, she settled back upon her pillow.
 
She dreamt of Tory. Too bad, she thought...
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Warren came tumbling in as usual. What in the HELL is this, then? Not only hung over from his business trip to Detroit, as usual, but he dropped his pile of papers all over the spotless floor, as usual.
 
He looked around. He could not believe this. That old tree that he found out had been dead for years in the corner, well it was sprouting 'buds'.   All over its limbs.
 
AND THE LIGHT.  I mean the sun shone in like he had never seen it before. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his shades. Wow? He immediately went to the couch where he kept a little hair of the dog in his favorite.......couch. WHAT THE F... IS THIS THEN?
 
A divan and easy chair now replaced his favorite couch. Many a nap on that old couch. He felt so at home in it. He even felt it carried some of the same delightful smells of home.

Flowers......Jesus Christ Almighty. (Blessing himself, he kind of fell on the floor to retrieve his papers)
 
And who is the party to whom I am currently speaking?
 
He looked up from the floor first gazing at those purple high heels, up those long legs with nylons kind of webbed like his favorite video....and finally from the rack to those eyes.  Uh, who am I. I mean who are you my Lady of the early Morn?
 
Why I am Ms. Peony to you. And from the looks of ya, I would guess you are Warren of the Mighty Junkets.
 
Warren of the mighty what?  Standing up too abruptly just brought the nausea back. Spinning a little, he bowed courteously.
 
I am Warren Tooney, of Levinson, Nebraska. Pleased to meet your esteemed personage.
 
Now, what exactly are yoooooooooo doing? Olivia sung. At least it sure sounded to him like singing.
 
Uh..uh..uh......
 
Come now Warren, your file gives me the distinct impression of a man with a BS at Harvard and an MBA at..at...Princeton.
 
BS at Yale actually, but ya got the Princeton right.  Say, I do not mean to be rude, but I do have things to do Ms. Penny and I must get this bunch of crap in order and turned into five copies.
 
MOLLY, MOLLY.
 
Yes Ms. Peony?
 
Two seconds, pretty good there Molly. Warren suddenly realized he had thought out loud.
 
Molly, who the frick frack is Molly? Oh the new girl. Yes of course. Funny I thought her first name was Bon Bon or some such...thought Warren.
 
Molly please take those papers from this rummy, put them in order and make six copies...
 
ER...five is plenty...I mean I don't wish to be no bother nor nothing...Warren found if he fell into the language of Fess on Gunsmoke, women liked him better and would leave him alone. I mean he sure liked women and everything, but at work he attempted affability, but could never really ring true like Frank...
 
We will take it from here Warren. Now you wish notebooks or covers of any kind?
 
Oh, you mean like Axel? Geeeez...let me think....YES, yes yes yes.  Frank will like that.
 
And Warren, would you like us to check the math this time? Olivia inquired.
 
Now you may leave.
 
What the f..., then he thought, you know, nobody helps me in this godforsaken place. I mean I bring in about thirty percent of gross around here and Frannie does not know shit and never will....What a fine idea.
 
He decided to comply orally. Thank you so much. Oh and thank you Molly.
 
As Warren turned to leave Olivia suddenly remarked:  How about a nice double espresso and a French Bling?
 
Espresso, what the...suddenly he smiled. He never smiled on Thursdays but it came almost naturally. Why my Lady of the Morn. That would be fantastic.
 
Well you go back to your office and we shall bring you your breakfast. BUT YOU WILL NEVER EAT IN HERE AGAIN. AS A MATTER OF FACT, YOU WILL NEVER COME INTO THIS ROOM AGAIN. UNDERSTOOD?
 
What, well if I need a copy...
 
You know where Molly's desk is, right across from The Room.  If you ever need anything you have that fannie buzz Molly. All right?
 
Why yes, yes of course.  Now he found himself really smiling.
 
Warren actually whistled as he skipped to his office.
 
Frank looked out his window onto the office floor and there was Warren skippin with his suns on. What the f....is this then?
 
Frank opened his office door, intent on catching up with Warren but was distracted by Susan Uppington's loud gossiping whisper, if one could call it a whisper, as Susan stood over Frank's secretary's desk.

