2013.07.02 - Travel Treats

It's getting on in the afternoon, just past lunch time. Hammer Industries is as busy as ever, with people wandering this way and that across the massive complex. The office tower is as busy as the rest of the facility, with administration and the occasional engineer or scientist wandering through the lobby and down the halls that branch off the main floor. The chaos is pretty consistent all the way up the building, and even the 20th floor has a good buzz going. Even the CEO himself seems to be hard at work, the door to his office shut to close out some of the drone of the other offices.

Justin is sitting behind his desk, his suit coat off and slung over the back of his chair. He has a spread of papers out in front of him, some of them with rows of figures while others have intricate drawings of systems laid out across their faces. He alternates between working on his computer and looking over the physical papers. It's a lot of last minute detail work he wants to get taken care of before heading out on his business trip to Nevada first thing in the morning. After running his finger across a line of figures he turns to type something into the computer, then stops. Frowning he idly reaches into a bag of candy orange slices on his desk, grabbing one and popping it into his mouth while he thinks.

There's nothing particularly notable about the young woman that pushes open the door and slips into the lobby of the office building. Except for the fact that she looks around intently, taking in the sights on her first visit to Justin Hammer's domain. She can't really say she'd ever pictured what it'd be like, but she still didn't expect something like this. Of course, the biggest building in her little hometown was barely half this tall and didn't take up nearly so much real estate. And all this is owned by Justin? As Justin labors in his office far above, Fern's gaze falls to the reception desk and she smiles, stepping over, shifting a box she holds to tuck beneath her arm. Wearing a summer dress and sandals, her hair brushing against shoulders showing a few freckles from the summer sun, no one would mistake her for someone who works here. She waits a moment to catch someone's attention, before softly speaking. "Hi. I was wondering if Justin Hammer is in?"

The receptionist, a young, blond haired woman, looks up from her computer as the red head approaches. She smiles, then tilts her head lightly as the arrival asks to talk to the CEO himself. It's not uncommon for people to come in asking for him, and better than ninety percent of the time they're turned away. Without skipping a beat, she asks in a pleasant tone, "Do you have an appointment?" The uniformed security guard sitting behind the desk and just to the left of it looks up and over toward Fern, brow arched.

A frown clouds Fern's brow at the question, and she shakes her head, "No, I didn't even think of it." She glances to the guard, a smile coming automatically despite her consternation. But the momentary distraction also gives her a moment to think, and the obvious occurs to her. "Oh! I have his number, I can just give him a quick call and see if he's got a second. If he doesn't I can leave this package here for him." As she mentions it, Fern puts the box onto the reception desk, and one hand disappears into a pocket in her skirt to dig out her phone. She produces it, pushes a button, then another. And another. And she looks up with an apologetic smile, "It's just here, in my contacts...."

The receptionist quirks a brow as Fern mentions she has the CEO's number. She looks like she's seen this act before, but her professionally friendly air never leaves. The guard looks away, though he's still keeping an ear on the conversation. As Fern digs through her phone, the blond picks up her handset. "Let me call up there and see if he's available," she says as she dials the 4-digit extension for Justin's secretary. "May I have a name, please?"

Fern stops pushing buttons at once, looking relieved and grateful as her eyes slip back to the blond. "Oh, that would be great, thank you so much. "It's Fern. Fiddlehead," she adds hastily. Then adds again, in case Justin might need further reminding, "From Anita Bella." There, that should be ample information. She looks away politely, pretending not to be listening to the woman's half of the conversation.

With a nod, the receptionist waits patiently for the other end of the line to pick up. "Mister Hammer? There's a woman here named Fern-" She cuts off, blinks, then answers hastily. "Yes sir." Cradling the handset again she looks up toward the red head. There's a bit of surprise on the woman's face, she had fully expected to send the visitor packing. "Please sign into the guest book, and wear this visitor badge at all times. Just let his secretary know he's expecting you." With a practiced motion the receptionist slides a white visitor's badge onto the guest book, along with a pen. "Take the elevators to the 20th floor, you'll see his secretary's desk as soon as you step off." The guard too looks a bit shocked as the woman is granted immediate access. That doesn't happen very often.

