Disciplinary Action/Disciplinary Office/First Week/Secretary

Go say hello to the secretary

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Seeing that nothing else requires your attention, you decide to step out of your office and have a small chat with the secretary. Ms. Varano is probably the staff member you have had more contact in this first few days. After the initial (and quite uncomfortable) meeting with the headmaster, where he approved you for the position, it was Ms. Varano who actually handled all the paperwork you had to sign in order to become a school employee.

She also gave you a small tour of the facilities, focusing mostly on the recently renovated wing; and finally showed you your office, being completely detached as she presented you with the cabinet of punishment material, and showing you all the formats you had to fill in for each student that passed through your office.

Even with that much contact in the days before the start of school, you still felt you didn't know anything about the woman. She was always very serious and professional, and it was hard to tell if that was her normal state of being or if she hated your guts and behaved that way to have the least possible contact with you.

You felt it would really help you in the long run to have a positive relation with her, not only because it was clear she had a lot of power in the school, and could make your life hell if you got in her bad side, but also since you would be working quite close for the foreseeable future.

There had been a few times when you had managed to see her mask break, several times at lunch you had seen her laugh as she chatted with other teachers, and she always addressed the headmaster with a smile. You had also seen her greet her own children with a big smile, so you knew she was capable of it. Further, in one of your first meetings, when you were reviewing the punishment guidelines with her, trying to make sure they were really as explicit as it appeared, you though you saw her blush and rub her legs together, so perhaps you had more in common than it appeared at first.

"It's a slow day, right Ms. Varano?" you said to break the ice, stepping out of your office, to where the secretary was working on her desk.

"Uh-huh," she muttered, finishing something and looking up to you, "I have to file all the new students information, prepare communications for the parents and teachers, finish fixing the calendar, make the arrangements for the first school trip and submit next quarter budget; but other than that it is a slow first week," she added, looking at the mountain of papers in her desk, "how can I help you, Mr. Gardner?"

You decide to steer the conversation towards:

• Her family and personal life.
• Her thought about the school and the headmaster.
• Her opinion on the other teachers in the school.
• Her opinion of the new program.
• Apologize and return to your office.