Title: Another Day, Another Dollar, Part 3 (#22, J ‘N B Series)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek AOS
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy
Summary: Comment!fic inspired by this pic post at jim-and-bones; office gossip flies and Janice finally realizes she is part of Kirk Enterprises, temp job or not.
Previous Parts: Another Day, Another Dollar, and a Daily Show? | Fight the Good Fight | Don’t Touch the Rock | A Tear Worth Gold | Another Day, Another Dollar, Part 2 | Pirates Read Too | The Case of the Mondays | Today’s Topic -Helmets! | The Case of the Mondays, Part 2 | Marked | Awesome Ideas Come from Awesome Brains | In the Keeping of a Spirit | The Case of the Mondays, Part 3 | The Case of the Mondays, Part 4 | The Case of the Mondays, Part 5 | Forewarned is Forearmed | The Case of the Mondays, Part 6 | The Case of the Mondays, Part 7 | The Case of the Mondays, Part 8 | The Case of the Mondays, Part 9 | Serenade

Janice’s temp job at Kirk Enterprises is surprisingly better than any job she has suffered through in the past. At first she thought she might die of boredom from answering phone calls all day and waiting for someone to find her something to do in the meantime. Then her coworkers seemed to realize she is a competent human being. Now Janice attends some of Jim’s—Mr. Kirk‘s meetings (is it wrong that she likes to think of him as her friend and not her boss?) to take her own notes rather than spending half a day deciphering Ji—MR. KIRK‘s “chicken scratch”, as Leonard McCoy so boldly calls it. They let her have full reign as the office administrative assistant: organizing schedules and company lunches, ordering supplies (why are there one hundred boxes of paper clips but never any scotch tape?), running off sales people, and handling the general affairs of non-salaried employees. In truth, while her work is not glamorous, it has purpose—and she is beginning to understand her job is to make certain everybody else is able to do their jobs without the interruption of the corporation’s smaller, day-to-day needs.

Also, Janice equates herself to the personal keeper of one James T. Kirk.

Her boss is the most disorganized man she has ever met. She didn’t find this out until she began to acquaint herself with his filing system (sadly there is none) and to keep track of his coming-and-goings for client purposes (everyone on Earth seems to want to know where Kirk is or when he’s due back in the office). It seems her boss hates to write anything down, and Janice is of the opinion his memory is too selective for that kind of nonsense. (How can he quote last month’s stock prices but fail to remember that out-going mail is due on her desk by 10 am?) Worse than that, Mr. Kirk’s generally chaotic habits involve post-it notes. He will scribble the last four digits of a client’s phone number on a yellow post-it then promptly lose said post-it only to have Janice later discover it’s somehow gotten stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Some days she can barely see his desktop for the random scattering of those stupid sticky notes. A lot of them are short messages to ‘Bones’, aka McCoy, his partner-in-crime (and in bed); she studiously ignores those love notes in public but sighs over them when no one is looking. She’s even seen her boss, busy talking on the phone to somebody, probably Mr. Spock, write GOOD MORNING on a pink post-it and then wave it at her face when she brings him a fresh cup of coffee.

In addition, the man ignores the simplest but most important rule of the business world: always look like a professional. He will walk into a board meeting with his undershirt exposed because he forgets he removed his tie and unbuttoned his dress shirt; the building’s heater likes to jam and tries to cook them in their cubicles so this scenario happens a lot. Sometimes he isn’t even wearing an undershirt. Janice has had minor heart palpitations over such a spectacle, by which she means his spectacular chest (God but the man is gorgeous and she’s single and he really, really isn’t which is a never-ending travesty); but she doubts the older gentlemen with whom Kirk regularly conducts business have the same feelings over his too-casual, just-woke-up-from-my-afternoon-nap-at-my-desk look.

To this extent, Janice keeps a man’s tie (it’s dark blue and pin-striped) in her desk drawer and feels it necessary to stall Kirk on his way to a business luncheon or a committee meeting to fix him into a proper state of appearance. The man usually takes her fussing with a silly salute, grinning good-naturedly as she presents his discarded jacket or tells him not to expose his socks to the light of day because they don’t match or have ducklings on them.

He often says, “What would I do without you, Janice?”

“Embarrass yourself,” she promptly answers while she pretends to be immune to his charms, and then later proceeds to hum happily at her desk for an hour or so afterwards.