Slipping her phone back into her pocket, Fern's head snaps back, at first wondering if there's a problem by the way she stopped so abruptly. But her face eases as instructions are given, and she reaches for the badge and the pen to sign in. As she puts down her name, she comments, "Twentieth? Wow, that's up there. Must be a great view." Fern's back to pleasantly conversational, eased by being granted passage. Book signed, she clips the badge to her dress strap and picks the little box back up. She turns, looking for the elevator, then points to it and looks back to the blond. "Over there. Thanks. Have a good day." The last includes a look at the guard as well, and she turns, padding to push the button for the lift. She waits a moment for a car to come down, and of course it's not the one she's standing right in front of, and she gets in with a few others. She the last one by the twentieth floor, and she steps off, heading immediately for the secretary's desk.

The 20th floor is a lot different than the lobby. While the lobby was done in light stone and stainless steel, the executive floor has rich hardwoods, dark carpeting and has an almost art-deco feel. The large secretary's desk is facing the elevators, and the thin, bleach-blond woman behind it is busy doing... Something. She looks up instinctively as the elevator doors open and offers a strained smile. "Good afternoon, may I help you?" She clearly lacks the practiced professionalism that the receptionist downstairs had.

There's a totally different ambiance up here that Fern catches immediately, and she takes a quick glance around. It feels warmer than the lobby to the young waitress. She stops before the secretary's desk, the smile there again, "Hi. I'm here to see Mister Hammer.... he's expecting me." The quality of the other woman's smile isn't lost on Fern, and there's a gentleness to her words. If she were to guess, she would imagine that it's a bit stressful, before the boss is to leave on a days long trip. Perhaps even moreso with some bosses.

The secretary just stares at Fern for a moment. She then looks down at the plotter on her desk, searching over the scrawls that are there. A quick glance over the raised front of the desk would reveal a rather disorganized mess. It's really no wonder that the woman loses phone messages left and right. "Um, I don't have any appointments on the schedule. Are you sure he's expecting you today?" She doesn't sound hostile, more lost than anything. It's pretty obvious she's more than a little overwhelmed at her job.

The large wood-paneled door behind the secretary's desk swings open, And Justin steps out, adjusting his suit coat. He starts to say something to the secretary, but looks up and spots Fern. He smiles immediately, far more honestly than he's probably ever done while at the office. "Fern," he greets. "What a pleasant surprise!" The secretary looks back at the CEO with a completely shocked expression, head turning to follow him as he walks past the desk and to the red-headed woman. This is obviously very unusual behavior.

"Oh, no," Fern hastens to reassure, "I don't have an appointment but the woman at reception phoned up. She gave me a tag," the redhead says, lifting her empty hand to give the I.D. badge a flap. "They told me to...." Her words cut off as the door opens, and Fern's smile brightens even further. "Justin! I just wanted to stop by and see you for a minute before you go, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting." She steps forward, then stops and glances to the secretary. She was going to give a quick hug, but this is his business and maybe Justin prefers to be businesslike?

Honestly, Justin wouldn't have cared had Fern hugged him. As it is, he doesn't pay attention to the secretary's shocked expression. "No, not interrupting at all. I could use the break anyway. Come on back." He motions toward the office, and waits for Fern to walk toward the open door before he follows. His office his large, well, huge really. To the left of the door is a large conference table with a set of six chairs around it, and a wet bar along that wall. To the right is a seating area, and several sets of bookshelves with various volumes and a few kick-knacks. The large, solid wood desk sits in front of the picture windows that run the entire back wall of the office, looking out over the rest of the facility and the water beyond. There's a pile of papers on the desk that look like they were hastily shoved into a folder, next to a half eaten bag of candy orange slices. The rest of the office is extremely clean, Justin being a bit of a neat freak.

Fern turns back to the secretary, offering a quick, "Thank you." Then her attention is back on Justin, and she slips past him, turning to talk as she walks. "I didn't even think to make an appointment, stupid of me." But she's not exactly from a place where you make appointments to see friends. No one is really that busy. She looks back to watch where she's going and stops suddenly just inside. "Wow." It's honest admiration of the sheer size of the room. Before Justin can bump into her from behind, Fern steps forward again, moving right past the desk and stepping up to the wall of windows. "How do you get anything done up here? I'd be watching the water all day long." She turns away from the view to face Justin, looking absolutely delighted. He's already seen her penchant for taking the ferry for no reason, this is just another display of her love of water.

Justin pushes the door to, but not completely shut after he walks into the office. The secretary is still watching, completely bewildered at the CEO's sudden change in demeanor. "For you, no appointment necessary. I'll have Liz put your name on the pass list." Grinning, he walks over to stand next to Fern, looking out the window as well. "That's why the desk faces the door instead of the windows," he comments lightly, motioning back toward the hardwood table. "Though, the view would be a lot better if 'Jersey wasn't right on the other side of the water."

