Hourglass

-1:00- peppermint tunes

Aspen shook her head as she threw the manila folder on the desk angrily. "Can't do a damned thing straight, what the hell are you being paid for?" she shouted at the young employee before her.

"I-I'm so sorry, Ms. Stewart," the girl stuttered. "Damn right, you're sorry. But can your sorry fix this mess you've created?" Aspen said, folding her arms across her chest, daring the girl to answer. 

The girl shook her head, on the verge of tears. "I expect better from the employees of this company, and if you want to work here, you're going to have to do it efficiently," she stressed. 

"Now get out of here, and find a way to fix this," she gestured to the file. The girl nodded and picked it up with shaky hands, sweeping up the few papers that had fallen out. Running away quickly, she reached the door. Just as she was about to open it, it swung open on its own, revealing a blonde-headed girl. 

"Oh, Melissa! Hey," the blonde greeted. 

Melissa looked at Aspen, who looked like a volcano, and rushed out of the room silently. The blonde simply shook her head and turned to face Aspen. 

"What'd you do?" she asked with her hands on her hips. "Don't question me. This is my company," came the bitter response. 

"I've known you for seven years, Aspen. You can't scare me." 

Aspen sighed and gestured for the girl to sit down. "You should dial it down, Aspen. The poor girl joined two months ago," said the girl exasperatedly as she plopped on the chair in front of Aspen. 

"Two months is a long time, Cora. She isn't as new as you're making her sound. And by the way, she almost lost me a really important contract just because she screwed up with the numbers," said Aspen agitatedly. "So unprofessional," she muttered. 

"This is literally her first paying job, honey. She's not going to be perfect at it. She isn't you," said Cora, leaning back in her chair.

"Success is perfection, Cora. If she can't do the work efficiently, she can bid this job goodbye." 

Cora clicked her tongue. "Success isn't perfection. It's hard work. You told me that yourself. And from what I can see, Melissa is a very hard worker, considering she's 22 and already working at A-Space." 

"Ugh, whatever. What are you here for?" Aspen said, shifting gears. She knew if she didn't, Cora could debate with her all day, and Aspen didn't have time for that. "What, I can't drop by to say hello to my bestie?" 

"Your 'bestie' isn't here, Cora. During work hours, I'm your—" 

"Boss, I know. Geez, you're such a buzzkill," Cora said with an eye-roll. 

"Well, sorry to kill your 'buzz,' secretary, but you're going to have to leave if you don't need anything related to work," said Aspen with a saccharine smile. 

"Okay, I do. I need to know what time you're free this afternoon," said Cora, straightening herself to business mode.

"This afternoon?" Aspen asked with a frown. "What do you need this afternoon?" 

"Oh, Ms. Stewart, I couldn't remember you being ever so forgetful," teased Cora with a grin.

"Get to the point, please, Ms. Patterson." 

"You have a meeting with those Chinese delegates, dearest friend cum boss." 

"Oh, shit! You're right. Um, schedule me for 5 PM," Aspen said quickly. Cora nodded and stood up to leave. 

Just as she was about to pull the door open and leave, she stopped and turned to her best friend. "Aspen?" she called.

Aspen looked up from the laptop screen. "Don't forget to smile," Cora sang, gesturing to her own 32 pearly whites. Aspen rolled her eyes and smiled for the sake of her friend. Assured that Aspen had listened, Cora grinned and left the room.