Today is one of the days where she catches him sidling past her desk in a shirt practically unbuttoned to his navel, hands in his trouser pockets like he hasn’t a care in the world.

“Where are you going, Mr. Kirk?” Janice blurts out, fitting the phone receiver back into its cradle without making the phone call she intended to make.

“Oh, out,” he says over his shoulder.

Janice hastily abandons her swivel chair to scurry after him. “Mr. Kirk, wait, what about your 11:30 with Mr. Mudd?” She doesn’t like Harry Mudd—the man over-tans his skin and acts like he is God’s gift to women everywhere, only to canoodle them if they fall for him, or so she’s heard—but he is the primary vendor for their marketing and Kirk is obligated to sit down with the man once or twice a year.

“Mudd can reschedule” is the unperturbed reply.

They reach the double doors at the end of the hallway. Janice says anxiously, “Yes, sir. When will you be back?”

He pauses to look at her, absently twisting a ring on his finger. “A few hours.”

“By three?” she guesses, because it sounds like he is preoccupied with something important, something personal, and wait—where did that ring come from? She catches herself staring and steps back to smile politely, if somewhat apologetically, at him.

He returns the smile. “I won’t abandon ship, Janice. See you this afternoon. And if Mudd complains, hang up on him.”

Wouldn’t that be lovely if she could! Janice returns to her desk, already sifting through Jim’s work calendar which now resides in her brain to find a relatively late date next month to offer Mudd in light of his cancelled appointment. Then she sets about breaking the news to the poor man.

“Chris,” Janice murmurs in the office lounge as she refills her thermos with hot water to make tea, “have you noticed anything different about… him?“

“Which him?” Christine Chapel wants to know as she peels off the foil top on a yogurt cup. “McCoy?”

“Mr. Kirk.”

“Ooh, did you see his shirt today? Down to the second-to-last button.” She licks her yogurt spoon and adds “I like a man with light chest hair” at the same time the lounge’s door swings open to admit businessman Leonard McCoy.

“What now?” drawls McCoy.

Christine repeats her statement and follows it up with a more exuberant, “Don’t you agree?”

McCoy’s face flushes as red as Janice’s. They generally avoid looking at one another while Leonard makes a new pot of coffee. When he leaves, too quickly in Janice’s opinion, she turns to Christine to say, “Aren’t you worried he might consider that sexual harassment?”

Chapel waves away Janice’s inquiry. “Are you kidding? I’ve worked with Leonard for eight years now. He knows my brand of humor—and I know his.” She chuckles to herself. “In fact, I’m the one who recognized his bitching at Kirk as a ruse to hide his real feelings and so I told the man to get off his lazy butt and ask Jim out. He ranted for a day, but he did it. So, he kind of owes me now.”

“When was that?” Janice asks curiously.

“Hmm, five, no four and a half years ago?”

She exclaims, “They’ve been together for almost five years! Wow, I… I thought it was a recent thing.”

Christine perches on the edge of the only table in the lounge. “No, not really, though they still act like horny teenagers. I thought Mr. Spock was going to have a heart attack when he walked in on them making out over Jim’s desk.” She cackles. “Uhura had EMT on the line.”

She had been sick that day which is why nobody delayed Mr. Spock en route to Kirk’s office or warned Jim to quit necking with his boyfriend.

Janice’s thoughts circle back to her boss’s departure. “He was wearing a ring.”

Christine’s spoon clatters to the floor. “What?” Yogurt forgotten, the woman demands details.

“I don’t know, it was… just a ring? Plain?”

“A gold band?” Christine asks, hands fluttering with excitement.

Janice clutches her thermos. “Do you think…?” Her eyes widen.

“Wait here!” her colleague tells her. Then Christine hurries out of the lounge. When she returns less than a minute later Nyota Uhura is with her, looking trim and exquisite in her designer skirt and high heels.

Janice is pinned by Uhura’s lovely dark eyes. “What did you see, Janice?” the woman asks.

Unnerved by the rapt attention of her female coworkers, Janice tries to backtrack. “It was just a ring, Nyota. I’m sure it doesn’t… mean… anything. Oh and, Leonard isn’t wearing one!” she says as an afterthought and is surprised by the mutual disappointment in the air.

Christine and Nyota share a long look. Janice has the sneaking suspicion whatever plan they are silently agreeing upon, it means trouble for Janice. And Janice actually likes her job, not mention being able to pay her apartment rent.

