Post by Ammie on Jul 17, 2013 5:34:32 GMT -8
The door read "Amaryllis Wicker" and slightly below, "Director of Arcane Arts & Sciences". It was etched into the glass, beautiful and permenant-looking, an image of strength and responsibility.
But it had not always been there. Two days ago, it had borne her predecessor's name with the same sense of permanence, now erased entirely, but from memory. There were many lessons there, about life and the corporate system, and she made a silent pledge to remember Franc whenever she saw that etching.
The office was slowly drifting from Franc's stark, practical style into Amaryllis' dramatic flair, from the desk outwards. She had been assured by Melissa the Corporate Designer (a job she'd never expected to exist) that the desk was -the- most important cornerstone in a director's image, and that it set the tone for not only her impression to any subordinates, but to clients, other directors, and even the odd board member who might show up. She had asked if it could be a billiards table, and was assured that she would need drawers.
She had leafed through a glossy portfolio of desks, and had finally selected one which had once been a stunning Victorian table made of buff-polished ebony, now converted to a desk without losing its light and open attitude. The legs were made of complicated twisting stems of timber, which drifted into the side-paneling's relief design of Celtic knotwork. Amaryllis hadn't put much thought into the psychological impressions and had just picked the one she liked best, but Melissa had informed her that it would convey "openness, teamwork, and ease, with a soupçon of danger and spooky." She'd liked that.
The office had started to bleed out from the desk like a dark flower unfolding. Ebony was the only wood that Melissa would allow, since it "didn't make friends with other woods easily", and so there were black bookcases and chairs, and lamps, and eventually Amaryllis put her foot down and demanded color.
There were several of these conflicts over the first week, Ammie begging for this or that, and Melissa reminding her in decreasingly patient ways that she was the expert, and that Ammie's whims were ruining the image. Ammie began to get a clear picture if why Franc had decorated so sparsely. She didn't understand why she wasn't able to hang up her 4th Doctor's scarf on the Burtonesque coat-tree.
On the third day, when she walked in and saw the most recent changes, she summoned Melissa before she'd even gotten coffee, asking with as much civility as she had left when the goth dance was being held (she imagined rather soon), and why it was to be in her office.
"I. Want. Color. No more violet, black cherry, navy blue everything! We will come to a compromise here, or else I will bloody well put a godawful ceramic clown on my desk for all the bloody world to see, just to vex you. I hate ceramic clowns, but this is my office, not Blackpetal's!"
Melissa saw the intractability in Amaryllis' eyes, and took it as a challenge.
On the fourth day, Amaryllis came into her office to witness Melissa's crimson-and-gold phase. There were flowing banners of bright crimson draped around the room, accented by the gold-embroidered crimson pillows. The poofy violet couch had been ditched for an amazing rococo chaise longue in the same ebony and crimson. The office was now somewhere between a high-end brothel and Count Dracula's winter cottage in Persia, and Ammie clapped her hands together and smiled. This was more like it! Comfort, beauty, style, and a presentation so over the top that it laughed at its own energy. Now that was familiar.
She cancelled her order of ceramic clowns and polka dot beanbag chairs, and sent a flowery and apologetic thank-you note to Melissa for her services. Then she nestled into the black leather swaddled, ergonomic throne-on-wheels behind the desk, and called for her first workload with a wicked grin. She was going to enjoy that first shocked look of confused etiquette on new guest's faces all day.
((These last events will occur on Friday, when she'll begin to request files and things by text and tweet from all over, just to see the reactions of her friends as they walk in. Feel free to list any reaction below, if you've got a funny one.
just for laughs~))
But it had not always been there. Two days ago, it had borne her predecessor's name with the same sense of permanence, now erased entirely, but from memory. There were many lessons there, about life and the corporate system, and she made a silent pledge to remember Franc whenever she saw that etching.
The office was slowly drifting from Franc's stark, practical style into Amaryllis' dramatic flair, from the desk outwards. She had been assured by Melissa the Corporate Designer (a job she'd never expected to exist) that the desk was -the- most important cornerstone in a director's image, and that it set the tone for not only her impression to any subordinates, but to clients, other directors, and even the odd board member who might show up. She had asked if it could be a billiards table, and was assured that she would need drawers.
She had leafed through a glossy portfolio of desks, and had finally selected one which had once been a stunning Victorian table made of buff-polished ebony, now converted to a desk without losing its light and open attitude. The legs were made of complicated twisting stems of timber, which drifted into the side-paneling's relief design of Celtic knotwork. Amaryllis hadn't put much thought into the psychological impressions and had just picked the one she liked best, but Melissa had informed her that it would convey "openness, teamwork, and ease, with a soupçon of danger and spooky." She'd liked that.
The office had started to bleed out from the desk like a dark flower unfolding. Ebony was the only wood that Melissa would allow, since it "didn't make friends with other woods easily", and so there were black bookcases and chairs, and lamps, and eventually Amaryllis put her foot down and demanded color.
There were several of these conflicts over the first week, Ammie begging for this or that, and Melissa reminding her in decreasingly patient ways that she was the expert, and that Ammie's whims were ruining the image. Ammie began to get a clear picture if why Franc had decorated so sparsely. She didn't understand why she wasn't able to hang up her 4th Doctor's scarf on the Burtonesque coat-tree.
On the third day, when she walked in and saw the most recent changes, she summoned Melissa before she'd even gotten coffee, asking with as much civility as she had left when the goth dance was being held (she imagined rather soon), and why it was to be in her office.
"I. Want. Color. No more violet, black cherry, navy blue everything! We will come to a compromise here, or else I will bloody well put a godawful ceramic clown on my desk for all the bloody world to see, just to vex you. I hate ceramic clowns, but this is my office, not Blackpetal's!"
Melissa saw the intractability in Amaryllis' eyes, and took it as a challenge.
On the fourth day, Amaryllis came into her office to witness Melissa's crimson-and-gold phase. There were flowing banners of bright crimson draped around the room, accented by the gold-embroidered crimson pillows. The poofy violet couch had been ditched for an amazing rococo chaise longue in the same ebony and crimson. The office was now somewhere between a high-end brothel and Count Dracula's winter cottage in Persia, and Ammie clapped her hands together and smiled. This was more like it! Comfort, beauty, style, and a presentation so over the top that it laughed at its own energy. Now that was familiar.
She cancelled her order of ceramic clowns and polka dot beanbag chairs, and sent a flowery and apologetic thank-you note to Melissa for her services. Then she nestled into the black leather swaddled, ergonomic throne-on-wheels behind the desk, and called for her first workload with a wicked grin. She was going to enjoy that first shocked look of confused etiquette on new guest's faces all day.
((These last events will occur on Friday, when she'll begin to request files and things by text and tweet from all over, just to see the reactions of her friends as they walk in. Feel free to list any reaction below, if you've got a funny one.
just for laughs~))
Weighs the same as a duck.
