venture • lrh

fourteen

NEW JOB, SAME PEOPLE

*

Alexis is happily dancing through the apartment; not only did she pass all her tests with good grades, she managed to find a job. Yes, she did. She loves books and nothing more than it; studying never bothered her since she even likes to read those books.

She'd much preferably read fictional books and romances by chance, but she'll take her to win wherever she can get it.

Michael is on his way and will be the first to hear about the great news. She needs her best friend to listen to it first, not her roommate. It would mean so much more to Michael. Still happily dancing to the music, Alexis is mixing through the mix of the cake she decided to make minutes ago. She thought this should be celebrated.

The brunette never even thought she'd get a job this soon anyways.

Once she hears the knock on the door, she turns down the volume of her music and runs towards the door to find her best friend. She jumps against him and holds him tightly. Since Alexis lives here and has a very talkative roommate, she doesn't need to go to Michael's every day. The other house she used to live in was too big and too empty, and she hated it there. To be reminded of everything she'd been through.

"I missed you," Alexis mumbles in his shirt, holding him even tighter. Michael holds her tightly and walks into the apartment. With a kick of his foot, he closes the door. His hands trail off toward her ass, and he keeps them there, which makes the brunette giggle. "Hands, Clifford."

"C'mon, you have a great ass." Alexis lets go of her best friend, and he places the petite girl back on the floor slowly. "You know you can't deny it." This time she rolls her eyes.

"Can and will." She smiles at him. "But that's not what we're going to talk about. I need to tell you something important." Michael takes a seat on the couch and looks at his best friend.

The spark in her eyes, the freckles covering her cheeks. The redness on her cheeks, her messy hair, her cute behavior. Everything about her makes him want her more, even the non-sexual things.

"Well, don't keep me waiting." He says, smiling, and leans forward to receive the good news. If it were bad news, another attitude would be hanging around here.

"I have a job!" She cheers happily. Michael stands up from the couch to hug the petite girl before him. She was placing his hands a little too low on her back.

Maybe getting a job isn't such a big deal to some people, but it has never been like that for her. She takes every little win and celebrates it. She needed this job not only to make some money and help Ashton out but also so she can do something else. She applied for a bookstore - which also has a record department for which she will work - in town, and after their first interview, it was sure she was the one for the job.

"I'm so proud of you, Al," Michael says softly. The apartment door opens again, and the two best friends immediately let go of each other. A frown grows on Ashton's face as he sees their behavior, not to mention the position they were just in.

As two people claiming to be just friends, they shouldn't act like that. Besides, he is dedicated to getting Luke and Alexis together, not Michael.

"Was I interrupting something?" Ashton asks, hanging his jacket over a chair in the room. Something he always does since he always wears the same coat. He's just lazy like that.

"No," Alexis smiles at him. "It's just Mike," he only nods at the girl's statement, seeing no harm in her. Yet, when he looks at the dirty blonde guy beside her, he sees rage in his eyes as if he were - in fact - interrupting something.