Fern's nose wrinkles at Justin and she teases lightly, "And that's why you're the boss. You think of everything." She looks back at the view and can't resist adding, "I still bet you spend enough time with your chair turned around." At the CEO's motion, Fern turns and steps over to the table, setting the box down very precisely, as if it holds a delicate treasure. "I brought you something to take on your trip." It's a box from Anita Bella, holding five perfect cannoli. Each one is in it's own plastic sandwich bag, sealed up. She waits for him to open the box before she goes on. "There's one for every day you're gone, so you'll think of home. I wrapped them so they'll stay fresh," she explains, looking up at him, hoping it's a pleasant surprise.

Justin laughs lightly. "How'd you guess?" he responds to her teasing him about sitting facing the windows. It's true, he does spend a lot of time looking out over the facility when he's trying to puzzle through a problem. He turns when she sets the box down, already having a good idea of what might be in the box. He picks it up, opening the lid and grins. "I'll do my best to only eat one of them a day," he says with a smirk. That alone will be a challenge for him. "Thank you, Fern. I appreciate it." If Liz, the bleach-blond secretary had heard that, she probably would have died of shock.

"One a day," Fern scolds lightly, holding one finger up for emphasis. Still, her clear amusement kills any chance of her being taken entirely seriously, and she nods. "You're welcome, Justin. And if you come in when you get back, I'll treat you to another to welcome you home. Gives you a reason to come back." As if just his entire life being here in the city isn't reason enough, surely a cannoli would be the deciding factor. She turns, leaning lightly against the table's edge, crossing her legs at the ankles. "I didn't really expect the building to be so big. And so many people work here!"

Justin holds his hands up defensively, though he's grinning as well, so it's hard to take his gesture seriously either. "Alright, I promise to only eat one of them a day. And I'm holding you to that." He leans back against the desk as well, crossing his arms over his chest, gazing out the window. "Yeah, this facility is pretty large. We have a pretty good chunk of real estate here on Staten Island. It's almost four times the size of the Queens facility. Moving out here was a huge step in business." And a costly one. He was criticized for the huge building project when the economy was slowing and the government was threatening budget cutbacks. Luckily things had worked out. It was a gamble that paid off.

She's not really one to stand still a lot, and it's only a few moments before Fern straightens and moves so she can look out the window as well, standing near Justin. "So now whenever I get the bug to ride the ferry, I'll actually have someone to come see," she says brightly. "I'll sneak up here to catch you turned around, looking out the windows." A giggle comes with this, and a light nudge of her arm against his. "What all goes on here?" She's genuinely curious, it's clearly not simply offices, and there's got to be a lot happening to keep so many people busy.

The CEO looks toward Fern when she bumps him. He chuckles. "I'll have to have Liz warn me to turn back around when you come by." When asked about the facility, he looks back toward the windows. "We do a lot of research and development, build and test some prototypes here. Light manufacturing, though most of the heavy manufacturing is handled in Texas. Aerospace is mostly centered in Colorado, and software in San Jose." Justin points out toward a large, low building toward the middle of the complex. "That's our local aerospace research building. Next to that one," he points to the right slightly, "That's our conventional weapons labs. On the edge of the complex, there, is the civilian research center." That's only a few of the buildings in the sprawling complex.

"I'll ask her not to," is countered with a grin. "Besides, I know you'll be doing it anyway." Fern looks to where Justin indicates as he notes just a few points of interest. She shakes her head, looking unabashedly impressed. "This is probably as big as a quarter of my home town." Maybe not quite, but it's sure far bigger than any single business there. Her head tilts as she looks up to Justin questioningly, "Civilian research? Is that research on civilians or by civilians?"

Hammer can't help but laugh. "No, research and development on products for the civilian market. We do make some stuff that doesn't explode." He offers a lopsided grin. "Yeah, it's a pretty large facility. It's the largest of the four main facilities that Hammer Industries operates. We do a lot of our primary planning and development here." Since New York is Justin's 'hometown', it only stands to reason that this would be his primary base of operations.

Fern swipes an arm across her forehead theatrically, "Whew. So I don't have to worry that now that I've seen the place, you have to lock me up." Looking away from the view, she turns slightly to face him. "I see now why you're so busy all the time. You've got a huge business to run." There's an emphasis on the word huge, and still, she looks impressed. "I think the only other person I've known that runs a big business is Warren Worthington."

