Fall Girl

Margot

The next day after coming from South Shore I entered the office and the first thing that caught my attention was Gretchen's soft, pleasant hum. She was sitting in her seat, humming while using her phone. Any peace I felt was quickly washed away by what I saw when I walked into my office. My desk was covered in sticky notes, which showed how chaotic the days going to be before our due date. One note written in big red letters stood out like a beacon in the mess: "LAUNCH IN TWO WEEKS."

I grumbled as I pulled the note from my desk, I folded it up quickly and threw it in the trash can without giving it a second thought.

I sat and started working on the huge list of things that needed to be done. I worked my way through the work that had piled up while I was away with each keystroke and mouse movement. At the same time, I quickly sent an email to Blaine, Justine, Alyssa, Carter, and Gretchen to tell them that our meeting was about to start in an hour.

An hour later, when I walked into the meeting room, Gretchen's curious voice broke the silence.  "When did you come?" because she was interested in my sudden arrival. I answered with a sly grin, "When you were playing hummingbird."

Gretchen looked around at everyone and didn't say anything.

After making fun of Gretchen for a few moments, I looked at everyone and cleared my throat. "During my trip to the south shore, I was only able to stay in touch with you all by email. It was hard to go to the event and finish my work at the same time, but I did it."

Blaine's comfort gave me hope in the middle of the uncertainty, "We have two weeks left, and most of the work has been done."

Justine declared. "If you choose to make any additional changes, you have one week to do so. It would be great if you finalize everything in the start of last week."

I nodded with a smile on my face. "From now on you all are free from this revamp duties and I promise you all in one week I will complete everything. And also thank you so much for everything you all done for me."

"No," Alyssa said, "I will stay with you, Mar, until we finish."

"Yes, of course. How could I forget that you won't be able to sleep until everything is done?" I looked at her "Alyssa. I also saw your notes in red caps."

Carter cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Most of the time I feel like an outsider in this group because you guys lose me at the beginning of every conversation."

Gretchen without any hesitation responded to Carter. "You lost us in every conversation because most of your focus nowadays are on IT department than us."

Carter was taken aback, and Gretchen added. "There is no need to deny my observation because I saw you blushing while talking to Moller Holding's new IT hire."

I squinted and asked Gretchen. "Are you talking about Whitter?"

Gretchen chin-up and raised her brow. Then I looked at Carter. "Is she telling the truth?"

Carter stammered. "It's.....nothing... It's nothing like that. We have only spoken two times."

I smirked. "Do you know her name?"

Carter's cheeks turned red. "I only know her last name."

I looked at everyone. "Guys, I mean seriously. you all are good for nothing. Carter needs y=our help, and everyone is busy in their life except Gretchen. Although she..."

Gretchen interrupted me. "Her name is Aspin Whitter. Right?"

Before I responded, Blaine teased Carter. "What he just told us? There is nothing like that so why on earth you told him the name?"

We all laughed hard and poor Carter was sweating and all the time looking at the table.

Justine. "Come on stop blushing like a teenage girl."

Alyssa snarled. "What do you mean by that? Don't young boys blush?"

Justine squinted.  "What's wrong with you? Where do you think from? Do you even hear what I said?"

Alyssa clenched her jaw. "No, I didn't hear. Please tell me."

It was a pin drop silence in a room. Justine looked at us and then back at her, raised his eyebrows, and shook his head as if he wasn't sure what she wanted from him.

 
Alyssa cleared her throat and knew she had done something wrong. "Our deadline is in two weeks, so Carter's leg could be pulled at any time."

It made Justine clench his teeth. "Yep, I get it; you're exhausted from work."

Blaine inquired. "Since when do you guys begin to understand each other, immediately after a disagreement?"

Gretchen put up her hand. "I second."

I looked at my watch. "Guys' meeting is over. I have tons of work. bye."

After the meeting, I found myself surprisingly refreshed and uplifted. After lunch, I went to Dr. Goodwin, and I told him things were starting to get better but again, we are not talking due to some new issues. He once again told me to talk to him, as taking breaks at this crucial time is not good for both of us.

I gave him excuses of workload and all but deep down we both know I am not ready to talk, and he is excellent in putting the matters on hold. but I promised him that I will talk to Kev and walked out.

After a few days, I was working late in office. I looked up when I heard the knock on my door. I smiled. "Yes, Alyssa."

Alyssa sighed. "I am leaving but if you need any help I can sit late."

I shook my head. "You guys have already done a lot and don't worry I'll manage promise."

Alyssa shrugged her shoulders, a hint of eagerness in her tone. "If you want to give me more, I would be happy to do it."

I couldn't help but smile at her dedication. "No, Alyssa, thank you very much; you have already gone above and beyond. Trust me, today I'll finish, and the first thing any of you will see when you arrive at work tomorrow is the final front cover of our magazine."

Alyssa waved goodbye, turning to leave, but before she could make her exit, she paused, "But if you..." she started to say before trailing off.

I interrupted her. "I know that if I need anything, you are just a call away."

she pressed her lips and walked out of the office. After finishing the task, I stretched to relax my muscles. My phone started to ring, and it was Aurora. I picked her phone wearing smile on my face but before I could say anything she asked. "Can we meet tonight?"

I told her I am still in office, but we decided to meet next week. While talking to Aurora I picked up my stuff and headed home. The moment I stopped my car something got into me, and I dialed Kev without thinking.