Growing into the Job, Post 470: A New Valkyrie, p2 (Inga's POV)

I stood as straight as I could as soon as I saw her, instinctively adjusting my posture to the Valkyrie Pose: chin up, shoulders back, twisted at the hips just so - and of course chest out! Even from a distance, she was impossible to miss. Melissa Monroe - the woman whose custom order had not only caused so much bizz-buzz around the dealership, but who was getting to be, like, a mini celebrity online. I couldn’t believe I was seeing her in person. Celebrity or not, there was nothing ‘mini’ about her!

I tapped my watch, with the “tap-tap. taptap-taptap” signal they wanted when she showed up.

Anyway, a rush of excitement pulsed through me, and I felt a little flutter in my stomach when she stepped up to us and when Sigrid - who’d worked with her before - stepped up to her. Sigrid was one of the tallest girls that worked here (maybe the tallest, actually) but Melissa Monroe was so much taller even than her, and Sigrid was in heels! They like us to wear at least three-inchers out on the sales lot; Melissa Monroe was in cute white sneakers. Still, she was huge!

Even though she immediately looked super friendly, it was kinda hard, with her now right here, not to feel like we were immediately in the presence of something more than a normal human lady. Lots of the super-secret Valkyrie Motors onboarding initiation stuff talked about how women were going to, y’know, "rise to be the rulers we were destined to be", like warriors from Balhalla. Is that how you spell it? Whatever. It all sounded cool but so, like, maybe-in-the-future-by-Astrid's-grace sort of thing. This Melissa person - she was, like, the real deal already!

And then…wow! There was him.

We’d all seen it when she was coming down the sidewalk. I hadn’t been able to help my lips from twitching upward in a smile, and Sigrid had to choke back a snort. Melissa Monroe carried him effortlessly, like he was some sort of haha lightweight backpack. She made it look so casual - as if it was the most natural thing in the world to haul around an adult man like that. Because that’s what he was; he might have been the size of a child, a young boy, but I knew he was a man probably in his like thirties or forties. And he was clinging to her like a baby monkey on his mommy monkey, looking bashful, his small body contrasting so much with her, like, statuesque one. Gods it made me go gooey!

“By Astrid look at you - you’re so cute!” I squealed. Both Elina and Sigrid shot me the stink eye (I know, I know! So unprofessional!) but I couldn’t help it!  I knew that they thought I was weird. I also knew that they thought I’d leaned a little too much into my heritage (Astrid’s Norwegian too!) and Valkyrie Motors’ mythology. Maybe a lot too much. But if only they knew the other reason I felt so connected to all of this… maybe I was haha actually more important than they thought! This, though, was kinda different. I immediately felt some sort of weird mommy-bear attraction toward this small man. It was something about his vulnerability, the way his face showed a mixture of resignation and quiet acceptance. He was smaller than I’d expected, even from the videos everyone had seen online, and there was something, like...ideal about him. His fragility, his obvious need for a woman’s care - it made me feel a strange pull, something nurturing. I mean, in bed my boyfriend had started calling me ‘mama’ or ‘mommy’ - even though I (haha please don’t tell anyone) now preferred when he called me “Astrid” or  “Ms. Nilsen” (we’ve actually settled on “Mommy Astrid” which haha maybe I liked even better!). But my boyfriend was, like, as tall as me - even a little taller. So coming from him, ‘mommy’ was, like, just kinda play, no matter how much he sucked on my boobs or his thumb. But with someone like this little guy - they called him “Dr.Vulni” online - it would be lol a lot more than just play, I bet! what must those two do together? Again: all gooey!

I bit my lip. Gotta keep it together, Inga. Remember: Strength! Professionalism! I didn’t want to say anything else stupid!

So, anyway, I just kinda watched as Sigrid, then Elina, greeted Melissa Monroe. Sigrid is kinda our ‘tech nerd’, and Elina is so cool and composed and good not just with numbers but people. Me? I tried my best and remembered my initiation. I had to fight back my big big grin and reached out my hand to her. We're taught to offer our handshake to women, and to men only if they reach out theirs. Not a lot do these days. “Valkyrie Inga, Inga Olsen…” I said, shaking her hand to introduce myself. 

