[Vox]

The offices of Crib and Stearnley, Midwestern branch, were located on a quiet side street in the business district of a nicely-located town: an hour away from the airport, but very reasonable rent. The area had been built up in a time when bringing nature into the picture had been all the rage, so there were wide banks of flowers and bushes in front of the buildings, and courtyards with pine trees in the back.

Crib and Stearnley occupied the third floor of the building, and maintained some offices on the fourth floor that were reserved for visiting engineers and other VIPs. Maia's office was near the lobby, where she was close enough to check on the receptionist and give her a hand when she needed help. It also let her hear what was going on in the offices around her, and that worried her: Do they hear me? Can they hear my stomach rumble? Can I burp without having to say excuse me?

She wore a pink and white vertically striped blouse that buttoned up the front, a short black skirt with black pumps, and a necklace of misshapen magenta and pink pearls that her older sister had sent from overseas. Maia was proud of the necklace. She thought of it as a peace offering, although they still didn't get along.


Maia checked off the last item on her order list. Supplies would arrive next Wednesday, including the rolls of thermal paper Mr. Derrick needed for his ancient fax machine. When their supplier ran out, Maia had no idea where to get new ones. People used copy paper for their fax machines now, not thermal paper.

The phone rang. It was from Ann Beilding, a visiting VIP who wanted Maia to book her a hotel suite and prepare an upstairs office for next week. "I'll take care of it," Maia promised. Busy, busy. It wasn't so bad, being busy. Having nothing to do was worse. She made the reservations and realized with a jolt that she hadn't checked with the Accounting department to see if they needed any special orders. Their regular order was coming, but what if they needed something else? She knocked on Rebecca's door. Rebecca had it together: she would know if her department needed anything.