Chapter 2 East City

I arrived in East City with no idea as to when I was to report in for work, so I ended up having to call the office to ask- so embarrassing. I stopped at a diner and used the bathroom. I changed into my work attire- a white blouse and a navy blue skirt that stopped a few inches above the knees- and headed over to Mustang’s office with determination in my veins and a heavy heart.
I asked the receptionist at the front desk the directions to his office and headed up the stairs. Down the hallway, I came to the door I needed. Rotating my auto mail arm, I hoped no one would ask about my past experiences back home. My past was not something I wanted to discuss. Let’s just say my childhood wasn’t blissful and leave it at that.
Knocking, I opened the door. A blonde woman greeted me. “You must be Miss Bradford. We’ve been expecting you. I’m Lieutenant Hawkeye,” she extended her hand towards me. She seemed nice enough, but if there was one thing I had learned over the years, it was that looks were deceiving.
I shook her hand eagerly, “Call me Lara, Lieutenant Hawkeye.” I saluted her when she released my hand.
“Lara, I’m very pleased to have you on the team. I know you will make a great asset. You came highly recommended. It seems you were quite the decorated officer before…” she didn’t know how to phrase my being fired for my little incident, so she changed the subject. “This is your office,” she indicated to the small room. “And, through that door is Colonel Mustang’s office. Have you done secretarial work before?”
“Yes, I have,” I nodded, glad to have dropped the previous subject; I didn’t want to have to explain myself to everyone, though I was prepared to have to tell Mustang. “Isn’t that where everyone starts out?”
She laughed lightly, nervously. “Great, then we won’t have to train you.” She headed for the door. “Mustang wishes to meet with you to get the rules and guidelines out of the way. He might have some questions for you as well. Best not to keep him waiting.” She shut the door quietly behind her.
I went and set my bag behind my large mahogany desk, upon which sat an old type writer. Opening a drawer, I threw my crap inside. I needed to get a place to stay as soon as possible. I straightened my skirt and knocked on Mustang’s door.
“Come in,” came a deep baritone voice.
Taking a deep breath, I entered. I could do this. I would keep my temper in check, and I would not blame Mustang for my being here. It was my fault that I had been demoted, not his. I got myself in this mess, so I had to come out with a cool head.
“Ah, you must be Miss Bradford, my new secretary,” he said. He was standing, looking out the window when I entered. He turned and gave me a once over. I felt a little unsettled by his scrutinizing glance.
“Lara,” I nodded.
He came over to me and shook my hand. “Lara. I’m please to meet you. I take it you know what needs to be done.”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Good. So that’s all out of the way,” he walked around his desk and took a seat, motioning for me to sit in the seat opposite him. I did.
He grabbed a file. “According to your file, you were a colonel before moving here?” he asked as he looked it over.
“That is correct.”
“Are you hoping to move yourself back up?”
“Yes. Eventually.” I was glad he hadn’t asked me to be specific on what had happened in my demotion.
He nodded. “It doesn’t say much about your history prior to you being a colonel. Tell me about it.”
I frowned. “Well, there isn’t much to tell. My father got me the job as a secretary for the state, and I got promoted until I was a colonel.”
He went on to ask me various other questions pertaining to the job, and I answered to the best of my ability.
“When do you want to start?” he asked when he was done asking questions.
“Right now.”
“Good. You can start by filing some papers for me,” he said, handing me a stack of papers from his desk.
“I’m on it.” I nodded again. I felt like a bobble head the way I was always nodding to everyone’s questions.
I was about to walk over to his filing cabinet and start, but he continued, “Oh, and I love the uniform. How did you know that mini skirts were mandatory?” He smiled pervertedly.
I could have groaned out loud. Ugh, not another guy that was only interested in my looks. It made me sick that that was all guys looked for. I had other good assets other than my body. Why couldn’t guys look beyond the exterior?
I forced a smile and headed for the filing cabinet and placed the folders in the correct files.