WOW she’s strong!

“...Welcome back to Valkyrie Motors,” I finished, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you so much...” Then though I knew I probably shouldn’t say this it haha I did, I added: “...both of you. Ms. Monroe. Dr. Vulni.”

I mean, I knew it must be fake somehow, but this was the guy from GirlToob that could make girls grow by coming!

The other valkyries gave me the stink eye again, but our two customers both thanked me - he looked ten shades of red, she’d started to giggle - and said some nice, polite things. I watched as Melissa Monroe let him down, helping him gently off her back so he could stand on his own two cute feet. When he touched the ground he wobbled a bit, as if he’d forgotten what it was like to stand on his own, the poor thing.  She steadied him and was whispering little encouragements to him, asking if he was okay, that sort of thing. He was nodding, and she was helping get his sweater all straightened out. She looked so, I dunno - competent.

Dr. J, on the other hand, looked totally sheepish, as if he could feel how much we all admired her - and, well, how much he seemed to almost belong to her.

Watching them, I immediately knew that Valkyrie Motors - ’built by women for women’ -  was the perfect fit for a girl like Melissa Monroe, and seeing her with a man like Dr. Vulni, so dependent on her, made me even more convinced by Astrid’s Vision for the Future. This is what we‘re all moving toward. Women growing stronger, more powerful, while men became more...manageable? More dependent on us? Isn’t that what Astrid tells us, what Valkyrie Motors is all about? Growing into our new future, ‘fighting for it with blades and on winged horseback if necessary‘, all while protecting our little ones?

Gooey!!

I swallowed my thoughts, fought back my stupid grin and forced myself to focus on the task at hand. This was a moment to shine, do Astrid proud. Sigrid and Elina stood beside me, both of them playing it cool, but I knew they were feeling it too. There was a reason why our manager, Marjorie, had handpicked the three of us for this handoff.

We smiled, we chatted, and I tried to keep my eyes off the little manling that hovered just under her belly. He was barely as tall as her waist! But we were all doing well, very professional and appropriate now and soon Sigrid suggested we head towards the showroom to unveil Melissa Monroe’s new car. I was even excited myself, for her - and him haha - to see it. 

The lot was big, and Sigrid and Elina led the way. So, I had the opportunity to walk alongside Melissa Monroe and chit-chat. Her presence was even more commanding up close. Even me in my heels she was easily six inches taller than me, and I wasn’t exactly short. Her body was...well, let's just say, I’d never seen anyone built like her! Strong, but still so womanly and feminine. She was what Valkyrie Motors stood for in every way. And in that sweater?!  By Astrid’s grace, I couldn't believe how tight it was across her big ol’ chest. She made even me look small by comparison.

She had Dr. Vulni by the hand. 

She spoke first. 

“You’re so pretty,” she told me, “Isn’t she pretty, Jay?”

Omigodddds she was so nice. “Thank you!” I gushed, not really hearing him as he mumbled something. I thought I heard his voice crack, though, like a little boy’s. “You are too!”

“Thank you!” she said, “Are you, like, from…uhh, the Viking places too?”

“Yeah!” I answered, knowing she’d met Sigrid before, who was actually from Sweden, “Well I was born in Minnesota and moved here when I was seven. But my mom‘s from Norway! Well her grandma’s and grandpa’s parents were…”

“You’re all so pretty” she followed, keeping her long legs from walking as fast as they could so he could keep up, making us all, in fact, slow our pace a bit. “I mean, Jay,” she said, redirecting his attention to the lot around us. We kept only XX models outside; men’s cars were all in the showroom. “Look around at everybody, all these pretty blonde girls.” 

Glancing down at Dr. Vulni, we both saw where he was looking.

“Jay stop staring at the sales ladies’ bottoms..!” she scolded with a giggle.

He immediately cast his gaze down, started watching what his feet were doing instead of what Elina and Sigrid’s big behinds were. He mumbled something like “I’m sorry,” as both girls glanced over their shoulders at him with smiles. 

“It’s okay, cutie,” I found myself saying, “these uniforms are made on purpose to do that.”

