Lilacs Forever

Chapter 10: New Girl

"So Delilah, are you excited to meet the new girl?" Anita asked.

"Yes, I can't wait to meet her." In fact, come to think of it, everyone was excited for the new arrival. They haven't had a new recruit since Delilah. Maybe she can make a new friend.

It was Delilah's second month in the company, good friends with Alyce, Anita, and Jacob. While she grew accustomed to them, everyone grew accustomed to her. The group of girls with the ponytails remained a bit stuck up, but seemed to tolerate her better. Even Mr. West, while she remained professional around him, they shared a couple of laughs. Delilah smiled to herself, life has been good.

"Hi, I'm Ashley!" The new girl beamed. She had bright red hair worn in a messy ponytail. "I'll make this company a Fortune 500 in no time."

Wow, I wish I had that confidence , Delilah thought. But they were two very different people. Ashley, according to Alyce, was in sales while Delilah was a secretary. Ashley looked very extroverted while Delilah kept to herself. I guess you need that confidence to succeed in a sales job, she mused.

On her way to her desk, Delilah tried to introduce herself. "Hello Ashley, I'm Deli-"

Ashley just walked past her. Someone in sales walked with her. "This is how you-"

"I already know that!" She interrupted. "I'll get it done in no time."

—-

Maybe she has a lot on her mind, Delilah thought to herself, trying to grasp the incident. On lunch break she went to look for her, only to find her sitting and chatting with some other ladies. I guess they're a perfect fit... She watched as Ashley talked with the clique, as she personally called it. They seemed to be... getting along. Maybe they liked her outgoing personality.

Delilah sat with Alyce at the cafeteria. At first, she would wonder why Alyce would even want to sit with her in the first place. There were many reasons she could have decided to sit with her every lunch break. She could have felt obligated to sit with her as her mentor, or maybe she could have simply felt sorry for her. But time and time again Alyce showed, through her words and actions, that she simply wanted to sit with Delilah. "You're sweet and kind, someone I would want to talk to." She would say. "I would rather talk to you than gossip with the other girls."

Anita sat with them too, even though she would be the type of person to gossip with the others. But she often sat alone, looking at her phone. She would say that she was busy at Facebook but Delilah saw a little loneliness with that statement. She didn't pity Anita, but she wanted to see her happy, and she's happiest talking and laughing with other people, with friends. And she and Anita were friends.

They sat by the window, far away from the table Ashley and the rest of those girls sat at. In fact, they were on opposite sides of the large room. "So ladies," Alyce said, "what do you think about the new girl?"

"Ugh, she's a hot shot!" Anita said flusteredly, "she thinks she's the bee's knees."

"Um..." Delilah spoke up, "I don't know too much about her yet... maybe she has like, a
on her mind?"

"Yeah, but she just got here and she thinks she knows everything? I mean, what do you think, Alyce?"

"Hmm... Alyce thought for a while, "she looks like she doesn't like being told what to do.. but"

"But we barely know her! Can't we like, give her a chance?"

"Delilah's right," Alyce agreed, "we haven't really talked to Ashley much yet so I guess we can't throw in any judgment."

"Oh," Anita smiled sheepishly, "I guess you're talking about me."

They all laughed. "Yeah, let's try chatting and getting to know her," Delilah brought up. She looked to the other side of the room, Ashley was laughing and talking with all of the other ladies. She remembered trying to introduce herself, only to be met with cold stares. But Ashley had no problem getting along with them at all! Was it Ashley's self confidence or Delilah's inability to talk with other people? Was she jealous of Ashley's upbeat and outgoing personality? It only left Delilah with more questions than answers.

But she was determined to make a new friend, she thought about the time after lunch. She was going to introduce herself to Ashley and get to know her after work.

And when that time came, Delilah felt for once, confident and friendly. This was new to her, but she didn't feel as uncomfortable as she would be any other day. A few minutes before the work day was over she made her way to Ashley's desk. As Ashley got up to leave Delilah mustered up a "hello, nice to meet you. I'm Delil-"

Ashley gave her a cold look and looked away from her, her nose turned up. And she was gone, growing smaller and smaller as she walked towards the elevators.

Delilah stood there in disbelief.

Author's Note

Hi y'all! I know it's not Monday but I wanted to give a little Christmas present XD.