Lights, Camera, Action [N.H]

08

while I'm finishing up another very long chapter, enjoy this cute filler <3

My alarm went off, blaring loudly as my phone sat directly under my pillow and under my ear. I probably snoozed it 15 times before actually getting up. I washed my face, put on the clothes I laid out yesterday, and brushed my teeth. I barely wanted to put makeup on but it was basically a requirement for my job. I put on the layers, foundation, concealer, bronzer, blush and lipstick. Since I barely removed anything from my bag when I got home last night, all I did was fill up my bottle, swap out my empty lunch container for a full one, and throw my phone in there before heading down to the parking garage of my apartment building and towards my car. I was once again very grateful to have such amenities at a price I could afford, Ashlee not so much. She was very happy to live above her means, even if it meant having no car. Or use for her license. Her parents did though, and picked her up when she needed to, but she rarely ever did. We were thick as thieves and I didn't mind driving her around because she lived so close and we basically did everything together, anyway. She would come to my apartment or I'd go to hers, either way, no trip was longer than 30 minutes in traffic. Her only issue was the fact she convinced me to leave and go away to work with Niall, and now on tour, meaning she was convincing herself out of a ride everywhere. It meant she had to take the metro, but she didn't mind, considering she did it often anyway. Her gym was within walking distance, her work wasn't far either, and she had everything she needed within arm's reach.

I pulled up to her house that she rented a tiny unit not far from our work, and beeped just once before she was texting me she'd be out soon. I grinned at her incessant use of swear words before she was banging and clanking her way into my car for the first time in a while. She started babbling on about her night, her morning, how rushed she was. I was sure it wouldn't take us long to get to work, despite how bad LA traffic always seemed to be, but I was pleasantly unsurprised. It was nothing compared to New York though, I was suddenly very grateful for the traffic I was enduring even though it wasn't pleasant. Luckily, neither Ashlee nor I would get in trouble for being late. Our office essentially consisted of people popping in and out at any time of the day they pleased. We didn't have a set lunch hour, and as long as we were in our seats for planned meetings and got our work done, it didn't particularly matter what time we came in, or if we were a bit late.

We pulled up to work, I shoved my car into park and we both grabbed our things, Ashlee leaving the remnants of her makeup products she used to get ready in my car, not wanting to take them with her. We went inside, up to the third floor of the building, and sat down at our adjacent desks, I began to cross off everything on my mental checklist, following up on things people were leaving on my desk, throwing out each sticky note one by one as I finished other peoples work for them. I took my free downtime to pick up the contract from my bag quietly, and attempt to walk it towards the work fax machine, scanning the pages so I could send them to Niall's team, the email listed on the very end pages to send once I had it all filled out. Unfortunately, just because I was quiet, does not mean I was discreet, and Ashlee immediately called me out.

"What's that?" She asked, in confusion and intrigue.

"Oh nothing, just... my contract," I mumbled the last part, it was barely over a whisper, but because our office was so quiet she heard it clearly. She immediately slammed her laptop shut, I widened my eyes.

"When's the big day?" She asked, her interest being peaked.

"Bout a week and a half." I stated truthfully, "I have to get these sent off soon, though." I said, compiling each piece of paper, organising them all straight. I bent down to Ashlee's ear, whispering even though our office door was shut and no one was really paying attention, "Cover for me if Maddy comes in." I said, even though the chances of that were minuscule. I walked, papers in hand, to our copy room and started to scan each and every one. It was easily a 20 to 30-page document, and I swear our fax machine was so old it was taking years to scan them all. I don't know why I felt weird like I had to hide it. I wasn't really sure about where my job would stand if I left, considering now this position wasn't being offered to me by Madeline, but Niall and his team instead. I finished up with my documents and headed back to my desk, typing out an email to send to Niall's team and including the full document. I sent it off with a sigh of relief,