Framed Connection

Chapter 17: Unexpected rule of three

Roxanna wakes up and reaches for her phone. Turning off the alarm she flips the phone up and looks at the time. She gets out of bed to start getting ready for work. In the kitchen she makes herself some rolled oats coupled with Greek yogurt and topped with banana slices, blueberries, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey. For an added touch tops it all off Pumpkin, sunflower and chia seeds. She scrolls through her IG while eating breakfast. Finding that the account she'd followed earlier accepted her request. Looking through the pictures gives her a behind the scenes look of a messy aftermath.

However even on the account the artist doesn't show his face either. The only hint of him is a picture of his hand smeared in clay and a thumbs up. Looking at it she can't help but feel something familiar about it. Especially with the captions. "This kind of reminds me a little of-" before she could finish that thought she feels her face begin to heat up. She gets flustered after an image of Marcel Roxanna pops up in her mind.

"Get yourself together he isn't real" she says out loud to herself making a few wake up slaps to her cheeks. Feeling a little silly, but she can't shake the thought out of her head. Her little test didn't give her the answers she needed either, still feeling unsure of herself.

"Wow, you're really that desperate for love you made one up didn't you?" her inner voice remarks, Roxanna tries not to pay it any mind though finds it hard not to. It made her a little more curious, wanting to dig through the account some more. The thought of messaging the account even crossed her mind. However ruled against it not wanting to be invasive and risk getting blocked. Roxanna makes her way to the bathroom, brushes her teeth, showers and gets dressed before heading out to catch the bus.

Roxanna had been perusing the account since she was on the bus and can't get enough of it. Seeing little trace sketches or attempts at pottery and sculpting that doesn't seem to have made the main showcases. Walking into the lobby looking at her phone she feels an unsettling feeling like she's being made into swiss cheese. She looks up from her phone to see that co-workers from different departments are seemingly staring at her and whispering.

Feeling something off about the vibe it's giving off and confused but shrugs it off thinking that it might not actually have any to do with her. The stares and whispers follow her to the elevator like a perfume trail. Boy did she find herself wrong about that. As in the office Valdes seems to scoff at her while handing her a document for the marketing and publishing department. She gets to the elevator wondering what that's about. Walking in she sees Andy holding the door for her. It seems he's going up from his coffee break.

Roxanna expected to hear his usual chatter of random topics. She's surprised when he only gives her a curt nod. He was about to let go off the button when three other co-workers came on the lift. The doors closed and the space between them felt a little awkward. The co-workers In Front of them were talking about a new bar that opened up unaware of the awkward tension going on behind them.

Roxanna lightly clears her throat wanting to initiate the conversation feeling her chest beginning to compress needing a distraction. However, she can't find the words to say only ever gotten used to him being the one to carry the conversations.

Andy feels equally awkward not talking to her, but he doesn't want to implicate her further than he feels he already had. He has a feeling she might have caught wind by now that she's noticed the stares and whispers. These wouldn't bother him so much if both her and Elaine weren't involved. "Is that them?" One of the co-workers whispered to the other. Slightly turning around to see and nod. Before Roxanna could ask what that was about, the doors opened and they scampered off.

She's confused as to what is going on today, feeling eyes burrowing into her as they exit the elevator. "Is it just me or is everyone giving us weird looks today?" Roxanna asked Andy, finding it strange and rather annoying not knowing what's going on.