A bit of pride crosses Justin's face at the praise. "Nope, won't lock you up. You can't see any of that stuff from here," he says with a smirk. "I'm pretty proud of this place. Built it from the ground up. Seventeen years of blood, sweat and tears. And a marriage." He blinks when Fern mentions Warren Worthington, turning his head to look at her. "You know Warren Worthington too? You sure do have some incredibly high-end connections." It never ceases to amaze him how many people Fern knows, and the type of people. He guesses being a waitress puts you in the path of all sorts of folks.

There's a pause before Fern sighs lightly, looking back out at the complex that sprawls out toward the water. "We went out a few times. We don't really talk any more." The note of disappointment in her voice is followed with another light sigh, and she straightens, her smile coming back as her eyes return to the tall business mogul. "I'm always out, or at work. It's easy to meet a lot of different people." Plus, as he likely well knows by now, she's not exactly shy about talking to people and getting them to talk back.

The redhead has a gift for getting people to talk, that's for sure. Normally Justin wouldn't have given someone like her the time of day, much less struck up a friendship. He nods lightly. "I think I've run into him at big social functions, but I don't really know him." He really doesn't know what to say about the fact that Worthington and Fern aren't talking anymore. That sort of thing he's really, really bad at. The slight subject change is a relief. "Bet you do. I'm sure a lot of different people visit the restaurant."

Fern glances around, noting the folder on Justin's desk, and that brings her back to the moment and the fact that he's a busy man and his time is probably a lot more valuable than she suspected until now. She stands up straight, brushing her hands over her skirt, smoothing it needlessly. "I should let you get back to your work. I'm sure you have a ton of things to do still before you're ready to leave." She steps in front of him with a smile, reaching to straighten his already straight tie. "I hope your trip goes well. Come home safely." And now she does step forward, to get the hug she shied away from in front of his secretary.

Justin shrugs lightly. "Guess I should, trying to run a few last figures before I head out," he offers lightly, standing up as well. He doesn't flinch away when the woman straightens his tie, having grown accustomed to Fern's forward behavior. Besides, he can go back to being a standoffish jerk after she's gone. The hug also doesn't surprise him, and for the first time, he actually returns it. Politely, of course. "I'll let you know when I'm back in town," he offers with a light smile. "Don't let the city explode while I'm gone."

Fern steps back, grinning up at Justin. "I'll do my best, Mister Hammer," she promises. She turns to go, but stops and turns back suddenly, her skirt flaring lightly. "Oh, I'm really good with math... you weren't having a problem with anything, were you?" While she looks unassuming, and probably least like a math whiz of anyone most people will ever know, figures come easily to her, as does remembering things. Very handy when learning lines, that. She uses the math less, just by virtue of having chosen to pursue a creative rather than analytical profession.

Justin turns and starts to walk toward the door as Fern leaves, but stops as she turns. "Oh? Oh, no... Wish it were that simple. Trying to decide on materials for a project, so that I can properly quote it." And seeing as how the project is for a very important and very picky government agency, the balance between cost and material durability is a critical decision. "Though if you're good with that sort of thing, I may have a job for you." He grins.

His grin is returned once more, although Fern's holds an apologetic cast. "That's probably out of my pay grade," she quips lightly. And then she's back on her way, moving easily to pull the not-quite-shut door open and step back out of Justin's office. "Enjoy the cannoli, Justin, and call me when you get home so I know you're safe, hm?" She looks to the blond secretary, flashing her friendly smile. "Hope you have a good rest of the day," is offered to the woman as Fern passes on her way back to the elevator. The button is pressed, and the little waitress turns back for one more thing to Justin. "Bring me a present," she teases lightly. There's a ding and the doors open. Fern steps inside, turns to push the button, and raises one hand for a finger-wiggle wave before the doors close and she's on her way back down to the lobby.

Justin follows Fern to the door, standing in the open entryway after she steps past. "I will," he assures the waitress. He chuckles at the comment about the present. "If i find something interesting, I'll bring it back for you," he comments as Fern boards the elevator.

During the entire exchange Liz, the secretary, just stares, jaw agape. Never before has an exchange like that taken place, and she doesn't at all understand it. Her boss acting like a reasonable, friendly person? She doesn't even respond to Fern's well wishes, she just looks between the two unable to believe what she just saw.

Reaching the lobby once more, Fern unclips the badge as she walks toward the reception desk. She waits a moment, then smiles as this blond looks up and Fern catches her eye. The badge is offered, along with a typically pleasant, "Thanks so much for your help, it was so nice of you. I think a little break was just what Justin needed." She turns away and heads for the door, perhaps unknowingly having given fuel for a bit of office gossip and speculation.