As Trace sat outside of George's office, at oversight, she could not keep her hands from sweating. She was expected to give a report on the recent redecorating job that she was commissioned to do at Section... and she was not looking forward to it.

It wasn't as if she had had any problems with the job...in fact it went smoother than most of her jobs thus far... but she hated to give presentations. When she became an interior decorator, she had not taken into consider the possibility of having to also become a public speaker!

As she is about to get up and leave...and try to just fax George the report on her results...a secretary comes towards her, smiling.

"Ma'am...he will see you now."

Trace gets up from her chair, and smoothing out her skirt and jacket, picks up her portfolio. As she walks into the conference room, she feels her mouth go dry. Telling herself that she can do this...she takes the position at the head of the conference table and begins her presentation right away...the quicker it is done...the quicker she can leave.

"Hello gentlemen. As you may know, I was recently commissioned to redecorate the rooms of certain key personal connected with Section. I have completed the aforementioned job, and on the insistence of George, am now reporting back to you. So, why don't we just jump right in."

"One of the rooms to pose the most problems was that of an individual named Operations. He really had no idea what he wanted...and I really had no intel on which to base my work. So, after spending a few days at Section... and talking to both him and his coworkers... I came up with a what I thought to be a great decoration scheme.

"What we basically did with his room is we went with the Northwest look. We went in, and totally repanelled the entire room with knotty pine wood. Then, we redid the light fixtures with antique unpolished brass. This would give the room an air of the great North. We then interspersed the room with various wood decorative items... such as carvings and such. And, we brought in a large antique wooden desk to set in the middle of the main room. This way... he would have plenty of space on which to work and such. The last small piece to mention was the placing of a humidor on the upper left hand corner of the desk. This is so that he can adequately store his cigars or cigarettes as needed. All in all... we felt that this was the best scheme for this room."

"The next room was that of a Madeline. As I met Madeline, and discovered her love for bonsai trees, I had a great idea. What we did with Madeline was redecorate her room in the style of anything natural. By this, I mean, she made the lighting that of fluorescent lighting. This was to better help the plants that we dispersed throughout the room thrive better. Then, we placed a large, sturdy, shadowbox on her largest wall, with special lighting behind it. In this shadowbox...we placed a large variety of bonsai trees. Then, we moved in some antique wooden style furniture. After that, we placed all new curtains on the windows, embellished with a quaint ivy trim. The last piece to be added was a Japanese rock garden. We placed with on the main coffee table. This could be used for just decoration...or stress relieving purposes."

"Okay...next we have a Walter. This individual...once I could get past him trying to flirt with me...was one of the easier ones to decorate for. For his room...we did a 70's style theme. We hung black velvet posters, tie dyed curtains, and beaded curtains. We did just basic furniture, bean bag chairs, and such, and on the end tables we decided on lava lamps. Then, we installed a wet bar in the corner of the room, and found a vintage 8 track tape player, in working condition, to install near the entertainment center. All in all...we did a flashback kinda thing here."

Birkoffs room, we decided to reflect the little boy in him. We fashioned a television screen, as big as his largest wall, and hooked it up to various game equipment. Then, we built an entertainment/storage unit that goes that each side of the screen. In this, he can store his various games cartridges and tapes. For his furniture, we decided to go with a futon, and a few chairs and end tables. He expressed the need to keep furniture to a bare minimum, and we agreed."

Next we have a Nikita. Nikita expressed an interest in her room reflecting her need for freedom. Going on this reference, the first thing we did was knock out a large wall, and installed a faux window. By this we mean, it looks just like a window, that looks out upon an open field, but is just a diorama set into the wall. Then, we painted all of her walls in bright white, to give everything a crisp clean appearance. Here furniture was decided upon to be all earthy tones, and her spreads and such are all pastels and light colors. The overall appearance of the room is one of the great outdoors... fresh, clean, and new."

"The last, and most probably the hardest, was that of Michael's. I was not able to talk to Michael directly, but from talking to his coworkers, I came up with an idea. First off, we tore up the floor, and laid down black and white checked tile. We then painted all of the walls a bright, clean white. Then, we moved all of his furniture out, and brought in all white furniture, with black trim. Next, we chose to install a small yet functional TV/CD player entertainment center on the smallest wall. On the largest wall, we hung various paintings, each with a tiny light spot lighting them. This overall color scheme was chosen to appeal to both Michael's light and his dark side... his side at work... and his side at rest."

"I hope that I have answered any questions that you may have had about this job, and thank you for your time."

As Trace picks up her notes...and her portfolio and turns to leave, she thinks... that wasn't so bad... not bad at all.

THE END