Of All The People

(OOC: I don't.. My phone is ridiculous. I don't know why it did that. >.< sorry! Ignore it, I guess? Or I can prod someone into deleting it maybe? XD ))

((No worries!))

Claire dealt with a lot of paperwork in her job, to her great misfortune. Don't get her wrong, she loved the order of all of her office duties. Claire had been getting office supplies for years, and the girl had always been incredibly organized and systematic. She had been prim and proper her entire life, so organizing business receipts and biographical files was right up her ally. She still got a little tingle when she saw the files filling up in her in and out boxes, requiring her sort them all out.

No, she was a terribly big fan of tedious office work. It was unfortunate, however, because she was currently in a position below her skill set. Of course, it was an honorable job, she supposed. But the job no one knew her for was one that required her to shoulder the burdens of an entire country on her success or failure. So dealing with inter-department memos about failing lifts and intern luncheons was somehow incredibly demoralizing.

The man spoke again, already breaking the silence. She felt her lips curl up. She had him now. "Evidently, you have nothing to prove to me." Her eyes lifted from her memo and fell coldly on him. "Then why do you keep trying to?" It was true. He spoke with the superior authority of a man who did not need her to understand or approve of him, but he had been bothered enough to break the silence and attempt to get her on his side yet again.

A frown crossed his face though he merely glanced at the woman before looking towards the exit again. How many minutes had it been? Why couldn't he just be a Muggle with a phone to toy with or something? He would have given a lot to get her to look away. He needed to just keep his mouth shut. Usually he was so good at that. But when his place in society was questioned, apparently he was not going to settle for letting her think whatever she wanted.

Her question surprised her more than it should have, considering that he didn't even know her. She was right, of course. Entirely. Bentley was just not on top of things that morning. Things had felt quite normal in his encounters with Mairen and the lawyer in question; Ben had held his ground and felt quite comfortable. Maybe it was the small box that made up the lift that made him feel so trapped. Or maybe it was that this woman was more challenging than most people he knew or dealt with on a regular basis. He didn't want to think it through. He wanted it not to happen.

Pulling himself up to his full height, Bentley narrowed his eyes and looked down at her. “I would rather not have people thinking poorly of me. Especially when they don't know me at all.” He replied, one eyebrow lifting for a moment before it fell to his generic, bored expression. His eyes flicked up to the ceiling as if someone above could feel his annoyance and fix the lift before he had to attempt to explain himself again. “Do me – and everyone else – a favor and attempt to get to know someone before judging them.”

Although Ben could feel how low his tone was and how stiff he was, he couldn't bring himself to feel apologetic. She had hit a nerve he didn't realize he had, and his temper was getting the better of him.

Claire had a very excellent memory. She always had a knack for remembering, but it had been perfected and honed in her years in the Ministry. In school, she had only needed to read something over two or three times before she had it almost perfectly committed to memory. The American Ministry had valued the skill and had done what training they could to further implement it. After all, a spy who could remember a conversation almost verbatim was definitely an asset.

Therefore, it was very important for people who knew her to watch what they said, for her quick memory was unforgiving and she could always recall something that could prove them otherwise. So as the man spoke, her memory quickly sent a messenger to the forefront of her brain, grabbing a representative from the Sass Department so that they could gather a quick response for the man. Claire's Empathy Department tried to restrain the two messengers, but that department had been having downisizing for years now and was lacking in staff.

"I'm guessing you were meant to deliver that information about faulty lifts? Why, then, did you decide that getting on one would be the best course of action?" she repeated. She paused, perhaps that was not enough. "Today, I just happened to run into you by way of a particularly unpleasant accident." She looked at him, her eyes sharp and her mouth quick to respond should he mount a defense.

"If I recall properly - and I'm sure I do - before I even spoke to you, you judged me a lowly employee as well as a simpleton who would walk into a lift I knew to be broken. You then proceeded to call me unpleasant. If you think I am the only one to pass judgments, please look around you and introduce yourself to the nature of humanity. In my defense, at least I waited for evidence for my claims - I glad to say, you presented me with some unavoidable facts."

Ding.

The lift shuddered suddenly and continued to rise. Timing : spot on.

Bentley was so done. Just entirely okay with ending this mess as soon as possible. The sooner the bloody lift was fixed the better. He could be on his way to the office, and hopefully the day would start looking up. Although he rather doubted it, Ben supposed that little could be worse than arguing with someone who suddenly wasn't so entertaining anymore. Merlin, he needed a drink.

She thought she was rather witty, did she, by quoting himself back to him? Yes, what effective points that made in the scheme of things. He was so thoroughly amazed by the effort it must have taken her to come up with something to say. Except, wait, no. Quoting someone back to them was like running out of points and grappling for something to buy yourself time. It seemed, indeed, that that was exactly what this woman was doing. Her point, once she finally made it, was decent at best, but Ben could at least allow himself to be impressed with the fact that she had neither pouted nor lost her ability to speak properly. Both of which often happened in his encounters with equally unpleasant people. Her phrasing, if nothing else, was intelligent.

Sometimes Ben wondered how people put up with him at all, considering how sarcastic even his thoughts were. But with this blonde from the Department of whatever it was, he simply didn't give a damn.

When the lift started moving, he had to hold himself back from thanking anything and everything – except her, of course. He was closer than ever to getting out of the stupid Ministry and back to work. Or basically, and just as importantly, he could get out of sharing space with this blasted woman. Rather than respond right away, Bentley lifted an eyebrow entirely sardonically before nodding. Of course, even his nod was sarcastic in the extreme.

“I'm sure that you deciding you're better than everyone else lets you sleep at night, so I won't go taking that from you.” He shrugged nonchalantly, “Just know that you're rather off your nut.”