Senora Lopez - Part 1
Senora Lopez
By Rick Marlowe
Danielle knew her uncle was doing her a special favor, with who knew how much arm-twisting by her parents behind her back. She had flunked out of two colleges in two years, and after she defiantly declared she could make it on her own without a silly college education, she got fired from her next job within two months. Her problem was that she was just plain lazy. Any work she could shirk was work that she wouldn't do. With her uncle knowing her history, she found it both surprising and embarrassing that he had agreed to hire her at his architectural firm. She certainly was not eager to work, but her parents, in one of their first displays of conviction, had decided to cut her off from anything but room and board at home. If she didn't work, there would be no new clothes or jewelry, no movies, no going out (without a date to pay her way, anyhow), and worst of all, no car. In short, it would be hell on earth. The job was no great shakes. She was to be paid minimum wage to answer the phone, file, make copies and coffee, clean up, run errands - in short, all the grunt work no one else wanted to do, and for slave wages. Hardly an appropriate position for someone who was nearly college-educated and related to the boss, she thought. But even this beat being stuck at home, broke.
Although her uncle would never be considered a soft touch, Danielle figured that there would be at least some regard given to her, considering their familial relationship. Much to her disappointment, she found she would have virtually no contact with the man, reporting instead to the officer manager, Mrs. Lopez. Not only that, but Senora Lopez's seventeen-year-old daughter Irma had also just been hired for the summer, her second summer in fact. So it turned out that Danielle had to be taught many of her tasks by (would earn $.25 less per hour less than) this little teenager. It didn't seem fair. On the other hand, it soon became clear that Mrs. Lopez showed no favoritism to her own daughter, being equally a hard-ass to both her young charges. Unfortunately, that gave little consolation to Danielle.
As it turned out, Irma proved to be the one good friend Danielle had at work. Mrs. Lopez was too bossy and strict. The bookkeeper and the secretary both viewed the two girls as unskilled, temporary interlopers hired solely based on nepotism. The architects were aloof, treating them as just mere tools of the trade in pushing out work. The partial exception was several of the younger single guys on staff. Both girls could easily be described as pretty, and the young men always managed to hover around them any chance they could get. The fact that Irma was under-aged with a barracuda for a mother, however, and that Danielle was the boss's niece, seemed to scare them off from anything resembling real friendship, lest it be misinterpreted (or correctly interpreted!) as something else.
At first, Danielle was determined to show Uncle Joe that she was worthy of the favor he had extended (and also worthy of a higher salary), and really hustled in the performance of her duties. Gradually, however, as he seemed unaware of anything she was doing, her natural tendencies took over, and she began finding ways to weasel out of work. Even more slowly, she began to draw Irma into this pattern. This did not sit well with Senora Lopez. At the end of one day she summoned both girls into the conference room and closed the door. She read them the riot act, telling the two in quite precise terms what she expected of them. Despite the fact the Danielle was the biggest offender, Irma took the brunt of her mother's attack. For that Danielle was grateful. She certainly wouldn't want to have grown up as Mrs. Lopez's daughter.
That little reprimand got things back on track for a time. For Irma it was a bit longer time than for Danielle. Danielle had figured that Mrs. Lopez would threaten to tell her uncle, but when she didn't, the girl felt emboldened to slip back to her old ways, almost defiantly, under the impression that she must be "protected."
Danielle began taking advantage of her friend Irma, asking her to cover for her, or passing off work onto the younger girl. Irma would complain about this, after which Danielle would apologize, promise not to do it anymore, and make a big show of re-building the friendship, sometimes offering to include her on some special activity outside work. Much to her mother's disapproval, Irma began going on shopping trips and out to movies with her older friend.