Odd, isn't it, how Art just disappeared yesterday...Art in Accounting?  One minute he was there, the next minute his desk was cleared of all his junk, even that unflattering picture of his wife.  You know, the picture that we all thought was of their son?  And his favorite mug that he used as a pencil cup, the one that he said his wife brought back from Paris - the one with the boobs on it? - but what wife would bring a mug like that home to her hubby, I wanna know, and where in hell would Art's wife get the money to be going off to fancy France, I wanna know, and...

Good morning, Susan, shouldn't you be working on that project I gave you the other day?  We have a deadline, remember, Frank said in passing.  And then, instead of heading towards Warren's office, he veered towards The Room instead.  The strong smell of espresso was too damn enticing.

Frank nearly collided with Bonny as she suddenly opened the door to The Room and came out bearing a tray of espresso and French Bling.  French Bling, what the.....?

Frank moved out of the way to let Bonny exit, and then strode into The Room.
 
Good morning, Frank.  Care for some espresso?  Olivia asked sweetly.

Somewhat distracted by her purple heels and net stockings, Frank nodded his head in the negative and then immersed himself in a deep study of the different coffee flavors next to the coffee machine.  Hmmm, House Blend, Hazelnut, French Vanilla, Extra Robust Dark, Secretary's Secret Family Blend....what the...?

He reached a hand out to pick up the little flavored cup of Secretary's Secret Family Blend, squinting to be sure he was reading the name right, but in a surprise move, Olivia suddenly grabbed his hand. 

Oh, Frank, I doubt you'd care for that flavor, it's really not your cup of tea, heh heh....I see you as being more the Extra Robust Dark type, myself.  Secretary's Secret Family Blend is more of a, well, a ladies' coffee, don't ya know?  For, er, those times of the month when some really strong caffeine can come in handy, don't ya know -

Blushing to his roots, and completely unnerved by Olivia's hand on his, Frank stammered, Oh, oh, Miss Peony, say no more, say no more, Jeesus! (blessing himself).
 
Olivia let go of his hand and proceeded to make him a cup of Extra Robust Dark, managing somehow - twice, no less! - to rub her hip against his in the process. 

Um, Miss Peony, I just want to say that -

You really will enjoy this flavor, Frank, I just know you will.  It will wake you right up and have you standing at attention in no time.

Frank released a heavy sigh.  He was grateful when Olivia finally handed him his mug of steaming coffee, giving him something to do with his hands.

Speaking of attention, she continued, I've noticed that nosy Susan Uppington keeps wandering in here to The Room all day, even though I've expressly asked that employees afford Molly and I some privacy while we work in here.  She seems to be intent upon stirring up some kind of controversy.  What kind, I haven't a clue, as I'm not at all an office gossip, myself.  But she keeps asking all these odd questions and poking her nose in where it doesn't really seem to belong, if you get my meaning, Frank.  I don't quite know how to deal with her, do you?

Frank couldn't help but notice how Olivia's hands were busy stroking and fondling one of the cups of Secretary's Secret Family Blend as she spoke.  How very odd it made him feel.  He suddenly wished to be gone from The Room in a hurry.

If' you'll excuse me, Miss Peony, I must get back to my office, I'm expecting a call from HQ.

With that, Frank sped towards the door, nearly colliding with none other than Susan Uppington.

Susan, I believe Miss Peony has asked you repeatedly not to enter The Room anymore.

But--

No worries, Frank, I have this situation covered, Olivia blithely stepped in.

Nodding, Frank left The Room, but not before noticing for the first time as turned his head that the tree in the corner was budding some kind of odd flowers that seemed to give off an indistinguishable scent.  What the f....?  Well, it's not the only odd thing around here, he thought to himself as he left the two women alone in The Room with both relief and a sense of dread.

Susan, what brings you to my inner sanctum yet again today? 

You know, this room USED to be for everybody, you know...and I would've gone to that Molly person first but she's away from her desk, so I thought I'd just come on in and help myself to some of that espresso.  The smell of it is all over the office, it's making everyone crave strong coffee now, you know.
 
