Like a Stone

Jessie, James and Meowth hurried through the forest towards Viridian City. James was afraid of what Giovanni wanted. He knew that Giovanni's patience was wearing thin. Maybe he'd chosen to fire them.

"Jessie, what do you think the boss wants," he said.

"I don't know," Jessie replied. "But we need to pick up the pace." She spied a moped leaning against a tree. She looked at James. They smiled. They hopped on it, revved the engine, and sped off to Viridian.

Team Rocket Headquarters was a large building in downtown Viridian. It was disguised as a business structure, which wasn't far from the truth. In addition to being the President of Team Rocket, Giovanni was a successful and wealthy businessman. He owned stock in many lucrative companies, he invested in precious metals, and he owned several other business ventures. He conducted many of his business affairs in his office, as well as tending to the daily operations of Team Rocket. Jessie and James stood on the steps at the building's facade. "Well, let's go," Jessie said uncertainly. They passed the receptionist into the elevator. Giovanni's office was on the thirteenth floor [Yea, I know this is cheesy, but I thought it kind of fit]. James pressed the "13" button. They rode up in silence.

Giovanni's secretary, a short young woman with blonde hair, bustled them out of the elevator. "Giovanni's waiting for you," she said. James followed Jessie. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir," she told James. "Giovanni requested Jessica only."

"What? But we're a team!"

"Sorry, but those were Giovanni's explicit instructions," she said. "You may go right in, Jessica."

Jessie stepped into Giovanni's dark office. The walls were lined with tall bookshelves, full of thick books. In a corner was a droopy plant. It looked like it hadn't been watered in days. In the center of the room stood a wide oak desk. On the desk were pencil cups, a notepad, a phone, and a framed picture of Giovanni with someone who looked like Bill Gates. They were shaking hands. A silver nameplate on the edge of the desk read, "Giovanni Noire". [I don't know what Giovanni's real last name is, so I made one up. "Noir" is French for "black", so I just tacked on an extra "e" to make it look good] A tall black leather chair faced the window. The blinds were drawn.

Jessie cleared her throat. Giovanni spun around slowly to face her. He was stroking his Pokemon of choice, Persian, who sat on his lap. "I'm glad you made it here so quickly, Jessica," he said. "It shows me you're on the ball." Persian jumped off his lap and sauntered over to a bowl marked, "Kitty". Giovanni leaned forward. "I'm going to be blunt with you. I used to think you had absolutely nothing to contribute to Team Rocket. But I am seeing that I was wrong. I want to promote you, Jessica."

Jessie was floored. "What? Me?"

"Yes, you," he said. "Your talents are being wasted running around with that idiot, James." He stood up and went to the blinds. He peered through the cracks. "I don't know why I hired him in the first place. Now, you can put him and all your previous failures behind you. I need a personal assistant. You will be perfect for the job. You will answer my calls, file my paperwork, take messages, bring me coffee, basically, attending to my needs so I can pay attention to the workings of Team Rocket."
"Um, boss, this is all very cool," she said. "But it's kind of out of the blue."

"You can handle it." He escorted her to the door. "See you tomorrow morning." He playfully smacked her rear as she went out. She felt strange. She was filled with pride about Giovanni's faith in her abilities, but at the same time anxious and nervous about her duties. What if she messed up? And why was he behaving so strangely?

"Jessie," James exclaimed, leaping out of his chair. "What happened?"

"I've been promoted," she said.

"What?"

"I'm Giovanni's personal assistant now."

"What does that mean?"

"I have to help him with his personal needs so he can pay attention to Team Rocket."

"You mean, be his slave?"

"No, James! It takes a lot of patience and time to be the leader of this Team. He needs more time, and if I take care of the little stuff, he can focus on the big stuff." Why am I so adamant about this, she thought. I'm not sure about anything at all.

"So, then, what about me?"

Jessie looked at her longtime partner. She had called him all kinds of terrible names over the years, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him what Giovanni said about him. It was just too harsh. "He said that it's my time to move on, and there's just no room for anyone else in the executive branch," she said after a long pause.

James looked crushed. "So then, you're leaving me behind?"

"Maybe someday you'll make it up there too." As soon as she said it, she regretted it. She hated giving him false hope. As long as Giovanni was alive, he'd see to it that James was kept at the bottom of Team Rocket.

"Sure," he said sarcastically. "Come on, Meowth."

"Bye, Jess," Meowth said.

"Goodbye," Jessie whispered at James' back.