***Mustang’s POV***
Boy was she hot! I had to check to make sure my mouth had stayed closed when she walked into the room. Her gorgeous blonde almost silver hair bounced on her shoulders, and her ocean blue eyes lit up the room.
I watched her long, smooth, sexy legs as she walked towards the filing cabinet. Her butt was just the right size, and her body was curved in all the right places. Her legs were toned and muscular, as were both her arms. Too bad I don’t date anyone from the office.
Wild, uncontrollable fantasizes raced through my head. I tried to focus on a report that was due rather soon. It was about Ed and his missions. That little kid, I shook my head, what pieces of information would he bring back? Shuffling through a stack of papers, I looked for the daily paper. I had a five hours till my papers were due. I had a little time to myself yet.
“So,” I started, turning the page and saw the real estate section. “Have you made any lodgings?”
“Nope. All of my stuff’s in the other room. I don’t have very much. I used to move around a lot, so I didn’t keep a lot of personal things. I’m going to go house shopping after work or this weekend,” she replied as she closed the filing cabinet.
I noticed then that her hands weren’t bare, blue gloves on her hands. She caught me staring at them and said, “It’s not a problem if I wear them, is it?”
“Why do you wear them?” I asked, curious. No it wasn’t a big deal since I myself wear gloves.
“Well, why do you wear yours?” she retorted.
I stopped short, folding the paper and throwing it on my desk. She had no right to know why. She could easily tell my enemies, whether on purpose or accident, and I didn’t need them knowing how I could emit flames. It gave them the upper hand.
She must have read my mind. “You have your reasons, and I have mine. Now, what else can I do for you?”
“Get me some coffee,” I ordered, a little gruffer than I had intended. She could definitely hold her own.
I plopped down in my seat as she went to make me my coffee. I rested my chin in the palm of my hand and pretended to study the report laid out in front of me among the other papers I chose to ignore.
She was a feisty one, and she wasn’t afraid to mouth back. She seemed like a person with quick-wits. Though, I thought I sensed a hurting heart behind her façade. She was quick to cover it up to make me second guess myself, but I was sure it was there.
She came back then with the coffee in hand, “Anything else?” she asked with sarcastic sweetness.
“There are some stacks of paper on your desk. Start with that,” I told her nodding to her desk.
She nodded and walked out of the room in a smooth, graceful way that only she could pull off. She didn’t wear high heels, but flats. She seemed like a tomboy. But, I couldn’t help wondering what she had done to get demoted. Her file said she had been a great soldier. Though, the reason of her discharge had been classified. How could a colonel, someone of my rank and caliber go and get themselves into so much trouble that the military wanted demoted you to secretary and booted you out of their office.
“Leave the door open. I’ll close it if need be, or I’ll yell for you,” I told her when she had started closing the doors. “I like to see out my office doors.” I liked to know what my subordinates were doing- if they were screwing off.
“Sure thing,“ She nodded again as she took a seat at her desk and turned on her computer. She looked through the stack of papers. From where I was sitting, I could see her at her desk. Good. I could keep an eye on her- make sure she was doing what she was supposed to.

***Lara’s POV***
That Mustang was not going to get to me. I was better than stooping that low. I shook my head in my frustration. Was he trying to get under my skin with that pervertedness and sly wit of his? Well, I was smart too.
I was e-mailing some things for him to the furor. This was a simple enough job. I sighed as I pushed the send button. It just wasn’t my old job. I missed the nonstop action. The adrenaline rush was enticing. I missed being out on the front line.
I dug through my bag and placed a framed photo of Jane and Damion on the corner of my desk. I put my chin in my hand and just stared at the picture.
What would they think of me now? Proud? Upset? Disappointed? Anger? Disgusted? Okay? I sighed again. Were they watching over me? I sure hoped so, because I felt I would need their guidance.
Not that I deserved it. I didn’t even ask for it. I deserved to be with them. I deserved to die for them. I deserved to be where they were. I should have been the one that died.
“Staring at that picture isn’t going to make that paperwork go away,” Mustang said, pulling me out of my thoughts, startling me. “Sorry but you were so lost in thought, you didn’t hear me the first time.”
“I’m sorry. I was just…well, I was… I mean…” I stammered for an explanation. I wasn’t about to give away my biggest weakness.
He held up a hand to stop me. “It doesn’t matter to me. You can’t leave until the work is done. I’m heading out.” He handed me some papers. “These need to be handed in.”
I nodded, taking the papers. “See you in the morning,” I told him as he put on his coat, heading out. He gave a small wave as he let himself out. I frowned as I looked at what I had left to do. A lot. Shaking my head, I set to work. I wanted to go to bed at a reasonable time tonight. Though, it was far after dark when I finally left.
But, I wasn’t going home. I headed to the library. I needed to find some leads on the philosopher’s stone. Any little bit helped. I was pretty knowledgeable when it came the stone. Maybe Central’s library had more to offer about it than back home had. I snuck inside, as it was locked. I grabbed a few books and began reading through them. Most of it things I had already known. I stumbled upon a book that talked about all the state alchemists. Marcoh seemed very interesting. I wondered how I’d pull off finding him as he had been missing for quite a while now. It claimed he was a deserter. I couldn’t ask for that many sick days.
After two hours, I sighed, closing the books and returning them to their proper shelves. I needed to get home and to bed. I’d return tomorrow and check out some of the books so I could do a little leisure reading on my own. I wanted to look up the records to every known sighting or myth of the stone. Maybe I’d grab a book about all the alchemists and people on the higher ups.
Knowledge was my only weapon at the moment. I was no longer in a position of power to be able to pull off anything too outrageous. My main priority was finding Marcoh, though I hadn’t the slightest idea as to how to go about doing that.

Here's Chapter 2! Please leave comments so I know if you all like it enough for me to continue!