Olivia nodded but didn't smile.  I'm afraid the espresso machine is, er, out of commission for the rest of the day.  I seem to have broken a little widget off the front of it and for the life of me I just can't seem to stick it back on.  And I'm usually so good with these things.....one of my many talents, actually.  However, I've called a service tech and he should be here tomorrow.

The look of sheer disappointment on Susan Uppington's somewhat piggish face was just enough to make Olivia's day.  However, if it's strong coffee you crave, I have JUST the thing.  And with that, Olivia proceeded to make Susan a cup of Secretary's Secret Family Blend. 

Oh!  That DOES smell strong.  In fact, it smells almost TOO strong! Susan cried, wrinkling her pig-like nose.
 
I'll add some Half and Half for you, then, Olivia said sweetly with a smile.  As Susan began sipping at the hot, strong brew, Oliva continued, You know, though, that this is the last time you'll be allowed here in The Room.  I've declared it strictly off limits to personnel, barring Molly and Frank, of course, but even Frank keeps his visits to a minimum.  But then, Frank is a GOOD person, and he appreciates that rules are rules.  He doesn't wander around the office, from desk to desk, whispering and gossiping like, er, some of the people around here.
 
Susan gulped rather loudly.

Coffee too hot for you?  Too strong?  Perhaps you should sit down, Susan, right here on the divan.  Olivia led her carefully to the divan, noticing as she did that Susan seemed to be rather shaky on her feet all of a sudden.

I suddenly feel so DIZZY, gasped Susan.  She turned her head and only then noticed the tree in the corner of the room was not only blooming flowers, but the leaves seemed to be visibly GROWING right in front of her.  Yes, not only GROWING but MOVING TOWARDS HER.
 
OMG, do you see that? (blesses herself).  That, that plant!  It's moving, it's coming to GET me!

Susan dropped her near-empty coffee mug on the floor and tried to stand up, but somehow her legs would not allow it.  And just then, Bonny entered the room, carrying a stack of paperwork.

Molly, Susan seems to have taken ill of a sudden.  I think perhaps you should drive her home.  Go get her purse from her desk, get her address from her license, and get her home and into bed posthaste.  Here, you can give me that paperwork while you go.  Go!

Bonny quickly complied and hurried back to The Room with Susan Uppington's purse and car keys.  Olivia gave her cab money for the ride back to the office.  It was, she felt, the least she could do.

The two women proceeded to carefully help Susan out of the office and into her car.

Take care of the poor dear, will you Molly?

And with that, Olivia went back to The Room, sat on the divan with her feet propped up on the ottoman, and proceeded to read the latest report that was Bonny's latest copy job.  Midway through reading, with a slight chuckle at her latest find, she hummed a few bars of La Mer to herself, smiling with secret satisfaction. Olivia glanced up at the tree in the corner, its leaves as normal as ever, its flowers just beginning to bud.   And Olivia saw it and thought to herself here at the end of this fourth day:  It is good.
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The Room
Where something lurks so evil?
Yet we remain in the dark
The Room
And yet, the room lures
Us into its foyer

The Room
So spotless and clean
Yet forbidding and dark
Somehow
The Room
Ah yes, the room lures
us into its power

Peony
What has she done
What is she doing even now?
Peony
She's a strange one, and how

The Room
It's a grand mystery
With no answers in sight
And yet
The Room
And yet, the room lures
Us into its foyer
We're under it's power!

(To be continued....)


