Glance

Carly had been so excited when she got this job.  Finally, she could start a life of her own!  She had spent most of her childhood getting bounced between various foster homes, so she had been delighted to strike out on her own after she turned eighteen and graduated from high school.

However...her new career was not as glamorous as she had been led to believe.

"Ugh!" Carly grunted as the large stack of papers slipped from her arms and flew across the hallway.  Great...this was just perfect.  She'd spent all morning at the copy machine making this stack, and now she'd have to get it all back in order.  Hopefully, none of the copies had gotten dirty...if they had, her boss would not be pleased.  She prayed that no one would walk by and see her as she ran around grabbing the loose papers and muttering curses.

Finally, she'd rearranged them into a presentable pile.  Face burning, she ran the rest of the way to Mrs. Nishimura's office.

"Here are your papers, Nishimura-sama!" Carly gasped out as she dropped them on the nearest desk.

Mrs. Nishimura looked Carly over.  She was only the second-most-powerful staff member, but was possibly even more scary than the editor-in-chief.  With her imposing build, long nose, and severely-bobbed hair, she always made Carly feel like she was shaking in her shoes.  But maybe this time, she would finally appreciate all the hard work that Carly had done!

Carly's hopes were dashed, though, as Mrs. Nishimura said dismissively, "Good.  Now get me my coffee."

Carly managed to squeak out, "Yes, Nishimura-sama," dropped into a clumsy bow, and dashed out of the room.  She got quite a shock as she just managed to avoid colliding with another staff member who had been running into the office.

The second woman didn't even seem to notice Carly as she said in a panicked tone, "They've moved up the photo shoot!  He's coming here in half an hour instead of at four!"

Mrs. Nishimura looked shocked, but maintained her composure.

"Did they explain why they're doing this?" she asked.

"Uh...some last-minute TV appearance, I think."

"Well, there's no arguing with the director, is there?  Especially when the editor-in-chief is on a business trip.  Very well, then.  We will be ready for Jack in half an hour."

Did...did she just say Jack?!  As in Jack Atlas, the new celebrity that everyone was talking about?  Carly couldn't help emitting a very undignified squeal of excitement.  Unfortunately, this noise alerted Mrs. Nishimura to Carly's continued presence near her office.

"Didn't I tell you to get my coffee?" she snapped.

"Y..yes, Nishimura-sama.  Sorry, Nishimura-sama," Carly babbled as she ran off for real this time.

By the time she got downstairs, the news had already spread.  Everyone was running around in a panic trying to get things ready.  One person was wheeling in some very formidable-looking photography equipment.  Another was shouting commands at the workers who were setting up the studio lighting.  Still another person sped by with an armful of clothing.  In all this hubbub, Carly felt quite accomplished at how she managed to obtain the coffee and bring it back without spilling any.

As she approached the office, she could hear that the second woman was still in there talking to Mrs. Nishimura.

"Don't you find it odd, Nishimura-san?" she was saying, "I mean, this boy seemed to appear out of nowhere.  It all seems like a big marketing ploy to me."

"Well, of course it's a marketing ploy, Ikeda-san," Mrs. Nishimura sighed, "But that's not relevant.  The point is, they finally managed to find someone who can serve as a role model.  None of that nasty business with sex and drugs."

"Well, if you remember, that's what they thought about Manjoume Jun twenty years ago.  And look how he ended up embarrassing himself."

"True...but either way we win.  Anything about Jack Atlas is selling like mad right now.  But we all know how difficult he can be to work with, so we can always use that as a story if sales drop."

At this point, Mrs. Nishimura finally saw that Carly had returned.

"Well, don't just hang around gawking while the coffee gets cold!" she scolded.  Then she turned to the other woman and asked, "Can you believe how incompetent the help here is?" like Carly wasn't even there.

Much to Carly's relief, Mrs. Nishimura didn't have any objections over the coffee.

"I have no further chores for you at the moment.  You're dismissed," she said brusquely.

Finally!  Freedom!  Now what should she do?  Her lunch break wasn't for another couple of hours.  But then, as Carly passed by a window, she noticed the crowd of fans forming on the sidewalk below.  Somehow, they too had learned about the time change.

Wait...everything was in such an uproar, no one would notice if Carly was in that crowd!  She checked her watch. Ten more minutes until Jack got here.  Yes, that would be enough time.  Her heart started beating faster as she raced to the elevator.  She really wasn't allowed to leave the building unless it was her break or she was on an errand, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up!  When else would she have this chance to see the Jack Atlas in person?

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"Excuse me!  Excuse me!" Carly said over and over again as she pushed her way to the front of the throng of people.  She was determined to get as good a look as she possibly could.  At last, she found a spot where there were relatively few waving signs to impede her view.  Still, she had to stand on tiptoes to see over other people's heads.  Why did she have to be so short?

A loud cheer rang out as the limo drove into view.  Carly would have made noise too, but her heart was now pounding so quickly that she couldn't get a sound out.  She swallowed nervously.  Did cars always take this long to park?

The car stopped after what seemed like an hour, though it was probably only a few seconds.  Then...the front door opened!  Oh wait, false alarm, it was just the chauffeur.  Carly had forgotten that rich people even had servants to open their car doors.

But now...now!...the chauffeur was opening the back car door, and OHMYGOD THERE HE WAS!  He was impeccably-dressed as always, and looked even taller than he did on TV.  Carly blushed fiercely as she wondered whether all of him was that big.

Carly was so dazzled by this sheer physical perfection that it took her a bit to realize that something was a bit strange.  He seemed almost...sad.  No, he was probably just tired.  What on earth could Jack Atlas have to be sad over?

By now, he had almost reached the door.  This was probably Carly's last chance to see him for a long time.  She stood as high as she could on her toes to optimize the moment, wincing at the effort it took.

Jack had his hand on the door handle when he paused for the briefest of instants.  It wouldn't be until much, much later that Carly would learn that, of all things, the light reflecting off her glasses had caught his attention.  Then he turned his head and looked right at her.  He gave her a barely perceptible nod as he continued inside the building.

Carly hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath until her body automatically exhaled with a loud gasp.  She was so shocked that she hadn't fully processed what had happened.

"He...he looked at me!" she cried out loud, not fully believing it herself.

The girl next to her sniffed, "Did not.  He was looking at me!"  But she sounded slightly uncertain.

Carly just stood where she was for several minutes, until the crowd began to disperse.  Then she remembered that she'd have to get back in there before people noticed that she'd deserted her post.  She hoped that she'd get a second glimpse of Jack as she walked into the lobby, but he was long gone.

Well, at any rate, this was probably the most exciting thing that had happened to Carly in her whole life!  She was hard-pressed to think of anything that might top this.  And now...it was time to go back to work.

THE END