barucai

[Mini Story] Corner Office

Published: December 17th 2024, 5:21:35 am

Hi Hi ✨

Back after a weekend down with a cold (sorry about that! 😅). I know I promised a continuation of our fmg-35 classics (Muscles & Modesty, New Roommate, The Growing Star of Channel, or The Huge Sugar Baby), but honestly wasn't feeling creative enough. But don't worry - got a brand new fmg-35 story instead! Planning to make this one a multi-parter, so we're starting slow.

Send me your ideas for continuing the original stories! And of course, let me know what you think about this new one. Everything else will be caught up between today and tomorrow!

📦 Grab the full res image from the attachment section of this post. ⬇️

Tier 3&4 members I have some extra images for you, can't reveal much about next parts but I've included other redheads in the office (not Lily just yet ;) plus a couple more images of Lily (bigger in other parts ;)

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Corner Office

A FMG-35 Universe story by BarucAI

Part 1

"For goodness sake, not again!" Lily muttered, dropping to her knees to gather the scattered papers that had slipped from her grasp. The morning hustle of Crawford & Associates swirled around her as she scrambled to collect the quarterly reports before they could be trampled by hurrying feet.

"Need a hand?" Tom from Accounting crouched beside her, his kind eyes crinkling at the corners as he helped gather the documents.

"Thanks, Tom." Lily felt her cheeks warm as their fingers brushed. At 5'2", she always felt like a child playing dress-up in her professional attire, especially next to the tall, broad-shouldered accountant. "I don't know why Mr. Crawford insists on physical copies when everything's digital nowadays."

"Because Richard Crawford lives in 1985, and we're all just visiting," Tom chuckled, handing her the last of the papers. "Speaking of our fearless leader, how're you holding up? I heard him shouting about the Johnson account yesterday."

Lily straightened her blazer, clutching the reorganized stack to her chest. "Oh, you know Mr. Crawford. Everything's an emergency until his morning coffee kicks in." She attempted a smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Five years as Crawford's executive assistant had taught her to downplay his outbursts.

"Lily!" A sharp voice cut through the office chatter. "Where are those reports? The meeting started two minutes ago!"

"Coming, Mr. Crawford!" Lily called back, her voice rising to its familiar apologetic pitch. She gave Tom a quick nod of thanks before hurrying toward the conference room, her sensible heels clicking against the marble floor.

Richard Crawford stood in the doorway, his expensive suit and perfectly coiffed silver hair a stark contrast to his reddening face. At sixty-two, he still commanded the respect and fear of everyone in the office through sheer force of personality rather than actual leadership skills.

"I swear, girl, if you can't handle basic tasks..." he muttered as she slipped past him into the conference room.

"I'm sorry, sir. There was a small accident, but everything's in order now." Lily began distributing the reports around the long table, where various department heads sat waiting. She could feel Crawford's eyes boring into her back as she moved around the room.

"Well, since Miss Chen has finally decided to join us," Crawford announced to the room, "perhaps we can begin. That is, unless you'd like to spill some coffee or rearrange the furniture first?"

A few nervous chuckles rippled through the room. Lily took her seat in the corner, pulling out her tablet to take notes. As Crawford launched into his presentation, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

Discreetly, she checked the message. It was from her sister, Rachel:

"Turn on the news NOW! Some crazy virus is spreading. Mom's already showing symptoms!"

Lily's heart skipped a beat. Their mother lived in Boston, where the first cases had been reported just last week. The media had been downplaying it as a minor health concern, but the footage she'd seen of women growing exponentially larger had been unsettling.

"Miss Chen!" Crawford's voice snapped her back to attention. "Since you find your phone more interesting than our quarterly projections, perhaps you'd like to explain the discrepancy in the Johnson numbers?"

Lily fumbled with her tablet, her fingers trembling slightly. "Y-yes, sir. The Johnson account shows a 15% increase in Q3, but there appears to be an error in the year-over-year calculations. I flagged this yesterday and sent you a revised spreadsheet with the correct figures."

Crawford's eyes narrowed. "I don't recall receiving any such email."

"I can pull it up right now," Lily offered, already accessing her sent folder. She connected her tablet to the room's display and projected the email thread, timestamp clearly visible: 4:45 PM yesterday.

A muscle twitched in Crawford's jaw. "Well," he said after a moment, "it seems Miss Chen has finally managed to do something right. Though in the future, I expect such discrepancies to be brought to my attention verbally, not buried in my inbox."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir." The words came automatically now, a well-worn refrain.

As the meeting dragged on, Lily's mind kept drifting to her mother. The virus had seemed like a distant concern until now, something happening to other people in other places. But Boston wasn't that far away, and with global travel...

Her phone buzzed again. Another message from Rachel:

"Mom's gone up two shoe sizes since this morning. Doctor says it's definitely the virus. They're calling it FMG-35. Stay safe, sis."

Lily's hand trembled as she set down her phone. Around her, the meeting continued, voices discussing profit margins and market projections. But all she could think about was her mother, alone in Boston, going through who knew what changes.

"Meeting adjourned," Crawford announced suddenly, startling Lily from her thoughts. As everyone began to file out, he called after her, "Miss Chen, a word."

Lily's stomach dropped as she turned back. "Yes, Mr. Crawford?"

He waited until the room was empty before speaking. "Your performance lately has been... disappointing. The missed calls, the filing errors, and now this distraction during an important meeting." He leaned against the conference table, looking down at her with that familiar mixture of condescension and disappointment. "When I hired you, you assured me you could handle the responsibilities of this position."

"I can, sir. I do. The Johnson discrepancy—"

"Was a basic arithmetic error that should have never made it to this meeting," he cut her off. "Listen, Lily. You're a sweet girl, and you try hard. But perhaps this role is simply... too big for you."

The irony of his word choice would only become apparent later. At that moment, all Lily could do was stand there, feeling smaller than ever, as Crawford continued his critique of her abilities, her professionalism, her very worth as an employee.

Later that evening, as Lily sat alone in her small apartment, she felt the first hints of a fever coming on. Her joints ached, and her skin felt too tight, like a sweater that had shrunk in the wash. She thought about calling Rachel but decided against it. It was probably just stress, she told herself. Just another symptom of being too small, too weak, too inadequate for the life she'd chosen.