 

Chapter One:  The Room

Olivia Peony. Well how much more can I tell you? She was supposedly from a place called Skunk Junction somewhere in northern Utah.  Born September 14, 1982.
Her mother was Valerie Peony. The father was not listed on the birth certificate.
Olivia was actually 'raised' in Butte . On her sixteenth birthday she left Grant High School.  And then...nothing until September of 2006 when she makes her first appearance at HCCC in Hollensburg, PA.
Olivia just kind of showed up out of nowhere. I mean nowhere.
I mean she was like 30 out of a class of 60 from the Holy Christ Community College and managed to get into Oral Roberts University on a scholarship. But for some reason Olivia left after her first semester.
She arrived at The Wrench on a Tuesday with her resume, Certificate of Completion from Holy Christ and a letter of reference from Oral Roberts.
Five feet 7 inches, two inches taller in those shoes. Beautiful legs in a mid sized dress.
Nice rack, thought Frank.
Frank promptly assigned her to the copy room.
Frank was an affable man. He was head of personnel as well as temporary vice president in charge of procurement. This encampment was so off the charts as far as The Wrench's main facility that once just four months ago, not one of the employees received a check.
The Wrench had forgotten that this god forsaken office even existed. Frank straightened out that snafu and for that he was praised by all his staff.
This new one is going to be trouble, Frank thought. Too good looking with little education and she is sent here from headquarters with specific instructions as to how she must be treated.
Ain't dippin this pen in that inkwell he thought.
Of course Frank always thought like that. He never would do anything like dippin. Never. Frank had his Flora for fifteen years now. The only woman to ever touch him in his happy place.
Frank did not like taking chances. Except for on-line poker, but that's another story.
Middlesex, PA was a nice town. About 40,000 good citizens resided here. It was centered where the two rivers met, along with four of Penn's most important freeways.
The copy room doubled as the coffee room. It was an absolute mess. Papers strewn all over the place. Reports that were supposed to log ALL copies made during the day were half completed. Oh, and the smell. Dried coffee or an unreasonable facsimile thereof on the floor and the tables and the machines. Ashes mixed into the mess. And the faint smell of cheap brandy.
Oh and the condom on that ugly black couch. Yuck..........
She immediately walked out of the room and straight for Bonny's desk. She smiled as Bonny looked up.
Come with me Molly.
Bonny had been at her job for just two months. She was nineteen and had a Certificate of Completion from some six month on-line facility. She would be Olivia's one and only assistant. Bonny had just been told of her new 'position' an hour before this meeting.
Olivia led her to 'The Room'.
Well, what we should do Molly is light a fire right there, pointing to a bunch of papers lying on the floor by the largest machine. But I wish to postpone that act until next week. Hahahahaha
That's Bonny, the underling replied.
Of course it is. Now you see that box over there? I want all paper, ALL PAPER put in THAT BOX.
Bonny began to do her chore immediately while Olivia sat down in the corner slot with her new computer and desk.
AND SO THE NEW ERA BEGAN AT THE RANCH, er....WRENCH.
Olivia had posted a Do Not Disturb sign on the door of The Room. Only Frank wandered in from time to time with stacks of papers. Bonny took the packs with instructions over to the various machines and worked on duplication while performing her other duties for the day.
Except for Frank, no one had access to the room.
Now this particular operation of The Wrench had no 'product' as such, except paper. Well paper-paper and computer pretend paper.
So there was much frustration throughout the rest of the office. You see The Room fulfilled many functions.

A lounge where you could hide-out and pretend you were doing something.

A source of coffee...well I mean it was a black substance with plastic cups that were held in those plastic thingies and you could stir in that awful dry creamer and sugar with a plastic stirrer thing.

A place to smoke. Now this was tricky. You had to hide behind this plant and blow the smoke up one of the air shafts located in the corner. Only three of the staff smoked tobacco, and somebody was smoking something else.

A place to copy meaningless documents, attaching the product to other meaningless documents...and so on.

Late on Saturdays you might run into Sam and Big Bertha playing 'games' with their bodies but that really is another story.