“I’d better go back to my desk,” she announces and hurriedly slips between the two women to the door.

They don’t stop her or ask any other questions. Yet little does Janice realize even this early on her instinct is, of course, absolutely right.

“Leonard!” crows a woman from Accounting (Helen, who Janice doesn’t know very well) as McCoy almost swerves into Janice’s desk in his haste down the hall.

Janice cannot help but type more slowly so she can listen to the conversation.

“Can it wait?” McCoy says without preamble. “I ate at a Chinese restaurant across from that Asian market—”

“Oh no!” Janice interrupts, peeking around the corner of her cubicle. “Don’t eat at that place, Leonard! It will make you sick!”

When Helen and Leonard look at her, she sheepishly rearranges the small potted plant on her desk to appear busy and returns to her slow typing.

The grim tone of Leonard’s voice says he knows all too well about the sick part. “Sorry, excuse me…”

“Oh, Len,” Helen says, following his rapid strides along the hallway, “congratulations!”

“Not now, Helen,” mutters Leonard, who then plunges into the men’s restroom.

Helen comes back to the receptionist’s desk. “It’s about time they made it official,” she says wisely to Janice.

“Um, I know?” Janice agrees, having no clue what the CPA is talking about.

“Come in, Jan,” Jim Kirk calls as he bends over to tie the laces of one of his expensive leather shoes.

Oh, don’t mind me, she doesn’t say, eyeing his posterior, I am enjoying the view. Charcoal-colored slacks look so good on his—

Her boss straightens and ruffles his hair. “What can I do for you, Ms. Rand?”

Several answers flash through her mind. All of them will get her fired. Instead she waves a stack of papers in a familiar red folder at him.

Kirk’s sigh is both despondent and amused. “Do I have to?”

Janice lets the folder drop on his desk with a loud thump. “Please initial your approval on the forms I marked, sir,” she recites sweetly. “I’m leaving at five,” she reminds him, which means don’t expect me to stay late because you don’t like paperwork.

He starts twisting the ring on his finger, a habit Janice believes he has developed since he began to wear it a week ago. “I can’t stay too late myself,” he tells her. “I made plans for Bones and—I made dinner reservations,” he amends.

What kind of plans? Janice wonders, surprised at how he shifts from one foot to the next, a strange uncertain gesture. Not knowing what to say, she turns around to leave, only to stumble to the side as Leonard barges through the door with the demand, “Jim, what’s going on?”

The thin line of McCoy’s mouth says he isn’t happy.

Kirk stiffens.

“I, uh,” she sidles for the door, “I think my phone’s ringing…”

“Did you tell people we’re getting married?”

There is a stunned intake of breath from Jim. As if belatedly realizing what he is doing, Jim’s fingers fall away from the ring on his hand.

Leonard makes a wild gesture. “First I got cornered in the bathroom while taking a piss ’cause Mitchell wanted to know if we’re having separate bachelor parties. I couldn’t make sense of what he was sayin’ and THEN M’Benga, MY CLIENT, called me up to ask where to mail his wedding gift to us!”

Seeing the sudden pallor of her boss’s face, Janice makes a swift retreat, closing the door firmly on her way out.

Uhura exits her office across the room a moment after McCoy’s muted shout rattles the window blinds in Jim’s office. “What’s going on?” the VP calls to Janice. Chapel, perhaps catching the scent of trouble, hurries from between two cubicles, echoing the same question.

“I think,” Janice says in a hushed voice, “we misunderstood the significance of Mr. Kirk’s ring.”

“Of course not,” Nyota disagrees.

“Definitely we did not,” Christine says.

“Then Leonard isn’t the one Jim’s marrying!” Janice argues back.

A short silence ensues.

“Oh.” Christine looks to Nyota who crosses her slender arms with a frown. “…Then how did Leonard find out?”

“I heard Helen congratulating him, so she definitely knows about it,” Janice offers. “But I didn’t tell anyone.”

“I may have mentioned it to Scotty,” Nyota admits. “And I called Spock to make a point about relationships.”

Chapel looks upset. “I asked Marlena for catering ideas because she’s been Maid of Honor three times that I know of. I didn’t think Jim or Leonard would want to plan the details and thought I could help…” She glances at the suddenly quiet CEO’s office. “Oh my god. I feel awful! Was he really angry?”

“I think he was angry because he was surprised,” Janice hedges. Surely McCoy couldn’t have been upset at the idea of marrying Jim? Janice simply cannot fathom it.

