Craig had a box of little bits and bobs to set up at his new desk in the office that he was now in charge of. He was both excited and nervous at the same time. He smiled at the his fellow co-workers as he walked in. There was already a name plate there for him on his new desk--

Quote:

Craig Wickham
Floo Network Division Head

He picked it up and looked it over. "Very nice," he said with a smile. He put down his box and decided decorating and getting cozy was the least of his worries. He would much rather meet his fellow co=wrokers. He pulled the strap of his satchel off his shoulder and placed it on the desk. He took in a deep breath. He then walked at the front of the office. He turned to the employees and addressed everyone in his booming Australian voice.

"G'Day everyone! I'm Craig Wickham, your jackaroo Division Head. I thought we could all get to know one another before we get crackin' down on business." He took out his wand and with a flip of his wrist an empty desk nearby was transformed into a buffet of sweets. "Please enjoy everyone!"

Megan looked up when she heard the booming Australian voice, hmm well he seemed quite interesting, she might as well introduce herself to the new division head. She walked over to his desk, her high heels somewhat making a clinking sound as she walked. "Hello Craig, my name is Megan O'Reilly; I just was transferred here from working in the Portkey Office." She said in her Irish brogue.

"Oh, Miss O'Reilly, it's a pleasure to meet you. The Portkey divisions loss is our gain," Craig said as he held out his hand. He looked down at her shoes. "I was wondering where that clinking sound was coming from." He laughed. He showed her way over to the buffet of sweets. "Please feel free to try one of the lollies." He pointed out to a fruit-covered pastry. "Can I interest you in trying a Berry Tartlette? It's made with a sour dough crust, topped off with almond cream and fresh berries."

Megan extended her hand to shake Craig's, she was definately now looking forward to eventually getting some work done here. "Well I hope to use my knowledge of working in the Irish Ministry here." She said before he made a comment about her shoes. "Ah yes, I don't usually wear high heels because they drive me crazy" She commented then chuckled slightly.

"Ooh that sounds quite lovely" She said as she noticed what Craig was pointing to, she picked it up and ate it, letting the flavours dance around on her tongue; it was amazing. "Mmm, that is quite delicious" She said before taking another bite.

"Well, you can relax around here Miss," Craig said. "I would rather my employees be as comfortable as possible. Next time bring some flats, or sandals... for that matter." He gave her a wide grin. "What area of Ireland are you from? Ulster? Connaught? Leinster? Munster? That's fascinating that you worked at the Irish Ministry, how different was it from here?"

"That's straight from my dad's bakery," he said delightedly. He was very proud of his father's business. "I hope to bring in a new treat every morning. Don't want my co-workers to lack in energy!" He grabbed an Éclair and took a bite. "Mmm pistachio, one of my faves!"

"Now that is a great idea, I'll have to be leaving my high heels at home then." Megan said then chuckled a bit before she listened to his next question. "Specifically I'm from Kilkenny, born there and I moved to London when I turned 11 with my parents. Oh working in the Irish Ministry was definately interesting, I was working in the field with portkeys; I found that we always had paperwork to do and frankly its pretty easy getting a hand cramp after filling out portkey authorizations for hours on end." She commented to Craig, she liked working in the British Ministry more because there wasn't as much paperwork to do constantly.

"Well that should keep us going throughout the day, I have to say that my former division head hadn't given us anything like this so we were all like super tired halfway through the day." She said and then took another bite of the tartlette that she was holding.

"You know what?" Craig said. "Take them off now, this is a time to relax!" He took off his shoes and took out his wand and cast a fresh scent charm on his feet (just in case). Then he addressed the room, "Everyone! Let's take off our shoes and let our hair down. This days is strictly about getting to know one another and relaxing a bit. Just don't forget your fresh scent charm for some of those smelly toes!" He laughed. Craig felt relieved a bit cause his new shoes were rubbing his feet a bit.

He turned back to Megan. "Much better. Well, your hand can relax in the this department, I like to be a bit more hands on. Yes, there will be a little paperwork, but nothing that should cause you to take a trip to St. Mungo's."

"Well if you have any preferences to what you might like, my dad is willing to try anything!" He finished eating his eclair. "Mmm...delicious. I just hope you don't think I'm trying to fatten you up, just a little boost can go a long way."

Megan raised an eyebrow slightly at what Craig told her and the rest of the employees, well this was going to be definately interesting working here for sure. She took off her high heels and then took out her wand and cast a fresh scent charm on her feet, not that she needed to really but still it was a good idea now. "Well that's good, I perfer more hands on work to paperwork so I think I'm going to really like working here." She said and smiled a little bit.

"Hmm well, one of my favourites is a combination of chocolate and hazelnut in an eclair." She said then finished off her tartlette, it was just absolutely delicious. "I don't think that actually, I quite appreciate this gesture for our division."