So that was the first day. And Olivia saw it and said: This is good.
And she punched out and took the boxes of meaningless paper out to her car with the help of Molly...er...Bonny. Oh, and the coffee pot along with all the plastic thingies.
Olivia would not begin her second job at the local RNC until next week.
That night she went through every single piece of paper that she had procured from The Room. She prepared files on EVERYONE having any connection with a piece of paper. She threw away all but two extra duplicates for each document.
THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN Olivia thought as she turned off her night light at around 1:30 in the AM.
The morning of the second day was chaos. If the workers were angry about being kept out of The Room, this morning it was difficult to even get by the damn place. All machines, all furniture put out in the hall.
Walls were being painted, the window cleaned after the 'curtains' and such had been taken to the garbage by the crew.  The workers complained that they could not only access the room to get that black stuff known as coffee, but they had to smell fresh paint all day.  It was all Frank could do to keep people from going home mid-day complaining of headaches and dizzy spells.  When the steam-cleaning van arrived and proceeded to clean the carpets with a horrendously loud steam cleaner, Frank thought he'd be pitch forked if he didn't close up shop early.  And so he did.  Close the office early, that is.  The pitchforks would come later.
However, on the third day, Frank entered The Room only to find it miraculously changed.  He had to leave The Room, close the door, and stand in the hallway for a few moments counting the doors to make sure he really was entering The right Room.  This was a trick he'd learned at home with Flora and their six kids.  You learned to count the doors before walking into one of the bedrooms upstairs.  Frank got tired of bursting in on a daughter's slumber party with a new football or baseball in tow, intended for one of the boys, and poor Flora was brought to tears while bringing chicken soup to a sick child only to walk in on a teenager masturbating.  You learn to count the doors.
Meanwhile, back at the Wrench, Frank stood in the doorway of The Room in awe.  The place was spotlessly clean and organized.  The white walls were covered in tasteful paintings, there were new curtains in the window, new plants in beautiful decorator pots scattered about.  One of those new-fangled K-cup coffee machine sat on the counter, with boxes of flavored single-cup coffees neatly arranged next to it.  And - ahhhh - an espresso machine!  A small, sparklingly clean refrigerator was now tucked under the counter, containing flavored dairy creamers and countless mugs of Half and Half, Whole Milk, Lowfat Milk, and 1%.  New ceramic mugs with the Wrench company logo were in the cupboard, along with small espresso cups and demitasse spoons, all emblazoned with the Wrench logo.  In other cupboards sat reams of 8 ½ x 11 paper as well as 11 x 17 and Legal-Size.  Some of the paper came with three hole punches already punched.  Some of the paper came in soothing pastel shades.  There were also reams of glossy paper suitable for color printing.
New bookshelves adorned one whole wall of The Room, where stacks of copies were neatly arranged in piles with post-it notes on them, stating the contents and the owner's name.  3-ring binders with neat labels contained yet more copies of paperwork.
Frank's jaw was still on his chest when Olivia Peony entered The Room.  She wore a tasteful (yet form-fitting -- and oh, what a form!) dove gray suit and two-inch black stiletto heels. 
Ms. Peony, I am amazed at the appearance of The Rack...er, The ROOM!  It is as if a miracle has occurred here.
Olivia smiled and nodded her thanks.
I am so glad that you are pleased.  I believe things will run a lot smoother now with these few simple changes I have put in place. 
Smiling sweetly at the head of personnel and temporary VP of Procurement she added, I'll submit a small expense report for your approval later this morning.  By the by, Frank, were you aware that Art in Accounting has been padding the accounts for the past two years?
And with this bombshell dropped, Olivia walked to the cupboard, retrieved a Wrench coffee mug, and prepared a cup of sweetly-aromatic hazelnut coffee. 
Before Frank could murmur a stunned reply, or even think of a reply, young Bonny entered The Room.
Molly, you have done a wonderful job assisting me with The Room.  Frank is very pleased, Olivia announced.
It's Bonny, replied the poor young assistant.
Yes, isn't it, though?  I especially love the curtains.

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Who can clean "The Room" up in one night?
Who can take an awful place, and suddenly make it all organized
Well it's you girl, and they should know it
With each document you steal and read they will know it

Secrets all around, and you will find them
You can hunt them down and then remind them
You're gonna blackmail everyone
You're gonna blackmail everyone

How will you take Wrench on your own?
This place is awfully big, with Molly around you're not alone
But it's time you started learning
It's time you let someone else do the burning

Secrets all around, and you will find them
You can hunt them down and then remind them
You're gonna blackmail everyone
You're gonna blackmail everyone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCL3B5LgUCo

(To be continued......)

She wants to be a plumber....