Christine squares her shoulders. “I’m going in to explain. If they break up because of a stupid rumor—”

The door to Kirk’s office opens and Jim walks out with a flustered-looking McCoy on his heels begging “Jim, now wait a minute…”

“I have an announcement!” the CEO bellows.

People scramble from their hidey-holes to join Janice, Nyota, and Christine, clustering together and whispering.

“Janice,” Jim asks, “can you put me on the intercom?”

“Jim!” hisses McCoy, and his face is unusually red.

That’s when Janice notices Leonard’s left hand, now sporting Kirk’s ring. The squeak she makes is not feigned or shy. She prods at Christine with the excited words, “Look, he’s wearing it!”

Uhura declares with heartfelt relief and annoyance, “Jim, you dog, you scared us!”

“Scared who?” Jim wants to know.

Janice positions herself unobtrusively behind Nyota.

But Kirk doesn’t seem interested in anything except dragging McCoy to his side and slinging an arm around the man’s waist. “As you all know,” he begins, “I have pursued Bones for years—”

Leonard rolls his eyes but he doesn’t look nearly as peeved as he did when he stormed into Jim’s office.

“—and since he would never let me make our relationship officially known—”

“That’s true,” Christine whispers to Janice. “Leonard is afraid it’ll affect the business—or he used to be.” She winks.

“—I want to be the first to tell you this.” Jim grins. “I love this ornery old man.”

“Old?” Leonard snarls. “I’m only four years your senior!”

“I intend to marry him, though I now realize some of you have figured that out on your own.”

Janice claps not because everyone else is clapping but because she is genuinely happy to hear the news. Suddenly it doesn’t matter that her life is dismally empty; before her are two people who refuse to accept those terms for themselves. It gives her hope.

Jim accepts the congratulations with the ease of a true leader. Then he points out, somewhat jokingly, “I know we are aware of company policy and why we should always be careful of rumors, but this time I can gladly say ‘thank you’. You saved me from an embarrassing proposal at a fancy restaurant tonight. I even ordered a cake to hide the ring!”

Janice giggles; some people groan.

“Jim,” Leonard is saying, “you can’t put a ring in a cake. What if I’d choked on it?”

Jim mockingly bats his eyelashes at his fiancee. “Don’t worry, Bones, I would have given you the Heimlich Maneuver.”

Someone suggests celebratory drinks. Another person wants to know if the rest of the afternoon is a holiday.

Uhura says authoritatively, “Enough dawdling, people—Kirk Enterprises isn’t going to run itself! Congratulate the big man on finding his brain and we can discuss the wedding itinerary during lunch hour!”

“Wedding itin—” Jim chokes. “Uhura, no. Bones and I can hire a planner!”

Nyota flips her long ponytail. “I think not, Jim,” she says. “I have contacts. Spock will secure us the Hilton, and I hear Marlena has been a Maid of Honor three times! She can get us started in the right direction.”

“It’s a wedding, not a business project,” Leonard points out.

Janice turns to Nyota. “I would love to help. I read in a paper about a local man who makes swan ice sculptures.”

Christine adds, “What color should our dresses be?”

Marlena waves her nail clippers in the air from her cubicle to catch their attention. “There’s this little bistro who makes the most fabulous cream puffs.”

“Somebody is going to have to take them for a tuxedo fitting,” Nyota says a little loudly.

“I have the next two Saturdays free!” comes a cheerful response from the back of the office.

Janice hears the whimper “Bones, do something.”

“Like what, kid? This is why I’ve been warning you about men being outnumbered in the workplace. You just had to give them a reason…”

The phone rings, obnoxiously shrill. Janice hurries to her desk and answers it: “Kirk Enterprises. This is Janice speaking. How may I direct your call? Oh hello, Mr. Mudd! We may have to reschedule your appointment again… Our CEO’s getting married!”

-Fini

Tied to You

Related Posts:

• Another Day, Another Dollar, Part 4 (#40, J ‘N B Series) (40/40) – from March 29, 2013
• The Light In Which We’re Cast (#39, J ‘N B Series) – from March 20, 2013
• Playing Life to Win (#38, J ‘N B Series) – from March 14, 2013
• An Intergalactic Fandom (#37, J ‘N B Series) – from January 15, 2013
• We Fight to Win (#36, J ‘N B Series) – from January 4, 2013