Page 1 of Daddy, Sir

Saved by the Captain

By Pepper North

Chapter One

Tatiana straightened her short jacket and squared her shoulders as she tried to calm her racing pulse. Why did first days have to be so stressful? No one could expect you to be an expert after five minutes, right? She needed to give herself a break.

“Oh, good grief. There’s another new hire?”

Tatiana whirled to see a very polished woman in high red stilettos standing behind her. She realized she’d been blocking the door into the office. “Sorry. I was really in the way, wasn’t I?” Tatiana said, trying to smooth over the awkwardness.

“Definitely.”

The woman brushed past her after spitting out that condemnation and walked through the door.

Tatiana turned back in time to see it slam shut in front of her. She hadn’t even held the door open for her. Fueled by indignation, Tatiana reached for the handle and pulled it open. The handle banged against the outside wall with a loud boom that drew everyone’s attention.

“Sorry,” Tatiana said quickly. “The wind just ripped it from my hand.”

That unpleasant woman stood at the front desk, obviously gossiping.

Instantly, Tatiana guessed she’d made a colossal mistake in taking this position on base. She froze, trying to decide whether to just run away or if possibly thiswasn’tthe worst omen ever and she should give the job one more chance. She needed this job badly.

“Tatiana? I’m so glad to meet you.” A woman a bit older than her stood and rushed around the desk, leaving the unpleasant red-footed fiend by herself. “I’m Becky. We talked on the phone several times.”

“Becky. I’m so glad to meet you, too.”

Becky’s friendly tone reassured her that maybe she hadn’t totally torpedoed her first day at work. Automatically, Tatiana followed as the woman led the way down the hall.

“So, as I told you on the phone, you’ll be working with Captain Murphy. He hasn’t had an admin for a long time. Please don’t panic and run away. He’s gruff and demanding, but I wouldn’t want anyone else in my corner. The position has been empty for a while because he wasn’t willing to settle, despite others who thought they were perfect for the job,” Becky said with an underlying message.

Tatiana immediately suspected who’d been rejected from the job. Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. She’d had an enemy before she’d even driven on base.

“Captain Murphy is a very perceptive man. Always tell him the truth and your suggestions. You’ll get along just fine,” Becky counseled.

“Thank you, Becky. I’m looking forward to this new opportunity. Do I need to fill out any paperwork before I dive in?” Tatiana asked.

“Not if you did everything in the onboarding process online.”

Nodding, Tatiana assured her she had.

“Then you’re all set. Here’s Captain Murphy’s office. Your desk is here.” Becky pointed to a desk almost groaning under theweight of what looked like a thousand folders. “Tech brought a computer for you. I can show you the basics if you’d like.”

“Please. I’d appreciate it,” Tatiana said gratefully.

In twenty minutes, she felt capable of navigating around the system and had Becky’s number to call if she ran into a challenge. When the other woman returned to her desk, Tatiana glanced at the closed inner door and wondered if Captain Murphy was inside. Should she go introduce herself?

Deciding that if the captain was in his office, he’d already know she was there, Tatiana decided to dive in. Taking a folder off one stack that had a red, urgent sticky note on it announcing candidates for a position on a special operations team, the next folder appeared to be an alternative applicant. There were five more under that one. Tatiana guessed the captain wished her to consolidate the information so he could make a quick choice. She read the information inside and made some notes. When she had an abbreviated version of the information inside, Tatiana tucked it inside and moved on to the next. In a short time, she’d finished that stack.

“You must be Tatiana Isaac,” a deep voice boomed in front of her desk, startling her.

With her heart thumping quickly, Tatiana rose to her feet and held out her hand. “I am. Are you Captain Murphy? Sir?” She did not know how to address him.

“Captain is great, Tatiana. Where did you start?” he asked. “Or are you waiting to be told what to do?”

“No, Captain. Becky gave me a quick rundown of the computer system before she returned to her desk. I couldn’t find your schedule, so I just grabbed a pile. This was labeled as urgent. I took a guess that it would save you time if I made a quick profile of each candidate. I’ve tucked that into each folder.”

Tatiana lifted the heavy stack of folders. “Shall I put this on your desk?” she asked.

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