"Well I am always open to new ideas," Craig said as he picked up an opera pastry. He took a big bite. "My dad can't do wrong." He turned back to Megan, "So what would you like to see happen in this division? What were some things implied at the Irish Ministry that you would perhaps like to see here?" He leaned up against the table and took a more relaxing position and crossed his arm, with the pastry in hand. He was very interested in what she had to say, he was very open to new ideas and wanted the division and the department to look good.

A paper plane came flying through the door, and flickered over Craig Wickham's desk.
It had the stamp of the Department of Disaster and Catastrophes.



After being read, he stayed flat, waiting for an answer. As soon as he got one he folded himself as a plane again and flew away.

Craig was a little surprised to see a memo coming in. I mean it should be expected, he was getting memos all the time. He read it and as he did so he smiled. Especially at the end, where it said "Love, Melanie." He quickly wrote down his answer and before the ink could dry it flew on its way.

ooc: instead of double posting, I'm going to continue like it's some time later.

.....Later

Craig was at his desk and going over paper work at his desk. He was brainstorming ideas on how to improve floo powder. It was kind of difficult to concentrate because he was thinking of his girlfriend. Girlfriend, such an interesting term. He kept replaying their morning together. Melanie's scent was still on his clothes. He was tempted to head up to her department to see what she was up to, but he thought if he did he would never want to leave her. After all they had the rest of their lives to see one another.

He looked at his office. It was very plain. He had a poster up of the Thunderlarra Thunderer, next to this season's Quidditch schedule. He had a picture of his parents who were dancing in a park, and another picture of when he was a baby giggling and looking up at his doting parents. There were stacks of files everywhere, much like his apartment's office. He couldn't seem to separate his work from home.

Craig's desk was extremely plain. Just a tray of papers, a small little lamp, not pictures and a thing with quills stuffed in it. He sighed, "Too bad I don't have a picture of my Melanie." He dwelled on the thought, maybe it was a good thing cause he wouldn't get any work done probably because he would be staring at her picture. He regained his concentration and returned writing down ideas for the division.

Melanie came in, being pulled by her elbow by Craig. She had busted written all over her face. She felt embarrassed, to be caught leaving the room like that, she wasn't sure he he had saw her there by the door, but either way... she was the one that could be mad, he was charming, she knew that, in fact that was one of the things that captivated her in the first place, it was only natural that other females noticed that as well.

But she wasn't feeling mad, she was just insecure, she knew she could trust him but that didn't seem to push the jealousy away.
She stayed silent, after all he came to her, and told her he needed to talk to her. "What?" she asked him, a little too harsh than she intended to, after all she was a little mad and she didn't even know it.

Craig shut the door behind them, so they would have some privacy. He didn't know if he was mad because she didn't trust him or if was so happy to see her because he had been missing her all day.

"What?" he said in her same tone. "You're the one in my department remember?" He went over and say in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. "Have a seat please," he said indicating a seat on the other side of his desk. He kept his tone straight, not giving anything away. "So..." She wasn't picking up on his hint. "Are you going to explain yourself?"

Craig was trying not to smile. He wasn't really angry at all. Just surprised more than anything. She was absolutely gorgeous. He kind of tilted his head a bit, he was trying to figure out why she smelled like smoke of all things, it was not pleasant, it covered up her beautiful natural scent.

She changed her weight from foot, to foot. She wasn't sure what to tell him. She didn't want to seem silly, telling that she went there to see him but then gave up.

She walked up to his desk but didn't stop, still moving awkwardly, twitching her fingers, looking at him, all laid back, feet on the table. She felt like pushing his feet down just to pick on him. He was so secure of himself, she couldn't tell if he was angry or anything.

She let the minutes pass, her mind working as fast as it could to try and get out of that situation gracefully, but she couldn't. "I went to see you" she said, calmly " but then I changed my mind" ok, it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't entirely true as well " I just thought I shouldn't barge in your department party like that.." and she looked around his office, empty. She could still hear the music as a low murmur in the background.

"And I should probably get back tom mine too" she said slightly pointing her chin up, trying to look calm, like she didn't feel jealous at all.

He took his feet off his desk and scooted forward toward his desk, his hands were clasped and he put them on the desk, very business like. His mind was totally opposite from the way he was acting...

Just kiss her. Stop messing her and just go with what you feel. No...that could lead to...other stuff and you could get fired, you putz. But, with everyone at the party...but someone could walk in... No. No. Stop it, this isn't the time or place. Right.

"If you wanted to see me, why didn't you send an owl instead? You could have sent a memo, like before." He looked at her in the eyes, trying to not show one glimpse of emotion. Kiss her... "What were you expecting to see when you came here?" Stop playing with her... He made his voice deeper, "Do you not trust me?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. Her lips pursed, she titled her head to the side, not sure what to do, he was starting to get on her nerves. What's wrong with him, she thought.

"I'll try to remember that next time I try to surprise you... ooops, then it won't be a surprise will it?" she threw at him not caring if he got mad. She didn't even cared to answer his questions. She didn't have the best of the tempers when she got even slightly angry. "You know what, I really have to get back" she didn't want to fight, not so soon, not after such an amazing time they spent together, so she started walking to the door, trying to control herself from being mean.