One day Danielle wanted to buy tickets for the two of them to a big concert, and prevailed on Irma to cover the phones for her while she slipped out of the office before lunch to go to the ticket agency to avoid the lunch-hour lines. Mrs. Lopez was waiting for her when she returned. Again she hauled the girls into the conference, where she extracted the whole story in a confession from Irma. Danielle scowled at the younger girl as she made each incriminating statement. If Danielle thought Mrs. Lopez was rough on them in her earlier lecture, she quickly found out how really harsh the lady could be. Even without using a single profanity or obscenity, she thoroughly belittled and chastened the two miscreants. They were lazy, unreliable, sneaky, childish, deceitful, undependable, conniving, slothful and more. Unlike the last time, she zeroed in on Danielle as the instigator of the problems.
She wound up with this threat, "For an immature stunt like this, you deserve to be treated like a child. What I should do is give you a paddling. I don't know how else to reach you. But this is a professional office, so I guess you're off the hook. But next time, who knows?" Then before stalking out of the room, she turned to Irma and said. "I'll deal with you at home." Her daughter turned pale. "Now both of you - back to work. Your lunch break is canceled."
Irma wouldn't talk to Danielle and bustled off to do some copying. Later in the afternoon, Danielle cornered Irma for a brief conversation.
"Is your mom nuts? She can't spank anybody. That's crazy. Who does she think she is? If she touches me I'm going straight to my uncle. She certainly doesn't spank YOU, does she? I never heard of such a thing. You're still going to the concert, right?"
"Um, I don't think so, Dani. Not a good idea. And, uh... I uh... well you don't wanna push my mom. Ok? She can be pretty tough."
"Say, whose side are you on, anyway? Oh well, I'll find someone else for the concert. Someone who's not under the thumb of her mom. Jeezus! Paddling? Give me a break."
Irma began keeping her distance from Danielle. She had but two more weeks until her summer job was over and she'd be back in school. She pretty much kept herself busy finding special projects for this person or another in addition to her regular duties. Whenever Danielle did talk to her, Irma would cut the conversation short. Then she was gone and Danielle had no one to talk to at all.
A few weeks later, the firm hired a new young draftsman, Bruce. Bruce seemed to have no fear of Danielle's relationship to the boss, and quickly began hitting on her. She didn't mind at all, because, well, to put it bluntly, he was a real hunk. The two began dating. TO BE CONITNUED.
By Rick Marlowe
Danielle knew her uncle was doing her a special favor, with who knew how much arm-twisting by her parents behind her back. She had flunked out of two colleges in two years, and after she defiantly declared she could make it on her own without a silly college education, she got fired from her next job within two months. Her problem was that she was just plain lazy. Any work she could shirk was work that she wouldn't do. With her uncle knowing her history, she found it both surprising and embarrassing that he had agreed to hire her at his architectural firm. She certainly was not eager to work, but her parents, in one of their first displays of conviction, had decided to cut her off from anything but room and board at home. If she didn't work, there would be no new clothes or jewelry, no movies, no going out (without a date to pay her way, anyhow), and worst of all, no car. In short, it would be hell on earth. The job was no great shakes. She was to be paid minimum wage to answer the phone, file, make copies and coffee, clean up, run errands - in short, all the grunt work no one else wanted to do, and for slave wages. Hardly an appropriate position for someone who was nearly college-educated and related to the boss, she thought. But even this beat being stuck at home, broke.
Although her uncle would never be considered a soft touch, Danielle figured that there would be at least some regard given to her, considering their familial relationship. Much to her disappointment, she found she would have virtually no contact with the man, reporting instead to the officer manager, Mrs. Lopez. Not only that, but Senora Lopez's seventeen-year-old daughter Irma had also just been hired for the summer, her second summer in fact. So it turned out that Danielle had to be taught many of her tasks by (would earn $.25 less per hour less than) this little teenager. It didn't seem fair. On the other hand, it soon became clear that Mrs. Lopez showed no favoritism to her own daughter, being equally a hard-ass to both her young charges. Unfortunately, that gave little consolation to Danielle.
As it turned out, Irma proved to be the one good friend Danielle had at work. Mrs. Lopez was too bossy and strict. The bookkeeper and the secretary both viewed the two girls as unskilled, temporary interlopers hired solely based on nepotism. The architects were aloof, treating them as just mere tools of the trade in pushing out work. The partial exception was several of the younger single guys on staff. Both girls could easily be described as pretty, and the young men always managed to hover around them any chance they could get. The fact that Irma was under-aged with a barracuda for a mother, however, and that Danielle was the boss's niece, seemed to scare them off from anything resembling real friendship, lest it be misinterpreted (or correctly interpreted!) as something else.
