Author's Note: Thanks for the comments, criticisms, and votes everyone! You're all utterly amazing individuals, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
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"And I think that's about it, Sierra. So, now that we've been through the entire building, what do you remember seeing that stuck out to you?" Mike asked curiously of his newest trainee. "I've marked three things, if that helps any."
"Ah, yeah. Um." She held up her own clipboard full of notes, flipping through them quickly to refresh her memory. "Some of the plumbing wasn't up to code, there were signs of cracking in the foundation from bad concrete pouring that needs to be addressed, and.." She continued some flipping of pages, Mike watching patiently. All things considered, there wasn't any rush, so long as they finished up that day. ".. there were some concerns with some of the electrical in the building, primarily the third and fourth floors."
Mike didn't need to check his own notes on that, he knew she was right. "Spot on, good work. We'll need to make sure we go into the details of exactly what and where the issues are, but it's a solid start." He lifted his right arm to check his watch and the time on it. It was just after noon. "I think it's getting to be about lunch time. How about we go grab something to eat? It's Friday, it's the end of your first week, my treat. For a job well done."
"Really?" Sierra seemed excited, nodding at him. "Got any place in mind?"
"I know a nice barbecue place down the road, that interest you any?"
"Sure!"
Sierra was the first of his trainees that his company had hired as the 'next generation' of building inspectors. At the time, Cooper - his boss - had mentioned that he'd picked a good one for him, and he hadn't really considered what that meant until he got a good look at her. He should've guessed, if it was enough to get Cooper to say something about it, it had to have been an attractive woman.
Attractive was probably an understatement. Sierra stood about 5'7", with short, fiery red hair that came down to her shoulders, surprisingly well-kept and perfectly straight, though currently somewhat hidden and suppressed by her hardhat. She had a body reminiscent of Emma's when she was younger: tight, athletic, tomboyish were probably good words to describe her. Her breasts certainly weren't modest, D cups that pressed against the overalls she'd chosen to wear to work that day, making them seem even bigger than they actually were as the material kept her held up. It was certainly enough to distract some of the workers in the building.
Her hips were a bit less than what he'd normally consider 'baby making hips', but not by much. He also noted that her ass was somewhat tighter than he'd prefer on a woman, but that certainly wouldn't deter him from admiring it from time to time while she was distracted, and though he suspected her thighs were fairly thick, she tended to wear things that made it difficult to assess that. All in all, a hell of a trainee, and he was glad that it wasn't Cooper training her. No doubt they'd have never gotten anything done.
Judging by the resume he'd perused in the days before receiving her as his trainee, he'd discovered that Sierra was fresh out of her exams and had just earned her license, which, after four years or so of relevant experience, made her just shy of her 23rd birthday by that point. He knew that she had plenty of relevant experience, but there were some types of buildings that she just hadn't gotten her hands on quite yet, like the multi-story office building under construction they were assigned to, so he wanted to make sure she received plenty of experience there as well.
"So, tell me a little bit about yourself," Sierra spoke up after their orders had been placed and the waitress had wandered off. "It's been a whole week and you haven't really told me anything about you. All I really know is your name."
Normally, Mike would've been eager to tell her about himself, but since most of his time recently had gone almost entirely into his relationship with Emma, and he couldn't exactly explain that to others, he'd chosen to keep himself somewhat distant from her. There may have also been a little bit of frustration revolving around her as well, but that wasn't entirely her fault. They'd moved into a larger office space before her arrival, and he had several people beneath him now, so he lacked the privacy that he used to have. Which meant that the occasional blowjob from Rachel had completely evaporated, because the risk was just too high.
So after a long pause to collect his thoughts, he answered her.
"Well, you know my name is Michael Hall, I'm 23 and already a senior inspector for the company," he explained, pulling over his glass of ice water. "I got into an internship when I was younger and more rebellious, since my parents figured it'd be a good way to curb those tendencies, and they were right. That sorta fast tracked me, putting me ahead of my peers, and I received my license just before I turned 20." He paused to let her take all that in, watching her sip at her soda, an expectant look on his face.
"Uh." He tried to consider what else was worth telling her. "I'm an Aquarius, I love horror movies.."
"No way, I love horror movies too! What's your favorite?"
Mike shook his head, almost ashamed to admit it. "You'd laugh."
"No way. Come on," she grinned, trying to pressure him.
"Fine, fine, relax. When I was younger, the first horror movie I watched was Hellraiser, and that kinda stuck with me," Mike explained with a laugh, looking away from her. Surprisingly, she didn't seem at all judgmental.
"Hey, Hellraiser is solid. Pinhead is super cool, and the Cenobites as a concept are pretty interesting. Maybe we can watch it together sometime?" She asked hopefully, leaning forward in eager anticipation.
Mike watched her closely, as if trying to consider her intent. There was something about this girl that stuck out to him. Maybe it was her energy and the almost puppy-like attraction to her superior. She'd stuck with him pretty closely almost from the moment they'd started, close enough that he was able to smell something akin to oranges almost constantly while they were doing inspections. Probably a perfume or body wash she liked to use. He certainly didn't mind the scent, it reminded him of something when he was a child, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. It was a nostalgic scent.