Craig couldn't control himself anymore, he grabbed her by the arm and spinned her around and kissed her with an immense amount of passion. "Don't you dare leave angry." He kissed her again. "This isn't the time or place." He smiled down at her. "I'm always delighted to see you, you just caught me off guard a bit." He kissed her forehead, thank goodness no one was around. He opened the door for her. "I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron tonight, I still think I deserve an explanation for your jealousy. But, I must be getting back before someone comes looking for me." He gave her a sympathetic look. "Until tonight." He looked deeply into her eyes. Craig really hoped she wasn't too incredibly mad. "I love you, darling."

She wasn't being coherent any more, first he speaks to her like she was a client, then he kisses her with such intensity she has problems standing up after. Still angry her mind heard what he said, and twisted, caugh off guard... she said nothing.
Jealousy? How did he get that? Was is written on my face?. " See you tonight" she told him, not holding his gaze, even though her heart was flying in her chest from hearing him say I love you. He had to go back to his, party. she turned away and left the office, she really needed to learn how to control her temper, and that jealousy...

Craig was really excited that they finally had a big assignment and the Floo Network would definitely be involved right in the middle of it all. He posted the following memo, so all his employees could see:



He couldn't wait for all the employees to pour in with their ideas.


ooc: So, we will have a meeting this Friday (at any time really) to talk about different ideas and strategies and that meeting will last til Monday (probably longer). Then we will begin assigning things on how to implement our ideas! I hope everyone is as excited as I am.

Having received word that a meeting in the Floo Division was about to start, Bella click-clacked her way out her office and into said division. Of course Craig, being the division head and all, was already there. She smiled at him as she plopped her pink briefcase down on a nearby table. "Good day, Craig! I hope you're doing well," she said, taking a seat and opening her briefcase. She pulled out a stack of paperwork and glanced through it as she spoke. "I heard you'd be meeting soon, so I decided to join in and see if I could help out in any way. Any good ideas yet?"

Megan headed into her division, immediately walking over to her desk and grabbing a few pages of ideas for the meeting; she was surprised to see that she was the only employee here but that didn't matter. She noticed Bella and smiled, then took a seat. "Ah hello Craig, Mrs.Greingoth; I have some interesting ideas for the transportation of our special guests for the Quidditch World Cup" She said quite proudly.

Craig was a little nervous about the meeting. He finally accomplished his experiment, it would just need approval. But, he was more excited about to hear his other employees ideas. Craig wore one of his best suits and waited for his employees to file in, but what he wasn't expecting was his boss to walk it. Did it just get hot in here?

"Oh, Miss Griengoth, what a pleasant surprise! We would most definitely enjoy your company..." Craig gulped.

For awhile it was just him and Miss Greingoth, but soon Megan filed in. His felt a weight lifted. "Ah, Megan, always good to see you I can't wait to hear your ideas, I have one myself," Craig said as he clutched a little leather pouch. "Would anyone like a refreshment or pastry before we get started?"

He pointed to the table with a fancy little cappucino machine and the usual delectable pastries from his father's shop. "Nothing like caffeine and sugar to get the day going," he laughed cheerfully.

Selena was very, very excited. Although she didn't show it well, she couldn't wait to begin her new role in the Floo Network Authority. Having been a full-time mother for eleven years, it was time to get back into work!

On her confirmation letter of acceptance and welcoming, she noticed that her first meeting would be this Friday! "Aaargh!" she thought. "What to wear, what to wear?!"

After having much difficulty in finding her way around, she finally came across the right department. Selena popped her head round the door to see three faces turn to look at her.

"Hello", she said nervously. "I'm Selena"

She waited for a response. Everyone nodded and smiled. Time to get started!

"Why hello Miss Dauntilon!" Craig said a little more loudly than usual. "We're so happy you could join us!" Craig went over and pulled out a chair for her to sit at. "Please take seat!" Then he glided over to the table full of goodies. "Or perhaps you would like a refreshment or pastry to get your day going!"

Craig was beaming. He was so looking forward to putting things in motion. "As soon as you have finished with your goodies please feel free to shout out your ideas! I'm looking forward to hearing them all!"

Selena got a very pleasant welcome from a gentleman in the room. This man was either really enthusiastic or a bit mental, but otherwise lovely! She sat down on the chair he'd pulled out for her and declined to his offer of pastries and the likes (it was too early in the morning for her sweet tooth to come kicking through..).

No-one was putting across any idea's so she thought she'd start the discussion.

"Having only just started here, I'd like to say hello to you all. I'm sure we'll all get along great and work hard together," she looked around the room for a nice gesture. Nothing came.

"My first thought on the floo network this year is or should be everyone's first priority; safety. I think our first port of call is to make sure that one: Our fire places are safe to use and two: The floo powder people buy is the real thing! I've been known to buy a dodgy batch, which turned out to be sand. Much to my dismay.."

After chatting away Selena immediately thought she'd maybe thrown too much in. Hoping she hadn't come across too bossy, she waited for the next person to reply.