At first, Danielle was determined to show Uncle Joe that she was worthy of the favor he had extended (and also worthy of a higher salary), and really hustled in the performance of her duties. Gradually, however, as he seemed unaware of anything she was doing, her natural tendencies took over, and she began finding ways to weasel out of work. Even more slowly, she began to draw Irma into this pattern. This did not sit well with Senora Lopez. At the end of one day she summoned both girls into the conference room and closed the door. She read them the riot act, telling the two in quite precise terms what she expected of them. Despite the fact the Danielle was the biggest offender, Irma took the brunt of her mother's attack. For that Danielle was grateful. She certainly wouldn't want to have grown up as Mrs. Lopez's daughter.
That little reprimand got things back on track for a time. For Irma it was a bit longer time than for Danielle. Danielle had figured that Mrs. Lopez would threaten to tell her uncle, but when she didn't, the girl felt emboldened to slip back to her old ways, almost defiantly, under the impression that she must be "protected."
Danielle began taking advantage of her friend Irma, asking her to cover for her, or passing off work onto the younger girl. Irma would complain about this, after which Danielle would apologize, promise not to do it anymore, and make a big show of re-building the friendship, sometimes offering to include her on some special activity outside work. Much to her mother's disapproval, Irma began going on shopping trips and out to movies with her older friend.
One day Danielle wanted to buy tickets for the two of them to a big concert, and prevailed on Irma to cover the phones for her while she slipped out of the office before lunch to go to the ticket agency to avoid the lunch-hour lines. Mrs. Lopez was waiting for her when she returned. Again she hauled the girls into the conference, where she extracted the whole story in a confession from Irma. Danielle scowled at the younger girl as she made each incriminating statement. If Danielle thought Mrs. Lopez was rough on them in her earlier lecture, she quickly found out how really harsh the lady could be. Even without using a single profanity or obscenity, she thoroughly belittled and chastened the two miscreants. They were lazy, unreliable, sneaky, childish, deceitful, undependable, conniving, slothful and more. Unlike the last time, she zeroed in on Danielle as the instigator of the problems.
She wound up with this threat, "For an immature stunt like this, you deserve to be treated like a child. What I should do is give you a paddling. I don't know how else to reach you. But this is a professional office, so I guess you're off the hook. But next time, who knows?" Then before stalking out of the room, she turned to Irma and said. "I'll deal with you at home." Her daughter turned pale. "Now both of you - back to work. Your lunch break is canceled."
Irma wouldn't talk to Danielle and bustled off to do some copying. Later in the afternoon, Danielle cornered Irma for a brief conversation.
"Is your mom nuts? She can't spank anybody. That's crazy. Who does she think she is? If she touches me I'm going straight to my uncle. She certainly doesn't spank YOU, does she? I never heard of such a thing. You're still going to the concert, right?"
"Um, I don't think so, Dani. Not a good idea. And, uh... I uh... well you don't wanna push my mom. Ok? She can be pretty tough."
"Say, whose side are you on, anyway? Oh well, I'll find someone else for the concert. Someone who's not under the thumb of her mom. Jeezus! Paddling? Give me a break."
Irma began keeping her distance from Danielle. She had but two more weeks until her summer job was over and she'd be back in school. She pretty much kept herself busy finding special projects for this person or another in addition to her regular duties. Whenever Danielle did talk to her, Irma would cut the conversation short. Then she was gone and Danielle had no one to talk to at all.
A few weeks later, the firm hired a new young draftsman, Bruce. Bruce seemed to have no fear of Danielle's relationship to the boss, and quickly began hitting on her. She didn't mind at all, because, well, to put it bluntly, he was a real hunk. The two began dating. TO BE CONITNUED.
posted by Sassy Jane at 2:26 PM
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