“I do love the blue dresses with the little white jackets,” Melissa Monroe complimented, “and I mean it’s much classier but it’s kinda like the same thing, made to bring attention certain places, like what I used to have to wear. I was a Hooters’ waitress for a while-”

“Omigod me too!” I squealed, reaching out and touching her arm. Her sweater was so soft! “Where?!”

“It was a while ago but the one down on Route 17 in Northville?” Melissa answered. 

“ME TOO!” I squealed again, this time earning a glance from Sigrid and Elina, from ahead of us, “I worked there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, just until I got this job.”

“That’s so cool! How long have you been here?” She seemed excited that we had this in common!

“Well, they flew me to Norway for training at the beginning of, uh, September, but the dealership here didn’t open ‘til, like, just last month.”

“Wow, fun.” Melissa Monroe was looking around the lot, as we approached the big glass entrance into the showroom. Dr. Vulni was doing the same. There were a few other Valkyries, some with customers, on the lot. “Is everyone here tall and blonde?”

“Haha kinda, it’s almost a job requirement,” I answered. Every saleswoman on today, actually, was the classic Valkyrie. “But there are definitely ladies like Charli and Francesca who aren’t.”

“I bet they’re gorgeous too, though, right?” she asked me. 

“Well, yeah, totally,” I laughed, “But lot of us were athletes too. I mean Sigrid here was almost on the Swedish Biathlon Olympic team. I think Elina still does equestrian at Westhall.”

Elina looked over her shoulder again and smiled. 

“How about you?” Melissa Monroe asked me. 

“Well I was a skater as a kid until I got too tall and my boobs got too big,” I said, “then Field Hockey until they got too big for that too haha. I actually got into figure competitions for a little while-”

“Oh my gosh, me too!” she exclaimed, now her turn to squeal.

We were almost at the doors to get inside so I knew I had to wrap this up. But still - omigosh the connections! Just like Astrid wants us to do with customers! So I asked some more:

”For real? Around here? I only competed like a little bit, like, barely. Local shows.” And a lot of wet-t-shirt contests!  ”You would have - wow!”

 ”No, not around here, for competitions, and it was only Juniors stuff,” Melissa Monroe answered, “my mom had me mostly in Europe for them.”

The huge glass doors had slid open at a wave of Sigrid’s hand, and she and Elina stepped aside.

I outstretched my arm as well, stopping, gesturing through the doors. A wave of clean warmth, scented of heather and thyme like the heart of Norway in Autumn, washed over us all. It was a fragrance I wished I could haha wear as a perfume, something that always made me think of the future. “Please, after you, Ms. Monroe,” I offered.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice as warm as the air,  “And pleeeease, call me Melissa.”

I nodded, my heart doing a little flip as she stepped inside, leading Dr. Vulni with her. “Of c-course, Melissa,” I answered, settling my flusteriness as quick as I could. 

As she entered, the lights from the showroom seemed to brighten, reflecting off the highly-glossed floors of black marble. The air smelled clean and crisp, now with a mixture of new car scent. The sleek, soaring, modern space exuded Valkyrie Motors’ signature aesthetic: clean lines, matte white surfaces, and shining chrome accents. The room was all glass and metal, with huge panes of glass that let the sunlight pour in, casting long, elegant shadows on the polished floor. The cars on display were surrounded by high-def screens high on the walls, displaying looping footage of Valkyrie Motors’ vehicles in action. The showroom wasn’t just some place to sell cars - it was a place of spectacle. I found it almost, like, holy.

 Sigrid was already moving towards the empty center of the room, where the handoff would be done.

“We’ve got everything ready ready ready for you,” she said in her cool sing-songy voice, escorting our two customers, big and small, into the showroom. Elina and I followed.

“We know you’re going to love it-” Elina continued.

“...and we can’t wait to welcome you both into the Valkyrie Motors family,” I said.

Elina shot me a look. She didn’t like to be interrupted and-

OOoo, I said ‘both’, didn’t I??  I bit my tongue, again. He’s not supposed to know!

I couldn't help but sneak another glance at Dr. Vulni as Melissa shifted slightly, pulling him into her hip. Had he heard that? His eyes had been scanning the showroom, looking at the cars we had on display.

