Work Text:
Jason stopped short at the large floral arrangement on Mariah’s desk. It was filled with bright colors and was emitting a pleasant fresh scent into the air.
Mariah sneezed violently and Jason snatched the large vase away.
“Who did this to you?” he demanded as he observed her red rimmed eyes and puffy nose. “I need you today! You can’t get sick! This is sabotage.”
She gave a giggle before another sneeze wracked her body. “They were here when I came in. Addressed to you.”
He walked to the other side of the room to search for the card. Sure enough, it was made out to him but no signature. “Sabotage,” he repeated. “Now I have to organize the Beritti file all on my own.”
“I’m fine sir,” Mariah attempted to assure him. It was not reassuring at all as a tear escaped, running down her face before she sneezed again. “I– I– ACCHOO– will be fine.”
“Ugh, just go home,” Jason shot her a smile. “Shower, rinse your nose, take an allergy pill. If you feel human you can come back, otherwise just take the day off.”
“You know if I leave here, I’m not coming back,” she threatened blandly.
He grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
They may have joked about it, but losing Mariah really was like losing a limb as Jason tried to prepare for his presentation. He scrambled about his office, looking to match the physical files she’d printed against the digital ones he’d altered. Everything was everywhere.
If he ever found the sender of those flowers, he was going to throw them off the roof of the building.
“Hey.”
Jason jerked his head up to see a man, decent suit, artfully tousled hair, fuck me now dreamy blue eyes, standing in the doorway.
“I’m here to–” the man started and Jason could have screamed with relief.
“Oh thank god, they sent someone up. Mariah had to leave sick and I can’t find anything. Can you just check her desk out there for a blue folder? It should have a B on the front.”
The man stared for another moment, long enough that Jason worried he’d have to repeat himself, before he finally pivoted around and headed for Mariah’s desk. Jason sighed in relief.
They got to business pretty quickly after that, Jason panic studying his last minute notes and the temp, Tim, being surprisingly helpful.
“The projections increase by 23.5%-”
“28.5%,” Tim corrected. “You know you don't have to memorize this right? It'll be on the screen and you can read it from there or they can read for themselves.”
Jason frowned at his note cards where the correct answer was written, matching Tim's statement. “It'll look better for the company if I know what I'm doing. Anyone can read from the screen.”
“Your worth is not in your presentation skills,” Tim sounded exasperated and it caught Jason's attention to look sharply at him.
“My job is exactly that,” Jason pointed out. Tim-the-temp had been invaluable today but Jason was not above putting him in his place. “What department did you say they pulled you from?”
Tim frowned, “Your job is to be a leader and represent the hard work of those helping you. This presentation is a culmination of many departments and people working together, and you need to be the cohesive face of the business.”
“How is that different from what I'm doing?” Jason challenged, eyebrows climbing into his hairline.
Tim sighed deeply, looking very put upon. “You are trying to memorize facts, but if you trust your team, the data carries itself. You don't have to recite the percentages, you have a visual graph added to the presentation that tells the story. Let it.”
Jason stared.
Tim stared back.
He'd been working with the guy all afternoon, but Jason hadn't really looked before now. Once he did, the issue became embarrassingly obvious. Tim's suit was far too nice for a casual worker, probably nicer than Jason's. He was missing his employee badge, and he had a briefcase that he'd set down upon entry. Not the style that WE distributed to employees. “You don't work for me do you?”
Tim huffed a laugh. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Why are you here?” Jason asked, suspicion filling his tone.
“We had an appointment," Tim offered with a shrug, "but apparently your secretary being out scrambled your day.”
“My schedule was clear for preparation though…” Jason pulled up his calendar and saw the meeting that'd been added. Tim Drake, Drake Industries Consultation. The memory of asking for Mariah to set something up with the industry leading consultation firm flashed through Jason's mind. He'd been hoping to restructure his presentation style, but he'd been so scrambled that he really hadn't put the pieces together.
“Well, I guess you're hired.” Jason said slowly as he locked his computer once more, a little stunned at the turn of events. The cute guy that Jason had firmly placed into the 'off limits' part of his brain, was confidently striding towards the 'hot guy alert, HOT GUY ALERT' side of his brain instead. Tim wasn't an actual employee... he was a contracted consultant.
Tim barked out a laugh. “Working interview?”
Jason felt the heat rising to his face. He'd never stoop so low, not really. “Your consultation fee can start today," he quickly amended, hoping to smooth over the assumption.
Tim's answering grin showed there was no ill will, only teasing between them. “Well I guess the preliminary flower arrangement wasn't necessary.”
Stunned, Jason's amenable attitude slipped away. “That was you!?”