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Caroline rung her hands as she eyed the door which separated her boss’s workspace from everyone else’s. She really should just leave him alone, she thought. He hadn’t come out in hours, and it was almost time for everyone to go home anyway. He clearly didn’t want to be disturbed. But against all her good reasoning, something still made her feel like she should go in.
She didn’t think he would be upset over this for very long, anyway. All he needed was a reassuring word to get past it. As far as Caroline was concerned, Eleanor Johnson was an awful person. She was always cold, and rude, and totally uninterested in science, and it was a wonder this hadn’t happened sooner, since she and Cave had never done anything but fight, and what the hell did Mr. Johnson even see in her anyway??
Caroline relaxed herself when she realized she’d gotten lost in her thoughts. She knew it was none of her business. Mr. Johnson could like whoever he wanted to, and there was probably some part of his wife’s personality that was appealing - it was just hidden under the icy shrew that had accused Caroline of screwing him not a month ago.
Cave had tried to apologize to Caroline then with some hasty reassurances that Eleanor didn’t mean it, that she was just looking for fights to pick with him. If only he’d dumped her then, Caroline thought. It would have saved him the embarrassment of being handed those divorce papers.
That was the only reason Caroline could see for why Cave would be upset. At Aperture, Mr. Johnson only had one way of dealing with problems - he fired them. No matter what an employee said or how much they protested, the boss could just interrupt with an order to gather their things, and that would be the end of it. Here, however, he didn’t have that kind of power. Here, he’d lost.
Caroline looked over at the wall alongside her desk, at the various newspaper clippings and photographs on display to celebrate Aperture’s opening. For as long as Caroline had worked here, the perfect image of Mrs. Johnson had smiled down on her, looking disgustingly happy as her husband stood next to her and cut the ribbon for his brainchild. She looked so smug, and so aloof, and so uncaring about the work behind it all. Caroline hated that woman. But, she convinced herself as she took the picture off the wall and stood up, that didn’t mean she couldn’t be sympathetic to her boss.
She knocked on Cave’s door, and began to open it in anticipation of his usual answer.
“Go away!” she heard instead. Caroline swiftly turned tail, ready to abandon her foolish idea, when she heard her boss’s voice again.
“Oh, Caroline!” Cave realized. “You can come in. It’s the rest of those jackasses out there I don’t wanna talk to.”
Caroline paused, wondering if her boss knew that at least five of those “jackasses” were on the other side of the door she was walking through. Sure enough, everyone in the auxiliary office was now staring in silence at the CEO.
“Hiya, boys,” Cave said after a pause. He smirked and looked back up at Caroline. “What the hell’s wrong with them?”
Caroline closed the door. “Sir, I just wanted to -”
“No reports today,” Cave interrupted, waving his hand erratically as he spoke. “No test subject casualties, no control group mishaps…”
Caroline eyed the almost-empty brandy decanter on her boss’s desk.
“Mr. Johnson, have you been drinking?” she asked in surprise.
Cave paused, and a look of shame flashed across his face for a second, as if he was actually going to cop to his bad decision. Instead, however, he started to laugh riotously.
“Have I been drinking?” he said, wiping tears from his face as he continued to chuckle. “Have I been drinking, she asks me…”
“I know you’ve had a rough day…”
“Rough day, schmuff-day,” Cave interrupted again, pouring himself another glass. “Refill this for me, will ya?” he asked as he handed Caroline the empty decanter.
“Yes, sir,” Caroline answered, though she instead put it down on the small table next to her, figuring he wouldn’t notice.
“Look, it’s no secret I didn’t have a happy marriage,” Cave explained. “But I wasn’t about to give up on it,” he asserted, pointing a crooked finger at his assistant. “The problem’s I’m here all the time, and she doesn’t understand what we’re working on, so I could never explain why it was so important to her. Guess she thought I was, I dunno, playing poker in here or something.” He took another swallow of his drink, less of a sip than a gulp. “Hell, she even thought we were sleeping together!”
Caroline laughed nervously. She hadn’t intended to get this much detail from her boss. “I’m sorry your wife didn’t see eye-to-eye with you, Mr. Johnson…” she offered, hoping to get out of this situation before it got any worse.
“That’s a nice way to put it,” Cave replied. “I’d just say she’s a mean old witch.” Caroline looked at the floor. “For her to just come in here and hand those papers to me… no warning at all, not even a discussion…”
Caroline realized that her estimate of how little her boss felt for his wife was somewhat inaccurate. As she watched him swirl the alcohol in his glass aimlessly, she felt guilty for thinking she could have just waltzed in and put the issue to rest. “I’m sorry, Mr. Johnson,” was all she could offer.
“You ever been married, Caroline?” Cave slurred, seemingly fixated on the ice cubes in his glass.
Caroline was flabbergasted by the question. She was only twenty-two, and had spent the last two years of her life focused on nothing but the company she worked for. Marriage was something totally unthinkable for her, yet alone divorce. “Why, no, Mr. Johnson,” she answered.
“Good,” Cave said, putting his glass down. “Stay away from it!” he ordered, pointing his finger at her for emphasis. “It’s a stupid idea. You think it's supposed to improve your life, when really it just turns everything you love against you, and leaves you no better than you were before.” He gave a bitter chuckle. “Actually, it leaves you worse than you were before, because you’re older, and you know how much of a failure you are.”
Caroline was going to contradict her boss and reassure him that none of that was true, but the look in his eyes stopped her. He had a very strange expression on his face, one of realization and wonder. It was almost as if he’d only just noticed she was standing there.
"Except…” he started, still staring at her, “You wouldn’t do… that wouldn’t be…”
“Sir?” Caroline asked, confused.
She wished with all her heart that her boss would finish that sentence. Instead, his expression changed once again, and he instead just said “You should be heading home, kiddo. I shouldn’t be bothering you with this crap anyway.”
“It’s no trouble, Mr. Johnson,” Caroline promised. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry it happened, but that it’s probably for the best.”
Cave smiled. “I know it is.” He sat up straighter in his chair. “But you know me. Can’t let a day go by without an excuse to make a fool of myself.”
“Oh, Mr. Johnson,” Caroline laughed.
Cave sighed to himself. He wish he’d finished his sentence, but it was too late now. And besides, she was so young, and bright, and promising. Why take away all of that potential just to saddle her to some old idiot who was just going to disappoint her anyway?
“Good night, Caroline,” he said instead.
“Good night, Mr. Johnson,” she replied.