Inside the showroom we had displays of the base models of each vehicle in Valkyrie Motors’ XX line, all in their deep, impressive colors - magentas, ultramarines, carbon black. There was a nice cherry-red XX Fury sports coupe right next to us, an ocean blue XX Guardian with the newest child-safety seats over by the sales desk. A few others, as well. Each was lit really nicely from sunlight and from above and each had a smaller car from our XY line alongside it, like an XY Compact or an adorable little XY Hjalmer. Every XY was done in their typical matte-gray with accents to match the dominant XX alongside it.  Even the signs saying ‘Buy Together and Save: Matching Rides into the Future’ looked cool. 

“Wow all the cars are so nice here,” Melissa said, “aren’t they, Jay?”

As he muttered something I caught his eye briefly and smiled - he looked away quickly, almost blushing. There was something so...I dunno, endearing about him. And he was so small. I want one!

As we escorted them to the handoff staging area in the center, I couldn’t help but think back to my own journey here at Valkyrie Motors. It had been...intense. The onboarding was for sure no joke. Valkyrie Motors didn't just hire anyone. You had to prove you were more than just another pretty face. When I’d first started, I'd gone through all the rigorous sales training, but more than that - there was this whole process of, like, introduction to the Valkyrie mindset. We were really taught to believe in what we were selling, to live the ’Ethos of the Valkyrie’. Strength, power, dominance - all those things that the men of the world had held onto for so long, now belonged to women like us. Astrid Nilsen, the All-Mother herself, made sure of that. The entire sales team was like a sisterhood, and I thrived in it. I wasn’t always this confident!

I knew I’d found another path. A better one.

Still, I hadn’t expected to feel so, like, energized by this job, or by moments like this. It wasn’t just the commissions, though those were sweet. It was being part of something bigger - literally bigger. Valkyrie Motors wasn’t just a car company, it was a revolution, and it was growing by leaps and bounds. Just ask Elina, she knows everything about the company, how much it's gone up in value and sales. And now I was a part of that, standing tall with Sigrid and Elina, women just like me, as we helped make sure customers like Melissa got exactly what they needed to help shape the world.

“Inga? Hello??” Elina was calling to me. 

Oooo okay, it’s time!

So, we were now standing next to a wide, empty area of floor in the center of the showroom, with not only sunlight but also spotlights from above bathing it. A large circle of the smooth, black marble flooring, bordered by subtle lighting embedded into the ground, took up most of the center space. It looked cool but I knew that just below the pristine surface was where the real magic was. 

Though Melissa had finalized the details with Sigrid just a few weeks ago, we all understood that this vehicle had really been under construction for months, and the Valkyrie Motors team had done everything in their power to make sure this reveal was perfect. No corners cut, no detail overlooked.

I stole one last glance at Dr. Vulni as Melissa held his shoulder. They were so cute together!

“We’re so excited for you to see this,” I said, almost bouncing on the balls of my feet. By Astrid's grace, I couldn’t wait to see Melissa's reaction!

As Sigrid took her place, I took a deep breath, trying to keep my giddy energy in check. This was it. The moment we’d been waiting for.

“Calm down, Inga,” Elina whispered in my ear. 

“Yes, okay!” I giggled. 

“Are you ready, Melissa Monroe?” Sigrid asked, her voice carrying more reverence than I expected.

Melissa turned to us with a grin, her eyes flashing with excitement. “More than ready!” she beamed. 

“Ooo lemme get a picture!” I said. Marjorie wants a photo of every new customer right before the reveal, right before they become a Valkyrie themselves. “Ooo I don’t have my phone!”

“I got it,” Elina said, already snapping a picture of the smiling Melissa...

The moment hung in the air, electric, as something in the floor below us began to hum, to come to life. The lights around the platform glowed softly, illuminating the polished black surface. The platform was so well-integrated into the showroom’s design that if you didn’t know what you were looking for, you’d think it was just part of the floor. But - here we go! - nearly the whole section began to retract, being pulled back to reveal the main act which was now slowly rising from below... 

“Ready, guys?!” I squealed, looking from one girl, to the next, to the next…and then down at him, “this is going to be fun!”

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thank you to Moriarty for the base image in the Melissa photo